Solar panels

Robotic engineer Arthur Cocker says everyone thinks about setting up a solar farm, but no one thinks about cleaning them reports PMN News.

He says right now the rain is the only cleaner, and if humans were to do it, it would need a water blaster, which could not only damage the panels but also take a lot of time and effort.

​“Our solution would actually be a little bit more manageable, as it’s just hard to find staff. This will be automated. We really want our solution to be something that requires little to no effort for them.”​

The installation will be the first of its kind in the Pacific as a national leader takes the personal step to use solar power for their official residence.

The Tongan King will also become the world’s first monarch to use solar power, sending the message that Buckingham Palace should perhaps follow suit.

The Taiwanese ambassador to Solomon Islands, Roger Luo, told the audience that leading Taiwanese solar manufacturer, Speedtech, would set up a solar panel factory in Honiara early next year.

The Solomon Islands Broadcasting Corporation reported him saying the arrangement followed a request by prime minister Manaseh Sogavare during a state visit to Taiwan last year.

Mr Luo said the factory would make the Solomon Islands the first country in the Pacific to manufacture solar panels.