PV Panel Washing?

mike95490

How is it best done?
I have a Very tall, 2 story roof, the low part of the eves are about 22' from the ground. I've tried a sidewalk sweeper type hose nozzle, but it does not even begin to reach high enough to get to the panels on the roof. I suppose I'll have to climb up there and do it by hand with a car wash brush? Soap to use? Soap to avoid? Rinse agent to use? car wash/wax? Final rinse with DI water ? I figure I'll have to do this about every three months - I am a block downwind from a 10 lane freeway, and get lots of road dirt blowing on to them, they aren't blue any more, they are dirt brown.
Mike

niel

Re: PV Panel Washing?

mike,
boy i feel for you that close to something like that. there's no getting around it as you have to do it every so often. i'd recommend a little mild dish soap and water, nothing more. don't make it too sudsy or you'll need to rinse alot. the soap would put a film on the pvs if too much is used or not washed off well enough. i don't see any way of not climbing up there unless you can install plumbing up there that will have higher pressures than normal and all you need do is turn it on.
i live on a very busy street myself that is a major throughway in the suburbs of pittsburgh so mine get some dirt too, but not from industry as most of the mills have gone under. i can reach mine easilly as i walk out onto my porch roof and just wipe them down.

System2

Re: PV Panel Washing?

WOW! That's a serious problem I haven't even thought of - pollution of that kind. I'm so lucky to live practically in the forest. The worst I have is a few weeks every Fall when the falling leaves sometimes cover too much of the PV's, but even then, I can just flick them off with a garden hose.
The problem you face is a real indicator of what all of us are doing to the planet we live on.
Best of luck
Wayne

kc8adu

Re: PV Panel Washing?

can you hit them with a cheap pressure washer?
i have one i use to clean up air conditioners and its wand will spray a good ways if adjusted right.
its a cheapie campell housefield

niel

Re: PV Panel Washing?

kc8adu,
i thought of him using that too, but it loses its punch when its a minimum of 22ft in the air. my main roof is much like he describes and believe me even my garden hose barely reaches the eaves with a pressure nozzle. it would be feasible if he were right at the edge of the eaves 22ft in the air aiming the pressurized stream to the pvs.

kc8adu

Re: PV Panel Washing?

i will see how far it shoots when i run it again.
got a truck with a bad oil leak to clean up soon.
btw mine has a soap injector so even better if he can use one.i load mine with dawn.

Roderick

Re: PV Panel Washing?

I don't know if this would cut down on PV production, but I wonder if putting Rain-X on the panels would make them easier to clean? I wouldn't normally do it, but if you have to clean often...

mike95490

Re: PV Panel Washing?

Ugghh.....
The washing went well, I stood between the rows and squirted the sidewalk sweeper nozzle on the panels,
washed off lots of dirt.
The problem is I found one panel with a burned looking spot on a corner. I don't know what it is, a little smaller than a silver dollar in area, a nasty brown color, beneath the glass. I don't know if water got under it somehow, and is eating away the panels PV cells or what. I did not have a dig cam with me, a photo would have been good.
The panels are Sharp 208W http://solar.sharpusa.com/solar/modules/0,2474,4-2,00.html which I've heard are very thin sliced PV cells. Anyone have a gallery of photos of bad panels I can look at ??
[update - photo attached] About 1.3" edge - edge. 11/24/2006

niel

Re: PV Panel Washing?

mike,
you might want to look at that one more closely and see if you can verify it to be functioning properly. at the very least i would contact sharp and ask them about it. digital photos are helpful too.

mike95490

Re: PV Panel Washing?

Brown Spot update.
Installer came by, and we hauled the new panel up and installed it.
pboto below of the aged brown spot. Did not seem to have changed much, except that in the corner, there is a whiteish spot now. Easier to see by eye than in a photo thru the textured glass.
White backing sheet looks unharmed, and can feel no bump or pinhole