Smart IoT based Solar Panel Cleaning System

Abstract

Solar Energy converts heat from the sun into electricity, either directly making use of Photovoltaic (PV) or Compressed Solar Panel (CSP). It is a clean green electricity which is the Earth's most available source of energy. Solar energy is the future of power generation due to its renewability nature. It has gained a wide acceptance across the world. Many research works are going on to harness the maximum power from sunlight, but few of the main hindrances in harnessing maximum power are dust accumulation on solar panels and air pollution, which cuts solar cell energy output by over 25% – 40% in some portions of globe in which one among tropical countries like India. Since our Indian government has set an ambitious target of installation of grid connected rooftop solar photovoltaic project with the capacity of 40GW out of the total target of 175GW of renewable energy capacity over the next five years by 2022, it's also our responsibility to be as a part in achieving nation's target. This proposed paper describes the implementation of a Smart Solar panel cleaning system with primary focus on making use of Internet of things (IoT) technology. This enables dust monitoring capability, advanced analysis and system control which prompts to increase the total efficiency of the solar PV panel.