Two TU students invent a robot to clean solar panels
date of publication : 2019-05-02
Ahmad Fayez Muhammad and Ahmad Ali Awdha, two students in College of Engineering, have invented a robot to dust off photovoltaic solar panels. The project was completed under the supervision of Dr. Muhammad Salah and with follow-up by the Dean of the College Dr. Muslih Al-Harthi.
This innovation is important because the generation of electricity by using photovoltaic panels is adversely affected by the environmental conditions such as dust and dirt, so the project team built an intelligent robot to solve the problem, taking into consideration cost and efficiency. The robot uses a number of sensors to detect and capture dirt on the surface of the panel accurately. These sensors also help in avoiding unnecessary operation of the robot. The cleaning process is carried out by using cylindrical brushes and air cleaning fan. This system is controlled by using two Arduino microcontrollers.
This intelligent system has made a remarkable improvement in the efficiency of solar panels by 70 to 80 percent compared to non-dustproof panels, which proved their efficiency in the difficult environmental conditions of the Middle East.