A Study of a Scissor-like Lift Manipulator for the Actuation Mechanism of a Self Cleaning System Using Shape Memory Alloy

Abstract

Dust accumulation on the surfaces of PV panels causes significant losses in the harvest generated energy. Different methods for cleaning the surfaces of photovoltaic panels are available in the market, including automatic and manual cleaning approaches. However, most of the implemented active methods utilize additional electrical energy to operate the mechanical components for the cleaning system, which directly affects the net power for these solar systems. The presented paper introduces an innovative method that uses thermal energy to generate effective mechanical motion necessary for the cleaning system by utilizing the promising thermo-mechanical property in shape memory alloy (SMA) such as the Nitinol wire actuator. Thus, the SMA wire actuator can benefit from the available thermal energy in solar firms and thereby produces adequate mechanical energy in the form of recovery forces and strain of about 5 % of its original length. In addition, the presented numerical study shows the promising feasibility for a scissor-like lift manipulator design to be integrated with an SMA wire actuator for the development of effective mechanical motion. The numerical results highlight the optimal operating region for the SMA wire actuator with the scissor-like manipulator design to produce the necessary actuation forces and displacements to operate a self-cleaning PV system.