Solar Panel Maintenance: How often should they be inspected?

February 20, 2017 2024-01-25T07:05:50 by 31 Comments

Some defects found when inspecting badly installed solar. If you suspect your system was shoddily installed, you should book an inspection ASAP. But how often should your system be maintained/inspected if you used a reputable installer?

Is getting your panels inspected worth the expense? In the end, it comes down to how safe you really consider your rooftop solar to be. [Read more…]

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How To Clean Solar Panels

October 6, 2016 2020-01-13T13:20:00 by 32 Comments
solar panel cleaning

Ronald cleaning the solar array powering his country residence.

I have already written about why it doesn’t make sense to pay people to clean your solar panels. I also wrote it doesn’t make a lot of sense to clean them yourself. Once you add in the value of your time, the chance of falling off the roof and killing yourself, and how cleaning panels usually only adds a couple of percent to their average output, it is not really worth it. [Read more…]

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Is Solar Panel Cleaning A Waste Of Time And Money?

September 27, 2016 2022-03-03T14:43:36 by 122 Comments
a bird shitting on a solar panel

Solar Panel Cleaning – It’s A Dirty Job, But Nobody Has To Do It

The day your solar panels are installed is the day you will get the best performance out of them.  After that it is all down hill. Admittedly, it is a very shallow hill and it might take over 40 years to get to the bottom, but day one is going to be as good as it gets.

One of the reasons for this is dirt. 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.

The obvious solution is to pay someone to clean those panels, or get out there and clean them yourself. And sometimes this obvious solution will be a sensible course of action. If a dust storm has covered your panels in dirt or pelicans have had a poop party on your roof, then it’s a pretty good idea.

But most of the time solar panel cleaning is not worth it. [Read more…]

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