Automated Cleaning System for Solar Panels
ECE 445, Spring 2022
Austin Delveaux (austind3), Prudhvie Gudapati (prg3), Alexander Perez (apere46)
Professor: Arne Fliflet
TA: Uma Lath
Team 10
Table of Contents
Introduction 3
Problem 3
Solution 3
Visual Aid 3
High-Level Requirements 4
Design 4
Block Diagram 4
Physical Design 6
Cleaning Subsystem 8
Power Subsystem 9
Control Subsystem 11
Tolerance Analysis 12
Cost Analysis and Schedule 14
Cost of Labor 14
Cost of Parts 14
Schedule 16
Discussion of Ethics and Safety 17
References 18
2
1. Introduction
a. Problem
As solar panels are constantly exposed to the outdoor elements to
achieve maximum efficiency and performance, the natural dust in air or
pollutants from nearby settlements can cover the surface of the
photovoltaic arrays with particulate matter that negatively affects their
power output.[1] Current methods to remove this contamination are
laborious and require human intervention to physically remove the dirt and
dust which increases operation costs of solar farms. In applications where
solar panels are installed on rooftops, cleaning can also be difficult as it
will be left to the homeowner who may not be able to easily access the
panels without specialized equipment.
b. Solution
An automated system which can detect decreased power output due to
dirt coverage will be able to deploy a cleaning spray followed by a wiper to
remove contaminants from the solar panels. This system can also be
utilized to clear snow in cold climates by activation of just the wiper.
Remote control of the wiper mechanism will also be possible for manual
cleaning if needed in spite of the output readings being tracked by the
system itself.
c. Visual Aid
3
d. High-Level Requirements
i. The system will be able to clean the solar panel from all debris and
coverings.
ii. The cleaning of the solar panel with wiper and sprayer will happen
when the power output reaches to 65%-75%[1] of the max output
for a period of at least 7 days. The cleaning will return the solar
panel back to 90+% power output.
iii. The system will be self-sustaining as it will use less power to clean
than it will gain from cleaning.
2. Design
a. Block Diagram
The power subsystem will take power from the solar panel (with Voc =
21.6VDC and optimal operating voltage Vmp = 18VDC) and have it go
through a LM324 op amp-based buck converter which steps the voltage
down to 12V to be used to charge the source battery. This battery will also
be utilized to power the pump and wiper motors once full charge has been
reached. The 12V will be stepped down through a second buck converter
within a regulator to have the voltage step down to 3.3V that will be used
4
to power the current sensor of the power subsystem. It also will power the
microcontroller which is used to control a relay that controls the pump and
motor of the cleaning subsystem powered by the source battery. It will also
receive data from the current sensor and keep track over a period of days
to determine if time and power loss threshold is met. The data will then be
available on a web-based interface. The pump and motor will wait for the
relay to allow for a voltage input and have them run for a period of time for
cleaning.
5
b. Physical Design
6
The above schematic shows the circuit with terminal connections to the
peripherals necessary for this project. J1 connects the solar panel output
to the input of the battery charging circuit, output power, and supply for the
microcontroller. J7 is a connection for the sensing meter to debug software
wired in case the wireless connection is either too far or is for some
reason not responsive. J2 outputs the power from the solar panel/battery
to the cleaning subsystem. An L7805 regulator also provides the
microcontroller with supply voltage in the specified range. J3 will be the
connection point for the batteries to receive charge from the stabilized
solar panel voltage. A filter capacitor (C2) will be added across the
terminals to further minimize the ripple from the charging circuit. J4, J5,
and J6 are terminals to which the relay modules will be connected for
controlling the sprayer and wiper from the microcontroller. J5 is an extra
connection in case the intended return mechanism is not sufficient in
returning the wiper to its initial state.
A few other points of interest are the green and red indicator LEDs which
will indicate the charging status of the batteries with the green one
showing charging is occurring and the red that the solar panel voltage is
too low and the connected battery is still needing charge. The red LED
blinks at 2Hz from the oscillator created with the U1D op amp. Capacitors
C3 and C4 are filter capacitors to ensure the microcontroller supply
regulator output is highly stable.
As for the connections to the relay modules, the outputs from J4 and J6
connect to the low side of a relay for both the wiper and sprayer. The
voltage from J2 will be connected to the NO contacts of the sprayer (it will
only run when the microcontroller gives a command) and to both the NC
and NO contacts for the wiper motor in reverse polarity. To return the wiper
to a resting state, we intend to have the microcontroller run the wiper for a
set period of time before switching off. This will then cause the motor to
run in reverse to a limit switch which will break the circuit and leave the
wiper ready for the next cleaning cycle.
