Skip to main content

Is solar panel cleaning worth it?

 


The moment your solar panels are installed, then only you can avail yourself of the best performance out of them.  After that, it is all downhill. Although it might consume more than 4 decades to deteriorate completely, day one will be as good as it gets.

 

One of the causes of this is dirt. The moment you find that your panels lay bare in the open in the clean air, or not so clean air, then you will notice that dust will start settling on them. It will block the sunlight, minimize their efficiency, and cost you your hard-earned money.

The apparent solution is to pay someone to clean your solar panels or get out there and clean them yourself. Often this apparent solution proves to be a sensible course of action. Whenever a dust storm engulfs your panels in dirt or pigeons have had a poop party on your roof, then it’s an amazing idea.

 

However, it has also been observed that during most of the instances, solar panel cleaning services in California and other locations is not worth it as the moderate gain in output from cleaning panels is very meager, if you consider the time and risk of injury when you contemplate doing it on your own or how pocket pinching could it be for you if you have to pay to get it done. That is why, under normal circumstances, it wouldn’t be very cost-effective.

 

It will be a wiser decision to simply install a slightly larger system to make up for the minimal loss that is caused due to grime than it does to pay someone to clean them.  Or if your system is already installed, spending money on energy efficiency is far more cost-effective than paying people to clean your panels.

 

Usual Grime Hardly Affects Solar Panels

 

Dirt on solar panels normally has very little effect on their performance.  In a few places, there will be sufficient rainfall to maintain solar panels clean. Indeed, grime will accumulate, however with time, there will be enough rain to wash off most of it.

 

Cleaning apart from what is done naturally by rain will enhance panel output as on average they will have even less dirt accumulated on them. However, it isn’t of much help.

Research in the United States found that cleaning solar panels in California and other places just improved their output by almost 1%. This is applicable in an area that receives only a bit more rainfall.

 

This doesn’t suggest that in your specific area cleaning panels will only improve average performance by 1%. It may so happen that you stay in a dirty place or many birds are trying to convert your roof into the site of a future guano mine.

 

Flat Panels Being Exception, Necessitate Cleaning

 

Rain will indeed wash the major portion of the dirt from the panels. However, it is feasible only if they are installed at an angle. While solar panels lie flat, you might find that water can accumulate on them and can’t escape anywhere else. Gradually it evaporates and leaves grime behind. In the worst-case scenario, you might witness things like leaves and other debris landing on solar panels and just remain stuck there and adversely affecting performance. A thin layer of grime will allow maximum lights to pass through. However, a leaf is categorically designed to capture light. The reason is that it is a naturally occurring type of solar panel.

 

Inference

 

To avoid these issues, and because it is bad to have any electronic item sitting in water for an extended period, it is an excellent idea to install solar panels on flat roofs in frames that are inclined at a minimum of 10 degrees. When your panels aren’t tilted enough, then you’ll have to clean them regularly if you intend to maintain their sound performance.

 

Location: United States

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Top 3 benefits of pressure washing

  Sourcing electricity from  solar panels  is also healthy for our nature, as this does not pollute our environment. Also, this is a very cost-effective option for getting electricity as well as reduces the electricity bills considerably. The only thing you need to do is to clean your solar panels from time to time and test if all of them are functioning properly and generating the expected amount of power. The maintenance of solar panels is not at all hectic and if you are in  California, cleaning services  for the solar panels are vastly available here.   Now you can use different procedures for cleaning your solar panels and you can also clean your household solar panels by yourself. But if you don’t want to clean the panels by yourself then you should contact any professional cleaning services. Many professional cleaning services suggest, in  California,pressure washing  is an effective method to clean the panels easily. Here we will also emph...
12 comments
Read more

What is the importance of cleaning dirty gutters regularly?

  The gutters and drain pipes help the rain waters to glide from the roofs and sidings. Due to the gutters the rainwater or any other debris can’t accumulate on the roof and outside walls. So the gutter provides the proper drainage for the waters during heavy rain. Also, as the drainage system doesn’t allow the water to get logged on the roofs and easily removed by the gutters and gets redirected to the drain outside the premises. In  California, professional gutter cleaning services  are widely available and you may engage anyone of them as per your budget and preferences.  Why we should clean the gutters regularly? Gutter cleaning isn’t at all a hectic job as well as the dirt and debris accumulate in the gutter can be removed easily with the help of a pressure washer. But before applying the pressure washer you should ensure that the gutters are strong enough to handle the excessive water pressure. If the gutters get damaged, then it may also damage the respective ...
3 comments
Read more

5 Things Homeowners Must Know About Solar Panel Cleaning

  A lot of homeowners are oblivious to the proper usage of solar panels. While cleaning solar panels in California ,  many people had a lot of queries. In this article, we have identified the five commonest questions asked by the sol ar panel owners, that all  homeowners  should be aware of.     Do Solar Panels Need Cleaning?     If  anything stays outside  for a lot of  day s  and night s , solar panels will eventually  pile up  dirt. But how  regular ly you may have to  clean  your panels depends on  a few of the following  factors,  such as-   Location    Weather     System design   Size/number of panels     Installation angle(s)   The duration  between  thoroug h cleani ngs   Types of dirt   It is better to refer to the manual provided to you by the provider. You may do it yourself if it  requires very less cleaning...
1 comment
Read more