SOLBOTIX

SOLBOTIX Automated Solar Panel Cleaner - No Dust, No Water, No Labor

The automated solution that keeps your solar panels clean from dust and your operation (and your mind) free from water and labor dependencies.

Soiling losses occur when solar panels are obstructed by particles such as dirt, dust, and animal droppings, leading to lower electrical output. The International Energy Agency (IEA)estimates that as much as $3 billion to $5 billion in lost revenues each year can be attributed to PV soiling.

The IEA estimates that in 2018, soiling caused at least a 3% to 4% loss to global annual energy production from PV. And this is expected to increase to around 4% to 5% this year, thanks to an increase in PV installations in regions highly prone to soiling, economic pressures, and the fact that more efficient PV modules will suffer larger losses to their output due to soiling.

The approach normally adopted involves cleaning the surfaces with pressure washers or tractors equipped with hydraulic brushes: both cases entail water consumptionand gas emissions from the motor vehicles used.

The Idea

Solbotix www.solbotix.com  is a new innovative way to keep your Solar PV panels free from dust, while eliminating the dependencies on water and unskilled labor. Particularly useful in high soil areas like Middle East, Africa, China, India, SE Asia, South America, where high levels of dust can cause significant power loss, up to 10% or more in few days if not cleaned regularly.

The Market & The Problem

New Solar Capacity estimated at 500GWp y-o-y till 2040

Annual demand for new Solar PV capacity addition is expected to grow to 500 GWp annually for the next 15-30 yrs, in order to meet the Net Zero targets agreed recently. The majority of this new capacity will be added in remote arid areas close to the equator (LatAm, North Africa, Middle East, India, China, etc), where soiling is very high but water is not available.

Significant loss of power output if not cleaned daily.

In these high soil dusty areas, dust accumulates rapidly on solar panels, causing extreme soiling and cementation, which reduces power output by 1-2% daily and even more in the case of sand storms. This is a new problem for solar industry, as most PV solar projects to date are installed in developed markets and only require cleaning 3-4 times annually. Traditional cleaning methods (manual or mechanically assisted) are impossible to deploy on a daily basis. For a typical 100 MWp solar park, the annual revenue losses could be up to $1 mil or more, depending on local feed-in tariff rates and soiling conditions. Given the estimated 25-35 years lifetime of these projects, the accumulated revenue losses could be up to $30 mil or more for the lifetime of the project!!!

The Solution and the Benefits

The only economically and operationally viable solution is autonomous (robotic) waterless cleaning. Using autonomous cleaning robots in remote soil rich, water poor areas, Solar Power owner/operators can gain higher revenues, improved ROI and reduced operating costs and operating risks as the one designed by SOLBOTIX.