Cleaning Solar Panels

Enjoyed the comments!
Seriously, I think all that is needed is to slant the panels at a good 45 degrees.
Gives max production in winter, washes clean with rain (even wipes with wind) and some protection against hail
 
Iwojima said:
I was thinking a bucket of water with diluted vinegar and a soft sponge

Followed up with maybe some window cleaner sprayed onto a microfiber cloth (rather than soaking the panel in the stuff)
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Why would you want to put an acid on your panels?
That's what you would use in the kitchen and bathroom to combat germs, your panels may have plenty of them from decomposing hadeda poop, but germs do not affect performance. You have to bear in mind that the mounting structure possibly has some galvanic corrosion already going on, using an acid would probably accelerate it.

Just use water under mild pressure. Not a pressure sprayer, but one like this:
iu


Personally, I have never had the need to use any detergent. For hadeda poop and anything else that is firmly stuck, leave it to soak and come back to it after a while, it does get softer after multiple tries.

I have probably washed mine 4x in the past 3.5 years, never needed anything harsher than water under mild pressure.
 
I wash mine every second or third month when my guy is up there cleaning the gutters. He uses some mild ratio mixed solar panel cleaner I got from takealot and a window squeegee.

I get on average about 65-75 extra hp after each clean.
 
RonSwanson said:
Why would you want to put an acid on your panels?
That's what you would use in the kitchen and bathroom to combat germs, your panels may have plenty of them from decomposing hadeda poop, but germs do not affect performance. You have to bear in mind that the mounting structure possibly has some galvanic corrosion already going on, using an acid would probably accelerate it.

Personally, I have never had the need to use any detergent. For hadeda poop and anything else that is firmly stuck, leave it to soak and come back to it after a while, it does get softer after multiple tries.

I have probably washed mine 4x in the past 3.5 years, never needed anything harsher than water under mild pressure.
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I live on the coast, my panels are in line with the sea and frequently savage on-shore winds.
 
Iwojima said:
I live on the coast, my panels are in line with the sea and frequently savage on-shore winds.
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OK, so you're assuming that the wind is bringing in alkaline sea water, and therefore the diluted sodium hypochlorite (acid) will counteract it?

Might be a good idea to actually measure the PH of the falling water, it may be more acidic than what you think.
 
RonSwanson said:
OK, so you're assuming that the wind is bringing in alkaline sea water, and therefore the diluted sodium hypochlorite (acid) will counteract it?

Might be a good idea to actually measure the PH of the falling water, it may be more acidic than what you think.
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I'm working with the fact that highly diluted white spirit vinegar is often used as a mild cleaning agent for applications where standard off-the-shelf cleaning products are potentially too harsh.

It was merely an option. One not considering the chemical make-up of the deposits I've noticed on my panels, which are akin to those I'd see on a car or house windows that remains unwashed for several weeks while subjected to sea breezes.

I could just as easily use something alcohol based (like a window cleaner) also extra diluted.
 
Whilst cleaning my gutters and roof valleys in preparation for the Cape Winter rain, I gave my panels a quick hose down, the bird poop washed away quickly.
 
Iwojima said:
I'm working with the fact that highly diluted white spirit vinegar is often used as a mild cleaning agent for applications where standard off-the-shelf cleaning products are potentially too harsh.

It was merely an option. One not considering the chemical make-up of the deposits I've noticed on my panels, which are akin to those I'd see on a car or house windows that remains unwashed for several weeks while subjected to sea breezes.

I could just as easily use something alcohol based (like a window cleaner) also extra diluted.
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Alcohol would be safer IMHO, tap water laced with some methylated spirits, at least it has a neutral PH, but then again, you would get the same effect from any commercial dish soap. I view all of it as overkill, no-one has the time for it, and it just keeps getting dirty.
 
Not sure if it's just current conditions but after all the highveld rain last night, my generation is hitting 6kW (out of 5.5 installed kWp :unsure: ) even before midday when the sun comes out. I haven't seen this happen in a while with our lack of rain.

So maybe there is something to this panel cleaning thing, even if it's just water?
 
Flanders said:
Not sure if it's just current conditions but after all the highveld rain last night, my generation is hitting 6kW (out of 5.5 installed kWp :unsure: ) even before midday when the sun comes out. I haven't seen this happen in a while with our lack of rain.

So maybe there is something to this panel cleaning thing, even if it's just water?
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Nah that's not cause of the rain, that's cause of the clouds and the sun refracting through giving a boost, I've hit 4.6 out of 4.3, it's not long though.
 
Lupus said:
Nah that's not cause of the rain, that's cause of the clouds and the sun refracting through giving a boost, I've hit 4.6 out of 4.3, it's not long though.
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are you saying he hasn't observed cloud edge effect before?
 
Lupus said:
Nah that's not cause of the rain, that's cause of the clouds and the sun refracting through giving a boost, I've hit 4.6 out of 4.3, it's not long though.
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I get you - lensing effect is it? But, even with this effect over the last while, I haven't seen it go above 4.9 or 5 kW output. Unless of course today's atmospheric conditions are really specific.
 
Flanders said:
I get you - lensing effect is it? But, even with this effect over the last while, I haven't seen it go above 4.9 or 5 kW output. Unless of course today's atmospheric conditions are really specific.
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Only really works with certain clouds, but over the last 2 years I've seen it a few times :-)
 
Flanders said:
I get you - lensing effect is it? But, even with this effect over the last while, I haven't seen it go above 4.9 or 5 kW output. Unless of course today's atmospheric conditions are really specific.
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What's the temp?
 
I went up a few weeks ago to do waterproofing, mine are filthy, probably because they're almost flat - they seem to stay cleaner in winter, I went up just after winter last year and they were fine.

I bought the following two products, will probably go up next weekend - if its too much PT, I'll get someone in next time to do it, they charge about R1k for 20 panels.

Takealot.com: Online Shopping | SA's leading online store

South Africa's leading online store. Fast, reliable delivery to your door. Many ways to pay. Shop anything you can imagine: TVs, laptops, cellphones, kitchen appliances, toys, books, beauty & more. Shop the mobile app anytime, anywhere.
www.takealot.com www.takealot.com

(genuises at takealot stuck a fragile sticker over the mixing instructions (i.e. ratio))

Takealot.com: Online Shopping | SA's leading online store

South Africa's leading online store. Fast, reliable delivery to your door. Many ways to pay. Shop anything you can imagine: TVs, laptops, cellphones, kitchen appliances, toys, books, beauty & more. Shop the mobile app anytime, anywhere.
www.takealot.com www.takealot.com
 
Flanders said:
I get you - lensing effect is it? But, even with this effect over the last while, I haven't seen it go above 4.9 or 5 kW output. Unless of course today's atmospheric conditions are really specific.
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I should re-iterate. I haven't seen it exceed 5kW output in as long as we've had this dry spell. I've seen 6kW (over 100% kWp) numerous times before.
 
Flanders said:
Right now appears at around 19C. You bring up an interesting point. That does seem to have an effect. On really hot sunny days, generation actually seems to suffer?
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Yeah it actually does, when we had that heat wave up here in JHB generation was probably 15% less :-(
 
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