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Should you wash your solar panels?

incoherency.co.uk

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Re: Should you wash your solar panels?

#231

Post by ChiperSoft »

Aurornis wrote: post #78

Washing solar panels is one of the current popular business ideas on social media. It’s an easy pivot for anyone who already has some experience with much harder home repair handiwork involving a ladder. The reason it’s popular is because most people don’t understand the economics at all. Someone can go door-to-door in a neighborhood offering to clean solar panels and making huge claims about improving efficiency so…

Where I live we don't get much rain, have a lot of dust, and I have a pine tree next to my house that sheds sap onto the panels. That means they get pretty filthy over a year. I pay a guy $150 once a year to come clean them off.

The gains are marginal, I'd have to do more research than I feel like doing to get hard numbers weighted against weather conditions, but I'd guesstimate around 300-400kWh more output per month.

SDGE gives me $0.3-0.5 per kWh during solar peak, so I'm breaking even after one month, and it makes the house look nicer, so I'd call that a win.

Re: Should you wash your solar panels?

#232

Post by phil21 »

WalterBright wrote: post #213
SoftTalker wrote: post #167

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, if we took the time to go to the place, we at least looked at it. I don't remember ever driving up to any property and just turning around. Did we rule looking at something based on photos/descriptions? Yes, certainly.

Photos tend to focus on the house, not the setting. A big deal for me is the relationship of the house to the sun, the neighborhood, the view, privacy, traffic, noise, etc.

Even a house you know you're not going to buy is worth taking a walk-through if you're already there and the agent has prepped it for showing.

You can learn a lot from such experiences. What to look for/what not to look for, etc. Sometimes the wrong location will have the right house and you can dial in precisely the things that matter to you so you waste less time on future showings.

Of course if you're highly experienced and on your 4th house purchase the value for your time may not be there. But I've found it quite useful over the years - especially when looking at different property types than I'm experienced with.

Re: Should you wash your solar panels?

#234

Post by red369 »

jawilson2 wrote: post #177
lotu wrote: post #171

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's a reason the three most important things in real estate are "Location, location, location"

None of those are "door knob, door knob, door knob!"

:)

I was confused by the parent post too. Perhaps they mean that you see the neighbourhood before you even see the house. A little like the first impression of the house is made before even seeing the actual house.

Re: Should you wash your solar panels?

#235

Post by PaulDavisThe1st »

WalterBright wrote: post #216
PaulDavisThe1st wrote: post #166

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Much too simple. Most "risks" have an upside and a downside. In this case, for example, the solar PV system may be working better or worse than the (potential) buyer initially comes to understand. We have huge industries based on selling "risk, but with a huge potential upside" to people willing to pay for access to the potential upside. Many of those customers are not interested in low risk in that context. So "more…

The Black-Sholes equation is an attempt to calculate risk. Of course, risk is difficult to pin down to a number, and different people will assess risk differently. But that's irrelevant to my point, which was that risk is factored into the price.

You made a very specific claim that more risk == lower price. That isn't true as a general rule, though it may be true much of the time.

Re: Should you wash your solar panels?

#236

Post by bergie »

jillesvangurp wrote: post #67

Was just watching a video about a guy who has a boat that runs on solar power that he drove all the way from Finland to the Mediterranean in Winter. Obviously in the winter he was charging his batteries using shore power. But since spring he's been running on solar power doing long journeys and maxing out at 5-8 knots. He just cleaned his panels. Lots of salt, dust and sea gull shit. Also a few kids dropped a rock on…

Yes, on a boat you have to wash the panels periodically to get rid of salt and bird poop.

The latter can be a surprisingly big problem. Southeast of Galapagos we had a booby sit on our spreader for a day, and it managed to cover our two 100Wp panels in the bow almost completely.

Re: Should you wash your solar panels?

#237

Post by scarecrowbob »

CrzyLngPwd wrote: post #222
scarecrowbob wrote: post #191

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can see how small efficiencies would matter a lot in that sitation. When I had 6 100W panels and was trying to keep my laptop (and lights) running off that, then I did a lot more trying to keep them clean. If I was having to burn fuel for electricity, I'd certainly be trying a lot harder to squeeze what I can out the array. Anyhow, good luck. I likely am in a similar position. My hope is to get a cistern buried thi…

There is a lot that loses it's charm, lol. Started with an outside kitchen and shower, which was fine in the summer but in the winter when the wind blows and it takes 30 mins to heat a pot of coffee the charm wears thin, lol. Good luck to you too! It's fun to meet the basic challenges head on though, eh?

True, I have learned a lot and that has been very interesting and quite fun. I'm at 6500' but am still planning on setting up an outside shower just because it's pretty here. I am waiting on that till I figure out an indoor situation, though.

I got a quote for a backhoe rental today and am a little apprehensive (it's by far the largest machine I will have operated), but hey, I get to run a backhoe for a weekend...

Re: Should you wash your solar panels?

#238

Post by sgt »

manmal wrote: post #173
sgt wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Panels should do 30 years, easy. Inverters will usually fail after 15y, and with batteries it’s unknown what the current gen will do - 15y, maybe 20? Definitely get LFP.

I've seen cheaper Chinese panels fail after less than 10 though.

Re: Should you wash your solar panels?

#239

Post by benj111 »

john01dav wrote: post #103
delusional wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly the same reason you should probably clean the rest of the house when you're selling it. Theoretically, the price of the house before cleaning should be equal to the value if the house after cleaning, minus whatever the cleaning costs. In reality, you'll get much less for your house without cleaning it, because human emotions.

Being rational about this (i.e., buying a dirty or otherwise manageably flawed house) is a great way to save or make money in markets where the majority of the cost is the building.

For the same reason, get a car with dents, or light obviously bubbling.

Re: Should you wash your solar panels?

#240

Post by benj111 »

Aurornis wrote: post #78

Washing solar panels is one of the current popular business ideas on social media. It’s an easy pivot for anyone who already has some experience with much harder home repair handiwork involving a ladder. The reason it’s popular is because most people don’t understand the economics at all. Someone can go door-to-door in a neighborhood offering to clean solar panels and making huge claims about improving efficiency so…

Are window cleaners not a thing in your neck of the woods?
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