Why clean solar panels?
Photo-voltaic panels are constantly exposed to various types of weather and are thus a target for dirt, dust, industrial residues, atmospheric pollution, algae, moss, bird droppings, etc.
The presence of these elements on the panel’s surface prevents the sun’s rays from filtering onto the panel’s photo-voltaic cells completely, reducing the solar performance and therefore efficiency.
Accumulated dirt residues reduce efficiency and may damage the material the panels are made from. For these reasons many solar panel owners and nearly all large commercial solar panel owners choose to have their panels cleaned on a regular basis.
Why choose PV Solar Power?
Currently in Ireland, the only people offering solar panel cleaning are some window cleaners.
The issue with getting your solar panels cleaned by a window cleaner is that your panels are permanently live during daylight, even if you switch off the isolators at your inverter, the circuit between your panels and the inverter is still live and, during daylight, live DC electricity will be flowing through these circuts. Combine this with water and carbon fibre poles used for cleaning and you have a deadly combination. Without the electrical qualifications, in-depth technical knowledge of solar panel systems, special equipment and specific insurance, there is a high risk of electrocution to the person carrying out the cleaning.
At PV Solar Power, solar is our only business and we have years of experience in installing, maintaining and repairing solar panel systems. We have the knowledge, qualifications, experience and specialist equipment to clean any type of solar panel safely and most importantly we have Public and Employer’s liability insurance which specifically covers us for cleaning solar panels.
Our specialist equipment
We use state of the art pure water manufacturing which takes standard tap water and through a series of purification systems, removes all microscopic particles, chemicals and minerals to create totally pure water with a PPM (Parts Per Million) reading of zero. This is water in it’s purest form and when used for cleaning purposes, acts like a magnet to dirt.
The van system contains high velocity pumps for pushing the water up to the required height and can be controlled remotely by the operative.
When on site, the pure water is pumped from our van system through a hose to a long reach carbon fibre pole which can reach heights of up to 80 feet, meaning that we can clean most solar panel installations from the safety of the ground. On the end of the pole is a special brush designed in Germany for the sole purpose of cleaning solar panels and is guaranteed not to damage your panels. Water jets shoot through the brush and the process commences.
We can cater to any solar installation with cherry pickers for very high commercial buildings, backpack systems for hard to reach panels and an off-road rig for ground mounted systems.
Can It Improve Efficiency?
We have for years now, been monitoring the increases in efficiency that solar panel cleaning can bring. Efficiency gains relate to the size and location of the solar site. Our customers can expect to see the following increases:
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Agricultural sites frequently increases of solar efficiency of up to 30%.
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Industrial and commercial sites see increases of up to 60%.
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Residential solar arrays can achieve up to 21% increase in efficiency.
