What are the main types of cleaning systems?
There are 3 main types of cleaning solar panels namely, cleaning tractors, cleaning robots and manual cleaning. The type of cleaning system that should be installed is dependent on various factors such as the size of the plant, amount of pollution and dust, consistency of the pollution, that is, dry or sticky etc. the type of systems to be used can be a combination of the various systems or a stand alone one.
Difference based on size of plant: Depending on the size of the plant, the cleaning system to be installed can be understood as- A large instillation of multiple solar panels or a solar farm can be cleaned best with the use of cleaning tractors as they are suitable for large-scale operations. For a commercial or medium-scale instillation of solar panels a cleaning robot is suitable as it is extremely portable and cleans the panels automatically being remote controlled. For domestic and small-scale solar panels, a manual cleaning process can be adopted with a few nozzles and sprinkles installed in between the panels.
Difference based on cost: Depending on the budget and spending abilities of the owners, a large-scale solar farm can be most cost effectively cleaned with a cleaning tractor as it will reduce water consumption and labor cost. For a medium-scale plant it is advisable to use cleaning robots as the investment in a cleaning tractor will be extremely expensive and the return on investment will not be seen for a long time. For a domestic solar panel, either a cleaning robot or a process of manual cleaning can be adopted. Cleaning tractors can definitely not be used in a residential setting and depending on the spending abilities a domestic automated cleaning robot can be purchased. Manual cleaning may be a little tedious at times but can definitely be used.
Difference based on time factors: Depending on the amount of time to be spent on cleaning and completing a cleaning cycle, cleaning tractors are best suited for solar farms as they have proven to be five times more efficient that using robots. Unlike cleaning robots, tractors do not have to be detached after every use and this brings down the cleaning time drastically. For medium-scale and domestic settings its best to use cleaning robots as the time spent in aligning the tractor to the solar panels will be much more than the cleaning cycle itself.
Difference based on labor force: Depending on the number of workers and the amount spent on each worker it can be said that using a cleaning tractor is most beneficial for a solar farm as cleaning the farm manually will be next to impossible and using robots will require extensive labor. For a domestic solar plant, manual cleaning is the easiest as the plant can be reached by the people and cleaned using a simple water and mild soap mixture. Using cleaning robots is best suited for medium-scale solar projects where manual cleaning is possible but tedious and using a cleaning tractor is not entirely feasible.