{"id":80637,"date":"2023-12-20T09:23:34","date_gmt":"2023-12-19T23:53:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/?p=80637"},"modified":"2025-06-04T15:04:16","modified_gmt":"2025-06-04T05:34:16","slug":"nrel-solar-panel-cleaning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/nrel-solar-panel-cleaning\/","title":{"rendered":"NREL Study Challenges Our Solar Panel Cleaning Advice"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-80638\" src=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/dirty-solar-panels.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"628\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/dirty-solar-panels.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/dirty-solar-panels-300x157.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/dirty-solar-panels-1024x536.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/dirty-solar-panels-768x402.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>A new study from America&#8217;s NREL might have us rethinking our stance on solar panel cleaning. <!--more--><\/p>\n<h2>NREL\u2019s Pollen Study \u2013 More Than Just a Speck of Dust<\/h2>\n<p>The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) conducted a <a href=\"https:\/\/ieeexplore.ieee.org\/document\/10301702\">detailed study<\/a> in southern USA. They measured the effects on five utility-scale solar plants in North Carolina. The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/panels\/\">solar panels<\/a> had been in operation for over seven years when the analysis was conducted, with no manual cleaning undertaken during this period.<\/p>\n<p>The result? A pollen party! During peak pollen season, energy output nosedived by up to 15% due to this pollen barricade blocking sunlight.<\/p>\n<p>Rain, whether light or moderate, was practically useless against this pollen onslaught. Even heavy rains managed to wash away less than half of the pollen. According to the study, more aggressive cleaning methods were needed.<\/p>\n<h2>Pollen Down Under: An Aussie Perspective<\/h2>\n<p>Now, let&#8217;s bring this home to Australia. We&#8217;ve got our own pollen powerhouses in our native and introduced trees and weeds . If Aussie pollen producers take a leaf out of the NREL study&#8217;s book, we might be in for a similar scenario.<\/p>\n<h2>Ronald Brakels, Time for a Scrub?<\/h2>\n<p>SolarQuotes Blogger Ronald has long advocated that rain is enough to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/panels\/cleaning\/\">keep solar panels clean<\/a> in Australia. But with the NREL study showing rain\u2019s ineffectiveness against pollen, should Ronald be reaching for the soap and sponge? Maybe in some cases.<\/p>\n<h2>Cleaning Solar Panels: A Regional Thing<\/h2>\n<p>Let\u2019s not get ahead of ourselves. Australia&#8217;s diverse climates mean pollen\u2019s impact on solar panels will vary. In dense vegetation areas, more proactive cleaning could prove beneficial. In other parts, Ronald&#8217;s advice will still stand firm.<\/p>\n<h2>Safety First<\/h2>\n<p>A word to the wise: If you\u2019re thinking of climbing up to clean, remember safety is paramount. Consider professionals for the job, and if you&#8217;re a DIY enthusiast, take every safety precaution. Don&#8217;t die for an extra 15% energy yield.<\/p>\n<h2>Conclusion<\/h2>\n<p>The NREL study is a wake-up call, especially for areas prone to high airborne pollen. While it may not warrant a nationwide cleaning frenzy, it suggests that in some Australian regions, a little more than rain might be needed for optimal solar panel performance. And Ronald, it might be time to add a bit of nuance to your cleaning mantra!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A new study from America&#8217;s NREL might have us rethinking our stance on solar panel cleaning.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-80637","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-solar-panels-2","entry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.2 (Yoast SEO v27.2) - 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This represented 27% of the number and 12% of the surface area\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;General Solar &amp; Storage News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"General Solar &amp; Storage News","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/solar-battery-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Floating solar PV in the USA","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/floating-solar-usa.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/floating-solar-usa.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/floating-solar-usa.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/floating-solar-usa.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":88887,"url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/solar-panels-detergent-mb3096\/","url_meta":{"origin":80637,"position":1},"title":"Solar Panel Cleaning Study: Ditch Dishwashing Detergent","author":"Michael Bloch","date":"January 16, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Results from a Finnish study suggest solar panel glass can be safely cleaned using a few common cleaning products without negatively impacting performance - but not dishwashing detergent. Build-up of grime and detritus on solar panels can impact how much electricity they generate. While rainfall is usually enough to keep\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;General Solar &amp; Storage News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"General Solar &amp; Storage News","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/solar-battery-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Solar panel cleaning - dishwashing detergent","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/solar-panel-cleaning.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/solar-panel-cleaning.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/solar-panel-cleaning.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/solar-panel-cleaning.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/solar-panel-cleaning.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5281,"url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/new-year-kicks-off-solar-cell-efficiency-gains\/","url_meta":{"origin":80637,"position":2},"title":"New Year kicks off more solar cell efficiency gains","author":"Staff Writer","date":"January 11, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Will 2016 see the beginning of the end for fossil fuels in the wake of the rise and rise of green energy? Many commentators are saying this is the case and if solar cell efficiency gains are any indication, they have a good case. Already SolarQuotes has reported on the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Solar Panels&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Solar Panels","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/solar-panels-2\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"30% badge on a solar panel","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/2016-01-11_08-50-56.jpeg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/2016-01-11_08-50-56.jpeg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/2016-01-11_08-50-56.jpeg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":43607,"url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/hydropower-floating-solar-mb1703\/","url_meta":{"origin":80637,"position":3},"title":"Floating Solar + Hydropower&#8217;s Huge Potential","author":"Michael Bloch","date":"September 30, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Adding floating solar panels to hydropower plant reservoirs has the technical potential to supply a significant chunk of the world's electricity needs. Analysis carried out by researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy\u2019s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) identified floating solar power potential as ranging from 3.0 TW to 7.6\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;General Solar &amp; Storage News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"General Solar &amp; Storage News","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/solar-battery-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Floating solar + hydropower","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/floating-solar-hydropower.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/floating-solar-hydropower.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/floating-solar-hydropower.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/floating-solar-hydropower.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/floating-solar-hydropower.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":11225,"url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/solar-panels-hail-mb0032\/","url_meta":{"origin":80637,"position":4},"title":"Solar Panels Vs. Nature &#8211; Hail","author":"Michael Bloch","date":"May 11, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"A National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) facility in Golden, Colorado was witness to an unscheduled test provided by Mother Nature of large hailstones pummeling its solar panels. According to the Denver Post, a hailstorm earlier this week caused chaos across the area and wreaked a massive amount of damage. 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The myth goes something like this: \"The energy that goes into making a solar panel is more than that panel will produce over its\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;General Solar &amp; Storage News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"General Solar &amp; Storage News","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/solar-battery-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Solar panel myth - energy payback","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/solar-panel-energy.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/solar-panel-energy.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/solar-panel-energy.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/solar-panel-energy.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/solar-panel-energy.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80637","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=80637"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80637\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":92425,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80637\/revisions\/92425"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=80637"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=80637"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=80637"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}