7
We will have our sprayers placed at two locations 4.5inches away from the
middle of the panel to get as best of coverage as we can with the cleaning
solution. The motor will be placed on the side of the panel held in place to
run a worm gear which will run the wiper up and down the panel to have
the wiper that is 24 inches clean the panel. A limit switch will be placed by
one side of the wiper so when the wiper reaches the top the motor will
stop running and wait for an input from the microcontroller to start running
again.
c. Cleaning Subsystem
Receives power input from the charged battery of the power subsystem
which is controlled by the microcontroller relay. This is to trigger the liquid
pump to spray cleaning solution on the solar panel if predetermined
conditions are met. Motor will then be triggered and move the wiper down
the solar panel to clean the dirt off to return the solar panel back to top
efficiency.
8
Requirements Verification
1. Apply 12VDC and 1A through 1A. Measure with an Oscilloscope
the relay that is connected to the that no voltage and current is
pump and motor and be sure there reaching the pump and motor
is 0V and 0A reaching when cleaning is not needed
2. Have 12VDC and 250mA run to 2A. Measure that when 12VDC is
the pump and motor for a 30sec to supposed to be reaching the pump
clean the system and make sure and motor it is and within a +/- 5%
nothing goes wrong using an Oscilloscope.
2B. Read motor specs and
determine how long it will need to
run to reach the entire length of the
solar panel 32.5 inches +/- 3
inches
d. Power Subsystem
DC-DC converter to extract steady power from the solar panel. Current
meter and associated electronics to gather data for microcontroller to track
power output. Charging circuitry for long-term storage batteries will also be
included. The power of the source battery will be used to power the pump
and motor of the cleaning system controlled by a set threshold from the
microcontroller and relay input. The DC-DC converter will stabilize a 3.3V
output which will be used to power the current sensor and microcontroller.
Requirements Verification
1. Determine that the current meter 1A. Send 12V and 5A through the
is properly reading 5A of current sensor with a power source in lab
and sending the correct data with to test the ability and accuracy of
+/- 1% accuracy the current reading of the current
sensor +/- 1% accuracy
1B. When the current sensor is
correct and the ability is there send
the data to the microcontroller and
determine if the output remains the
same through data transmission
9
2. Output of DC-DC Converter is 2A. Apply steady voltage (18VDC)
able to supply 12VDC at rated to input of converter and measure
current for cleaning subsystem output voltage.
2B. Introduce known load to reach
desired rated current (~2A)
2C. Activate all cleaning
subsystem components manually
and observe supply components
with oscilloscope and multimeters
to ensure minimal drop
3. Output of DC-DC converter 3A. Apply 12VDC to the specified
supplies 5VDC at rated current for regulator and measure output
microcontroller and relay trigger voltage.
contacts.
3B. Provide load at minimum of
0.5A to ensure microcontroller will
be able to operate
3C: Increase load to max of both
relay contacts to ensure the
system will not push the regulator
into shut-down.
4. Battery charging is stopped 4A. Place a properly charged 12V
when rated voltage is reached battery to output terminals which
should not activate the charging
circuit.
4B. Place a discharged battery at
terminals to activate the charging
circuit which will draw a maximum
of 3A +/- 1%.
4C. Circuit will turn off green LED
and turn on Red LED to signify
batteries are fully charged.
10
This is the developed chip that we will be using to have with our current
sensor that will transmit the current readings to our microcontroller. The
reason that we did this was that this has built in wifi and bluetooth that will
guarantee us easy communication between our microcontroller and our
current sensor.
e. Control Subsystem
Microcontroller and associated interconnections to provide wireless data
to the communication subsystem, obtain power output data from the
sensing subsystem, and signals to activate the cleaning mechanism
through relays. This is powered from the DC-DC converter 3.3V output,
which then will allow us to control a relay that will stop power from
reaching the cleaning subsystem until requirements are met.
Requirements Verification
1. Receives the current readings 1A. When we have both the sensor
from current sensor system on the and microcontroller have the
solar panel cables sensor read a known current from
a known power source at 6A.
2. Controls relay and doesn’t allow 2A. Measure current and voltage,
power through when power is not with an oscilloscope, across a
11
needed in pump and motor resistive load from the output of the
relay to be 12V +/- 5%
3. Controls relay and allows power
to pump and motor when cleaning 3A. Measure current and voltage,
is wanted using an Oscilloscope, across
resistive load from the output of the
4. Wirelessly transmit message to relay to be 0.25A amps and 12V
App or E-mail for the motor.
