Examining the Economic Viability of a Solar Panel Dust Cleaning

This Solar Power has gained widespread attention by academia and government as an alternative cleaner source of energy. It is far more promising as compared to all other sources of energy. However, Solar Power has its own issues when it comes to installation. One of the major problems with solar power is dust settlement on solar panels. A number of approaches have been developed to solve this issue. However, either these approaches are very costly, inefficient or have a detrimental effect on the environment. This study systematically examines an indigenously developed Solar Panel Dust cleaning system and its impact on energy efficiency of the Solar Panel using a 1KW roof-top Solar Panel in an industrial town of India - Bhilai. The study also builds a GUI in MATLAB for prediction of energy reduction on a solar panel due to dust accumulation. Finally, this study presents a basic cost-benefit analysis to examine the return on investment in such a dust cleaning system.