Automatic Solar Panel Cleaning Mechanism

Abstract

With increasing cost of electricity and the environmental impact of fossil fuels, implementation of renewable and nonconventional energy sources like solar power are rising. The best method to harness solar power is with arrays made up of solar panels. Because of the accumulation of dust, leaves, soil, and other material on even any one of the photo voltaic panels in an array reduces their efficiency to generate energy considerably and thus highlights the need to keep the panels’ surface as clean as possible. The motive of our project is to create an automated solar panel cleaning mechanism that will address the impact of soiling, dirt collection on commercial photovoltaic solar farms where manual cleaning is not feasible. We hoped to create a device that would eventually increase the power output of a soiled panel. (recovering the amount of power lost).Furthermore, autonomous cleaning robots are only economical or viable on a larger scale because ofboth installation costs and the parts used for designing it are custom made according the requirements of the user.