How to Clean and Care for Your Solar Panels

If you’ve recently acquired solar panels or are interested in potentially adding them to your home or business, you may wonder about the care and upkeep of them.

The truth is, there is very little maintenance needed to clean and care for your panels. That’s just one more perk to owning solar panels! Solar panels are generally maintenance-free.

Even if you leave your panels without any cleaning, the efficiency rating of our panels is still so high (with dirt and debris) that you may not even notice a difference.

However, if simple rainstorms don’t do the trick -- and you begin to see a sticky film still left behind after the rain -- you may need to rethink cleaning. Many times panels become dirty through:

• Pollen
• Dust
• Bird droppings
• Leaves
• Ash 

And while the coastal regions see rain more regularly, many parts of California don’t see rain as often as they like. Over time, dust builds up to the point that even consistent rain -- or a heavy downpour -- has trouble completely eradicating the dust.

While cleaning your panels doesn’t need to be expensive, you need to be patient, thorough, and careful. Below are some simple tips you can use to keep your panels in tip-top shape.

Normal buildup: If your panels aren’t too high up on your roof, then try spraying them off with your garden hose. Sometimes, all the panels need is a little water to wash over them and free them from dust and debris. Use a low-pressure nozzle, nothing that can damage the panels and scratch them. Do not use a pressure washer as that may void the warranty. 

Medium-to-high buildup: You will need a bucket of soapy water, a soft sponge, and a squeegee (if panels are at a distance from you, you may use a long pole to reach your panels for the scrubber and squeegee). 

1. Fill the bucket with water and a gentle soap
2. Rinse panels with the hose to clear away excess debris
3. Wash panels gently with the sponge
4. Rinse panels with hose water again
5. Squeegee panels dry

Of course, there is another option: if you don’t want to wash them yourselves, the next best thing to do is hire out this cleaning service. Why do it if you don’t have to?

Cleaning your panels, if they need to be cleaned, only has to be done once a year at most. It’s a simple but effective way to keep your panels in their optimal condition, all while giving you the efficiency they are rated at.

At Bright Planet Consulting, we offer this service, and we’d be happy to help facilitate the maximum output of your solar panels by keeping them clean. 

Call us today to schedule a cleaning or if you have any questions about cleaning them yourselves. We’re here to keep your smart, eco-friendly investment in excellent condition. 

Visit our website or reach out to Paul today for more information at (408) 357-2733. 

We look forward to hearing from you!