Autonomous PV Cleaning and Inspection System for Hot Desert Weather Conditions

  • Sanfilippo, Antonio Pietro (Principal Investigator)
  • Somasekharan Pillai, Dhanup (Lead Principal Investigator)
  • Associate-3, Research (Consultant)
  • COSME, Mr.Damien (Principal Investigator)
  • Uddin, Mr.Nizzam (Principal Investigator)
  • PASHA, Mr.SYED NAWAZ (Principal Investigator)
  • Caro, Prof.Gianni Di (Principal Investigator)
  • Alashgar, Deeb E. A. (Research Associate)
  • Alhamidi, Yasser (Principal Investigator)
  • Associate-2, Research (Principal Investigator)
  • Karkoub, Prof.Mansour (Principal Investigator)
  • Feo-Flushing, Dr.Eduardo (Principal Investigator)

Project: Applied Research

Project Details

Abstract

Located in a typical desert climate zone, Qatar has special geographic conditions such as strong solar irradiance, long daily sunshine time, low-cloud cover conditions, and plentiful space. These unique conditions enable Qatar geographically to be well-positioned to develop small, medium as well as large-scale solar power projects. However, there are environmental challenges such as dust and high temperature, which could negatively affect solar Photo-Voltaic (PV) power generation. Consequently, the following issues may arise: 1) power loss due to dust and inefficient cleaning which can be as high as 35%. The dust over solar panels can isolate fully or partially solar irradiance. 2) Dust-covered surfaces of the solar panels could lead to further degradation/ failure of the PV panels. If these are not cleaned and inspected in a timely manner, the problem will further be exacerbated. 3) In hot weather conditions, manual cleaning is unsafe, labor-intensive, and inefficient. 4) Existing PV cleaning machines/robots may be inefficient or even unsuitable for Qatar environment. This is due to several practical factors, such as dry-cleaning inefficiency for heavy dust and sand particles in desert environments, unavailability of water resources, and low durability for cleaning robots under hot weather conditions. To address the above challenges, A fully autonomous PV cleaning solution including portable PV cleaning robots and multifunction mobile ground vehicles, will be developed, and the developed system will be optimized for hot desert climates with built-in inspection integration, higher autonomy and artificial intelligence. The following research thrusts will be addressed in this project: a) Development of a network of cleaning robots serviced by a master mobile vehicle for water and power replenishment. The master robot will also autonomously transport and transfer the cleaning robots across PV arrays. b) Optimization of the cleaning system. This requires the design and development of new brush structures and materials suitable for cleaning sand particles in Qatar and preventing panel surface cracks resulting from the contact between the brushes and the panels’ surfaces. In addition, the cleaning system must be suitable for wet- and dry-cleaning modes with minimum water consumption. c) Development of and intelligent locomotion system. This requires the development of enhanced wheel and surface adhesion system to enable cleaning while climbing steep slopes and crossing irregular gaps between PV panels and arrays. d) Development of a smart PV panels’ inspection system. This requires the integration of Infrared imaging sensors and associated AI/Imaging processing/Cloud-computing technologies to inspect the integrity of the PV panels as well as the cleaning efficiency. e) Development of an advanced power system for the cleaning robots. The system will be based on advanced battery storage, wireless fast charging, and energy management technologies to minimize machine downtime and prevent failures due to battery excessive discharge. f) Autonomy enhancement. This research thrust will be achieved by integrating smart sensing devices, actuation control, IoT/AI technologies, smart drive-brain solution to autonomously implement cleaning related tasks such as self-navigation, condition-based cleaning, automatic pipe/cable connection coupling/decoupling, and PV array/string switching. In comparison to existed PV cleaning solutions, the proposed autonomous PV cleaning and inspection system can drastically save equipment unit numbers for solar farm, which is benefited from automatic cross-row. Also, its intelligent functions such as automatic coupling/decoupling for water/electrical connection, smart drive-brains can save workforce and enable fully unmanned cleaning and inspection work. The outcomes of the proposed work are as follows: 1) Autonomous PV cleaning robotic solution for hot climate conditions and Qatar use cases 2) Two-in-One solution for PV cleaning and inspection. 3) Excellent Use case for IoT/AI/5G applications in alignment with the TASMU smart Qatar program launched by the Ministry of Transportation and communication (MOTC). 4) Key contribution and strong engagement with local stakeholders including KAHRAMAA, MOTC, TOTAL Energies, MOTC, Siraj, QEWC, Ashagal, Mowasalat, and Turkish stakeholders. In addition the developed system will have significant benefits to existing clean energy projects such as Siraj 800MW solar power plant, Solar Bus depot in Lusail, rooftop and farm PV systems, and probably minor adaptation for FIFA stadium wall cleaning. 5) Patents, and scientific publications and other IPs related to the topic of PV cleaning.

Submitting Institute Name

Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU)
Sponsor's Award NumberAICC04-0715-210006
Proposal IDEX-QNRF-AICC-4
StatusActive
Effective start/end date1/05/231/05/26

Collaborative partners

  • Hamad Bin Khalifa University (lead)
  • Kahramaa
  • TOTAL E&P Golfe Ltd
  • Singapore Engineering & Contracting WLL
  • PHOENIX CONTRACTING & TRADING CO IN QATAR (Midea Branch In Qatar)
  • Texas A&M University at Qatar
  • Carnegie Mellon University at Qatar

Primary Theme

  • Sustainability

Primary Subtheme

  • SU - Sustainable Energy

Secondary Theme

  • None

Secondary Subtheme

  • None

Keywords

  • PV cleaning robotics
  • Portable solution
  • Hot desert climate

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