SolarCleano Robotic Solar Panel Cleaners

SolarCleano is a Luxembourg-based robotics company whose solar panel cleaning robots have operated in more than 100 countries since 2017. It targets the output lost to dust and dirt on PV modules and the cost and safety risk of cleaning large arrays by hand.

The range covers commercial and industrial rooftops as well as utility-scale plants. The 49 kg M1 suits rooftops and small sites at about 1 MW per day per operator, the F1 and L1 handle larger C&I arrays, and the B1 cleans up to 20 MW per day with helical brushes that self-adapt to panel height and tilt. The E1 mounts on a 4×4 vehicle, the T1 moves robots between rows and the B1A is a fully automated version for ground-mounted plants. Robots run on lithium-ion batteries and support wet or dry cleaning. Custom machines include a 14-metre robot built for the 300 MW Cestas plant in France.

• M1 rooftop robot: 49 kg remote-controlled unit for rooftops and small installations.
• F1 and L1 C&I robots: wet and dry cleaning for larger commercial arrays, including tilts above 25 degrees.
• B1 utility robot: up to 20 MW per day with helical brushes up to 5 m long.
• B1A autonomous robot: fully automated cleaning for ground-mounted plants.
• E1 and T1 units: vehicle-mounted cleaning and row-to-row transport of robots.
• Custom builds: special-purpose robots such as a 14 m unit for a 300 MW plant.

O&M contractors for rooftop solar on factories in industrial parks could use M1 or F1 robots to clean roofs more safely than with manual crews. Utility-scale plants in the dry, dusty south-central coast could deploy B1 or B1A robots to raise cleaning frequency. Solar service companies could add robotic cleaning as a paid service line.

One operator with a B1 can clean up to 20 MW of modules in a day, and an M1 about 1 MW, cutting manual labour on large sites. Wet and dry modes let plants adapt to local water availability and soiling type. Brush pressure and height adapt automatically to the array, reducing the risk of damaging panels. Battery operation with about 8 hours of autonomy on the B1 avoids the need for site power.

Soiling is a recurring source of lost yield in dusty and dry-season climates, and labour for manual cleaning is becoming harder to schedule safely on large arrays and rooftops. Vietnam has a large base of rooftop and utility-scale solar built in recent years, many near roads, farms and industrial zones where dust builds up quickly.

SolarCleano is headquartered at ZARO 2-4, rue Gustave Loosé, Grass, Luxembourg, with Christophe Timmermans as CEO. Its robots have operated in more than 100 countries since 2017. The company displays ISO 9001 certification and lists support from Luxinnovation and LuxDev. It is developing autonomous satellite-linked cleaning robots under the PLECO project with the European Space Agency.