With PV cleaning robots posing significant advantages for solar O&M, Ben Figgis of the Qatar Environment & Energy Research Institute of Hamad bin Khalifa University, explores recent developments of standards in the field.
The majority of Indian solar is installed in water-stressed areas and the cost of water has doubled in many areas in three years, according to a new report from consultancy firm Bridge to India.
Tata completes 100MW of solar projects in Andhra Pradesh, Ecoppia providing cleaning robots for 580MW of SB Energy PV projects in Rajasthan, NTPC tenders 1MW floater in Gujarat.
Indian energy giant Tata Power, via its wholly owned subsidiary Tata Power Renewable Energy (TPREL) has commissioned a 30MW solar project in Palaswade in the state of Maharashtra.
Saudi Arabian national petroleum and natural gas giant Saudi Aramco has enlisted locally-owned technology start-up NOMADD Desert Solar Solutions to develop waterless cleaning solutions for solar PV.
Robotic and water-free solar panel cleaning solutions provider Ecoppia has deployed its E4 cleaning robots at a 40MW solar plant on the Israel Jordan border.
Dust and sand on PV arrays in the desert can have a negative impact on module performance, but so too can the automated solutions available to clean them.
