Best way to clean a solar panel

 
 
 
 
 
 
hillton9
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Best way to clean a solar panel

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Posted: 07.04.2020  ·  #1
What do you all use to clean your solar panels what do you use to get the best from your panel


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Re: Best way to clean a solar panel

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Posted: 07.04.2020  ·  #2
To clean = Warm soapy water

To get the best out of them = Clear blue skies :D

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Re: Best way to clean a solar panel

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Posted: 07.04.2020  ·  #3
Thinking ahead, I'm planning to use rain-x to help the water run off the panel.


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Re: Best way to clean a solar panel

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Posted: 07.04.2020  ·  #4
DO NOT polish them !
Warm water with a little washing up liquid, clean off and dry.
Old wet newspaper to clean and dried off with newspaper (not colour print) is excellent for cleaning glass surfaces....
old car cleaners trick.

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Re: Best way to clean a solar panel

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Posted: 07.04.2020  ·  #5
Why is polishing bad? Does that reduce their efficiency? Glad I asked.


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Re: Best way to clean a solar panel

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Posted: 07.04.2020  ·  #6
Rain x on a PV panel. 🤔 Maybe research that one first. Does it reflect or filter UV? Might it reduce efficiency?


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Re: Best way to clean a solar panel

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Posted: 07.04.2020  ·  #7
Surely products like rain X work best on a sloping surface when the vehicle is moving. If your van is moving, presumably it will receive a charge from the alternator.
A question rather than a statement.

Davy


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Re: Best way to clean a solar panel

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Posted: 07.04.2020  ·  #8
My panel is ever so slightly tilted to reduce water pooling on it and that's where the Rain-X idea came from.

The google finds lots of threads about Rain-X on solar panels but don't really reveal any hard data. There are no horror stories, nor there are any long term success stories. As many of the glass panels at least come with anti-reflective and possibly also hydrophobic coatings it's probably best to just stick with copious amounts of plain water to clean the panels. Car shampoo often have some wax additives which may also affect the coatings so again probably best to stick with just water.


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Re: Best way to clean a solar panel

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Posted: 07.04.2020  ·  #9
Perhaps not a fair comparison, but I have 16 solar panels (total 4Kw) on the roof of my home. They of course are tilted to match the pitch of the roof. They were fitted in March 2015 and have had no maintainence or cleaning of any sort.
Each year in March I have to submit the reading of kilowatts generated in the previous 12 months. Whilst submitting the reading last month I did look at the figures for the past 5 years and they are all pretty similar, so in this unscientific post, they do not appear to be reducing output due to lack of cleaning.
As an aside, when they were first installed we were renovating the house, so there was no draw by any appliance. I was surprised to find one night having finished painting or whatever, and about to leave the house that the streetlight across the road was putting 10 watts into the panels, although this could be part of a margin of error. It made me smile anyway and perhaps we should endeavour to park under a streetlight for more than added security!!

Davy


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Re: Best way to clean a solar panel

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Posted: 07.04.2020  ·  #10
I was in the van last night getting something and looked at the panel output It was getting 100 mA from the full moon 😁
Something made me howl on the way back to the house 🥴🤪😮


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Re: Best way to clean a solar panel

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Posted: 07.04.2020  ·  #11
Quote by eirebus

I was in the van last night getting something and looked at the panel output I was getting 100 mA from the full moon 😁


Nice. And what was the panel getting Dave?

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Re: Best way to clean a solar panel

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Posted: 07.04.2020  ·  #12
Typo fixed 😁😂


hillton9
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Re: Best way to clean a solar panel

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Posted: 07.04.2020  ·  #13
Looks like soap and water when you look at the panel the leading edge is worse than the back road dirt


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Best way to clean a solar panel

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Posted: 07.04.2020  ·  #14
Quote by hillton9

Looks like soap and water when you look at the panel the leading edge is worse than the back road dirt


There you go since you have nothing better yo do,You could rig a little spoiler to direct the dirt away.😁


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Re: Best way to clean a solar panel

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Posted: 07.04.2020  ·  #15
Jeepers. Ye are all great, in and out of the van, washing it etc. I walk by mine and say, ah it’s still there, grand. 😬

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Re: Best way to clean a solar panel

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Posted: 07.04.2020  ·  #16
I think I’ve been either in it, under it or on top of it every day for last two weeks 😁

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Re: Best way to clean a solar panel

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Posted: 07.04.2020  ·  #17
Oooh Matron!


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Re: Best way to clean a solar panel

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Posted: 07.04.2020  ·  #18
Quote by Galldar

I think I’ve been either in it, under it or on top of it every day for last two weeks 😁


Fair play to you. It’ll be all sparkly and ship shape for the next meet so. 👍👍


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Re: Best way to clean a solar panel

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Posted: 08.04.2020  ·  #19
I clean the solar panel with car shampoo when washing the MH and roof - I use Autoglym shampoos but have various “detailer” brands. No to washing up liquid as it contains cleaning salts that can be corrosive. No to polishes etc as they can build up layers and dull over time.


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Solar panel

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Posted: 08.04.2020  ·  #20
I clean mines with, methylated spirits and a soft cloth once you clean the panel the methylated spirits evaporates right away nothing for the dirt to stick to


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Re: Best way to clean a solar panel

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Posted: 08.04.2020  ·  #21
I clean mine with just plain water and a microfibre mop.

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hillton9
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Re: Best way to clean a solar panel

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Posted: 08.04.2020  ·  #22
Done it with soapy water and dried with newspaper spotless 😁

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