Everyday you see more and more solar panels popping up on the roofs of commercial buildings and residential house across America, even areas of land aptly named solar panel farms are growing in popularity daily. While these ever improving systems bring more and more clean energy to the masses through direct means on a building or home, they also supply many power companies throughout the country with a large supply of energy that they can then provide to their clients without having to go through the process of “creating” this energy through regular means.
While mother nature provides the sun to produce all of this needed energy she can only do so much. If the sunlight can’t efficiently get to these panels their effectiveness goes down and thus reduces the reason they are used in the first place. This is where ClearView Window Cleaning can help you out.
The solar power authority has published maintenance recommendations to keep these panels running at optimum efficiency and we are already capable of handling this task. While it is a somewhat simple process, most of the time, panels are on roofs that are high in the air and not as easily accessible for the average person that has implemented solar panels to produce their energy. Below we will discuss a few of the ways we at ClearView can help you with those needs.
-
- Spring Maintenance: The Solar Panel Authority recommends you have your installer provide a simple inspection at this time to see if there are any issues that need to be addressed. These can be, but aren’t limited to the following:
A. Water damage at any point where the panel is attached to the roof.
B. Any vegetation growth
C. Corrosion on any electrics
D. Loose wiring
E. Any animal infestation
F. Excessive inverter damage
G. Burn marks or broken panels
- Spring Maintenance: The Solar Panel Authority recommends you have your installer provide a simple inspection at this time to see if there are any issues that need to be addressed. These can be, but aren’t limited to the following:
-
- Summer Maintenance: After pollen season has passed it is recommended that you do a full cleaning of all the panels to remove any dust or pollen buildup, animal droppings and debris that may fall from nearby trees. A strong rainstorm could possibly take care of all of these issues, but any panels that become clouded by these types of debris can cause the panels not to work at optimum efficiency and thus losing out a chance to produce the most energy during the time of year they should be working best for you. Water used to clean these panels should be demineralized because “hard” water can cause corrosion or “spots” to appear on the panels and thus lowering their efficiency.
-
- Fall Maintenance: Most if not all of the maintenance this time of year is simply leaf removal because panels can work well into the fall season of the year. Most of the time you can use a simple leaf rake or brush to remove this debris, but it is recommended that you check the manufacturer’s warranty first to make sure what they authorize for dealing with this debris. Even if you don’t have many tall trees in your immediate area you should still take a look at your panels to make sure that nothing has blown from another area and collected on your panels.
- Winter Maintenance: This is usually for snow/ice removal. Most times this will not be a concern unless your area receives a large amount of consistent snow or ice with consistent low temperatures where the heat of the air and house combined don’t naturally remove the buildup on the panels. Too much ice buildup could lead to even more weight on your roof along with the panels and lead to a possible leak. DO NOT under any circumstance use salt to try and melt any ice buildup away as this will cause components to rust and corrode thus weakening the brackets of the panels.
Call us today to learn more about what ClearView can do for you and we can also put together a maintenance schedule that works best for you to keep your investment working its best.