Most of the time, precipitation takes care of the maintenance of solar panels, since solar power systems do not require particular attention and have very low management costs. The only important step to take for realizing energy-saving policies is that of choosing to install a home solar power system. Installing solar panels at home is an investment that will certainly be profitable in the long run; the maintenance of solar panels is simple and is free of cost.
Here are the five basic rules:
1) Always keep an eye on the performance of the solar panels. Monitoring instruments allow you to check the energy production, irradiation, and the temperature. It’s a good idea to check often, so that you can act quickly should there be an anomaly.
In the absence of monitoring instruments, it is a good idea to compare the data from your own installations against the data from nearby solar installations. If there are no other families with solar panels in your area, you can compare your data against the reference values found on the website of your solar panel supplier.
2) For an optimal production, it’s important that the solar panels be clean. If pollen or dust can be removed by precipitation, it’s important to think about removing any fallen leaves or animal droppings. Leaves represent the greatest impediment to the functioning of a solar panel.
3) The owners of a solar panel installation should often carry out visual checks for any possible damage. A broken panel could significantly diminish the electrical performance of an entire module.
4) It is recommended to consult a technician annually to prevent any costly malfunctions. Above all, this advice should be followed by those who live in the regions of Northern Italy where heavy snowstorms, during the winter, could make their solar panel installation suffer.
5) As good practice for any electrical instrument, it is good to check the warranty of the product and compare the real performance to that guaranteed by the manufacturer of the solar panels that you decided to install. On the market, some suppliers guarantee a linear yield of the module power for a period of over 25 years, with a performance drop of only 4%. The solar panels have a warranty of the product that covers, for up to 10 years, any material of production defects.
How to clean solar panels
Home detergents should be avoided, as well as pressure cleaning instruments, solvents, and other particularly aggressive cleaning chemicals. The classic glass cleaner and a sponge will be more than sufficient, but to avoid incidents, it is recommended that all the safety measures be respected, especially if you must climb up to a home solar installation mounted on an inclined roof.
Advice for choosing a Solar Panel Cleaning Brush
A good brush for cleaning solar panels that you can easily buy online on Amazon is Mr. LongArm 1008 Pro Curve Solar Panel System Kit.
The brush can be used with a Special Detergent for Photovoltaic and Solar Thermal Panels; we advise the use of detergent only in the case of difficult-to-remove stains.
Translated by Raymond Bellon