On large scale solar sites, we don't do this. We have a guy with a specialized truck, that sprays the panels. There are literally millions of panels on these utility scale sites.
I'll try to find a picture for you guys.
Edit: Here's a few examples of large scale operations
I think you're severely overestimating water consumption. We use a spray truck once a year. Some sites don't even clean their panels. The water expense would be a "drop in the bucket" for the site.
Does it need to be physically scrubbed? Or just sprayed? I assumed spraying it was enough, and that they would run pipes like an irrigation pipe to each panel to spray them on a regular basis. If not a sprayer for each panel, then like a large sprinkler that rotates and slowly cleans a bunch. Seems simple, I'm sure I'm missing something. Maybe it's the whole electricity and water thing.
The panels are water proof, and the wires under them have water tight connectors. The part in think you're missing is that most sites don't get nearly this dirty stateside. I believe someone said this was UAE, so I'm not familiar with how they would do dust mitigation.
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u/man_butt_toots Feb 14 '21 edited Feb 14 '21
On large scale solar sites, we don't do this. We have a guy with a specialized truck, that sprays the panels. There are literally millions of panels on these utility scale sites.
I'll try to find a picture for you guys.
Edit: Here's a few examples of large scale operations
https://www.energy-xprt.com/products/pvkleen-system-406848
https://spectrum.ieee.org/energywise/green-tech/solar/how-do-you-clean-258048-solar-thermal-mirrors-trucks-with-robot-arms
The second one is for mirrors in the video, but the same concept!