How To Clean Solar Panels On A Pitched Roof?

Where solar panels are a great source of renewable energy, if they are installed on a pitched roof, it can be a challenge to keep them clean. However, keeping them clean and maintained is really important to sustain their performance and energy generation ability.

As pitched roofs have steep angles, the cleaning process can become more difficult and full of safety concerns. This guide aims to help homeowners search for easy ways to keep their solar panels clean and maintained. Stick to this guide as we explore the step-by-step cleaning process along with the safety precautions.

Why Do You Keep Your Solar Panels Clean?

To make sure they do not drop their performance over time and do not reduce their energy output, it’s crucial to keep your solar panels clean. Many studies show that debris, dust, and dirt can reduce the performance of solar panels by 5% to 25%. This means you need to keep them clean to get the best of their performance.

Below are some benefits of keeping your solar panels clean:

Cleaning keeps them energy efficient: It is noted that clean solar panels capture significantly more energy than dirted ones. However, it’s more crucial to clean them regularly for pitched rooms as they can make the dust, leaves, and snow stick to the panels, reducing their energy output.
Keeping them clean increases the lifespan: the usual lifespan of solar panels is 15 to 20 years. However, if you keep them clean and maintained, their lifespan can increase to 25 years.
Reduces safety concerns: with solar panels, there is always the risk of small fires and electrical issues, and keeping them clean also reduces those chances and makes you feel more secure.

After stating the benefits of keeping the solar panels clean, its time to start preparing for the cleaning process. For that, you need to make your equipment ready. Check the list of tools required for the cleaning process.

Tools and Equipment for Cleaning Solar Panels

It might be simple to clean the solar panels installed on normal roofs, but cleaning the panels on pitched roofs requires some tools. Here are the details of tools and what you will be doing with the help of those tools:

A soft brush of broom for hard-to-reach spots. Make sure they are expandable for best performance.
A microfiber cloth or squeegee, as they are smooth and gentle will better clean the surface of solar panels while keeping them scratch-free.
A garden hose with a low-pressure nozzle would be required to wash the solar panels by putting water pressure after applying soap solution.
A bucket with a mild soap solution to clean the solar panels properly as only water can not clean all the dust and debris.
It’s good to have safety gear for fall protection as there is a risk of falling from a pitched roof.
Your shoes need to be non-slippery to reduce the risks involved in cleaning the solar panels installed on steep surfaces of pitched roofs.
Gloves and goggles are recommended to keep your hands and eyes safe from getting hurt by mild soap solution.

Once you get all the tools ready, you need to take some safety precautions to keep the process safe and risk-free.

Safety Precautions to Keep in Mind Before Cleaning Process

Below are some safety precautions you need to take on the safer side and avoid any mishaps:

Check the stability of the roof before you start the cleaning process as stepping on older roofs involves concerns.
Consider the weather conditions of the day before starting the process as you need to refrain from starting the process on rainy, windy, or even too hot days.
Before you start cleaning the solar panels, make sure to disconnect them from the central electric supply. As the process involves water and touching the solar panels, you need to be careful.

Once you take all the safety precautions, there comes the time for step by step process to clean your solar panels on a pitched roof.

Steps to Clean Solar Panels on a Pitched Roof

Before you start the cleaning process of solar panels, make sure to prepare all the required equipment and take safety precautions. Once you are ready to start the process, make sure the roof is dry to prevent any risk involved. To disconnect solar panels from the central electric supply, you can use the user manual available with solar panels.

Here are the steps involved in the smooth cleaning process:

Remove the Loose Debris: Loose debris includes dust, leaves, and snow stuck to the surface of solar panels.
Wash the solar panels with a mild soap solution: First, rinse the water with a garden hose nozzle with low water pressure. Then use the mild soap solution with a microfibre cloth. You should rub in circular motions for better results.
Clean hard-to-reach spots with extendable soft brushes, while doing that, avoid stepping on the solar panels.
Rinse the solar panels with clean water with lower nozzle pressure and inspect for any residuals of dust or potential damages.

This is how simple is to clean the solar panels on a pitched roof. However, if you do not have all the safety precautions and equipment available, refrain from cleaning them yourself and consider getting professional solar panel cleaning services from reliable providers.

Final Thoughts

Cleaning the solar panels installed on the pitched roof involves various equipment, safety precautions, and steps involved. You need to available all the tools and take safety measures before you think to start the cleaning process.

However, the cleaning is a simple four steps process which can make your solar panels work as effectively as they use to work from day one. This article explores the benefits of keeping solar panels clean, tools required for the process, safety precautions to take care of and step to clean pitched roof solar panels.