Solar Panel Auto Cleaning & Monitoring System

Dust, dirt and other environmental particles that settle on the surface of solar panels reduce the amount of sunlight reaching the photovoltaic cells and lower overall power generation, while manual cleaning is labour-intensive, water-consuming and often irregular. This paper proposes a Solar Panel Auto Cleaning & Monitoring System that integrates a microcontroller (Arduino/ESP32), a dust/rain sensor, voltage, current and temperature sensors, and a motor-driven brush/wiper mechanism into a single low-cost platform. The controller continuously monitors the panel's electrical and environmental parameters, detects when cleaning is required, and drives a DC geared motor to move the cleaning mechanism across the panel surface, with limit switches marking the end positions. By combining automatic dust removal with real-time electrical monitoring, the proposed solution reduces manual cleaning effort, improves the consistency of panel output under dusty conditions, and provides a foundation for IoT-based remote monitoring. The system is designed to be affordable, portable and easily extendable from small residential installations to larger solar farms, offering improved practical performance compared with manually maintained photovoltaic systems.