Cleaning And Maintaining Solar Panels

Solar panels can become incredible hot in sunshine.

Cleaning and maintaining solar panels. Most panels are made of tempered glass anodized aluminum and aside from tracking arrays have no moving parts. Depending on factors such as roof slant home height and system size companies charge between 3 and 10 per panel. How to clean solar panels. So conveniently they require little to no maintenance.

Don t worry about cleaning if it rains regularly where you live. 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. Most snow will melt fairly quickly as the dark solar panels attract heat and sunlight. Still it s best to take a quick look from the.

And snow actually cleans your panels as it melts taking any dust and dirt with it as it slides off the slick module surface. 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. Maintaining your solar panels solar panel maintenance is an important part of keeping your solar panels effective. Annual inspections are typically 150 before the cost of cleaning.

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. This is where cleaning solar panels may have to be done. Again if you live in an area with plenty of rain you shouldn t worry too much about cleaning them regularly. Regularly prune nearby shrubs and trees.

Grime and bird poop doesn t need to cover an entire panel to have an effect. 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. Some of the sunniest places also don t get much rain which does a good job cleaning panels. Solar panels are made out of tempered glass which tends to be pretty resilient.

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. Either clean your solar panels in the morning afternoon or pick a relatively cool day. Some charge a flat rate within a range of 150 to 350. If it rains where you live every couple of weeks you really don t need to.

Read more about solar and snow here. The most effective way to clean your solar panels is with a hose and a bucket of soapy water. Essentially in the same manner you would wash your car at home. Homeowners spend an average of 150 to have their solar panels cleaned.