Do You Have To Clean Solar Panels On Your Roof

There are some times it might make sense to clean your solar panels though.

Do you have to clean solar panels on your roof.

Early morning or in the evening ideally on an overcast day is best. Yes you have to clean your rooftop solar panels and you have to clean them regularly. If you can t clean your panels from the ground hire a company. The obvious solution is to pay someone to clean those panels or get out there and clean them yourself.

However unless you live somewhere with high amounts of smog dust dirt or sand blowing around solar panel cleaning is generally not necessary. They have the appropriate safety equipment for navigating the roof. As soon as your panels are out in the open in the clean air or not so clean air dust will start to settle on them blocking sunlight reducing their efficiency and costing you money. This tends to result in a 3 to 5 increase in efficiency.

Get the most from your solar installation by choosing cec accredited products and installers. Too much sun on wet panels can cause them to dry too quickly and smudge. Most manufacturers recommend cleaning at least twice a year. Using anything with high pressure may cause damage.

Use a mild detergent if you feel like you need some extra help. The good news is that cleaning will not be needed very often and in fact most of the time not at all. Clean the surface of the solar panel with a soft cloth or sponge. Since most homes with solar panel roofs are not accessible from the ground attempting to clean your roof yourself can be very dangerous.

Since solar panels often are placed on the roof of your home they will have the same slope. Some say panels need an annual scrub others say quarterly. If you live in the southwestern united states you ll want to clean your panels more frequently. And if you re asking yourself if you can use a pressure washer to clean your solar panels we encourage you to only use a normal hose.

You do not have to clean the wiring underneath. Show extra caution if cleaning your solar panels requires you to climb up on the roof. Your solar panels need to be exposed to sunlight in order to produce power. According to the consumer product safety commission cpsc thousands of people are injured and hundreds are killed as a result of ladder related falls.

Companies specializing in cleaning solar panels generally say. After all anything that accumulates dirt on them for example dust or pollen will get washed off the next time it rains. This is because your roof has a natural slope to get rid of excess water and debris landing on it. Fill a bucket or spray bottle with warm water and soap no other special equipment is needed.

In most cases you won t need to clean your solar panels often if at all. At the very least you should do an annual cleaning of your panels.