VISHWESHWARAYA TECHNOLOGICAL

UNIVERSITY
BELGAUM – 590014

Project synopsis on

“AUTOMATIC CLEANING OF SOLAR PANELS”

A Project Synopsis for VTU for the award of degree of B.E. in

Electrical and Electronics Engineering.

Submitted by,
Arjun K – 4JN14EE010
Nikhil G Bharadwaj – 4JN14EE027
Hemanth Kumar S – 4JN14EE020
Shubham Kumar – 4JN12EE0052

Department of Electrical and Electronics

JNNCE Shimoga – 577204
 AUTOMATIC CLEANING OF SOLAR PANELS

1. Area of interest:
Renewable energy, automation using microcontrollers, power
electronics, electrical machines.

2. Abstract
The solar PV modules are generally employed in dusty environments which is
the case in tropical countries like India. The dust and particulate matter gets
accumulated on the reflecting surface of the module and blocks the incident
light from the sun. It reduces the power generation capacity of the module. The
power output reduces significantly if the module is not cleaned for a month. In
order to regularly clean the dust, an automatic cleaning system has been
designed, which senses the dust on the solar panel and also cleans the module.
This automated system is implemented using microcontroller which controls a
motor. This mechanism consists of a sensors monitored continuously by the
microcontroller. In terms of daily energy generation, the presented automatic-
cleaning scheme provides improves the energy output significantly (module
kept stationary on ground).

3. Introduction
Solar cell efficiency refers to the portion of energy in the form of sunlight that
can be converted via photo voltaic into electricity. The efficiency of the solar
cells used in a photovoltaic system, in combination with latitude and climate,
determines the annual energy output of the system. Most of the applications
nowadays like heating water, agriculture and industrial applications use the
solar panels as an electrical power source instead of relying on the generators
or the ordinary sources for electricity. In the tropical countries accumulation of
dust on the solar panels leads to reduction of the transmittance of the panel.
Solar desalination plants in some of the middle-east countries like the solar
desalination plant of Abu Dhabi suffers from the deposition of dust on its solar
plates. The effect of the accumulated dust can be evaluated and implied to use
that data to reduce with the increasing of tilt angle, since the tilt angle will affect
the exposure time to the sunlight also. But the best way to eliminate the effect of
the accumulated dust on the solar panels is to clean the panels. So in this
project we are proposing an automatic cleaning system for solar panels.
4. Block Diagram

Cleaning
mechanism

5. Brief Description

Microcontroller: The Microcontroller unit runs according to the pre-set

algorithm.

Power Supply: The Power Supply unit consist of a DC power unit.

Photovoltaic Panel: The PV Panel consist array of solar cells connected in

series
The cells also provide signals to the DMU.

Differential Measurement Unit (DMU):

The DMU takes in differential PV cell voltages to convert them to ground
referenced PV cell voltages for measurement by the microcontroller.

Cleaning Mechanism: The cleaning mechanism is controlled by the

microcontroller and is power by an external power supply unit

Photovoltaic Panel: The PV Panel consist array of solar cells connected in

series to provide a peak power to charge the Battery. The cells also provide
signals to the DMU.