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Should you wash your solar panels?

incoherency.co.uk

131–140 of 259 posts

Re: Should you wash your solar panels?

#131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It does no longer pay to be clever with solar panels; they're too cheap. Angle not quite right? Add a couple extra. Summer vs. Winter? Add a couple extra.

Except in germany where if you install too many you get classed as an energy company and have to pay extra tax. yay.

You don't get "classed as an energy company", you just have to pay taxes on the money you make from selling the energy. This starts at 30 kWp (up to that size, the income is tax free), which is very likely more than what you could put on a private home.

Re: Should you wash your solar panels?

#132

> why would you clean them when you're about to sell the house? So they look good and the potential buyer sees something that looks to be in good condition and working well.

OT: a friend of mine recently bought a house. They were surprised to learn at closing that the seller had financed their solar panels and that wasn’t apart of the home purchase. So they had to negotiate who was going to pay off the solar panel, and this all had to be completed before home sale.

I'd expect solicitors to find liabilities like that. How did it end?

Re: Should you wash your solar panels?

#133

> why would you clean them when you're about to sell the house? So they look good and the potential buyer sees something that looks to be in good condition and working well.

OT: a friend of mine recently bought a house. They were surprised to learn at closing that the seller had financed their solar panels and that wasn’t apart of the home purchase. So they had to negotiate who was going to pay off the solar panel, and this all had to be completed before home sale.

I've heard it's pretty standard, their real estate agent should know that (and tell them about it on their first visit).

Re: Should you wash your solar panels?

#134
post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Having recently bought a house, I love thinking about things that increase perceived value relative to cost (more so because they're nice to have, not because we plan to sell any time soon). A few things we changed right away: - new mailbox (replacing a rusted 30+ year old one) - lots of landscaping work (the majority of which I can do myself) - installed a wine fridge (I always felt it gave the sense that the kitche…

Trump wrote in one of his books that a person selling their car that does not detail it beforehand is a fool.

Did he also say you should cover everything the tackiest gaudiest faux-gold crap everywhere?

Anyone who takes business advice from Trump is a moron.

Re: Should you wash your solar panels?

#135
In the southeast states in the US, we experience "the pollening" each Spring, which can leave 1/8" or more of thick crusted pollen on solar panels. I wash ours at least monthly March through May. They're at least 15-20% more efficient, if not more, without the pollen crusted on them.

Re: Should you wash your solar panels?

#136
post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Having recently bought a house, I love thinking about things that increase perceived value relative to cost (more so because they're nice to have, not because we plan to sell any time soon). A few things we changed right away: - new mailbox (replacing a rusted 30+ year old one) - lots of landscaping work (the majority of which I can do myself) - installed a wine fridge (I always felt it gave the sense that the kitche…

To add a few more: it's similarly easy to swap cabinet handles, vent covers, outlet wall plates. Fresh caulk is nice too, even if it's a bit sloppy, still beats stained or cracked caulk.

Those are things I've noticed when I've shopped for homes.

Mostly, I notice that they look like efforts that were motivated by trying to get a high price, but are limited to being fast and cheap.

So while I do note them, my perception of them is not generally positive at all.

I'd rather the outlet covers be original and clean than the new, usually oversized covers (with a slight color mismatch) I often find.

If I'm seeing caulk anywhere, that's problematic for me. When used properly-sparingly to seal things, it doesn't draw the eye at all. When it's used to hide sins, it's awful.

When I see sloppy caulk I first think of the time I'll need to spend to dig it all out. And then, I think about the time it will take to actually-fix whatever things it was hiding that nobody has ever bothered with actually getting right.

When I see new doorknobs on old doors, I'm mostly attracted to the outline that was left by the original hardware. And then I wonder: The old knobs were probably made from materials like steel, cast iron, and brass; stuff that can last for centuries with some maintenance. Why were they replaced?

Were the old knobs non-functional somehow, or were the owners too cheap and lazy to bother with taking things apart for a bit of TLC and preservative paint?

What other parts of the house were done fast, cheap, and/or lazy like a landlord who doesn't give a fuck? What haven't I found yet that they "fixed"?

Re: Should you wash your solar panels?

#137

I have a 19 year-old, roof mounted, 6.3 kW nominal system in two arrays (east/west facing), 40 deg. north. I've never washed the panels outside of rain and occasional hail storm "scrubbing". Replaced a failed inverter two years ago. My peak summer output is basically the same as when installed, making 36-38 kWh on a cloudless day. I'm actually impressed my panels haven't really degraded in performance over those 19 y…

What the panels' technology / manufacturer?

SolarWorld, 175 watt, polycrystalline. I don't recall any model number (paper work is filed away somewhere.) ISTR mine were made in Germany. I think at the time my system was installed, there where some 225 watt panels available, but the 175 ones were a better price point per watt.

[edit - added technology]

Re: Should you wash your solar panels?

#138

Appreciate the attempts to quantify it. I haven't tried to quantify washing, but I do look at mine regularly. I doubt anything accumulates that rain doesn't handle well enough. Messing around with ground panels is lower risk and safer than roof panels where tool extenders and ladders start to become involved. If you have roof panels, you are the biggest danger to your panels (and yourself.) Don't try to clean them, s…

In many countries it is actually illegal to use tall ladder etc. owners would have to erect a scaffolding to make access for work people to clean it safely.

Stuff like this is why America continues to mog the rest of the world economically.

Re: Should you wash your solar panels?

#139

I have a 19 year-old, roof mounted, 6.3 kW nominal system in two arrays (east/west facing), 40 deg. north. I've never washed the panels outside of rain and occasional hail storm "scrubbing". Replaced a failed inverter two years ago. My peak summer output is basically the same as when installed, making 36-38 kWh on a cloudless day. I'm actually impressed my panels haven't really degraded in performance over those 19 y…

That's really impressive and well built solar system, for it to last thta long. It shows how durable quality panels are. I have a 6 month old ~3.7kW system (6 panels in total), planning on installing another 6 very soon. My house is surrounded by trees so it's been a bit of a struggle in the winter.

Re: Should you wash your solar panels?

#140
post #139

I have a 19 year-old, roof mounted, 6.3 kW nominal system in two arrays (east/west facing), 40 deg. north. I've never washed the panels outside of rain and occasional hail storm "scrubbing". Replaced a failed inverter two years ago. My peak summer output is basically the same as when installed, making 36-38 kWh on a cloudless day. I'm actually impressed my panels haven't really degraded in performance over those 19 y…

That's really impressive and well built solar system, for it to last thta long. It shows how durable quality panels are. I have a 6 month old ~3.7kW system (6 panels in total), planning on installing another 6 very soon. My house is surrounded by trees so it's been a bit of a struggle in the winter.

My latitude plus east/west arrays are a struggle anyway. On the best (presumably cloudless) December day, I got 13.98 kWh. My 12/1/2025 through 1/31/2026 average per day was 10.32 kWh.
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