Solar Dust Detection System

In this paper, the impact of soiling loss on the electrical performance of a solar panel and the estimation of the optimum cleaning time are studied. The study focuses on the improvement of energy output on cleaning the panel and the cost incurred in doing so, thereby not affecting the net Rs/unit value. The importance on the optimum cleaning time is established thereby maximizing the net returns possible. A practical setup is made where a study is carried out on Mono, Multi crystalline and CdTe panels where one panel was kept always clean and the counter part was subjected to natural dust accumulation. For a location with average of 5% soiling loss, the electrical comparison made between the cleaned and uncleaned panel. It is estimated that there is an average increase of more than 11 % in net power once the panel is cleaned. It is also estimated that for the same location, considering nominal man power and material costs, it is techno economically beneficial to clean the panels once in 8 days while using a company employee and once in 11 days on using a contract employee. With these findings, an automatic dust detection and cleaning mechanism is proposed where the optimum cleaning time algorithm is programmed.