Keeping Your Solar Panels Clean in Summer Prime Time

Dear friends;

Summer is has arrived and will be gone before we know it! And after a rather gloomy June and unusual July, the sun has been showing itself regularly.

Your solar array will produce about twice as much power in the summer months than it will in the rainier, shorter daylight winter months. For that reason, it is important to help to maximize your investment’s production during these high performance months. Since our air in Southern California tends to be on he filty, dusty, and even sooty side, make sure to give your panels a rinse with the hose at least once per month. Add in pollen, bird droppings, and other stuff and it all adds up to lower the performance of your panels. More often rinsing is even better should your schedule permit. For the other half of the year occasional rains will do the job for us. The Renewable Energy Laboratory programs we use to calculate your system’s production do figure some dust and soiling into the equation, but keeping you panels clean will pay extra dividends.

You’ll notice a slight spike in production after they have been cleaned, as much as 10-15%:  Some simple tips:

-Since panels can get hot in full sun, to completely avoid the very rare instance of cooling hot glass with the water and creating cracks in the panel, best to give them a rinse in the AM or later afternoon/evening when not in full sun.

-Unless you plan to rinse you panels nearly everyday, regular water from the hose is fine. There are studies and opinions that one needs filtered, deionized water for the panels. The thinking is that minerals, salts, and other components in our public water supply could build up on the panels and cause issues. Again, if you were soaking them every single day, maybe this could be a very longterm issue, but generally you are just fine with hose water.

-We like to use Simple Green or similar biodegradeable, chemical free soaps when its possible to access the panels with a sponge, towel, or long handled mop. Some of the above junk needs a little help and a scrub here and there for the best results.

Thanks for reading!

Brought to you by Mimeos Sustainability Consultants- Solar Energy System Installers for Los Angeles and San Francisco Bay area, California.