Do I need to have my solar panels serviced or maintained?

AmberStripes

Hi,

This is probably a daft question but I thought I'd ask it anyway....

We have had solar panels for two years. We've saved some money and we've made even more thanks to the FIT tariff. We've become aware of our energy consumption like never before and try to time our use of appliances to make the most of the sunshine. In that two years we've never seen the panels, due to our small back garden.

This begs the question do I need to have my solar panels serviced or maintained?

I've heard nothing from the installers since and I'm wondering if there is anything we should do to get the most from our investment.

Thanks

Kernel_Sanders

AmberStripes wrote: »

Hi,

This is probably a daft question but I thought I'd ask it anyway....

I can't work out if you think it's daft because the answer's so obvious. Well, it may surprise you to know that I intend arranging no maintenance whatsoever for my full system, although the inverter will need replacing when it eventually gives up. Even shifting snow from the array is a false economy (IMHO).

Cardew

Depending on where you live and the type of glass on the panel, they may need washing.

General grime and bird droppings can reduce the output.

Some posters say they need washing regularly, others say the rain does the job satisfactorily.

Martyn1981

AmberStripes wrote: »

Hi,

This begs the question do I need to have my solar panels serviced or maintained?

I've heard nothing from the installers since and I'm wondering if there is anything we should do to get the most from our investment.

Thanks

Why worry. The beauty of PV is that it is virtually maintenance free, and apart from an inverter failing after 5 to 10 years (fingers crossed for double that) it should also be repair free.

As regards washing, why bother, the gains are negligible, and we might as well make the most of the rain, whilst it's spoiling our generation.

Wash your solar panels for more energy? Not worth it, experts say.

http://www.solardaily.com/reports/Wash_your_solar_panels_for_more_energy_Not_worth_it_experts_say_999.html

Mart.

EricMears

Martyn1981 wrote: »

As regards washing, why bother, the gains are negligible, and we might as well make the most of the rain, whilst it's spoiling our generation.

Wash your solar panels for more energy? Not worth it, experts say.

http://www.solardaily.com/reports/Wash_your_solar_panels_for_more_energy_Not_worth_it_experts_say_999.html

Mart.

What the article argued was that any gains would be unlikely to cover the cost of paying someone to clean them.

If the panels were very dirty (perhaps you've had a lot of bird mess deposited on them ?) and if you could do the job cheaply (maybe a high pressure hose would reach high enough to 'rain down' on them) then the same article suggests that a 7% decrease in output might be avoided.

But of course there aren't many places in the UK where you'd get a long spell with no rain at all.

spgsc531

Cardew wrote: »

Depending on where you live and the type of glass on the panel, they may need washing.

General grime and bird droppings can reduce the output.

Some posters say they need washing regularly, others say the rain does the job satisfactorily. [/QUOTE]


So enlightening....


Got to love cardew "the solar panel expert" constantly commenting on the use of them, when he is so 'anti-solar PV'.


Care to enlighten the solar panel community on ALL the types of glass on panels?

[Deleted User]

I think Cardew has issues with the FITs system not PV as such.

For myself the last quarters generation almost covers a whole year of electricity consumption inc heating & DHW.

I grapple with this sometimes as there are those who are not as fortunate.

Cheers

The_Green_Hornet

System losses due to dirt (and sometimes snow) are minimal and if you are using PVGIS to estimate the performance of your system then these losses are taken into account when calculating the potential generation figures.

My own experience after three years of having Solar PV installed is that they are totally maintenance free.

Martyn1981

EricMears wrote: »

What the article argued was that any gains would be unlikely to cover the cost of paying someone to clean them.

If the panels were very dirty (perhaps you've had a lot of bird mess deposited on them ?) and if you could do the job cheaply (maybe a high pressure hose would reach high enough to 'rain down' on them) then the same article suggests that a 7% decrease in output might be avoided.

But of course there aren't many places in the UK where you'd get a long spell with no rain at all.

Hiya Eric. Actually the article said a 7.4% decrease after 145 days without washing or rain, so as you said this wouldn't happen in the UK.

Also, and being a bit pedantic here, but you wouldn't actually avoid all of the 7.4% loss, there would still be all the losses before you washed them, and the losses after you washed them, unless you washed them every day. Hard to guess what the figure would have been if washed once on day 72/73 but doubt it would have been much lower in total, though obviously better than nothing, and much better perhaps for a week or so.

Here at the moment the water butts are overflowing, and generation is ZERO, but the panels are lovely and clean! think I'd prefer sunshine and 7.4% losses.

I'd always planned to wash mine, since I can get at the ESE panels quite easily. Even bought an expensive (£5.99) extendy window cleaning kit, but after one go I decided that in the long, long run, it might be counter-productive by eventually marking the glass. Bird poo just seems to wash off mine in the rain.

Funny thing is, over time, I seem to be taking less and less notice of them. Other than something pretty and interesting to look at in the garden, I just don't think about maintenance anymore.

Mart.

jackyann

Our installer just suggested that we keep an eye on the amount we generate (easy) and if it seemed to be going down then look to see if they needed cleaning (ours cannot easily be seen)