Biathlon chains for the cleaning of solar collectors

Task

Just as cars get dirty by e.g. dust, pollen and bird droppings, the surfaces of solar panels are also soiled. As far as cars are concerned, it is merely an optical problem. With regard to solar collectors, however, soiling results in a considerable reduction of power generation and thus of plant efficiency.

The newly developed and patented system SunBrush offers an innovative cleaning concept: in Germany alone we the annual rainfall amounts to up to 1000 litres per m². By means of sensor-controlled utilisation of the rainwater, the cleaning process can be carried out in a 100% ecologically-friendly way without using any chemicals at all. Since rainwater is pure, soft and lime-free, there will be no residues on the surfaces of the solar panels.

The solar roofs are cleaned fully automatically by using microprocessor control technology. The special cleaning brushes are driven by chains. Since the chains are directly exposed to environmental influences, wear and corrosion resistance are of crucial importance for the operation of the system.