From SolarEnergy.com

It stands to reason that solar panels are far more effective when they’re clear of dirt and dust that can block the sun’s energy-giving rays. But just how does one clean all those hundreds, even thousands of panels that make up the world’s largest solar power plants? After all, that’s a lot of time, manpower and cost.

Fortunately, some Israeli engineers have come up with a novel idea. Well, perhaps not so novel. After all, the Jetsons did have Rosie way back in 1962. Perhaps inspired by the Hanna-Barbera-created housemaid, engineers with Israel-based Ecoppia have created a small army of solar panel cleaning robots that provide daily, water-free, energy independent cleaning to the Ketura Sun Solar Park, making it the world’s first completely autonomously-cleaned solar energy park.

The video above shows a few of the 100 centrally controlled automatons in action, cleaning the Ketura park’s massive solar panels. Set to work at nighttime, the robots move up and down aluminum frames and use microfiber pads and controlled air flows to push dirt from the surface of the panels. During the day, they’re charged using solar energy generated by the plant. Previously, the panels, which cover a 20-acre site, were cleaned just nine times a year because it was such a laborious and expensive ordeal. Meanwhile, all that dirt and dust covering the panels between cleanings made for sub-optimal efficiency at the plant.

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