THE DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION OF AUTOMATIC 3 SPEED SOLAR PANEL CLEANING MACHINE CONTROLLED BY MICROCONTROLLER

Abstract

This paper presents the design and construction of automated 3 speed level solar panel cleaning machine controlled by microcontroller with pulse widths modulation at 30, 60 and 100 percent to clean solar panels instead of humans. It consists of a charging circuit 2 drive motors, 1 brush motor, 1 solenoid valve, indicator light and Arduino Mega 2560 microcontroller circuit. This solar panel cleaning machine can move in 2 directions are longitudinal walk of the panel forward and backward with 2 DC motors and 2 cut-off limit switches, the unit can polish the solar panel by 1 DC motor connected to the brush set. There is a solenoid valve for cleaning water. There is a wireless light that shows the working status of the machine and shows the battery level in 3 levels are full, middle and low. The microcontroller will order the drive motor and brush motor to work. The solenoid valve will work with an indicator light. From testing, it was found that on dry areas the solar panel cleaning machine can move forward and backward as needed. In wet areas, the solar panel cleaning machine can move but there will be a slight interruption of the unit because the drive wheels are so slippery that they can't carry the machine to move easily. The brush and brush motor test shows that if the brush is attached, the brush motor speed will decrease due to the motor being loaded. In the actual test drive, the speed of the brush motor will decrease according to the frictional area and efficiency test of the automatic solar panel cleaning machine for unclean panels will be 62.06% efficiency and for clean panels will be 95% efficiency, making it safe and saves a lot of human labor.