Dirt Identification and Removal based on Non-Contact Infrared Temperature Sensor on Solar Panel

Temperature sensing is a technique to detect dirt on a solar-panel-surface that can influence its surface temperature and can reduce its performance, which necessitates monitoring to optimize solar panel output generation, reduce unnecessary costs, and perform efficient cleaning. Temperature sensing can achieve faster and more accurate detection of dirt without using any robotic cameras or manual observation. In this study, a method is proposed to detect dirt on a solar panel with the help of an MLX90614 sensor, a DHT22 sensor connecting with Arduino UNO components. DC motors and gear motors are being used for the removal of accumulated dirt. The temperature of the solar panel surface is measured by an MLX90614 sensor using infrared radiation, while the environment's humidity and temperature are measured by a DHT22 sensor. The system implies measuring the solar panel’s temperature and comparing it to the ambient temperature. This system aims at improving previously proposed dirt detection methods using this approach and suggests a motor-driven dirt removal technique.