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Cleaning Solar Panels

Featured Replies

Hi All

Just my finding. I have around 4000watts of panels on 1 string facing NE they produce around 1300 to 1400 in winter  after clean them they went up to 1950watt. So dust  realy affects there performance. Just a thought. 

4 minutes ago, John2 said:

Hi All

Just my finding. I have around 4000watts of panels on 1 string facing NE they produce around 1300 to 1400 in winter  after clean them they went up to 1950watt. So dust  realy affects there performance. Just a thought. 

thanks, when was the last time you cleaned them?

1 hour ago, John2 said:

Hi All

Just my finding. I have around 4000watts of panels on 1 string facing NE they produce around 1300 to 1400 in winter  after clean them they went up to 1950watt. So dust  realy affects there performance. Just a thought. 

Yes, a good clean a couple of times a year is a good thing. 

Thinks: is this a factor to take into consideration when planning an installation? Ease of access for cleaning?

Hi,

 

I recently installed 12 x 390w (2 strings of 6 panels )JAVA panels with 5000w Mecer inverter

Currently the total input from panels never goes higher that 2900w. Will it go up in the summer or can I add more panels

The MECER inverter got  4500w MPPT

 

Thanks

Deon

 

 

1 minute ago, John2 said:

@phidz i just hose them down with water and then if there ia stubborn dirt i use sunlight with a squeegee. I hose them down first to avoid scratching the glass that my way.

I think I will give this a try, thanks 

4 hours ago, Deon1 said:

Hi,

 

I recently installed 12 x 390w (2 strings of 6 panels )JAVA panels with 5000w Mecer inverter

Currently the total input from panels never goes higher that 2900w. Will it go up in the summer or can I add more panels

The MECER inverter got  4500w MPPT

 

Thanks

Deon

 

 

Most definitely, you will get higher production in Summer but if you have funds, it will not hurt to add more panels. I would add two more 

9 hours ago, John2 said:

@phidz i try every month as they are easy accessible. Its make a difference.

I wish i could do that. i'm afraid of heights so i don't go on top of the roof.

On 2021/07/13 at 4:51 PM, hoohloc said:

Most definitely, you will get higher production in Summer but if you have funds, it will not hurt to add more panels. I would add two more 

Thanks 

  • 10 months later...
On 2021/07/13 at 4:45 PM, John2 said:

@phidz i just hose them down with water and then if there ia stubborn dirt i use sunlight with a squeegee. I hose them down first to avoid scratching the glass that my way.

Good day. Rather searched this topic before starting a new post.

Realized the whole week that my panels were only producing 2.1kw (2.4ish) system. (10:40 in the morning) Well, I thought, it's winter and this should be expected. But anyhow, I climbed on the roof and saw a thin layer of dust. Cleaned them using the sponge side of a squeegee and a bit of running water. Got off the roof and immediately saw a jump to 2.4kw . That's an immediate gain of about 300w. Where I live, although on a farm, there's still a lot of mining dust blowing the whole place full. When I was in town, this was a weekly occurrence.

About using soap, Imo don't, just use clean water. If you don't get all the soap off, there will be a sticky residue enabling the dust to stick to it. Got this info on google.

Anti-reflective (AR) coating: An anti-reflective coating for solar panels is a nano coating which reduces the reflection and glare produced by an uncoated solar panel. It does this by reducing the difference in refractive index between air and glass.

Soap will remove this protective layer over time, unless it's specially made for this type of cleaning. (I think)

 

tada.png.9ebc52d905dc6be49a1b6c9ee8a12614.png

....and this is about half an hour later. Thought it was the cooling effect of the water, but seems to be stable.

Edited by Warlok
bad english

  • 2 weeks later...

I was looking at my panels a few days ago and could see a thick layer of dust. As it happened.. we had decent rain last night and this morning the oanels looked a lot cleaner. Difference on my PV is about 150w better today at peak vs a few days ago..

  • 1 year later...

My panels look like this 1 week after cleaning.... I am not exactly spiderman and my neighbours are going to think I have gone OCD mad if I jump up and down my roof on a weekly basis. So isn't there a more sustainable solution?

Has anyone tried these so called nano ceramic coatings? The information and company details behind these products look a little bit sketchy so I am not sure if it is just a money making gimmick? Kind of makes me think the salesmen behind these proliferate car detailing products which are being hawked at filling stations have simply relabeled some of their product lines as PV coatings.  Nevertheless, hoping there is a real McCoy out there someone can recommend

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