Canadian startup Swish Solar is developing solar panel cleaning and AI-based optimization technology for utility-scale solar plants, aimed at reducing soiling losses and lowering costs linked to poorly timed cleaning.
Dubbed SwishOS, the software is designed to manage and forecast cleaning operations at optimal intervals.
“Observing that operations teams typically rely on a fixed schedule for cleaning, regardless of the degree of soiling, we started to calculate the financial losses caused by poorly timed cleaning routines,” Miswar Syed, co-founder of Swish Solar, told pv magazine. “This mode of operation is costly, especially in places like Saudi Arabia, where I grew up. The costs of robots, transportation, distilled water, and field workers add up.”
The company describes SwishOS as an AI-powered analytics platform that models soiling and optimizes cleaning schedules. “Our software is a purely data-driven solution requiring no additional hardware. It uses operational data combined with hyper-local inputs, such as the cost of water, electricity, and labor,” Syed said.
The platform enables users to visualize the impact of different cleaning schedules, compare cleaning costs with the value of recovered energy, and determine optimal timing. It maintains a running total of performance gains and soiling losses in USD, and can be deployed for individual plants or across large portfolios.
“The platform uses our proprietary time-series forecasting models, regression-based models, anomaly detection algorithms, and ensemble methods,” Syed explained. “It can be seamlessly integrated with solar farm management systems and SCADA platforms.”
“By translating performance losses into financial terms, the platform helps operators identify when cleaning actions are economically justified,” he went on to say. “Rather than relying on fixed schedules, asset owners can make more informed maintenance decisions based on changing environmental conditions and market factors, improving both operational efficiency and revenue recovery.”
According to Syed, SwishOS has secured early customers with solar assets in North America and the Middle East. Pricing follows a sliding scale based on plant capacity, with discounted rates for systems below 1 MW.
Founded in 2024 by Syed and co-founder Amirhossein Boreiri, the company has four patents pending. It has raised $1.5 million in a pre-seed funding round from Canadian and U.S. investors.
Swish Solar is also developing SwishScreen, an anti-soiling, self-adhering polymer film for new and existing panels. The technology uses an electric charge to remove dust or snow without water, chemicals, or mechanical equipment. Early prototypes are undergoing field testing in Saudi Arabia, although performance details have not yet been disclosed.
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