How Often Do You Clean Your Solar Panels

Early morning can be a particularly good time for cleaning as dew that has settled on the panels overnight will likely have softened grime.

How often do you clean your solar panels.

Clean your solar panelson an overcast day early in the morning or in the evening. Cleaning at regular intervals prevents buildup of residue and keeps your panels operating optimally at all times. If you live in the southwestern united states you ll want to clean your panels more frequently. If you ve got a lot of bird droppings on your panels rain might not wash these off very readily so it s a good idea to clean them off.

In most cases you won t need to clean your solar panels often if at all. In dry regions however the wind can blow dust onto your panels and with a minimal panel tilt rain might not rinse it off sufficiently. For a homeowner that adds up to saving about 20 a year by cleaning their solar panels halfway through the summer. At the very least you should do an annual cleaning of your panels.

Solar panels are usually installed at the right tilt to self clean whenever there s a good downpour of rain. If they came out once or twice a year to clean your solar panels that would probably be enough. In most cases occasional rain will be enough to naturally and safely keep your solar panels clean and free of debris that could lower production. This tends to result in a 3 to 5 increase in efficiency.

Essentially under normal circumstances you ll likely pay more to have your panels cleaned than you ll earn back in solar efficiency. We at lime solar cleaning recommend that panels be cleaned and inspected at a minimum once every six months. Less than 0 05 percent efficiency is lost on average. H however some places do require extra attention.

If the sun is beating down on the panels any water used can quickly evaporate and dirt will become smeared. One company selling an automated washing system says panels should be washed every couple of weeks. Some say panels need an annual scrub others say quarterly. Solar panels that are cleaned once and twice a year produce 3 5 and 5 1 more electricity respectively than those that are left uncleaned.

There are some times it might make sense to clean your solar panels though. Companies specializing in cleaning solar panels generally say. Yes you have to clean your rooftop solar panels and you have to clean them regularly. You can include a solar panel cleaning as part of your spring cleaning routine.

It may be a good idea to freshen up your panels occasionally if you live in an area with heavy particulates in the air. After all anything that accumulates dirt on them for example dust or pollen will get washed off the next time it rains.