Tips for cleaning/maintaining your panels

[curiouscarbon]

Scrobby - a solar panel cleaning robot

In this project I'll document the development process of the Scrobby Solar solar panel cleaning robot. Since this moment the Scrobby is live on Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/stefanhamminga/scrobby-solar-keeping-your-solar-panels-clean The basic concept came to life a few...

hackaday.io

 

[curiouscarbon]

Oh yeah those solar panel cleaning robots are a must have for diy solar users.
Nice job of spamming your link with a so so post.

The post seemed extremely commercial, I must acknowledge that, but the video of solar panel cleaning robots that will “blow your mind” contains some pretty worthwhile designs.

The post contains an honest reckoning with the reality that water is not always readily available, which is true.

Makes me wonder if just plain pressurized air would provide any cleaning action. Maybe reduce frequency of need for water based cleaning methods.

My personal favorite trick is to use solar power to condense moisture from the air into a liquid phase and then use that to clean the panels. Of course there are challenges to this approach eg growth medium. Filters mitigate that, but increase power usage. It’s possible to generate your own water to clean panels, with the electricity from the panels.

 

[Boondock Saint]

I used to apply RainX to everything. E v e r y t h i n g. Now I apply ceramic coating to everything. Being super hydrophobic it doesn't prevent things from sticking 100% but it makes rinsing off much much easier and bird poop etc doesn't stick.

Adams claims to prevent water spots and it does, but it isn't as thick or long lasting imho as other ceramic coatings I've used. The entire front end of my rig is ceramic coated and all of the rubber, plastic and metal wiper arms are coated with CeraKote. Fanastic product! I discovered it on the Project Farm youtube channel.

 

[kevindarling]

Solar panels have an AR (anti-reflective) coating on the glass, partly to lessen loss due to reflection, and partly to prevent glare.

That's why there are warnings against using abrasive cleaners or scrapers. However, removal of the top AR coating would only result in about a 3% power loss.

Adding a shiny (or any) coating on top also defeats the AR purpose. Power loss in this case would be specific to the added reflectivity.

P.S. Under the glass, the solar cells themselves also have an AR coating, one that is very important, as silicon normally reflects 30% (!!) of the light.

 

[GXMnow]

I live in So Cal 30 miles north of Hollywood, so, basically on the edge of a desert. Between the dust and ash from wild fires, my solar panels get a nasty layer of brown powder on them. I have now rinsed them off for the 5th time in 2 years. I typically see about a 6% improvement the next day. I think it will be more like 10% this time, they were bad. I have a very soft brush with a nine foot rod. I use it on my lower set of panels to whisk away most of the dust. Then I just lightly rinse off the remains. The only time I put any scrubbing force on the panel is if there is a stubborn bird poop. I can't really (safely) get to my second set of panels, so I just rinse them. That upper roof is a bit higher up, so it seems to get less dust and more wind, so they never seem as dirty, and it shows in the production, they make about 3% more than the lower roof in the same conditions.

I will only hose them when the weather is cooler, and I also use a very light mist at first to cool the solar panel slower. Don't want to shock them with a rapid douse of cold water.

I may have to try that ceramic coat stuff. Has anyone checked it if reduces the energy production?

Edit, it has been a bit over an hour since I rinsed the panels today. See if you can see where I cleaned them.

There is a nice little bump up in production around 3PM. I think they needed it.

 

[jb2022]

I bought some used solar panels from a reputable company and when they arrived the glass was dull looking and would not wash off.Is this normal?They seem to work ok for used panels ,should i try to clean them before i put them in service ?

 

[GXMnow]

The antireflective coating may give a dull appearance because it does not reflect off as much light as normal window glass. Don't use a harsh cleanser. The coatings are durable, but not indestructible. You just want to get off dirt and bird crap, they should not be shinny/reflective. A good car wash soap is about as strong as I would use. Dish soap is too harsh and might cause damage. So far I have only used straight water for the dust and dirt that settles on mine. And I used some car wash soap with a very soft brush on a few tough bird droppings once.