Purpose The purpose of this study is to monitor the surface cooling of the photovoltaic (PV) panel and the effect of the dust accumulated on the panel surface on the electrical efficiency remotely and instantaneously. Design/methodology/approach An autonomous system has been designed that can measure and record the PV surface temperature, the amount of dust on the surface, current, voltage and power values at certain intervals. It can also perform surface cooling and cleaning with water cycle when the temperature and dust amount reach certain threshold values and transmit these values to the user via global system for mobile communications module, Bluetooth module and graphically with a touchscreen liquid crystal display panel. Thus, it is aimed to benefit from PV at the maximum level, and it was installed in Kahramanmaras Sütçü Imam University Faculty of Engineering and Architecture. Findings An increase in power was observed for PV surface cooling and surface dust removal by 3.78% and 45.99%, respectively. Originality/value This system is of vital importance in terms of time and energy-saving, especially for solar plants far from the city center, which are difficult to access because of climatic conditions. In other hand for future studies, it is foreseen that more efficiency gains can be achieved by using artificial intelligence and image processing techniques.