Design of a vacuum-type PV module cleaning robot based on an auxiliary mobile frame

Photovoltaic (PV) module surface ash cleaning has been a difficult problem in the PV power generation industry. This paper designs a PV module cleaning robot for use in complex scenarios, designs the walking mechanism and cleaning mechanism of the cleaning robot, and completes the optimization of the structural parameters. The mechanical model of the roller brush to sweep dust was established, the influence of the spiral angle of the roller brush on the motion trajectory of dust particles was analyzed, and the helix angle of the symmetrical spiral roller brush was optimized by Engineering Discrete Element Method (EDEM) software, and the helix angle of the symmetrical spiral roller brush was determined to be 20°. The critical structural parameters of the dust transport pipeline were optimized by combining the computational fluid dynamics-discrete element model (CFD-DEM) with statistical methods. Finally, the performance test was carried out, and the test results showed that the cleaning robot could complete the cleaning of PV modules when the module inclination angle was 20–50°, and the average improvement rate of PV module power generation power was 10.6 %, 16.4 %, and 27.8 % when the ash density was 3.04 g/m2, 7.31 g/m2, and 10.36 g/m2, respectively.