Page 19 - North American Clean Energy May June 2015

free cleaning method to remain cost competitive. Let the robot He is an experienced CFO for organizations such as Telmap, X-Tip,
invasion begin.
and Info-X. Eran has also worked with the International Finance

Corporation (IFC), the private arm of the World Bank Group.
Eran Meller is the CEO and co-founder of Ecoppia, a designer and
producer of innovative photovoltaic panel cleaning solutions to cost- Ecoppia | www.ecoppia.com
efectively maximize the performance of utility-scale installations.

include the infrastructure or logistics

operations necessary for water transport,
storage, and desalination at remote
desert locations. Human error and panel
degradation from cleaning can also cause

additional loss in revenue, as panels can
become damaged during the cleaning
process.
he costs of traditional cleaning

methods are simply too high. As the
solar industry looks to expand capacity
around the world by taking advantage of
the average 300 days of sun annually in

deserts, regions like the U.S. Southwest,
the Middle East, and India will need a
cost-efective means to address the power
production losses caused by soiling.

Rather than the old hose-and-squeegee
method, recent innovations have made
it possible for desert solar plants to
make use of water-free cleaning robots.

hese robots are fully automated and
autonomous, each powered by their own
small solar panels. Additionally, these

units can be programmed to operate
on an optimal schedule set by the solar
operator for the highest return on
investment. And since the robots are able

to clean the panels once a day, 365 days
a year, without a drop of water, they are
able to remove 99 percent of the dust that
collects on panels each day, negating the

soiling issue and maximizing solar energy
output year-round.
While the robots operate
autonomously, a solar asset and plant

manager can remotely manage the
system, analyze its performance, and
learn about the dust particles in the air,
as well as additional relevant weather

conditions in each site.
Solar panel makers and operators
throughout the world are taking notice,
and robotic water-free technology has

been approved by the Photovoltaik
Institut Berlin (PI Berlin), one of the
world’s most respected independent PV
technology testing laboratories. As water

resources become even scarcer in deserts
and other regions across the world, global
solar players will need to deploy a water-

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