DEVELOPMENT OF A SELF-PROPELLED CLEANING SYSTEM FOR SOLAR PV PANELS

S.A. RAMJANI¹*, P. SUBRAMANIAN², J. JOHN GUNASEKAR³, P. VIJAYAKUMARY^4
1Department of Renewable Energy Engineering, Agricultural Engineering College and Research Institute, Trichy, 621216, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, 641003, India
²Department of Renewable Energy Engineering, Agricultural Engineering College and Research Institute, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, 641003, India
³Department of Renewable Energy Engineering, Agricultural Engineering College and Research Institute, Trichy, 621216, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, 641003, India
⁴Department of Renewable Energy Engineering, Agricultural Engineering College and Research Institute, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, 641003, India
* Corresponding Author : kadeeja_ram@yahoo.co.in

Received : 29-10-2020     Accepted : 12-11-2020     Published : 15-11-2020
Volume : 12     Issue : 21       Pages : 10321 - 10322
Int J Agr Sci 12.21 (2020):10321-10322

Keywords : SPV panel, Dust deposit, Power output, Self-cleaning system, Improvement rate
Academic Editor : Dr P S Bhat
Conflict of Interest : None declared
Acknowledgements/Funding : Authors are thankful to Department of Renewable Energy Engineering, Agricultural Engineering College and Research Institute, Trichy, 621216, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, 641003, India
Author Contribution : All authors equally contributed

An automated solar panel dry wiping system uses a portion of output power of the solar panel. It consists of Channel frame for rack and Pinion gear setup, Bush, Connecting rod, Bearings, DPDT switch, DC Motor and cleaning Brush. The brush assembly travels with a speed of 10 cm/s, forces the dust to move in the direction of the motion of the cleaning unit and finally blows it away at the edge of the panel. The improvement rates for the solar PV panel is calculated using normalization principle based on the power output after cleaning and power output. The improvement rate ranges from 0.7 % to 3.09% for the developed self-cleaning system.

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