About the Water & Cleaning Estimator
Panel cleaning restores the energy lost to soiling (dust, bird droppings, pollen). This estimates the water a plant consumes for wet cleaning and the trade-off against dry/robotic methods — balancing the soiling loss recovered against water cost and availability, which matters most in India's arid, dusty high-irradiance belts.
Formula
Annual water = Plant size (MW) × Cleanings/year × Water per clean (kL/MW)
- Cleanings/year
- Cleaning frequency (site-dependent)
- Water per clean
- Water used per MW per cleaning (kL/MW)
How to calculate it
- 1Estimate the soiling loss rate for the site (higher in dusty/arid regions and dry seasons).
- 2Set a cleaning frequency that keeps soiling loss below the cost of cleaning.
- 3Multiply plant size by frequency and water-per-clean to get annual water consumption.
- 4Compare wet cleaning (water + labour) against dry/robotic cleaning (capex, near-zero water) on total cost and recovered generation.
Worked example
Manual wet cleaning can use on the order of several hundred to ~1,000 kL of water per MW per year depending on frequency. In water-scarce Rajasthan/Gujarat sites, robotic dry cleaning often pays back by eliminating that water cost while recovering the same soiling loss.
What you can calculate
- kL/year water
- 5 dust zone presets
- Cleaning cost INR
- Tanker trip count
Standards & references
Frequently asked questions
How much water does solar panel cleaning use?
It varies widely with cleaning frequency and method, but wet cleaning of a utility plant can run to several hundred kilolitres per MW per year. That water cost, and scarcity in arid high-irradiance regions, is the main driver toward waterless robotic cleaning.
Is dry (robotic) cleaning better than wet cleaning?
In dusty, water-scarce regions, robotic dry cleaning is increasingly favoured — it uses almost no water, can run nightly to keep soiling loss very low, and avoids labour logistics. The trade-off is upfront capex, so the choice comes down to water cost, soiling severity, and plant size.
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