Dust mitigation in the desert: Cleaning mechanisms for solar panels in arid regions

Abstract

This review includes a comparative survey of cleaning mechanisms for solar power plants, with a focus on their application in arid regions. In these regions, dust accumulation can have a severe and detrimental effect on the productivity of solar arrays. The primary concern of this study is to address the need for a commercially viable cleaning solution and present candidate technologies that show promise in enabling solar technologies in the sun-rich, arid regions of the world. In addition to comparing the cleaning mechanisms categorically, specific examples from each category will be referenced to demonstrate the specific attributes of such tools. The survey will focus primarily on currently available product categories for the analysis, while developing technologies are reviewed for their potential strengths and weaknesses. The categories of cleaning solutions considered in this study include the following: manual cleaning, mechanized cleaning, hydraulic cleaning, installed robotic cleaning and deployable robotic cleaning.