Dust Monitoring System for Solar Panel FT - HS1: Meeting the Need for Dust Control in Photovoltaics

When there is sand and dust or haze and no rain to wash away the dirt, dust will accumulate on the surface of photovoltaic modules. This dust not only reduces the light transmittance of the glass on top but also impairs the heat dissipation of the modules. As a result, it affects the power generation efficiency of photovoltaic modules and is a major problem that restricts the power output of photovoltaic power plants.

The impact of dust on the power generation of photovoltaic modules:
Firstly, when dust is floating, it can abrade the surface of photovoltaic modules. Moreover, due to the varying sizes of dust particles, the dust on the solar panels blocks the light that shines on the panels, significantly reducing the amount of light that can actually reach the photovoltaic cells.
Secondly, the dust on the solar panels blocks sunlight, reducing the amount of sunlight reaching the surface of the photovoltaic cells. In addition, the dust also changes the heat dissipation method of the solar panels.
Thirdly, the current model for calculating the thermal equilibrium of photovoltaic panels is based on clean panels. However, in actual use, the presence of dust, leaves, bird droppings, etc. on the panels disrupts the thermal equilibrium during power generation. If there is dust on the panel and it is continuously exposed to sunlight, the areas covered by dust heat up much faster than the uncovered areas. Excessive temperature can cause burned black spots on the panel, which is called a hot spot. Hot spots can reduce the power generation power of photovoltaic modules, shorten their lifespan, and may also burn the battery locally, melt the solder joints, age the packaging materials, and in severe cases, pose safety problems.
Fourthly, the cover plates of photovoltaic cells are generally made of glass, mainly composed of silica, limestone, etc. If wet dust with acid or alkali adheres to the glass cover plate, the glass will react with the acid or alkali. The longer it remains in this acidic or alkaline environment, the more the glass surface will be gradually corroded and become pitted. This causes light to be randomly reflected when it shines on the cover plate and unable to spread evenly. After the glass cover plate is corroded, its surface becomes rough, and the random reflection of light becomes more severe. The rougher the surface of the solar panel, the less light energy can be refracted onto the battery. With less energy actually reaching the photovoltaic cells, the power generation naturally decreases.

Therefore, there is a need for cleaning and dust monitoring of photovoltaic modules.
As the saying goes, where there is a need, there is a market.
Professional photovoltaic panel cleaning robots and dust monitoring systems have already emerged in the market.
The Dust Monitoring System for Solar Panel FT - HS1 is an instrument launched by Fengtu that can monitor the dust level on photovoltaic panels.

Its performance and advantages:
First, it can collect and analyze four key types of data: pollution ratio, cleanliness ratio, dust thickness, and backplane temperature.
Second, it is equipped with a new - generation 32 - bit MCU processor, which has powerful data - processing capabilities and high - speed computing performance, enabling it to quickly process complex monitoring data. At the same time, it integrates high - precision 4G and Bluetooth digital chips to build a diversified data transmission channel, supporting both wired and wireless data transmission methods, ensuring that data can be transmitted to the data monitoring platform in real - time and stably to meet the data communication needs in different application scenarios.
Third, it adopts the new - generation blue - light pollutant optical closed - loop measurement (OMBP) technology. Based on the principles of light scattering and absorption, it achieves high - precision detection of dust data. Compared with the three - hour effective monitoring period from 11 to 13 o'clock every day specified in the IEC 61724 - 1 standard, the FT - HS1 system realizes full - time monitoring, greatly expanding the monitoring time range and improving the integrity and continuity of data.
Fourth, it has a built - in new - generation IoT control module, integrating four control modes: normally open and normally closed, cyclic control, time control, and manual control. By setting a pollution threshold, the system can automatically trigger a cleaning command based on the real - time monitored dust data, and link with cleaning robots or IoT control devices to achieve automatic cleaning of dust on photovoltaic panels, effectively maintaining the power generation efficiency of photovoltaic modules and ensuring the efficient operation of photovoltaic power plants.
Fifth, considering the impact of different application environments and usage durations on the collection accuracy of the device, the FT - HS1 system integrates a one - key accuracy self - calibration button. When the collection accuracy decreases during the operation of the device, by pressing the self - calibration button, the system automatically recalibrates the blue - light monitoring circuit, adjusts the measurement parameters according to the preset calibration algorithm and reference standards, and ensures the accuracy and reliability of data observation.
Sixth, the data collector supports two power - supply modes, AC220V and DC12V, and integrates a new - generation green power - management module internally to achieve intelligent switching between AC and DC power supplies, adapting to different power - supply conditions.