- prestridgesolar
Is cleaning solar panels REALLY WORTH IT??
Updated: Apr 11, 2019
The quick answer is YES. Solar panels suffer from dust, debris, bird droppings, sap droppings and even salt build up in coastal areas. Cleaning your panels doesn't just save you money, it gives your panels a longer productive life span.
Efficiency
In the beginning, it was believed that annual rains would clean the panels and additional cleaning services were not needed but as time has gone by the need for solar panel cleaning became more apparent. The best comparison we like to use is comparing solar panels to a car that sits in a drive way for a full year. At the end of that year the car will be absolutely filthy. When it rains the car doesn't dry sparkly clean, instead the dust compacts down to a thin layer of mud and mud builds up in the corners of the seals or any place it can gather. Solar panels react the same. From the ground sometimes its hard to see but if you take a closer look or look at them from an angle it becomes evident.
Its recommended that solar panels should be cleaned at a minimum once per year. Cleaning panels annually will help with the panels productivity in the long run. Having one annual clean with deionized water and specialty brushes that wont scratch the glass STOPS the long term build up of mud, salt and debris. If solar panels go 5+ years without a cleaning the glass can become so embedded with dirt, bird droppings, sap etc. that even though cleaning them at that point is still extremely beneficial, the glass could be slightly weathered which will can cause long term production of the panels to decrease. In conclusion, an annual cleaning will help with the productive life span of your solar panels.
WANT MORE THEN THE MINIMUM?!? We agree! While an annual cleaning if good preventative maintenance, cleaning panels more often will not only help the long term production, but also the short term production. The picture above is of a solar panel that hasn't been washed in only 30 DAYS and had a light rain a couple days before this photo was taken! From the ground these panels look extremely clean, but a closer inspection shows how quickly dust accumulates. This dust hurts solar panel efficiency and shows that there could be a need for routine cleanings to help keep maximum efficiency.
Prestridge Solar has recognized this need and took it a step further. While a lot of companies are charging $150.00+ for solar panel cleanings, Prestridge Solar offers annual plans that charge as low as $64.00 per cleaning for a set of 4 cleanings a year! We did this because we believe solar panel maintenance is important to staying green and needed to come up with a way to offer such an important service at a price that makes sense.
We use deionized water that leaves a SPOTLESS DRY so we can cut time on squeegeeing the panels and return that time to our customers with a thorough scrub of their panels. We believe in superior results at a economical cost to the customer. Prestridge Solar currently services the entire Central West Coast and will be happy to service your home with respect and care. If your outside our area of operation feel free to contact us and we would be happy to refer you to a reputable solar care company that is in your area.
Prestridge Solar
(805) 270 - 3070
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