ABSTRACT
The development of an automatic and standalone cleaning system for solar PV panels is discussed in this paper. To ensure the cleaning procedure is profitable, the created system has a dust sensor that can detect a 5% reduction in power in the solar panel’s power output when it is clean compared to when it is dusty. The created system also enables wireless communication between the user and the robot using an Android application and the HC-06 Bluetooth module, through the numerous tests on an exterior test bench. The electrical and thermal experimental test results clearly demonstrate the developed robot’s ability to remove dust, but the experiment also demonstrates that cleaning the PV module increases conversion efficiency from 12.16% for a dusty panel to 13.72% for a cleaned panel under conditions of 730 W/m2 of solar radiation. Thermal camera testing, on the other hand, reveals that a dusty PV module with even dust distribution increases in temperature by about 4.6°C, while a dusty PV module with non-uniform distribution increases in temperature by over 10°C. The performance of the PV module can be improved to assure longevity in a dusty environment at a very low cost, according to an economic study of the development and maintenance of the developed robot.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Hanane Menemmeche
Hanane Menemmeche is phd student at Automation And Electrification Of Processes, M'hamed Bougara University Of Boumerdès, Faculty: Hydrocarbons And Chemistry- Boumerdes-Algeria, His research area of interest includes Automation Mechanical Systems, renewable energy and electronics. she has published several research papers in reputed journals and conferences.
Mahfoud Abderrezek
Dr. Mahfoud Abderrezek is Researcher & HDR in Electronics has got his PhD in electronics from Setif university of science and technology at 2015, and his HDR in electronics at 2017. Now he is a Research Director at Solar Equipment Development Unit, UDES-EPST/CDER Bou-Ismail-Tipaza-Algeria. His research interest includes: electronics, photovoltaic systems (PV-Lighting, White LEDs, Cleaning PV Panel), solar cell physics and technologies of photovoltaic modules and photovoltaic materials, reliability of photovoltaic modules and effect of the environment on the PV panels performances. He has been granted 2 Patent and more than 30 published research paper in various International journal with high impact factor.
Aimad Ahriche
Dr. Aimad Ahriche is working as a full Professor of Electrical Engineering Department, Faculty of Technology, University of Boumerdes, Boumerdes 35000, Algeria. He is also affiliated with Applied Automation Laboratory, University of Boumerde, Algeria. He has published more than 15 research papers in various WOS journals. His interesting topics are Power electronics and machine Drives.