Automated Solar Panel Dry Cleaner for Arid and Semi-Arid Areas in Kenya

Abstract

An automated solar panel dry cleaner describes a machine that cleans solar panels using a rotating brush without the need for water or human intervention after the initial installation has been done. Soiling in solar panels reduces the output power from the solar panels significantly. These losses translate to a loss of money especially in large scale solar farms. Locally most of the cleaning on large scale solar farms is done by hand using tools such as a brush and water. In arid areas with a scarcity of water this can be problematic since the little water that's available is used by the surrounding communities for their own survival and the survival of their animals. Therefore, a prototype was designed and implemented that would be able to clean the solar panels at predetermined times of the day or when it receives an SMS from a specific user asking that it starts cleaning. The machine could also include light sensors so that it can be programmed to automatically start cleaning if it detects that the soiling levels have passed a certain point. The machine was then built mainly from recycled materials and was shown to clean a dirty solar panel almost as effectively as water with a difference of less than 3 %. It was also seen that there was a minimum increase of 12% in the power produced by the horizontal solar panel after it had been cleaned. It was therefore concluded that the machine is a worthwhile investment as it saves on cleaning costs since one no longer needs to hire somebody to clean the panels and it leads to an increase in energy which can be sold for an extra profit.