Field services
A cleaner glass surface, faster and priced below the tractor.
Photon Planet operates two field services that plug into any large-scale PV site: a robotic wet-cleaner handled by a single operator, and an automated nano-coating spray system that runs in the same pass. Both are designed for utility-scale sites where module count makes manual cleaning uneconomic and where central-inverter block sizes make trials easy to isolate.
The two are complementary. Cleaning restores today's output; the coating changes the soiling-loss slope for the next five years. Booked together, they take one visit rather than two.
Field service capacity
8 MW/day
Robotic wet-cleaning
throughput, single unit
1 operator
Per unit,
for water replenishment
Up to −30%
Cost against
mechanical-arm tractors
8 MW/day
Nano-coating spray
throughput, automated
Services two lines
Two services. One site visit.
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Robotic cleaning
8 MW/day
Single-operator robotic wet cleaning
The robotic wet-cleaner is the mode that actually shifts baked-on soiling: a single operator manages water replenishment while the unit does the run. The alternative on most Australian utility sites is a mechanical-arm tractor: heavier, slower, and up to 30% more expensive per megawatt cleaned under current service pricing.
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Nano-coating spray
8 MW/day
Automated SPN application, synchronised with the clean
The spray head runs at the same pace as the cleaner, so a coated site does not need two site visits. Applied to already-clean glass, the SPN-10 layer is what carries the long-term uplift — see the nano-coating page for the underlying chemistry, the field results, and the estimator.
How it works
A trial fits inside an existing inverter block.
Most utility-scale sites in Australia are built around central inverters of 1–5 MW. That's the natural unit for a trial: pick two adjacent blocks, clean and coat one, leave the other as the reference, and let SCADA carry the comparison for a full seasonal cycle.
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Step 1
Site assessment
One-day visit to test panel reflectivity, sample the soiling, and confirm the inverter layout. This is also when we agree on the reference block for the SCADA comparison.
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Step 2
Clean + coat, same day
The cleaner passes first, the coating spray follows — SPN-10 bonds to a clean surface, so the two steps are inseparable. Typical throughput per unit is 8 MW/day, so a 10 MW block is a one-and-a-bit day exercise.
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Step 3
SCADA comparison, cleaned vs coated
The reference block (cleaned only) and the trial block (cleaned + coated) are compared through your existing SCADA. Three months of data can support a first read; a full year removes the seasonal-soiling noise.
Economics
Cost sits below the mechanical-arm alternative.
Photon Planet's wet-cleaning can be priced up to 30% below tracked mechanical-arm services on comparable Australian sites under current service pricing. Two structural reasons: the unit is smaller and lighter, so mobilisation is cheaper; and one operator handles water for the whole run, so labour scales with rows cleaned rather than with billable hours per module.
For sites also taking the SPN-10 nano-coating in the same visit, the coating is invoiced against the measured monthly SCADA uplift under a 5-year investment model. The current model has no upfront payment; project-specific commercial terms remain subject to agreement.
Field visits Australia
Australia-wide field-service availability.
Photon Planet schedules robotic cleaning and nano-coating trials for selected large-scale sites across Australia. Contact us with your location, capacity and preferred timing for current availability.
Services are mobilised from Sydney, so regional and remote sites may require a longer mobilisation window.
Enquiry Sydney time
Book a site or a trial block.
Send the site, capacity and the mode you want — robotic cleaning, nano-coating spray, or both — and preferred timing. We reply from Sydney with a quote against your site's inverter layout.