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DFF enables Solavio to become fastest-growing cleantech startups

Dubai - The traditional cleaning way of cleaning panel requires between 1-3 litres of water per panel leading to an estimated loss of over Dh110,000 per megawatt per year.

India-based startup Solavio has become one of the fastest-growing cleantech startups and the first to be incubated in the UAE, India, and Canada.

The startup has found a solution to increase the efficiency of the solar panels — which over time gets affected by dust and other impurities — reducing their efficiency by up to 40 per cent.

The traditional cleaning way of cleaning panel requires between 1-3 litres of water per panel and labourers working in the sweltering heat, leading to an estimated loss of over Dh110,000 per megawatt per year.

Solavio has developed a revolutionary AI-powered solution that does not require any water and eliminates human involvement. The modular autonomous solar panel-cleaning bots use unique dry-cleaning technology and its retrofit nature makes it compatible with almost any solar panel, mounting structure, type (roof-top or ground mount), or climatic condition and is almost 40 per cent lighter than most bots in the market.

To test its bots in a real-life environment, the company entered Dubai Future Accelerators (DFA), an initiative by the Dubai Future Foundation (DFF), back in 2018. The cohort-based programme runs a series of business and innovation challenges sourced from government and corporate entities that directly impact the future of Dubai and beyond.

The startup responded to a challenge set by Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) that involved coming up with innovations to disrupt current electricity and water utility business models by using Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies, such as AI, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), and Internet of Things (IoT).

Abdulaziz Al Jaziri, Deputy CEO and COO of DFF, said: “Solavio is one of the many success stories to which DFF has contributed through its various initiatives and projects that facilitate partnerships between entrepreneurs, private sector, and government entities with the aim of identifying solutions to potential challenges that the future holds across diverse sectors.”

With its advanced energy infrastructure, Dubai provided an ideal testing ground for Solavio’s technology. Based on the outcome of the pilot project, the solution promises to achieve energy recovery of over 99.6 percent and save more than 200,000 liters of water per megawatt per annum.

Following the success of its participation in the programme in Dubai, Solavio’s valuation has increased 140 times over the past two years. The modular design makes the bots compatible with almost any structure type, mounting area, or climatic condition and the company is now looking into using them to clean high-rise buildings as well as for agricultural and security purposes.

— sandhya@khaleejtimes.com