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Ecoppia, developer of robotic, water-free photovoltaic solar panel cleaning solutions, announced today an agreement with Solairedirect India, subsidiary of energy multinational ENGIE Group to deploy its automated system in the 10,000-hectare, 2,255 MW Bhadla Solar Park in Jodhpur, Rajasthan India.
Continuing Ecoppia's commitment to cooperation with large multinational energy conglomerates and its specific focus on the Indian market, the company's solution will be deployed on a production capacity of 168MWp out of the total 190MWp capacity.
Located in a vast desert area, Bhadla Solar Park is prone to frequent dust storms, which can reduce energy generation by as much as 40% in a matter of minutes. Traditional labor-intensive, water-based panel cleaning solutions are neither cost-effective nor timely when immediate recovery from sandstorms is mission-critical to maintain LCOE.
To alleviate the production loss associated with soiling and maintain panels at peak performance year-round, Engie's site in Bhadla will be cleaned nightly by Ecoppia robots.
Ecoppia is the only solution able to maintain peak energy production and restore panels post-storm in just hours – without water or external electricity consumption. Moreover, when concerns about availability of water and increasing labor costs play a key role in strategic decision-making, only Ecoppia can provide clear visibility over O&M costs for a 25-year timespan.
With the deployment of Ecoppia across its site, ENGIE is expected to save over 1.5 billion of liters of water, and reduce its operating expenses drastically.
Cleaning over 70 million solar panels to date, leveraging experience gained working with leading energy conglomerates like Adani Power, SunEdison and NTPC, Ecoppia cooperated closely with ENGIE throughout the design and deployment process to maximize rollout efficiency and optimize return on investment. The announcement also comes on the heels of Ecoppia's recent shift of its assembly facilities to India, as well as the opening of its new Asia headquarters in Gurgaon, India.
"We expect to harness Ecoppia's revolutionary cleaning system to dramatically raise output and lower costs. This type of technological breakthrough not only benefits our own business interests, but the solar energy sector as a whole," said Gaurav Sood, Managing Director of Solairedirect India. "We are proud to be one of the world's first solar energy providers to adopt Ecoppia's cutting-edge, autonomous robotic panel cleaning paradigm," he concluded.
"We're proud to cooperate with forward-thinking companies like ENGIE in what is truly a true revolution in renewable energy," said Eran Meller, CEO of Ecoppia. "By ensuring cost-effective panel cleanliness on a day-to-day basis, we've created a new standard of plant output that is changing the way operators, investors and governments view the benefits of solar power," he continued.