Skilancer Solar | Waterless Solar Panel Cleaning Robots

Skilancer Solar | Waterless Solar Panel Cleaning Robots

Energy Efficiency & Management

Sustainable Development Goals

SDG 13 – Climate Action, SDG 6 – Clean Water and Sanitation, SDG 7 – Affordable and Clean Energy, SDG 9 – Industry Innovation and Infrastructure

Company Overview

Skilancer Solar is an Indian manufacturer of robotic systems for cleaning solar photovoltaic panels without water. The company designs, builds, and deploys autonomous and portable cleaning robots, along with an optical soiling sensor, aimed at recovering the generation capacity that solar plants lose to dust accumulation.

The company was co-founded by Neeraj Kumar, an IIT Jodhpur alumnus, and Manish Kumar Das, an instrumentation engineer, and was incubated at the IIM Lucknow Enterprise Incubation Centre. It operates a manufacturing and R&D facility in the DLF Industrial Area of Faridabad, Haryana, where robots are assembled and quality-tested under ISO 9001:2015 certified processes.

Skilancer’s product range spans a fully autonomous crawler robot for utility-scale plants, a portable semi-automatic unit for decentralized and rooftop sites, a manually operated cleaning robot, an AI-enabled thermal inspection robot, and a standalone optical sensor that measures soiling levels on panel glass. Beyond hardware, the company offers turnkey solar EPC construction and ongoing operations and maintenance services.

Skilancer’s robots use a helical polybutylene terephthalate (PBT) brush that sweeps dust from panel surfaces using rotation and gravity, avoiding the water use and thermal-shock risk associated with manual wet cleaning. The robots are self-powered through onboard solar panels and lithium iron phosphate batteries and communicate with plant SCADA systems over LoRaWAN or cellular networks. The company has installed robots across multiple Indian states and reports client relationships with several large solar developers and industrial energy users.

Why These SDGs Matter

kilancer Solar’s waterless robotic cleaning directly supports SDG 6 by eliminating the water traditionally used to wash solar panels, an important consideration in the arid, high-irradiation regions where soiling losses are greatest. The company’s core function, recovering lost solar generation, supports SDG 7 by helping existing renewable energy assets operate closer to their rated output without new capacity being built. Its role as an in-house designer and manufacturer of robotics, sensors, and telemetry hardware for the solar sector aligns with SDG 9, which recognizes the value of building resilient, innovation-driven industrial infrastructure. By keeping solar plants generating at higher efficiency, the company’s technology also contributes to SDG 13, since better-performing solar assets displace a larger share of fossil-fuel-based electricity generation over their operating lifetime.

Products & Services
  • SS-01 fully autonomous utility-scale cleaning robot
  • SS-03 semi-automatic portable cleaning robot
  • SS-Manual hand-operated cleaning robot
  • SS-AI thermal and optical inspection robot
  • SS-Sense standalone optical soiling sensor
  • Turnkey solar EPC design and construction
  • Solar plant operations and maintenance (O&M)
  • Annual maintenance contracts (AMC) for robotic fleets
Business Challenges Solved
  • High water consumption from manual solar panel cleaning
  • Generation losses from dust and soiling accumulation
  • Labor-intensive and safety-risk-prone manual cleaning operations
  • Panel damage risk from thermal shock during wet washing
  • Lack of real-time visibility into panel soiling levels
  • Coordination of cleaning schedules with SCADA monitoring systems
  • Ongoing operations and maintenance across multi-state solar portfolios

Approach & Methodology

Skilancer Solar’s approach centers on in-house design and manufacturing of its robotic hardware at its Faridabad facility, where units undergo dust and water ingress testing, motor and gearbox calibration, and battery cycle audits under ISO 9001:2015 quality procedures. The core cleaning mechanism uses a custom helical PBT micro-fiber brush, angled to combine high-speed rotation with gravity to displace dust from panel surfaces without contacting or scratching anti-reflective coatings.

Robots operate on an independent power loop, drawing from an onboard photovoltaic panel and lithium iron phosphate battery, so they do not draw power from the host solar plant. Positioning and navigation rely on RTK-corrected GPS for row-to-row movement, while onboard sensors track motor torque, wheel slip, and battery condition to flag maintenance needs before failure.

The company also runs a sensor-linked monitoring layer, in which its SS-Sense optical nodes use dual-wavelength light transmission measurement to quantify dust accumulation on module glass. This data is intended to trigger automated dispatch of cleaning robots once soiling losses cross an economic threshold, connecting sensing, decision-making, and physical cleaning into one operating loop. Cleaning and diagnostic data is transmitted to plant SCADA systems or a cloud dashboard over LoRaWAN or cellular connections, allowing remote scheduling and performance verification rather than manual, on-site inspection.

