Solar panels need sunlight to work well. But in many parts of India, dust, bird droppings and pollution can quickly build up on their surface and block that sunlight.

For large solar farms in dry and dusty regions, keeping thousands of panels clean is a constant task. Dirt can reduce the amount of electricity the panels generate, while regular cleaning can use large amounts of water and require significant manpower.

Researchers at the National Institute of Technology (NIT) Rourkela have now developed an Artificial Intelligence-powered system that could make this process far more targeted.

The system can monitor solar panels, identify which ones need cleaning and focus only on those areas. This could help solar plants use less water and labour while keeping panels working efficiently.

An AI system that knows when cleaning is needed

The technology has been developed by Prof. Arun Kumar, Assistant Professor, Prof. Bibhudatta Sahoo, Professor, and research graduates Dr Lopamudra Hota and Dr Biraja Prasad Nayak from the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at NIT Rourkela.

The team has secured an Indian patent titled “Federated Learning-based Autonomous System and Method for Monitoring and Cleaning Solar Plant”.

The problem they are trying to solve is becoming increasingly important as India adds more solar power capacity.

According to the researchers, solar farms in dry and dusty areas can lose up to 40% of their energy generation because of dust, bird droppings, industrial pollutants and other material settling on the panels.

Cleaning these panels regularly brings its own challenges.

Many existing systems depend........

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