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State-of-the-art (SOTA) EDS technology includes the addition of a dielectric substrate, the EDS electrodes, and a dielectric cover layer. Typically, this multilayer stack-up for thermal radiator EDSs are built as a stand-alone and placed directly on top of the thermal radiator base and covered with the thermal control material. This new coating system represents an alternative EDS approach that integrates with the thermal radiator's thermal control coating system. The approach involves utilizing the thermal control coating in multiple functional capacities within the EDS configuration. The thermal control coating properties are leveraged to provide electrical insulation characteristics suitable for EDS operation while maintaining thermal performance requirements. The EDS configuration incorporates conductive elements positioned within the thermal control coating structure. The thermal control coating is applied using processes compatible with standard thermal radiator construction methods. The conductive elements are integrated during the coating application sequence. This integrated EDS approach incorporated into a thermal radiator system reduces certain components compared to SOTA EDS systems. The reduction in components offers potential benefits in system mass, thermal performance characteristics, and manufacturing complexity. The approach may reduce certain failure modes associated with interface layers and thermal expansion effects. This EDS configuration allows for enhanced flexibility in thermal radiator design parameters.

WaveRider is a form of EDS technology that uses wires or insulated metal rods held a few millimeters above a substrate that is laden with dust. The wires carry a high-voltage AC square-wave signal. As the wires are moved across the surface, the dust is repelled and moves away from the wires until the whole surface is cleaned. The benefit of WaveRider over traditional EDS is that it can work on any surface, whereas traditional EDS only works with an insulating top coat. This would be a concern to any spacecraft that uses a statically dissipative surface as it's exterior top coat, and would require something like WaveRider to remove dust. Additionally, It may be beneficial to have moving wires as opposed to just having stationary electrodes for optically reliant surfaces (such as mirrors, solar panels, and helmets), as stationary wires can affect visibility. Also, because it uses wires, it can conform to irregularly shaped surfaces such as astronaut helmets or curved radiator surfaces. Moving electrodes may also offer fewer integration complexities compared with embedding stationary electrodes above the surface, since it may save weight and is structurally less complex. Electrodes on top of a surface don't place any burden on integrating it within a system (e.g., traditional EDS needs to be embedded inside cover glass for solar panels, inside O-rings/gaskets, or beneath the surface of a thermal control coating for radiators). It won't affect the properties of a coating, and there are no issues with how well it adheres to a surface like there are with traditional EDSs. Due to the nature of the technology, WaveRider could be adapted into a handheld tool that would allow much more ease of use, which is a freedom that astronauts wouldn't have if the system was built into a spacesuit or built into a machine.

The new transparent EDS technology is lighter, easier to manufacture, and operates at a lower voltage than current transparent EDS technologies. The coating combines an optimized electrode pattern with a vapor deposited protective coating of SiO2 on top of the electrodes, which replaces either polymer layers or manually adhered cover glass (see figure on the right). The new technology has been shown to achieve similar performances (i.e., over 90% dust clearing efficiency) to previous technologies while being operated at half the voltage. The key improvement of the new EDS coating comes from an innovative method to successfully deposit a protective layer of SiO2 that is much thinner than typical cover glass. Using vapor deposition enables the new EDS to scale more successfully than other technologies that may require more manual manufacturing methods. The EDS here has been proven to reduce dust buildup well under vacuum and may be adapted for terrestrial uses where cleaning is done manually. The coatings could provide a significant improvement for dust removal of solar cells in regions (e.g., deserts) where dust buildup is inevitable, but water access is limited. The EDS may also be applicable for any transparent surface that must remain transparent in a harsh or dirty environment. The related patent is now available to license. Please note that NASA does not manufacturer products itself for commercial sale.