Market Position

Skilancer Solar operates in India’s solar operations and maintenance segment, specifically the niche of robotic dry-cleaning hardware, alongside other domestic players such as Aegeus Technologies, Greenleap Robotics, and Taypro. Its customers include independent power producers, EPC contractors, and large industrial energy users with captive or rooftop solar installations. The company positions itself around in-house manufacturing rather than imported or rebadged hardware, combining robot production, EPC construction, and ongoing O&M under one operating structure. Reported client relationships include several large Indian solar developers and manufacturing companies with rooftop solar assets.

Procurement Considerations
  • Confirm robot compatibility with existing tracker or fixed-tilt array structures
  • Assess installation requirements for guide rails, docking stations, and SCADA integration
  • Evaluate expected generation recovery against site-specific soiling rates before ROI projections
  • Verify ISO 9001:2015 manufacturing certification and IP65 environmental rating for the region’s climate
  • Clarify service level agreements, including response times for on-site technician support
  • Review spare parts availability and warranty terms for brushes, batteries, and sensors
  • Confirm data connectivity requirements (LoRaWAN, cellular, or SCADA integration) at the deployment site
Funding, Recognition & Ecosystem
  • Raised approximately $1.59 million across multiple funding rounds from investors including Alfa Ventures, Venture Catalysts, and other institutional and angel investors, per third-party funding trackers
  • Incubated at the IIM Lucknow Enterprise Incubation Centre
  • Winner, Andhra Pradesh Energy Innovation Summit pitch competition, followed by a Memorandum of Understanding with the Government of Andhra Pradesh
  • Recognized with the “Best Solar Panel Cleaning Robotics OEM of the Year” award at the RE Assets India Awards (2022)
  • Included among cleantech innovators in the KPMG Global Tech Innovator challenge
  • Listed among India’s utility-scale solar PV startups in the India Climate Tech 100 database maintained by EAI
Natnavi Analysis

Skilancer Solar addresses a specific and measurable operational problem in solar energy: dust-related generation loss, which can reach double-digit percentages in high-soiling regions of India. By replacing water-intensive manual cleaning with a self-powered, waterless robotic alternative, the company offers a technically differentiated response to a real constraint in water-scarce solar markets, an approach validated by its adoption across large-scale developer and industrial rooftop projects.

The company’s decision to keep manufacturing in-house, rather than importing or licensing hardware, is a notable structural choice that supports its ISO 9001:2015 certification and gives it direct control over quality and after-sales support, both important considerations for buyers evaluating long-term O&M reliability. Its progression from a single cleaning robot to a broader stack that includes optical soiling sensors, AI-based thermal inspection, and SCADA-linked telemetry suggests a company building toward a more integrated monitoring and maintenance offering rather than a single-product business.

At the same time, Skilancer operates in a competitive and increasingly crowded segment, with domestic entrants such as Greenleap Robotics and international players like Ecoppia offering comparable dry-cleaning technology. Its funding scale, at roughly $1.59 million raised to date according to third-party trackers, remains modest relative to some competitors, which may be a relevant consideration for buyers assessing long-term vendor stability.

Sources & References
Website
Founded: 2017
Company Stage: SME
Headquarters
Faridabad, Haryana, India
Geographic Presence
Skilancer Solar’s manufacturing and operations are based in Faridabad, Haryana, with robotic cleaning deployments reported across 14 or more Indian states, including utility-scale and rooftop installations in Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Andhra Pradesh. The company has also been reported to maintain an office presence in Doha, Qatar, as part of an earlier stated intent to expand into Middle Eastern solar markets.
Solution Type
Manufacturer, Service Provider, System Integrator, Technology Provider
Sustainability Outcomes
Energy Efficiency, Renewable Energy Adoption, Water Conservation
Industries Served
Automotive & Electric Mobility, Energy & Utilities, Government & Public Sector, Manufacturing, Retail & Consumer Goods
Certifications: ISO 9001

Related Companies

Trending now

Indian Carbon Credit Trading Scheme
What is the Carbon Credit Trading Scheme and How It’s Shaping India’s Carbon Market
Marketing AI Prompts
The 7 Step AI Marketing Audit Framework for Sustainable Businesses
greenwashing
Why False Sustainability Claims “Greenwashing” Are Becoming a Business Risk
How to Generate Carbon Credits From Agriculture and Sell Them Internationally
How to Generate Carbon Credits From Agriculture and Sell Them Internationally

Sign In

Forgot password?

Register

Reset Password

Please enter your username or email address, you will receive a link to create a new password via email.