Solar photovoltaic (PV) panels require minimal maintenance once they are installed, and are designed to operate for 25-30 years. But it’s still important to keep them clean to continue achieving optimal power generation.
If you want to learn more, please visit our website.
Accumulated dust and dirt on solar panels can result in —soiling— energy losses of up to 7% annually in parts of the US and as much as 50% in the Middle East. So, how should solar panels be treated to remove soiling?
Let’s look at the most effective methods for keeping PV panels clean and a few factors that affect solar panel cleaning and maintenance.
There are several ways to keep solar panels clean, from manual washing to fully automated technologies. While rainwater can remove some of the grime that collects on panels over time, it can also cause dirt to accumulate at the bottom of the panels, and it isn’t sufficient to remove heavy pollution.
Robotics technology is enabling companies like Italy-based Washpanel to produce automatic and semi-automatic robots specifically designed for solar panel cleaning. It provides portable semi-automatic robots for panels installed on places such as carports, greenhouses, and shed roofs. And it offers fixed roof robots for large installations in dusty environments that require regular cleaning.
In the Middle East, Ecoppia deploys solar-powered autonomous robots to clean PV panels nightly using soft microfiber and airflow rather than water, as high-pressure washing can damage the panels. The robots also clean their own on-board solar panels and recharge their batteries quickly between operations.
Solar maintenance companies like US-based Bland Company and Premier Solar Cleaning have found that using deionized water with a rolling or vehicle-mounted brush allows them to clean panels without using soap, which leaves a residue that not only shades panels but attracts dirt.
Lubricant manufacturer Polywater produces a Solar Panel Wash to help water lift off grime without leaving a film behind. SunSystem Technology uses a blend of diluted vinegar and hydrogen peroxide to remove dirt.
And, homeowners can wash their solar panels manually using a garden hose and a soft sponge without cleaning agents.
Scientists at Heriot-Watt University in Scotland and in a project funded by NASA in the US have developed ways to cause solar panels to vibrate to shake surface dust loose. The Heriot-Watt solution attaches a direct-current (DC) motor to the back of a panel that can be tuned to induce vertical vibrations.
Scientists at the International Advanced Research Centre for Powder Metallurgy and New Materials (ARCI) unit of India’s Department of Science and Technology have developed a solar panel coating to prevent dirt from accumulating in harsh environments. In India, PV panel efficiency is affected by a combination of high temperatures, high humidity, and high pollution.
The nanoparticle-based technology repels dust so that it is easily washed off with water and is highly transparent, so that the coating does not reduce panel efficiency. India’s Marichin Technologies is producing the coating for commercial adoption.
Manually cleaning the PV panels is a good old-fashioned way! Robots, waterless vibration or special coating solutions are innovative and efficient, however, there are many scenarios where these types of solutions can be quite expensive and inefficient. This applies specially for small installations, residential or commercial scale, as well as special structures and installations such as agrivoltaics.
To properly carry out the task, there are some instruments that will help a lot when cleaning solar panels. On the one hand, there are many special brushes that rotate while brushing the soil from the panel. Also, any basic cleaning instrument such as the ones used on car windshields could also help us out.
On the other hand, using water pressure machines such as the Karcher High Pressure Washer would allow us to complete the task much quicker while saving lots of water.
Where solar panels are located also has a bearing on how to clean solar panels and how often they need to be cleaned to remain efficient.
As a general rule, they should be cleaned at least once or twice a year. But in some locations, they may benefit from more frequent cleaning.
Polluted areas. PV panels installed in areas with high levels of pollution, especially near factories, highways, or airports, will experience high levels of atmospheric grime and oil buildup.
Wooded areas. Installations with many trees nearby are likely to have more leaves drop on the panels, obstructing the absorption of sunlight. Trees also attract birds that could result in an accumulation of droppings that obscure the PV cells and damage the surface due to acidity, reducing efficiency.
Deserts. Regions such as the Middle East and US Southwest with dry and dusty climates see larger accumulations of sand on PV panels that block light and scratch the surface. In areas like California or Australia, ash from wildfires can quickly fall on panels in large clumps.
In addition, the angle of the rooftop where PV panels are installed has a bearing on how often they need to be cleaned. Panels that are installed at an angle receive more cleaning from rainwater runoff than flat-mounted panels, where water can collect in pools and leave behind a residue.
The larger the size of the installation, the more electricity generation is obstructed when panels are dirty, so large commercial solar sites require cleaning more often than residential systems. As a result, robotic solutions are more suitable for commercial systems.
The most obvious way to tell when solar panels need cleaning is when the efficiency of the system begins to decline.
Pollution is typically higher during the winter when cold air traps pollutants closer to the ground than the warmer air of summer. That means spring is the best time of year to clean solar panels, as they become too hot to touch during the summer. The best time of day to clean them is in the morning or early evening when they are cooler.
Trinabot contains other products and information you need, so please check it out.
