Dust is a Risk to Mine Production

Daily Cleaning for Preventative Maintenance is Recommended for solar panels in active mine areas

The mining industry increasingly relies on solar power as the most effective power supply for off-grid infrastructure, especially critical communication systems on autonomous mine sites. Dust accumulation on solar panels can reduce reliability and efficiency, causing communication system failures and mine production losses.

Implementing cleaning as preventative maintenance helps improve the reliability of energy production while reducing panel degradation caused by soiling, including abrasion, oxidation, partial shading, and corrosion.     

Dusty mine site areas close to mine site haulage roads, stock piles, production, and loading facilities where plant and equipment can cause daily dust disturbance.

Manually cleaning solar panels poses HSE risks, including intense sun exposure, temperatures exceeding 45⁰C, as well as physical exhaustion and bodily strain from repetitive and demanding movements. It is also a very unpleasant horrible task for skilled workers to execute regularly.

A manual water-based broom cleaning system will also damage the solar panels with cracks of the glass panels and abrasion of the anti-reflective coatings.