Solar panel, advice on how to clean please

[msea]

Hi all
a customer asked me about cleaning his solar panels, I have cleaned a few, using Gardner wfp and a supreme soft flocked brush because its extra gentle, but when I had a look at his solar panels, they looked very challenging to clean, anyone know what is on his panels and the best way to clear it off safely ?

many thanks in advance any replies

regards Michael

 

[AW Services]

Hi all
a customer asked me about cleaning his solar panels, I have cleaned a few, using Gardner wfp and a supreme soft flocked brush because its extra gentle, but when I had a look at his solar panels, they looked very challenging to clean, anyone know what is on his panels and the best way to clear it off safely ?

many thanks in advance any replies

regards Michael

Looks like good old Crusty lichen to me
Get some chemitek LRA or another form of pv safe chemicals

There are plenty of solar cleaning threads worth reading from previous entries

You also need to be mindful of high voltage high current and the associated risk of electric shock.

How much do you need the money? Is the main question.

 

[Pjj]

Scrape and apply a biocide , or scrape and scrub with stiff brush and hot water

 

[tench0771]

I would hypo them and then wfp with hot water and stiff brush then once all the fungus is off slip a flocked brush on to finish them off they will take 3 times longer than you think to clean

 

[Limbo_117]

I've done quite a few solar panels now. I use hot water & the Gardiner Water Through Pads (I use a new one for each clean since they're cheap).
Lichen is a pita to get off, which usually involves scraping with the plastic super scraper then scrubbing to get the brown spot off that is left behind.

Has anyone else noticed that after the lichen has been completely removed, that there is a hazy / cloudy spot remaining where the lichen was on the glass?
It's only visible after the panel has dried.
My thoughts are is that the Anti reflective coating has been effected by the lichen, but open to the collective knowledge of others

 

[tench0771]

lichen grows in to the panels its very aggressive it will leave a mark were it was the coating will be damaged from it

 

[Pjj]

Not noticed this to be honest and we do a lot with liken on them , scrape , treat scrub rinse they look like new in fact I have a house to do in a few weeks time that’s bad will , have an extra close look .

 

[Limbo_117]

Not noticed this to be honest and we do a lot with liken on them , scrape , treat scrub rinse they look like new in fact I have a house to do in a few weeks time that’s bad will , have an extra close look .

Not sure you will get a full res image, but have a zoom in on the closest panel. You can see the cloudy spots left behind, only visible when the panel has dried.
I used only hot water & elbow grease for these, no chems.
Most likely as @tench0771 comment, the AR coating has been damaged.

I may take a punt on the chemitek lichen removal agent. It seems pretty new to market though as no mention of it on the forums etc.
Most likely snake oil, but who knows! If it makes it a bit easier...

 

[Pjj]

Not sure you will get a full res image, but have a zoom in on the closest panel. You can see the cloudy spots left behind, only visible when the panel has dried.
I used only hot water & elbow grease for these, no chems.
Most likely as @tench0771 comment, the AR coating has been damaged.

I may take a punt on the chemitek lichen removal agent. It seems pretty new to market though as no mention of it on the forums etc.
Most likely snake oil, but who knows! If it makes it a bit easier...

I see something on the centre panel and the one on the left if the picture but is that a reflection of what ?

 

[P4dstar]

When I first joined this forum everyone used to talk about how easy it was to clean solars. 5 minute job that you can charge top dollar for. Recently I've had a load of this type of clean. We had a fella with us with over 30 years experience. He would hop up a ladder, scrape them, do them by hand etc. What a ball ache. I had a flat fee of £60 for up to 10 panels, then £5 per panel. Not sure I ever want to clean solars again. The standard advice is no chemicals and no abrasive tools to be used.

 

[Limbo_117]

I see something on the centre panel and the one on the left if the picture but is that a reflection of what ?

It's so hard to see when you take a picture.
The panels on the left are reflecting the clouds

If you zoom in on the first cell you can see in it's entirety at the bottom of the image, you can just see a hazy spot, near the bottom left corner of the cell, about the size of a 5p coin.

 

[Pjj]

It's so hard to see when you take a picture.
The panels on the left are reflecting the clouds

If you zoom in on the first cell you can see in it's entirety at the bottom of the image, you can just see a hazy spot, near the bottom left corner of the cell, about the size of a 5p coin.

Still can’t see it , if it’s that small it won’t affect the output anyway

 

[Limbo_117]

Still can’t see it , if it’s that small it wi t affect the output anyway

I'll get another one and post it in the future.
I highly doubt it would affect the output, more aesthetics to be honest. When you look up from ground level at the panels that have dried, and you can see a bit of patchiness.

Just wondered if anyone else had other ideas as to what it was or if it is what I already think, the AR coating is damaged.

 

[Pjj]

I'll get another one and post it in the future.
I highly doubt it would affect the output, more aesthetics to be honest. When you look up from ground level at the panels that have dried, and you can see a bit of patchiness.

Just wondered if anyone else had other ideas as to what it was or if it is what I already think, the AR coating is damaged.

Ime not sure about any coating being on panels , we used to clean tens of thousands of them for green gen uk one of the biggest installers in the country , and they said that it was virtually impossible to damage the surface we regularly scrape them with metal scrapers to remove liken they knew this and were fine with it , they were more concerned with using harsh chemicals and damaging the aluminium frames around the glass panels

 

[ched999uk]

Ime not sure about any coating being on panels , we used to clean tens of thousands of them for green gen uk one of the biggest installers in the country , and they said that it was virtually impossible to damage the surface we regularly scrape them with metal scrapers to remove liken they knew this and were fine with it , they were more concerned with using harsh chemicals and damaging the aluminium frames around the glass panels

I think the main issue is the seal between the frame and glass as any water getting onto the actual cells can short them out. So as long as you keep the scrapers away from the seal you should be fine. The odd slight scratch is going to be insignificant compared to the lichen that was there.

 

[Pjj]

I think the main issue is the seal between the frame and glass as any water getting onto the actual cells can short them out. So as long as you keep the scrapers away from the seal you should be fine. The odd slight scratch is going to be insignificant compared to the lichen that was there.

Yes I agree , we have scraped a lot and never marked a single panel as I have checked as was afraid of causing damage the company knew what we were doing they would soon have said if they weren’t happy with it . They were very strict about not using chemicals

 

[Orgasmic window cleaning]

Today’s work

 

[Pjj]

View attachment 30703
Today’s work

They are quite bad how did you clean them