Design and Implementation of a Dust Detection and Mitigation for a Dual Axis Solar Tracker

Solar energy is the most abundant, clean and pollution free and eco-friendly energy sources on the Earth. Solar energy can be converted into electrical energy with the help of solar PV Cell. But the extraction of solar energy in an efficient way is the greater concern. Accumulation of dust in solar panel surfaces reduces its performance. This research proposes a method to detect the dust accumulation on solar panel surfaces and mitigate this problem. The proposed method uses a dual axis solar tracker to track the sun according to its rotation and revolution and also uses an ESP 32 Micro Controller to detect the accumulation of dust and mitigate with the help of a water jet spray which is energized when required. In addition, the proposed method presented a comparison on the dual axis solar tracker and fixed type panel and also dual axis solar tracker with dust detected and mitigated dual axis solar tracker. The results show the cleaning mechanism in maintaining the solar panel performance efficiently after the exposure of dust accumulation.