SOLAR PANEL CLEANING ROBOT

As the climate change and gobal warming threaten the future of our planet, it is becoming cruicial to find sustainable ways to fulfill our energy requiremnts. One of the most efficient ways of moving towards efficient and non polluting energy sources is to generate electricity using solar panel to h

Project Title

Project Area of Specialization

Robotics

Project Summary

Design a solar panel cleaning robot which increases the efficiency of solar panel
Increasing the use of solar panel o0vr a wide area
Make the cleaning of solar panels easy and automated
To minimize the human intervention
Not to render the quality of solar panel
To get maximum efficiency from the solar panels
Environmental friendly cleaninig robot

Project Objectives

Since they have no moving parts solar panels are one of the most cost effective and low maintaince ways of generating power. Despite of all the efficeinecy oif these solar panels there are some factors that are effecting their energy for which of one is the dust. Solar panels can plummet it dust,dirt and grime are allowed to accumulate. If one wants tro generate maximum power through the use of solar panel it is crucial that these huy dles should be maintained and get cleaned timely. It generally depends upon the country that are using solar panels e.g, Middle East, there the solar panel needs to be cleaned dailyhence human work would cost too much.

There are a lot of technique for cleaning the solar panels. Our idea is to design a smart robot that cleans the solar panel itself automatically and remotely in order to maintain a high level of efficiency of solar panel.

This solar panel cleaing robot aims to maintain the efficiency of solar power production by making sure the solar panel are kept clean without putting the human at risk.

Project Implementation Method

Our main consideration for this design were maximixing effectiveness and minimizing the cost. With this mind, we priotized the design of the cleaning mechanisim with the mounting and control system being secondary. After analysing a variety of cleaning methods on the panels if the solar house, a waterless brush design was found to clean to a sufficient level for a relatively low cost. To get desired brush movement the brush will be monted on a rotating shaft that spans the panel. The chassis will move the shaft along the row of panel to clean the entire panel. This system contains an array of wheels that’s fits around the edges of solar panel. The wheels contact the top and sides of the panel. This allows the robot to move along the panel and provide sufficient structural security for the design. This control system required by this robot is minimal. This robot will move along the panel and after touching one end it will come back after few second stop and do a multipurpose work by moving simultaneously. A simple microcontroller is sufficient to implement the required logic. The robot will need to recognize the correct time to clean and then run the cleaning system. Additional sensors will be implemented in future iterations to safely shut down the system if it detects some object in its path.

Benefits of the Project

Along with large scale industrial application such as dedicated solar power plants, this robot can help boost the efficiency of solar panel in smaller application such rooftop solar panels in homes and offices.

Features of solar panel cleaning robot:

Maintain efficiency of solar panel by keeping them clean
Remote and wireless operation ensures workers aren’t put in danger
Roller brush purpose is to clean all dust, dirt, grime etc
It is equipped with water sprayer supplied with a water tank
This robot has a compact, portable and user friendly design
Use of solar power cleaning robot is a great way to save water inn today’s world-which is one of the most precious thing now a days
With robotic cleaing robot it is very easy to clean the panels on daily basis , which is quite difficult in the case of manual cleaning modules

Technical Details of Final Deliverable

The proposed solar panel cleaning robot is used to remove the dirt and dust deposited on the solar panel thus helping the solar panel to absorb the maximum quantity of energy. The proposed system consists of two main parts, the first is the cleaning robot and the second is the carrier robot. The carrier robot acts as a carrier that carries a cleaning robot, The cleaning robot travels along with the carrier robot, covering the entire length of the panel. The brush which is attached to the cleaning robot takes away the dirt and dust from the panel. The robot is programmed with a microcontroller which controls its operations. After cleaning, returns back to the carrier robot. The carrier robot moves to the next panel and the process is continued. The carrier robot detects the solar panel with the help of IR sensor and stops when the sensor output becomes high. The sensors are used to sense the start and end of panels. It helps the robot to understand where to stop and where to start. When the carrier robot detects the panel, the output of the IR sensor becomes high and it stops the movement of the carrier robot. At this time, the transmitter sends the signal to the cleaning robot to perform its cleaning action. The movement of the carrier robot is performed by the driver circuit. After cleaning the panel, the cleaning robot reaches the carrier robot and transmits the signal to the carrier robot. As soon as the carrier robot receives the signal, the carrier robot along with the cleaning robot travels to the next panel and the process is continued. The transmitter and the receiver action actions are carried out by means of the transmitter and the receiver module.