Most streets have the forerunners with solar panels, the trend then spreads amongst the street or close faster than the ivy across the trellis, especially when the electricity savings are discovered. Yet the cleaning of the solar panels follows much the same as the maintenance of same said spreading ivy analogy. Do you a) cut back b) water and attend to it or c) settle down and forget? This is the stance that sees some hot water panel and solar panels look positively like a set aside field rather than a shiny clean electric juicing machine, let alone the once pristine ranks of gleaming solar panels adorning the roof top like a Nike swoosh!
Certainly, the role of mother nature in providing our Australian sunny weather for longer hours each month is ideal for capturing electricity generation that most of our European relatives can only be jealous of (London ~202hrs Norway ~180hrs , Brussels ~215 hrs compared to the hours of sunshine to Sydney >250hrs). Yet mother nature’s cleaning of sporadic rain may be less effective than you or your solar panels’ are inclined (pun intended) to believe.
Returning to our analogy, the ivy climbs at all angles, the streets solar panel decks also vary depending on the pitch of roof and orientation of the house. So, do they need cleaning at the same rate for two seemingly identical neighbours?
The pitch of roof and angle of solar panels do affect rain fall off. However, additional factors also play a part. Sure the environment may be similar i.e. both maybe exposed or away from salty sea air or dusty sand. But overhanging foliage does differ, as do birds and other wildlife access across the neighbourhood rooftops. The colloquially named Possum toilet that befalls certain rooftops would be a dire situation for a solar panel rank and their coverage. As such I would suggest clean the panels to discourage the local wildlife from congregating on an abandoned forgotten roof top.
Wind flow across the street rooftops and orientation around the desirable northerly facing aspects also changes subtly from house to house. One can quickly see how each neighbour may have different cleaning regimes. So you have solar panels ask yourself where am I amongst these solar panel owner types;
Clean Owner: Have you washed your hair or car windscreen or windowpanes multiple times since the solar panels were installed, what differs to the roofs squeaky shiny look????
Memory Owner: Have you remembered asking for your solar panel selection angle and type, does rain dry or pool?
Scientific Owner: Maybe your asking are the surfaces hydrophobic (water hating ergo repelling) or hydrophilic (water loving and clinging) coated surfaces then pondering further rather than taking action.
A Visionary Owner: Looking for the visible signs of need are most easily monitored not by looking from across the roads second floor bedroom window but by your electrical readout and monitoring it over the course of time.
A Techno Owner: Employing thermal imaging techniques from helicopter / drones to asses efficiency!
An Environmental Owner: Let the leaves gather as a canopy and obscure the animals as they shelter under, if they chew on the wires the fire could keep them warm.
What about the warranty issues?
Firstly and foremost your solar panel warranty issues should be a fundamental question the homeowner needs to be mindful of. Do not void your warranty by employing the first cleaner that proffers their service, and does not have the right tools for the job.
Realizing that a system that is manufactured in 2019 may only be 28% efficient at its optimal efficiency at best and that as the systems of a few years back were only 18% at their peak and suddenly the deterioration of a few percentage due to leaf, lichen, white dielectric material (aka bird waste) in addition to dried rain marks can significantly dampen even the most ardent summer sun’s rays.
Let us be clear we are not here advocating for replacing with newer systems, we are here to say don’t invalidate your hard-earned investment by overlooking the return that you get if the system is cleaned properly. We suggest that you should not risk approaches that are not using solar panel specific equipment, or from service providers who are not trained to work safely at heights. Listening around the BBQ in a typical suburban neighbourhood one may hear such accounts as;
Uncle Joe’s bucket and scrapper approach which puts him at physical risk and your voltaic cells surface to a horrific early death.
Nephew Kevin’s pressure washer cleaning promise that strips your manufacturer’s warranty as well as potential damage.
Granny’s caustic homemade or budget detergent will also probably do more harm than good to the panels.
Reggie’s recycled rainwater tank water used to clean the panels. When was the last time your rainwater tanks were cleaned?!?! (here we do offer tank water cleaning service but not for solar cleaning effectiveness but that’s in another section). The severe silt from inside a rainwater tank literally leaves a cover within minutes of cleaning that is much worse than if they were never cleaned in the first place.
Dusty’s super blast clean using blower vacs on the gutters and the efficiency just nosedived your solar panels efficiency faster than the popularity of your house in the street as your neighbours and yourself spend the next 2 – 3 months cleaning off the displaced bio-organically and insects blown out at high speed.
Your clean solution (pun intended!) is specific equipment for solar panels do the brushes clean rather than damage combined with de-mineralized water are the go-to options. Ask your working at heights qualified solar panel specialists from leaf it 2 us to show you how cleaning the right way can result in results that put money back in your hip pocket!
At leaf it 2 us we are so confident that you will have a markedly improved clean we do not charge at all for our time or clean if there is not an improvement (solar eclipse excluded!). This combined with before and after photos peace of mind never looked so squeaky clean and achievable!!!