Clean Solar Solutions has claimed a UK solar first by investing in robotic panel cleaning technology.

And the cleaning machine will be making its maiden public appearance at Solar & Storage Live 2018, which opens its doors at Birmingham’s NEC in just two weeks’ time.

Clean Solar Solutions said the robot had been acquired in order to cater for the rooftop solar maintenance market, with a large number of rooftop solar systems proving problematic or even unsafe to clean due to their design and installation.

“This may be down to the roof material, a lack of safe access to a certain part of a roof, the lack of a mansafe system or even space for one to be retrofitted, fragile skylights or even the system design itself.  All have proved to be stumbling blocks for cleaning for some system owners when it comes time to have their panels cleaned.

“Some solar arrays on large roofs have a huge block of panels with panels 25 or more deep in portrait, 60 wide in landscape, with no walkways between any of these panels. With the best will in the world, manual cleaning simply cannot provide a quality clean on the centremost panels in these instances. 

“We recognised some time ago that a better solution was needed, but robotic cleaning technology was not up to the standard that we wanted for our clients,” the firm’s managing director Steve Williams said.

However, he added, the firm recently took the decision to invest after identifying burgeoning market demand and the technology’s maturation.

Clean Solar Solutions are just one of more than 80 exhibitors at this year’s Solar & Storage Live exhibition, which runs from 16 – 18 October 2018 at Birmingham’s NEC. More information on the exhibition and details on how to register entirely for free can be found here.