Photovoltaic installation with a device for cleaning snow and ice cover

Comprehensive studies on cleaning the surface of photovoltaic batteries (PVB) from snow and ice cover are analyzed, and the effect of snow cover on the main operating parameters of the PVB is studied. A method of cleaning the surface of the FEB from snow using an energy-saving heating element (infrared film material) is proposed. A photovoltaic installation has been developed that is equipped with an infrared-film electric heater on a carbon base.
On January 15, 2023, experimental studies were conducted to clean snow on the surface of one FEB and one row of a 10 kW photovoltaic power plant (FES) based on polycrystalline silicon, covered with snow 12 cm thick. From the analysis of the experimental results, it follows that the electricity generation of the FES covered with snow decreased by 80-90% in comparison with the results measured in semi-cloudy winter weather. As a result of the use of an infrared film electric heater, the efficiency coefficient (efficiency) of this FEB has been restored. Numerous experiments show that to clean the front surface of the FES (40 pieces of FEB) with a total power of 10 kW, the infrared film electric heater consumed only 1,7 kWh of electricity.
Experiments continued to study the effect of cleaning the surface of a 290 W FEB covered with 50 mm thick snow from the FEB control unit for two days on January 25-26, 2024. It should be noted that the efficiency of the FEB decreased to 1,5-2% with snow and clouds. This is explained by the dependence of the thickness of the snow cover on the frontal surface of the FEB on the magnitude of the solar radiation flux density in winter. After actively cleaning the frontal surface of the FEB from snow cover using an efficiency device, of both FEBs were equalized within 25 min.

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