Are Photovoltaic Panels Worth Washing? Here’s What You Should Know.
You can find conflicting information on the Internet about whether to wash photovoltaic panels. However, what is the situation in practice? Can cleaning the surface of the panels damage them? And what effect can dirt have on the performance of the entire photovoltaic system? Find out for yourself by reading the following article on the subject.
Do you have to wash photovoltaic panels?
Panels mounted on the exterior of a building are exposed to the weather. Rain, falling leaves and even dust hovering over the road can settle on your installation, creating local shading. At the installation stage, you certainly made sure that the panels had the best possible access to the sun. Any shadow cast by neighboring buildings or trees reduces the efficiency of your photovoltaic installation. So why would the reduction in light flow due to dirt be any less harmful?
Cleaning photovoltaic panels is key to maintaining the performance of the entire installation. But is that the only reason to keep them clean?
Why Clean Photovoltaic Panels?
When considering why to wash the photovoltaic installation on the house, it is worth noting additional aspects:
- Evenness of Performance: Dirt in the form of smog, pollen and dust settles on the installation and causes uneven performance of photovoltaic panels. Indeed, some panels may get dirty faster than others – those on the street side will be more exposed to dust from vehicles. This can be seen when comparing panel performance over time.
- Bird Droppings: Bird droppings are very chemically active, thus leading to faster rusting of the panel structure. They can also permanently discolor the glass, significantly reducing light transmission.
- Aesthetics: Dirty photovoltaic panels do not look very aesthetically pleasing on any building.
Cleaning photovoltaic panels also affects their trouble-free performance. After all, local dirt can create hotspots!
Hotspot – What is it and Why is it Dangerous?
A hotspot is a point of much higher resistance. This translates into a much higher temperature at this point. It can lead to burning holes in the rear protective film, cracking the windshield, and in the worst case scenario – it can be a source of fire.
How is the cleaning of photovoltaic panels affected? One of the reasons for the formation of hotspots is local dirt – this can be bird droppings, which form a dark spot on the photovoltaic panel. Here, photovoltaic reactions occur at a much lower rate, which can lead to an increase in temperature at the dirt spot.
How to Clean Photovoltaic Panels?
Cleaning of photovoltaic panels should not be done with random agents – if they contain microparticles, they can scratch the glass and significantly reduce the efficiency of the installation. Therefore, only distilled water is used to maintain the panels. For tough dirt, you can use glass cleaner with wine vinegar. Avoid tap water, as it can leave scale deposits.
Also avoid pressure cleaners and brushes with hard bristles, which can do more damage than good. It is also very important to properly protect the person washing the panels, according to safety rules.
Working at Height
Many photovoltaic installations are located on the roofs of buildings, which involves the risk of falling from a great height. Therefore, it is necessary to use appropriate safeguards. However, the best solution is to hire a professional team for this purpose.
How Often to Clean Panels?
To maintain the high efficiency of the solar system, it is recommended to maintain the photovoltaic panels twice a year – at the beginning of spring and in the middle of the vacations. For the winter, washing photovoltaic panels does not translate into a significant increase in electricity yield.
Is There Any Other Way?
Cleaning photovoltaic panels yourself is risky. Using inappropriate tools can damage the coating of the panels, reducing their performance permanently. Hiring a cleaning team, on the other hand, is a big cost incurred regularly twice a year. Therefore, many people are looking for another solution – a super hydrophobic coating. When applied to the glass surface of photovoltaic panels, the coating makes sure that everything will run off it, and the installation will always perform at its optimal level.
How Does the Hydrophobic Coating Work?
When the hydrophobic coating is applied to the surface of the panel, a very thin layer of nanoparticles forms a boundary for all liquids. As a result, water is not absorbed, but runs down the surface, causing dust and dirt to not adhere to the photovoltaic panels. Even the slightest gust of wind will knock them down. The coating itself, on the other hand, does not reduce light transmission, as the particle size is smaller than the length of light rays.
Advantages of Such Protection
In practice, this results in concrete benefits:
- The performance of the plant remains at the highest level.
- You only need to apply the water repellent coating once to get protection for up to 5 years.
- Protects the surface from chemical damage (such as bird droppings).
- It is invisible and UV-resistant.
- Self-cleaning effect in any rain.
- Prevents snow deposition on panels in winter.
The primary benefit of using a hydrophobic coating is savings. You maintain optimal plant performance without the need to hire a photovoltaic panel cleaning crew, plus you prevent damage to the glass surface and the formation of hotspots.
This method is especially used for large photovoltaic farms, where it is difficult to get enough water to clean hundreds or thousands of panels.
Do you have to clean the photovoltaic panels at home?
Cleaning of photovoltaic panels is necessary, but you can use a special product that ensures self-cleaning of the entire installation during rain or strong winds. The hydrophobic coating prevents dirt from adhering, which makes its removal much easier – just falling water is enough to wash away all the dirt and leave the panel surface completely clean.
Interested in professionally protecting your photovoltaic panels? Contact us today to learn more about our services and hydrophobic coatings that can help your panels stay in perfect condition for years to come.
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