Have you ever wondered if you need to do solar panels maintenance? Solar panels have great resistance and durability. However, their performance may decrease if you don’t maintain them properly.
The solar panel has a maximum production that is only achieved in ideal conditions. That means there are losses caused by a variety of factors such as wrong orientation and inclination, shadows or accumulated dust and dirt. Fortunately, you can fix the latter by regularly monitoring and maintaining your solar panels.
In dusty places, the losses caused by the lack of cleaning could reach up to 8%. For example, if your panels are located close to an industry or an area travelled by vehicles. You can reduce these losses if you do a good cleaning frequently, limiting these losses to below 1%.
The panel is made up of silicon cells, which react to the impact of photons, producing electrical energy. So, keeping its surface clean is essential for the cells to be able to receive the maximum possible radiation.
How should you maintain your solar panels?
At first, you should turn off the panels before you start cleaning them. Never stand on the panels. To keep the solar panel clean, just use water with a small amount of soap to make it easier to rinse it later. We do not recommend using harsh detergents or cleaning materials as you could permanently damage the panel’s surface.
The best way to clean the panel is to use a soft sponge and a small amount of dishwasher. Remember pre-wetting the dirt so that it is easier to remove later. So, put very little soap to avoid suds; one drop will be enough. Finally, rinse the panel abundantly with water without leaving traces of soap.
As a general rule, we recommended carrying out this cleaning 3 or 4 times a year. Or more frequently if it is an area with a lot of dust and dirt.
Some tips for maintenance
- Do not abuse detergents. And make sure there are no remains as they could damage the surface of your solar panels.
- Do not clean your solar panels on windy days as they can carry dust and dirt. And the only thing you’ll get is that it sticks to your wet solar panels.
- You must not use pressure washing as it can damage your solar panels. Be careful not to scratch or damage the glass so as not to reduce the power output of the panel.
- When you clean the solar panels, you must be clear that the most important thing is safety since you will be carrying out a task at a certain height, and you are working with water in a place where there is electricity. Therefore you must use insulating protections.
- Do not clean your panels on brilliantly sunny days. It is advisable to do it early in the morning when it’s not so hot. What could happen if you choose a hot summer day to do this task? The drastic change in temperature after pouring cold water on your solar panels could damage them.
- In case you have doubts about how to clean the solar panels, or if you can cause damage to them, it is best to contact professionals. So, they could carry out the task for you and thus prevent them from losing efficiency or their warranty.
Now that you know how to do your solar panels maintenance, make sure that all the elements of the installation work correctly to get the most out of it.
Other maintenance on solar panels
Apart from cleaning, there are other ways to keep solar panels in perfect condition. If the construction is in a place that snows frequently, assure to remove the snow accumulated on the solar panels.
Another maintenance has to do with the leaves and branches of the trees near the building. From time to time, it will be necessary to check that there are no leaves that could affect production or a branch that has grown a lot and covers the Sun.
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