AX Solar Robot, a French company specializing in cleaning photovoltaic solar panels, recently unveiled two new innovative hydraulic solutions for ground-mounted solar power plants with a notable feature: they operate without batteries.

Grégoire Demeestere, development manager at AX Solar Robot, explains that these solutions are based on 100% mechanical and hydraulic technology. Unlike other robots available on the market that require battery changes, these robots use water pressure generated by a pump to operate all day long, simplifying maintenance and logistics.

The WetSlider

The first robot, called WetSlider, was unveiled at the Intersolar Europe trade show in October 2021. Designed to clean single-axis solar trackers, it can work at an angle of +/- 50 degrees, allowing for uninterrupted cleaning of the tracking system. The robot’s drive wheels can be manually adjusted to fit solar module frames up to a height of 2,130 mm. The WetSlider consumes 0.25 liters of water per m² at a standard cleaning speed of 18.85 m per minute. It can efficiently clean rows up to 450 m long.

With the option of connecting two robots in parallel to the same pump, two robots on the same pump have a cleaning capacity of up to 3 MW per day.

The WetSlider XL

The second solution, the WetSlider XL, extends the range by being able to clean tables up to 6.5 m high. Its unique, patent-pending architecture allows the brush system to move vertically along the tables, offering additional flexibility. Scheduled to be on the market by the end of 2022, the WetSlider XL promises a unique dual adaptation, allowing the robot to be adjusted to the size of the panel and a second sliding frame to be added to the size of the table.

In addition to these innovations, AX Solar Robot is the exclusive distributor in France of the hyCLEANER solarROBOT, developed by the German company TG hyLIFT. This modular battery-powered cleaning solution, with an automatic execution function and power steering system, is suitable for rooftop and carport installations. Measuring 575 mm x 685 mm x 270 mm, the hyCLEANER solarROBOT can be used on slopes between 0 and 45 percent, offering a cleaning capacity of 1,100 m² per hour, powered by a battery.