There are companies working on ways to use advanced technology to monitor the condition of solar panels and remove some of the guesswork.
Researchers in Spain have received a patent for a solution that attaches a sensor to the glass surface of a panel and uses an LED light to measure the amount of dirt that has built up. The US National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) is also developing a way to monitor the amount of electricity panels produce every day to detect when soiling has begun to degrade output.
Ecoppia’s cloud-based platform uses sensors and machine learning to monitor a solar PV system, collect weather data, and travel across trackers to clean panels on an optimized schedule.
Households that install small and medium-sized solar power systems (rooftops, factory roofs, offices, buildings, etc.) should regularly (quarterly) inspect their solar panels for large amounts of dust. There is very little dust on the panel surface due to the fact that high efficiency solar panels have a dust-proof coating on the surface and are installed at an angle to reduce dust.
However, since there is often a lot of dust in nearby areas such as thermal power plants, concrete and cement plants, it is important to pay attention to inspecting and cleaning solar panels. If you find a lot of fallen leaves, bird droppings, etc. on the panel, how to clean it. Sometimes manual cleaning can be a hassle, so having a solar panel cleaning robot can make it clean and quick.
Solar panels require regular maintenance to operate effectively, and the effectiveness of the modules decreases over time as a layer of dust accumulates on their surface. Home solar panel systems typically range from 1 kW to 5 kW, like w inverter and can be cleaned manually with wipers or brushes.
However, in large-scale centralized PV projects, it is challenging to clean each module manually. In this case, there are two cleaning options – hiring labor or using an automated system. Obviously, hiring labor is an expensive and time-consuming process. This is why the market share of solar panel cleaning robot is rising rapidly.
Use a lot of water to clean the panels for solar projects. How to clean solar panel is a major problem for developers, especially in arid regions where water is limited.
As a result, the solar industry is struggling to move from traditional cleaning methods to more efficient and less water-intensive solutions. For example, dry or robotic cleaning.
Many solar panel cleaning robot technologies have entered the market, providing a more cost-effective alternative to manual cleaning of solar panels. Some of the more prevalent forms of robotic cleaning systems are modular cleaning robots, driving robots, and AI-enabled robots.
The life cycle of photovoltaic power plants is generally as long as 25 years, and because they are installed outdoors, they have to go through changes in time and environmental pollution.
For photovoltaic power plants, dust pollution is an important factor affecting power generation. Not only will it reduce the amount of light irradiated by the module, affect the efficiency of the system, and reduce power generation, but local shading will also cause the hot spot effect, cause the loss of power generation, affect the life of the module, and cause safety hazards.
Therefore, in the operation and maintenance of power plants, the cleaning of photovoltaic module is particularly important. Currently, there are three common cleaning methods:
With the growth of the PV industry and the rapid development of artificial intelligence, robotic cleaning could completely change the cleaning industry. The solar panel cleaning robot provides excellent system integration capabilities with real-time performance monitoring through a central management system.
Any faults can be notified by the system as soon as possible. Robotic systems for solar panel cleaning are also useful in arid areas. Manual cleaning is often accompanied by significant water wastage. The solar panel cleaning robot offers a breakthrough waterless method for removing dust from panels.
The manual cleaning method is the most commonly used method for cleaning solar panels. If the work is carried out by a professional firm, it will require a high fee. Over the past few years, many robotic technologies for cleaning solar modules have emerged that require little or no human power.
The use of robotic solutions for solar panel cleaning (with 12v 100ah lithium ion batteries in it ) is gaining traction and will become more cost-effective as projects scale. Very large, centralized developers and operators prefer automated cleaning solutions because the labor cost of cleaning panels increases rapidly as the project grows in size.
Due to lower labor costs in some regions, it may take some time for solar panel cleaning robot to completely replace manual cleaning, but as the cost of these solutions decreases, more and more investors will choose this innovative technology.
In addition, the dirt that accumulates on solar panels has a direct impact on the amount of electricity generated. Therefore, it is essential to clean the panels regularly so that they operate at maximum efficiency. Various cleaning solutions for different types of dirt are currently available on the market.
However, dry cleaning is the preferred alternative for large-scale PV projects. A large number of PV projects in arid areas require a lot of water to clean, but the local water shortage will lead investors to quickly switch to robotic waterless cleaning in the future.
In the coming years, with the rapid development of artificial intelligence, this technology is likely to pick up pace, and we will see more innovations related to solar panel cleaning robot that will become the standard for cleaning PV modules.
As one of the main tools of intelligent operation and maintenance, solar panel cleaning robot can not only solve a series of problems existing in traditional manual cleaning, improve power generation and income, but also have a good return on investment, which effectively promotes the de-manual operation and maintenance of power stations.
The company is the world’s best robotic solar panel cleaning solutions supplier. We are your one-stop shop for all needs. Our staff are highly-specialized and will help you find the product you need.