Protect Your Investment - Spring Cleaning Guide
Maintaining a healthy and productive solar system is the key to receiving the optimal return on your investment. A clean solar panel is a working solar panel! Poor maintenance of a solar system, including overgrown weeds, animal droppings, or layers of dust or mud, will obstruct the panels and interfere with inverter functionality. Ignoring panel cleaning will greatly affect production and can cause system parts to be damaged or inoperable.
During this spring cleaning season, here’s our quick guide on system maintenance to help you make the most out of your investment:
Conduct Overall Visual Inspections:
There’s a lot to gain from doing regular visual inspections of your system. Take notice of any trees, brush, or other plants that have grown over the years that could be shading your panels and reducing system output. Inspect any exposed wiring and conduits for damage such as fraying, cracks, or animal chews. This can help to prevent costly system downtime or electrical hazards. Also be sure to look at your mounting structure for any racking hardware that could be impacting system integrity.
Get Rid of Weeds:
Weeds can become ensnared between panels or grow over them and create shade, which will dramatically reduce the output of your system. We suggest spraying to control weeds biannually or as needed. Be especially diligent during good rain years, monitoring what’s happening around your panels. Clear any vegetation around inverters and disconnect switches to ensure proper ventilation and access. If you choose to use a weed whacker, be very careful as rocks and debris thrown during weed whacking can cause serious damage to your panels. If spraying, be cautious and avoid spraying the panels directly.
Watch for Birds:
Bird droppings can obscure panel surfaces, and nests can create shade and damage panels or wiring underneath. Deter birds by installing plastic predators to frighten them, or use an outdoor ultrasonic repeller. If you notice a bird nest on the back side frame of the array, please remove it immediately.
Rodent Management:
Rodents will be encouraged to nest in weeds, tall flowers, and grass. If they are not managed, rodent infestations can lead to chewed wires and other damages to your system.
Wash Your Panels:
We recommend washing panels three to four times a year under normal conditions, and even more frequently during dry and dusty conditions. Soiling – the dirt, dust, pollen, and debris that coats your panels – can lead to a 40% loss in panel efficiency (learn more about soiling in our previous newsletter here). Only use water with a brush and a squeegee, no soap or chemicals. It’s especially important to use a squeegee to prevent hard water calcium deposit buildup on your panels. Also, make sure to wash your panels during cooler parts of the day to avoid thermal shock.
If you’re looking for a panel cleaning service, give us a call at (209) 668-5303 and we’ll recommend a great cleaning company for you.
Get the most out of your solar investment by making sure you’re keeping your system happy, healthy, and clean year-round!