Cleaning And Maintaining Solar Panels

The most effective way to clean your solar panels is with a hose and a bucket of soapy water.

Cleaning and maintaining solar panels.

Annual inspections are typically 150 before the cost of cleaning. Most panels are made of tempered glass anodized aluminum and aside from tracking arrays have no moving parts. Solar panels are generally self cleaning but in particularly dry areas or where panel tilt is minimal dust and other substances such as bird droppings can build up over time and impact on the amount electricity generated by a module. Either clean your solar panels in the morning afternoon or pick a relatively cool day.

Because you don t want to scratch the panels in any way it s best to use just water and a non abrasive sponge to apply soapy water. Still it s best to take a quick look from the. How to clean solar panels. Thankfully solar panels are extremely durable.

If it rains where you live every couple of weeks you really don t need to. Homeowners spend an average of 150 to have their solar panels cleaned. Some of the sunniest places also don t get much rain which does a good job cleaning panels. Some charge a flat rate within a range of 150 to 350.

They might have specific recommendations for cleaning. Depending on factors such as roof slant home height and system size companies charge between 3 and 10 per panel. Don t worry about cleaning if it rains regularly where you live. Most snow will melt fairly quickly as the dark solar panels attract heat and sunlight.

Basically this increased amount of cleaning and maintenance is the trade off for choosing solar powered lights since it is the solar panels and batteries that allow you to harness the energy of the sun that make it necessary to put a little more time into caring for your lights. Solar panels can become incredible hot in sunshine. Before you start cleaning be sure that you ve checked with your solar panel manufacturer to determine if there are any special instructions for cleaning or maintaining your panels. Again if you live in an area with plenty of rain you shouldn t worry too much about cleaning them regularly.

Essentially in the same manner you would wash your car at home. So conveniently they require little to no maintenance. Maintaining your solar panels solar panel maintenance is an important part of keeping your solar panels effective. The first thing you want to do is to check with your solar panel manufacturer.

You should also pick a cool day or start cleaning your solar panels early in the day because they can heat up very quickly in the sunshine. Read more about solar and snow here. Grime and bird poop doesn t need to cover an entire panel to have an effect. And snow actually cleans your panels as it melts taking any dust and dirt with it as it slides off the slick module surface.