Oct 29 2010
PV Trackers, a provider of dual-axis solar trackers, affirms that regular cleaning of solar panel results in increased energy generation. It maintains that the data collected from its installations proved that washing of the solar panels augments power generation by 8-12%.
Bill Taylor, CEO of PV Tracker, said that his company not only designs and constructs solar installations but also monitors the panel power generation performance utilizing PVSyst PC software package and found that regular cleaning of the panels increased power production by 4-9% every month. Bill Taylor said that his company has included an automatic washing facility as an inherent aspect in the layout design. He added that the exclusive facility incorporated in the PVT 6.0 DX solar trackers reduces the operation and maintenance costs of his clients.
He narrated about the cleaning process followed at Red Top Rice Growers solar farm. When the solar power production at the farm got reduced due to formation of dust over the panels from the nearby rice fields, a washing process was arranged for the PV trackers utilizing the PVSyst package. The Operations Center located in Bend, Oregon, received the washing request and sent positioning commands to the solar trackers by utilizing a web-based software interface. The trackers were set in an upright position to create room for a water truck equipped with high speed water washer to move in easily and each solar tracker was washed within a period of 15 seconds. The washing period was set during the non power production time to save down-time period.
Steve Cribari, Red Top Rice Growers Association’s Vice President of Operations, said that they always look for ways to reduce the cost of rice cultivation and the 10% increase in the power production assists in improving the base line. He praised the PV tracker and the incorporated software for scheduling the panel cleaning operations.
Source: http://www.pvtrackers.com/