Patent Publication Number: US-2013240004-A1

Title: Cleaning system for solar panel

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     1. Technical Field 
     The present disclosure relates to a system for cleaning a solar panel. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     Nowadays, with the earth resources being depleted day by day, the cost of investment for energy increases significantly. Solar energy has drawn great attention from the energy industry as an alternative source of energy, and now has widespread applications in a variety of fields. However, when a solar panel has been used for a period of time, it becomes dirty and less efficient and so needs to be cleaned, which is inconvenient. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Many aspects of the embodiments can be better understood with reference to the following drawings. The components in the drawing are not necessarily drawn to scale, the emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the present embodiments. Moreover, in the drawings, like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the several views. 
         FIG. 1  is a schematic, isometric view of an exemplary embodiment of a cleaning system for solar panels. 
         FIG. 2  is a block diagram of the cleaning system of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 3  is an enlarged view of the circled portion III of  FIG. 1 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     The disclosure, including the accompanying drawings, is illustrated by way of examples and not by way of limitation. It should be noted that references to “an” or “one” embodiment in this disclosure are not necessarily to the same embodiment, and such references mean at least one. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , an exemplary embodiment of a cleaning system for a solar panel  5  is shown. The solar panel  5  includes a battery plate  10  and a glass plate  12 . The battery plate  10  collects solar energy and converts the solar energy to electrical energy. The glass plate  12  is mounted above the battery plate  10  for protecting the battery plate  10 . 
     The cleaning system includes a plurality of light emitting elements  15 , a plurality of photosensitive elements  16 , a control circuit  18 , a switch  19 , a cleaning fluid tank  20 , and a plurality of nozzles  22 . In the embodiment, the cleaning system includes three light emitting elements  15 , three photosensitive elements  16 , and three nozzles  22 . 
     The light emitting elements  15  are mounted on the battery plate  10 . The photosensitive elements  16  are mounted on the glass plate  12 . Each photosensitive element  16  corresponds to a light emitting element  15 , for sensing light intensity of the light from the corresponding light emitting element  15 . The photosensitive elements  16  are connected to the control circuit  18 , for transmitting the sensed light intensity to the control circuit  18 . The control circuit  18  is further connected to the switch  19 . The switch  19  is connected between the fluid tank  20  and the nozzles  22 . The control circuit  18  controls the switch  19  to connect or disconnect the fluid tank  20  to or from the nozzles  22 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 1 , the three light emitting elements  15  are respectively located under regions A, B, and C of the glass plate  12 . Cleaning regions of the three nozzles  22  respectively correspond to the regions A, B, and C of the glass plate  12 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 3 , each light emitting element  15  includes a base  150  mounted on the battery plate  12 , and a light emitting diode  155 . The base  150  is hemispherical and defines a hole  156  having a blind top end. The light emitting diode  155  is mounted on a bottom end of the hole  156 . The base  150  is made of opaque material. 
     In use, the light emitting diode  155  is activated. The photosensitive element  16  receives the light from the light emitting diode  155  through the glass plate  12  and obtains a light intensity of the light. The light intensity is transmitted to the control circuit  18 . The control circuit  18  compares the received light intensity with a preset light intensity. The preset light intensity is equal to the light intensity of the light directly received by the photosensitive element  16  without the glass plate  12 . When a region, such as region A, of the glass plate  12  is clean, the light intensity of the light received by the corresponding photosensitive element  16  is almost equal to the preset light intensity. In this condition, the control circuit  18  determines that the region A of the glass plate  12  is clean, and need not be cleaned. The control circuit  18  controls the switch  19  to disconnect the fluid tank  20  from the nozzle  22  corresponding to the region A of the glass plate  12 . 
     When any, such as region B, of the glass plate  12  is not clean, the light intensity of the light received by the corresponding photosensitive element  16  is less than the preset light intensity. In this condition, the control circuit  18  determines that the region B of the glass plate  12  needs to be cleaned. The control circuit  18  controls the switch  19  to connect the fluid tank  20  to the nozzle  22  corresponding to the region B of the glass plate  12 . The nozzle  22  releases a cleaning fluid to clean the region B of the glass plate  12 . 
     The foregoing description of the exemplary embodiments of the disclosure has been presented only for the purposes of illustration and description and is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the disclosure to the precise forms disclosed. Many modifications and variations are possible in the light of everything above. The embodiments were chosen and described in order to explain the principles of the disclosure and their practical application so as to enable others of ordinary skill in the art to utilize the disclosure and various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. Alternative embodiments will become apparent to those of ordinary skills in the art to which the present disclosure pertains without departing from its spirit and scope. Accordingly, the scope of the present disclosure is defined by the appended claims rather than the foregoing description and the exemplary embodiments described therein.