Trusted Solar Panel Cleaning Advice, Home Roof Energy Tips, Building maintenance
8 Things to Consider Before Cleaning Your Solar Panel
9 Oct 2019
By: Eric Reyes
Solar panels are usually exposed to weather effects throughout the day. Nevertheless, negative impacts do not only result from the wind, snow, sun, or rain.
The panels can also be affected by dirt, debris, bird droppings, dust, falling leaves or needles from the nearby trees. In return, these factors may deteriorate the working of your solar panel. Frequent cleaning can prevent the spots and also improve the running of your system. However, there are various things you should consider before doing the cleaning, and they include the following:
Solar Panel Cleaning
Safety
Before you begin the cleaning, think of the safety factor. Ensure you clean your solar panel from the ground. If this is not possible, do not attempt to climb up to your rooftop unless you are well trained in the safety measures and have the appropriate equipment to use. Alternatively, you can hire a suitable professional to do the work for you.
Time of the day
When cleaning the solar panel, you should consider taking advantage of an overcast day. Doing so on a sunny day can lead to the evaporation of any water that is being utilized, and this may lead to dirt smearing. So, morning hours can be perfect timing to do your cleaning since the dew that could have settled at night will have softened the dirt and this entails that you will use less water and energy to clean.
Materials for cleaning
Ahead of solar panel cleansing, consider choosing the appropriate agents to execute the work. For instance, avoid the application of metal objects or abrasive products to remove the coated dirt on the dry panel because they may cause scratches on your board, which may affect its performance by contributing the shadows. Moreover, detergents can leave mark stains on your glass panel while powders may also take part in causing scratches on your glass panel.
Methods of cleaning
Proper cleaning of high-quality solar panels such as GEM Energy products will only require a soft brush or a sponge, clean water, and a little scrubbing to remove stubborn dirt. You can as well use plastic scourers.
If you are using hard water as your main supply to clean, you can utilize coastal water to do the rinsing at the end if it is available. Subsequently, wipe dry your glass panel. Nevertheless, if you do not have any other option apart from the hard water, ensure you dry thoroughly since mineral loaded water can form deposits on your glass panel during the drying process.
Cost of solar panel cleaning
It is not necessary to professionally clean your solar panel per year since you can do it on your own by only using regular water and soap as mentioned. Nevertheless, professional services may work better for those systems that are highly exposed to air pollution as a result of heavy traffic or agricultural practices at least once per year. The cost of Professional cleaning services vary regionally and also from one provider to the other. The companies ‘price range from five to six dollars per the solar module.
Weather conditions
In most cases, the rain or snow downfall executes solar panel cleaning. It is no doubt that the torrential rain downpour can wipe away the superficial dirt which may include the leaves or dust. Snow from the solar panels can push the sand, and the light soils with them as they slide down. Even so, this is not always the case when it comes to the crusted staining such as the hard bird dropping and the soils at the edge of the solar panel frame.
Who is cleaning?
There is no problem with cleaning the solar panel on your own. There are many informative materials on the internet, which include cleaning procedures. For instance, you can start by checking out the principle instruments required for the work. All the same, the solar panel accessibility may argue against the self solar cleaning. If it is possible to access the panel through the roof window or any other possibility, then you can go ahead and do it yourself. If this is not the case, then you should stay away and seek help from the professionals.
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