This new robot cleans solar panels without using any water - Interesting Engineering

This new robot cleans solar panels without using any water
This new robot cleans solar panels without using any waterIt reduces water wastage and carbon emissions.Loukia Papadopoulos| Aug 05, 2023 09:21 AM ESTCreated: Aug 05, 2023 09:21 AM ESTinnovationEnel's new solar panel cleaner.Enel Green Power Stay ahead of your peers in technology and engineering - The BlueprintBy subscribing, you agree to our Terms of Use and Policies You may unsubscribe at any time.Enel Green Power has conceived of a new robot that can clean solar panels without using any water. This comes especially handy in dry and arid regions where water is scarce and dust is high.“When it comes to photovoltaics, dust is the enemy. This is not a trivial concept, even if it may seem so at first glance; actually, the problem of soiling – the accumulation of dust, dirt or sand on PV panels – can decrease, sometimes significantly, the performance of solar power systems,” stated an Enel Green Power press release published on Friday.Desert areas“It’s an issue that’s particularly important in desert areas, areas with low rainfall, and those characterized by the presence of very dusty soil, where soiling can have a heavy impact on energy yield, but in any case, it’s something that concerns solar power everywhere, because regardless of location, cleaning the panels still involves costs, including environmental ones.” See Also Related This solar panel cleaner can increase energy production efficiency by 30% New hexacopter crawls up and down solar panels to remove all dirt The MIT's new water-free method can keep solar panels free of dust The firm highlights how traditional approaches to solar panel cleaning employ pressure washers or tractors equipped with hydraulic brushes, solutions that entail severe water consumption and produce significant gas emissions.That’s why Enel Green Power worked with REIWA, a Sicilian startup already active in the study and development of robotic technology solutions, to engineer SandStorm, an “advanced cleaning robot that uses a system of specially designed and manufactured brushes, but most importantly, capable of moving along the rows of panels autonomously and recharging autonomously, returning to its docking station at the end of its task.”Uneven alignmentSandStorm is uniquely constructed to adapt to the uneven alignment of the solar panel trackers, moving autonomously from one row of panels to the next, traveling distances greater than 50 cm, all while cleaning the surfaces it encounters.SandStorm most notably won a challenge launched by Enel Green Power through the Enel Open Innovability platform. The system was then successfully trialed first in the EGP Innovation Lab at Passo Martino (Catania) and then on an industrial scale in a section (1-MW) of the Enel Green Power plant in Totana (Spain).The technology has already secured an initial contract for the implementation of around 150 robots in two Spanish PV plants, Totana and Las Corchas, for a total capacity of 135 MW. “So the SandStorm case has turned out to be a success story, with all the right ingredients: a collaboration between complementary businesses; reduced costs and increased renewable production; the development of an efficient, competitive made-in-Sicily technology; the activation of a real industrial supply chain; and, most importantly, the reduction of environmental impacts,” wrote Enel Green Power in its conclusion.“Because it's important to be green, but it’s even more so to be green in a sustainable way.” Well said! Well said indeed! HomeInnovationAdd Interesting Engineering to your Google News feed.Add Interesting Engineering to your Google News feed.SHOW COMMENT (1) For You Our understanding of reverse osmosis is wrongGoogle executive warns robots may soon replace humans for sex7 compelling reasons to invest in a portable air conditionerBye-bye bandages? New technology heals wounds using patient's own blood310-million-year-old fossil of ancient spider species found in GermanyScientists look with suspicion as another study claims room-temperature superconductor7,000 year-old DNA proves European Neolithics had only one partner at a timeExploring the mysteries of the human microbiomeRecycling's hidden microplastic menaceCan the secrets of gummy candy improve 3D-printed foods? Job Board