Cleaning Solar Panels With Hard Water

All the electrical stuff is safely protected with aluminum frames hardened glass and insulation.

Cleaning solar panels with hard water. If your area only has hard tap water you can buy an inexpensive water softening hose attachment to filter out minerals. Solar panels are generally self cleaning but in particularly dry areas or where panel tilt is minimal dust and other substances such as bird droppings can build up over time and impact on the amount electricity generated by a module. Avoid using water with high mineral content. Usually a good hosing off will do most of the job but you can also use a soft cloth or a soft bristled brush or broom and some warm soapy water or glass cleaning agent if they are particularly dirty.

Grime and bird poop doesn t need to cover an entire panel to have an effect. Simply put if you can clean a window you can clean a solar panel. Google did a study on the need to clean solar panels. We ll get to the best way to clean your solar panels in a minute.

As a rule avoid using hard or mineral rich water. The most effective way to clean your solar panels is with a hose and a bucket of soapy water. This is where cleaning solar panels may have to be done. Mineral rich water may leave deposits of particles over time and its chemistry is not recommended for the glass of modules.

They may look scary and technical but in fact the technology is securely sealed inside the solar panel. How to clean your solar panels. Module manufacturers recommend the use of distilled or de ionized water to clean solar panels. The temperature of the water being used for cleaning should ideally be the same as the solar panel temperature at the time of cleaning.

The first thing you want to do is to check with your solar panel manufacturer. Hard water is generally not harmful to one s health but can pose serious problems in industrial settings and when applied to solar panels. It is not particularly complicated. Fill a bucket or spray bottle with warm water and soap no other special equipment is needed.

Don t use abrasive brushes pads or powders. Hard water is water that has a high mineral content in contrast with soft water. Cleaning ones solar panels is not hard at all. Of primary concern for hard water spotting on solar panels is the combined levels of magnesium and calcium.

They found that tilted panels don t require cleaning as much as flat panels. A maximum difference of 20 degrees is acceptable. They might have specific recommendations for cleaning. The grater the difference between the water and the solar panel the greater the chances of the glass cracking due to a sudden temperature change thermal shock.

How to clean solar panels. But first let s look at when and why you might need to invest in solar panel cleaning equipment or hire a professional cleaning service. Check with your solar installers and providers to determine if there is any information about solar panel cleaning recommendations and dos or don ts when it comes to cleaning your system. If your panels are readily accessible you can clean them yourself.

It can damage panels over time.