Soiled photovoltaic modules can cause a significant loss of output power, so regular cleaning is necessary but time consuming. This thesis presents the design and construction of a low-cost device for automated mechanical cleaning of photovoltaic modules.
With the use of a cleaning roller, the device cleans the module surface according to a schedule, set by the user. A single motor simultaneously drives both rotation and the linear travel of the roller. The device is controlled by an STM32G474QET microcontroller on the MiSKo3 development board. For ease of use, an Android application was developed which connects to the device over Bluetooth and allows the user to set or disable a cleaning schedule and to trigger cleaning manually. An onboard sensor measures temperature, humidity and pressure, while the application also displays the module's output voltage.
The performance of the device was evaluated by measuring the short-circuit current and open-circuit voltage at different levels of soiling. The results show that the device fully removes loose dirt and dust particles, but its efficiency is considerably lowered when the contaminant adheres to the surface of the module.
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