4A. Check if message is received
by App or E-mail notification within
a period of 3 minutes from when
the data was processed on
microcontroller
f. Tolerance Analysis
i. A point of potential risk in the project is differentiating between
cloud cover and dirt build up as cloudy days may appear as a
dirtied panel to the program triggering a false cleaning which would
waste stored energy and resources.
ii. While our system strives to be self-sufficient in power via batteries,
we may find that excess energy could be sent to a larger bank or
load to prevent damage to the DC-DC converter operating at no
load.
iii. Calculation for percentage loss of solar panel:
To determine the Current vs Voltage part of the graph I use the
solar equation
𝑞𝑉/𝑘𝑇
𝐽 = 𝐽𝑠𝑐 − 𝐽𝑜 (𝑒 − 1)[4].
Which is the equation that allows us to see where the max power is
reached with the perfect current and voltage to attain it. This will
also be where the highest efficiency of the solar panel is allowing us
to use it to the best of its ability.
12
As the power drops by 25% you can see that, since it is a 100W
rated solar panel, the power output drops by 25W. With this solar
panel you can also see that the efficiency drops to around 7% and
with devices where efficiency is very important you begin to lose out
on a lot of what the panel has to offer. This was calculated with the
test conditions provided by the panel of 1000W/m2 of incident
power and multiplying this by the area of the panel to get Ps=495W
of incident power and then using the equation
η = 𝐽𝑚𝑉𝑚/𝑃𝑠 [4].
iv. As we saw from the previous tolerance analysis of the solar panel
with a decrease in 25% power output you will begin to lose 25W of
power and if held over a long period of time you will begin losing
13
25W * hours
that the power loss remains. To be sure that the device meets up to
standards we will need to be sure the watt-hours used by the pump
and motor to clean the device is less than
watt-hours gained from cleaning > watt-hours used for
cleaning
3. Cost Analysis and Schedule
a. Cost of Labor
i. The average salary (in the 2019-2019 academic year) for an
Electrical Engineer graduate from UIUC is $79,714, and the
average salary for a Computer Engineer graduate is $96,992. We
will use the average of those two values in our calculations which is
$88,353.
ii. $88,353 / (50 weeks*40 hours per week) = $44.18 per hour
iii. Overhead inclusion: $44.18 per hour * 2.5 = $110.45
iv. $110.45 * 15 hours per week * 11 weeks = $18,224.25 per Student
v. $18,224.25 * 3 students = $54,672.75 for student labor
vi. Machine Shop Estimated Labor = 15 hours * $59
vii. Total Cost = Student Labor + Machine Shop Labor = $83,336.63
b. Cost of Parts
Description Part Number Quantity Cost
Microcontroller ESP32 1 $4.00
Windshield Wiper RX30224 1 $9.00
Battery ML5-12 1 $15.99
Sprayer Module CMXCAFG190640 1 $8.98
Current Sensor BYT-VAM-033 1 $18.98
MCU Board (2nd ESP32-C3-DevKitC 1 $9.00
Board) -02
Relay Module B00LW15A4W 1 $6.79
14
Limit Switch ZMSH03130T10SSC 1 $3.53
Solar Panel HSP100D-L 1 $89.14
Quad Op Amp IC LM324DR2G 1 $0.55
12v to 5v Regulator L7805ABV 1 $0.70
5.1V Zener Diode BZX79C5V1-T50A 1 $0.16
Rectifier Diode BYV79E-200,127 1 $1.25
Switching BJT 2N3055 2 (Min 5 order) $9.85
LED BJT BC32740BU 1 $0.38
Battery Filter Cap 25PX1000MEFCT810X16 1 $0.64
Lighting Ckt Diode 1N914MS-ND 2 $1.68
0.1μF Capacitor FA28X8R1E104KNU06 1 $0.34
0.33μF Capacitor FA14X8R1E334KNU06 1 $0.48
1μF Capacitor FA18X8R1E104KNU06 1 $0.38
120Ω Resistor CFR-12JB-52-120R 1 $0.10
220Ω Resistor CFR-12JB-52-220R 1 $0.10
470Ω Resistor CF14JT470R 2 $0.20
2kΩ Resistor CFR-25JB-52-2K 1 $0.10
2.7kΩ Resistor CFR-25JB-52-2K7 1 $0.10
5.3kΩ Resistor CMF555K3000BHEB 1 $0.08
5.6kΩ Resistor CF14JT5K60 1 $0.10
10kΩ Resistor CF14JT10K0 5 $0.50
11kΩ Resistor CFR-25JB-52-11K 1 $0.10
12kΩ Resistor CF14JT12K0 1 $0.10
33kΩ Resistor CF14JT33K0 1 $0.10
470kΩ Resistor CFM14JT470K 1 $0.10
15
820kΩ Resistor RNV14FAL820K 1 $0.24
Red LED UR502DC 1 Already Own
Green LED UR502DC 1 Already Own
Terminal Block TB007-508-02BE 7 $5.95
c. Schedule
Week Austin Alex Prudhvie
Week 7 Help with PCB Finalize PCB Help with PCB and
design/ Go in and design understand how to
finalize design with program ESP Chips
machine shop
Week 8 Get PV Characterize Test if current
characteristics of cleaning subsystem sensor is outputting
the solar panel components correct readings to
(sprayer, wiper secondary board
motors) with (Use arduino test
waveforms. kit)
Week 9 (Spring Document Check Document check Document Check
Break) (datasheets)
Week 10 Helping with Prototyping for Work on setting up
prototyping/ circuit design web interface; Get
Working on solar current sensor
output threshold for interfacing with
data transmission secondary board
Week 11 Work with known Prototyping for Work on interfacing
power source and circuit design main board with
check outputs of secondary board
power subsystem
Week 12 Start connections Finalize testing of Work on processing
with main cleaning system data and activating
microcontroller interactions relay from
microcontroller
Week 13 Connect solar Extreme testing for Work on sending
panel with power operation data and
subsystem and test conditions notification to web
16
application
4. Discussion of Ethics and Safety
a. IEEE 802.11 - Wireless communication standards [5]
i. As our sensing meter and microcontroller rely on wireless
communication, we must follow regulations set forth by IEEE and
the FCC to prevent interference with networks of equipment nearby.
