A comprehensive investigation of solar panel cleaning technologies: A review study

This article explores the evolution and importance of photovoltaic (PV) panels, spanning from their inception to contemporary variations, emphasizing their critical role in addressing global concerns regarding climate change and carbon emissions. It underscores the necessity of maintaining clean photovoltaic panels to optimize efficiency and examines factors affecting dust accumulation and mitigation methods. The literature review highlights the substantial impact of dust accumulation on PV panel efficiency, documenting power output declines due to dust deposition globally. It also discusses the evolving landscape of cleaning methodologies, including robotic systems and surface treatments, to enhance solar PV performance in dusty environments. Dust's multifaceted role in environmental processes, affecting climate, atmospheric interactions, and human health, is acknowledged. The complexity of dust deposition on PV systems, influenced by various factors, underscores the challenge of maintaining optimal panel efficiency. The diverse characteristics of dust, including size, composition, adhesion, and density, complicate understanding and emphasize the need for comprehensive research. Various cleaning techniques, from traditional methods to advanced ones like electrostatic precipitators and coatings, are explored, addressing dust accumulation with considerations for water conservation and energy efficiency. Innovative dust mitigation approaches like super-hydrophilic and super-hydrophobic coatings are presented. This article provides a comparative analysis of solar panel cleaning methods, emphasizing their advantages and limitations, to aid in method selection based on installation needs and environmental conditions. It also delves into active and passive self-cleaning techniques, assesses automated cleaning systems, underlines the role of these methods in obtaining the highest efficiency of photovoltaic panels shows the different mechanisms by which these methods are built, and reviews the latest studies in this area.