Cleaning solar panels with a water fed pole
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- Опубліковано 11 тра 2024
- This video shows how I clean my solar panels and what equipment I use. It also covers why you need to clean your panels to prevent green algae growth which can lead to lichen growth.
The water fed pole WFP is brilliant for reaching solar panels, coupled with resin filtration of water to produce pure water with no TDS (Total Resolved Solids) gives a clean non spot finish with no hard water spots.
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🔴 Setup:
4.0kW solar array, installed Sept 2011, 16 x 250w Sanyo HIT-H250E01 panels
- 3.8kW SMA Sunny Boy inverter
2.34kW solar array, installed Oct 2019, 6 x SunPower Maxeon 3 390w panels
- 2kW Solis Mini inverter
Tesla Powerwall 2 (Gateway 1), installed Dec 2018
Vaillant 7kW aroTHERM+ heat pump
Vaillant uniSTOR 200ltr tank
Tesla Model 3 AWD Performance, delivered 28th Sept 2019
Renault Zoe 22kW, delivered 5th Jan 2022
myenergi eddi, installed July 2019
myenergi zappi v1, installed Dec 2018
myenergi harvi x 2
myenergi hub
myenergi iOS app
Kaifa MA120 SMETS2 smart meter
Based in Rushden, East Midlands, UK
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Just an observation at 3:35 your ladder is standing the wrong way around. The top of the treddle should be parallel to the ground roughly speaking. As yours is the opposite way you are stepping only on the rear corner of it, as a result your effective grip on it is reduced and with wet soles on your shoes this may increase the chance of a slip / fall.
Please be careful
Thank you Jason, I will review my procedure for ladder / treddle placement. Appreciate you commenting and helping here.
Another great video John
You are correct when you mention the nay sayers on various forums.
I have mine cleaned in May every year and I can see an immediate improvement. We are on the edge of a forest and there is a lot of pine and oak pollen coming down these last couple of weeks. I am only achieving a peak of 5.1kW when I should be seeing 6.2kW so an effective 20% loss due to dust and pollen.
Thanks for watching Jerry and for adding some factual data to the argument about needing to keep the panels clean.
We clean those only when we know that rain is coming soon afterwards cause then tab water will not hurt or we do it before a shower comes down.
Helps a lot cause we had compared the results of a cleaned string with an uncleaned and it was an 8% difference that disappeared after having cleaned the 2 nd string the next day.
We have 13 strings and about 25 kWp now and 30 kWp soon with the 13 strings fully connected.
That's a great approach. I had a friend who would always wash his car in the rain for the same reason. Good to know about the 8% difference in performance between washed and unwashed.
My panels were installed in December 2015 and have never been cleaned, yes they get dirty, but only during dry spells. There is a very small amount of growth at the bottom edges of the panels, otherwise they are OK. Given the seagulls around here I'd need to wash them weekly to keep them clean in dry spells. We are in a hard water area, so it's interesting about the filters, only this morning my daughter was complaining about the white blotches after she washed her car and I had to explain what it was. PS 50 kWh generated today from 8.74 kWp.
Thanks for watching. I can recommend the resin filters for reducing total dissolved solids. Keep and eye on that growth, you don't want it spreading, it's like creeping death doe solar panels.
Our panels were installed in 2018,2019 and 2021 never cleaned them until this year . Until this year they've self cleaned after rain but this year there's been an odd green dust layer that hasn't shifted so I've tried the same pole you have and will be buying one myself . Our roof needs 45ft reach to clean the very top edge so it so lucky with access.
We're in a very hard water area but my intention will be to clean after or during rain for a free rinse
Very interested in the 4 jet option you have with 2 in brush and 2 above that seems perfect
Thanks for watching Nigel. A rain clean is a very good idea, a few people have mentioned that in the comments as their approach too - makes sense. I seem to recall you also capture rain water for car / garden use which is also another option.
The 4 jet option seems to work well, 2 standard pencil jets and the 2 fan jets that come with the over spray bar. Gives the best of both worlds. It was the first time I'd seen the brush head at work on the panels with the camera attached to the gooseneck. The brush head needed to be swivelled a bit more as only the rear part of the brush was cleaning the panels. The front bristles didn't touch the panel! One to remember for next time. I also noted that a good cleaning technique was important. All too easy to miss bits if you are not methodical with your approach. I think camera work overtook the need to clean the panels properly!
@@johntisbury all looks so easy watching the video doesn't it . What did you need to order for the bar and extra 2 jets I find their site a bit confusing tbh not giving confidence whether things will fit
@@EVPuzzle the website does have a certain level of assumed knowledge, but I guess it caters for the industry rather than individuals like us.
You want the Large Overspray kit £12.95 (from the drop down menu. Then if you want 4 nozzles the 4 way push-fit T-connector with jet hose £5.75.
@@johntisbury many thanks John , now tu decide whether I need the stiffer thicker version . Rowleys 8 section slx reached , just with a step but had lots of flex catching on bottom panel 🤔🤔
Think I've answered it for myself . Go for it
@EVPuzzle you can’t beat a stiff pole 😉
Good video John.
Our window cleaner charges a reasonable £25 for all the ground & first floor house windows including our rear conservatory windows. However, he wanted a separate £100 for cleaning the glass conservatory roof & didn't even give me a price for the solar panels because his pole isn't long enough! Expensive I thought so I got a water fed pole to do it myself which, as you said, has paid for itself withing 18 months. My pole is a 30ft fibre glass type so a bit heavier than the more expensive lightweight carbon fibre ones when all sections are in it. I remove a few pole sections when I'm doing the conservatory roof & add them for the solar panels which I can just about get to from ground level with the conservatory in the way at the back of the house. I too have a resin filter which is great for pure water window, solar panel & washing our cars which I leave to drip dry without any spots.
Not sure how long I'm going to be capable of hanging on to a 30ft pole waving about in the air but at least I don't have to run the risk of climbing any ladders.
Great to hear you have a very similar approach Colin. Non ladder climbing is a good option if you can make it work.
You should be able to regenerate your ion exchange resin ... usually using salt water, as used in dishwashers
This is a very good point. Will investigate
Excellent as always John I do clean mine at least twice per year or when needed. I see you have had the second powerwall fitted is the an install video coming ? I do follow your heat pump stats and think your electric consumption is very good for heating and hot water . All the best Glyn
Thanks Glyn. Great to hear you clean your panels too as needed.
Yes the second Powerwall was fitted at the beginning of May. I will be doing a video on the update to the system. I'm very pleased with our ASHP and its efficiency based on the constraints around our installation; microbore throughout, long primary runs. The second battery was to combat the winter period usage and offset more of the peak rate usage with more cheap overnight storage.
Sorry to bother you here but it seems you're no longer on patreon, where we had contact some years ago.
Is your photography still ongoing? It's hard to tell from your website.
Hi Marco, Good to hear from you. Patreon got more and more picky on what they consider adult content and removed more and more of my work so I deleted my account a few years ago.
Photography is still going but less so now as there’s limit opportunities to sell / display and exhibit. I do more video work now.
Beats using a chamois leather!
That would be tiring.