ii. Preferably, our project will use WiFi for the communication
standard.
b. IEEE 1013 - Lead-acid battery selection, charging, testing, and evaluation
of batteries for PV systems [6]
i. Sealed lead-acid batteries will be used to store energy for the
project and possibly for a demonstration of connections to larger
storage systems. We will need to size our components in the power
subsystem as well as the batteries themselves to ensure safe and
efficient operation of the project.
c. IEEE 1562 - Solar array and battery sizing for stand-alone PV systems [7]
i. This standard concerns systems where solar panels are connected
to batteries in a stand-alone system much like our project. If this
cleaning system were to be utilized on a solar farm which is grid
connected, we would have to slightly modify some components
concerning the charging and conversion sections of the power
subsystem.
d. IEEE Code of Ethics Implications
i. Our project looks “to strive to comply with ethical design and
sustainable development practices” [8] and “to improve the
understanding by individuals and society of the capabilities and
societal implications of conventional and emerging technologies,
including intelligent systems” [8].
ii. As out project involves moving components that are able to
produce significant force, we will need to ensure that there are
sensors which monitor equipment status and stop movement if
resistance is detected as we need “to hold paramount the safety,
health, and welfare of the public” [8]
1. This will be addressed by monitoring motor current and note
that a sustained current draw for more than a second can
17
stop the wiper motion and send an alert to the web
application.
iii. In developing technology which is new and innovative, there is an
obligation that one serves to the community to ensure it is
beneficial for all those involved and aims to improve current
situations.
5. References
[1] W. Hicks, C. Milne, K. C. (ABB), B. Paulos, and M. Perrio, “Solar ‘soiling’:
Energy loss from dust on panels can range from 7% to 50%,” Energy Post,
12-May-2021. [Online]. Available:
[Link]
om-7-to-50/. [Accessed: 22-Feb-2022].
[2]Premier Solar Cleaning, “How often should you get your solar panels
cleaned?,” Premier Solar Cleaning, LLC, 15-Jan-2020. [Online]. Available:
[Link]
aned/. [Accessed: 25-Feb-2022].
[3] “Lead acid battery charging basics and Chargers,” How to charge all lead acid
batteries; how to charge SLA lead acid batteries,a tutorial for engineers about
lead acid chargers and charging., 22-Oct-2021. [Online]. Available:
[Link] [Accessed: 25-Feb-2022].
[4] J. Nelson, in The physics of Solar Cells, London, UK: Imperial College Press,
2013, pp. 10–12.
[5] Standard for Information Technology--Telecommunications and Information
Exchange between Systems - Local and Metropolitan Area Networks--Specific
Requirements - Part 11: Wireless LAN Medium Access Control (MAC) and
Physical Layer (PHY) Specifications, IEEE 802.11-2020, 2020
[6] Recommended Practice for Sizing Lead-Acid Batteries for Stand-Alone
Photovoltaic (PV) Systems, IEEE 1013-2019, 2019
[7] "IEEE Recommended Practice for Sizing Stand-Alone Photovoltaic (PV)
Systems," in IEEE Std 1562-2021 (Revision of IEEE Std 1562-2007) , vol., no.,
pp.1-35, 3 Sept. 2021, doi: 10.1109/IEEESTD.2021.9528316.
18
[8] “IEEE Code of Ethics,” IEEE, Jun-2020. [Online]. Available:
[Link] [Accessed:
25-Feb-2022].
19