Mumbai, October 12, 2022: Avaada Group, India’s leading energy transition company, has signed a long-term contract with Israel-based Airtouch Solar for the maintenance of its solar modules using robotic cleaning solutions. The agreement, for a period of 25 years, will include the supply, erection, testing, commissioning, operation and maintenance of Airtouch robotic cleaning systems at Avaada solar farms.
Speaking about the association, Kishor Nair, COO of Avaada Group said, “Airtouch robotic technology solutions would improve our plant operational efficiency by cleaning the dust settled on the solar modules, thereby bringing down the losses. Our association with Airtouch will reinforce our commitment to sustainability by way of saving water in the arid zone. The precision Israel technology with “Made in India” is a Win-Win for both the companies. ‘’
On the collaboration, Tal Laufer, CEO of Airtouch Solar said, “We continue to expand our activity in India which is one of fastest growing markets in the world. The orders we have received from the leading developers like Avaada is a testimony to quality and reliability of Airtouch robots. The local production, logistics, service and sales infrastructure established over the past years, has enabled proximity to clients as well as improved quality of service and response time”.
The solution is easy to implement and optimizes losses due to soiling. By deploying these robots, we will be able to save a valuable 80 to 100 K litre of water / MW annually, besides experiencing significant gains in generation and revenue and a much faster cleaning cycle.
“’Power for all’ is the mission of the government and solar power will play a vital role in achieving this mission. With a government target of 500 GW renewable energy capacity by 2030 Avaada Group plays a vital role in achieving this target with its increased RE capacity with Airtouch supporting our efforts for water conservation and better efficiency of projects,” added Kishor Nair.
As part of this agreement, Airtouch will use its robotic solutions to dry clean the solar modules at its Bhadla plant in Rajasthan and at Pangaon and Damangaon in Maharashtra. Airtouch will supply and install robots for an amount of USD 0.6 million in several mutually agreed milestones of these projects. In addition to this, Airtouch shall also provide comprehensive annual maintenance for 25 years for an amount of USD 1.4 million.
In the company’s assessment, the dry (water-free) robotic cleaning solution that it developed is an ideal solution to the problem of dust accumulation on solar panels. The target market for robotic cleaning solutions is estimated at $11 billion for the year 2025, while approx. 95% of the market is currently operating without a robotic cleaning solution.
