The duo of drones and robots automatically cleans solar cells

The Belgian company built a solar battery cleaning system, whereby a 6-rotor drone will carry a cleaning robot to the roof to do the job.

To maintain peak efficiency, solar cells must be regularly cleaned of dust and other accumulated dirt. However, many panels are installed in hard-to-reach locations, so cleaning them is not easy. One solution is to use a drone to spray soapy water on dirty solar panels. However, these drones often run out of battery quite quickly. In addition, they also do not come into direct contact with the battery surface, so they may not completely wash away dirt.

To solve this problem, startup ART Robotics (Belgium), developed the Helios system consisting of a 6-rotor drone flying in the air and a robot moving on the surface of a solar cell, New Atlas reported on March 4. Helios is suitable for small rooftop solar systems.

 Helios is suitable for small rooftop solar systems.

First, the drone will carry the robot to the roof. Next, it determines the location of the solar cell using a computer vision system, flies over and places the robot on it. The drone returns to its original take-off point and lands, while the robot moves back and forth over the panels to clean up. The robot can easily go through the panels placed side by side, cleaning them with a brush and a vacuum cleaner.

Once the job is done, the robot will transmit the wireless signal to the drone. Drones fly to the roof, pick up the robot and bring it back to the ground. This whole process is done automatically, but the operator will still be available for manual supervision and control if needed.

ART Robotics has successfully built a prototype of the Helios system, which is fully functional. This company is conducting crowdfunding on the Kickstarter page for commercial development. Instead of selling drones and robots, ART Robotics will offer solar cell cleaning packages in Belgium. The cost of cleaning 20 panels is expected to be about $166.