All across the world, more and more individuals are investing in solar panels, be it commercial or domestic. There are many reasons for this development. While cleaning solar panels in California and other parts of the world, it has been observed that there has been a significant improvement in the efficiency of solar panels over the recent past. Moreover, in commercial sectors, there has been an increasing pressure on businesses to apply renewable energy solutions and minimize their carbon footprint with most elected governments setting an ambitious target of net-zero.
Many people are investing in solar panels. But, most of them aren’t doing enough to maintain the efficiency of their solar panels during their lifetime. So, their panels can’t produce as much electricity as they could. There could be a wide range of things that could be done for maintaining the productivity of their solar panels. In this article, we have identified the five leading methods to obtain the best possible output of electricity.
1. Purchase an Efficient Solar Panel Model
As solar panels are made up of photovoltaic cells, it is these cells that transform solar energy in the form of sunlight into usable electricity. It’ll be most unlikely that a solar panel will convert the entire solar energy it receives into electricity. So, the efficiency of a panel is the percentage of energy hitting the panels that the photovoltaic cells transform into electricity.
Over the last five years, the average solar cell efficiency has improved from nearly 15% to 20%. But not all solar panels are the same, and the material and structure of a model determine its efficiency and cost.
2. Purchase a Panel with High Concentrated Photovoltaic (CPV) Cells
The primary objective of CPV is to focus sunlight onto a very high-efficiency solar cell that could be extremely pocket-pinching for direct use. The most conventional solar panels peak at 22% efficiency, whereas the cells used in CPV panels can provide 46% efficiency. Of course, with great efficiency comes an expensive price tag. CPV panels may be priced up to 4 times more compared to conventional PV panels.
3. Don’t Install Solar Panels in Shaded Areas
As solar panels produce electricity from sunlight, a shade adversely affects the electricity output. A lot of people are oblivious to the effect of shade on a series of solar panels. Even if a single photovoltaic cell is shaded, it is bound to impact the energy produced by the adjoining cells, because it acts as a resistor.
Tall structures are the main offenders when it comes to shading solar panels. Spend some time during the planning process to analyze a site and ensure that shade doesn’t become a major constraint.
4. Let a Professional Install Your Solar Panels
When solar panels aren’t properly installed, they can’t receive maximum sunlight and will produce less electricity. A few of the significant aspects to consider while installing panels are the orientation and the angle. Usually, solar panels should sit at an angle between 18 to 36 degrees for maximum sunlight exposure.
Somehow, solar panel efficiency is also affected by temperature levels. The efficiency of the panels can drop with the increasing temperature. Enough gap should be there between the solar panels and the roof during installation. This lets easy movement of air and doesn’t let your photovoltaic solar panels overheat.
5. Clean Your Solar Panels
As there are no moving parts in solar panels, they require very little maintenance. But it’s recommended that you occasionally clean your solar panels as dust and dirt can accumulate on the surface, minimizing efficiency.
How often you should clean your solar panels depends on the frequency of rains and the cost to get them cleaned.
Cleaning your solar panels once a year by an authorized solar panel cleaning service in California is a pretty good idea.
Inference
If you religiously follow the tips mentioned above, then there is no reason why your solar panel doesn’t produce the desired output.
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