Chemitek Solar, a Portuguese manufacturer of cleaning solutions for the PV industry, said that two of its new products have passed ecotoxicity tests for their use on floating PV (FPV) plants. It claimed that Solar Wash Protect (SWP) and Water Softening Agent (WSA) are both safe for vegetation and animals that live around floating plants.
“The study reveals that the SWP only needs a column of water, under the modules, with a depth of 6 cm (2.36 inches) to be under the safety threshold. The WSA results indicate the need for an even lower column of water of only 1 mm (0.04 inches),” the company said in a statement. “FPV plants have, on average, a column of water under the modules of over 1 meter (3.28 feet), which is well over the requirements found by the study.”
Chemitek Solar said WSA captures the mineral ions in hard water to avoid the appearance of hard water spots and stains after cleaning. The SWP product, on the other hand, is designed to clean organic soiling – such as bird droppings – and applies an anti-static anti-soiling coating to the modules.
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“The maintenance of FPV plants is often quite challenging due to the presence of birds,” the company said. “They use the modules as a safe haven from most predators and also as a heat source. Their presence leads to continuous soiling with bird droppings, which are challenging to clean with just water.”
The Portuguese laboratory Centre for Waste Valorization (CVR) has certified the products as safe for use with FPV arrays. The non-profit research institute is dedicated to waste management and environmental protection.
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