Case studies

2019

CLP’s solar farms seek to achieve zero-water for cleaning

CLP’s solar farms require water, although in relatively small quantities, for cleaning purposes.

Manual cleaning is the most widely adopted method. However, depending on site conditions (e.g. swamp areas) this may pose safety risks to the cleaners. Cleaning during the daytime also reduces the productivity of the plant.

The Group is currently exploring innovative technology to achieve low water use targets for dust removal on solar panels. In 2019, CLP completed a pilot project to use robotic cleaning which uses brushes instead of water for cleaning of solar panels in the Sihong and Veltoor solar farms in Mainland China and India. These projects did not only achieve zero use of water for cleaning, but could also potentially increase the efficiency of electricity generation. These successes set a precedent for the wider deployment of the technology in the future.

Dry cleaning robot in Veltoor solar farm in India.