The most overlooked problem in solar energy is dust. In arid regions, a fine layer of it can cut a panel’s annual output by up to 60 percent, and washing it off with water is a logistical and environmental headache [ClearSolarCo, retrieved 2026]. Clear Solar Corporation, a pre-seed startup out of Carnegie Mellon’s VentureBridge program, thinks the answer is a force field borrowed from lunar rovers.
A retrofit from the final frontier
Clear Solar’s initial product, ClearAdvantage, is a retrofit kit. It’s a plastic film embedded with power electronics that can be adhered to existing solar panels in the field [Carnegie Mellon VentureBridge, 2025]. The technology is a licensed NASA patent called the electrodynamic dust shield (EDS), a system designed to repel particles from sensitive surfaces in space [F6S, retrieved 2026].
Founder Michael Provenzano, who brings a background in space robotics, frames the initial target with specificity: five one-megawatt farms by late 2027, scaling to 10, then 100 megawatts, with a long-term vision of one gigawatt of solar capacity [Carnegie Mellon VentureBridge, 2025].
The water math that makes the case
Clear Solar cites a figure of 36 million gallons of water used annually to clean a one-gigawatt solar farm in an arid region [ClearSolarCo, retrieved 2026]. The ClearAdvantage system would theoretically only consume a small amount of electricity to periodically activate its electrostatic field. The value proposition is the elimination of a major operational cost center and a sustainability win for operators.
The team claims over 50 years of combined industry experience and four years of direct work with EDS technology [ClearSolarCo, retrieved 2026]. Provenzano’s track record includes a co-founding role at Invite Media, sold to Google, and CEO duties at Vistar Media [Business Insider, 2010] [TechCrunch, 2017].
The long road from lab to field
Clear Solar faces the classic valley of death for deep tech hardware. The company is pre-seed, with no named customers or pilot partnerships yet public.
- Durability and cost. The film and electronics must survive decades of exposure at a price that delivers a clear return on investment.
- Competitive landscape. Competitors like Ubiquitous Energy and Physee are integrating transparent photovoltaic or coating technologies directly into glass, avoiding a retrofit layer [Carnegie Mellon VentureBridge, 2025].
- The sales cycle. Selling capital equipment to conservative utility-scale solar operators is a slow, relationship-driven process.
The ambition is to turn a NASA lab curiosity into a standard feature on solar farms. To prove its model, Clear Solar must first beat the incumbent it’s trying to displace: the water truck.