products to put on the solar panels

[barbapapa5800]

Can anyone tell me if there are good products to keep the dust from my panels?
they are well orientated, but not under a verry good angle, only 17

[Mike90250]

Who know what a $4 bottle of rain-X will do to a $600 panel, will it de-laminate the bond of the sealant ?

I just use a hose and water, in the morning, before the sun hits them. Cold water on a hot panel is not likely very good for the glass

[barbapapa5800]

and what about titanshield?

[barbapapa5800]

i whas reading on this forum about someone who had developed his own product...

[russ]

@ barbapapa - Welcome to Solar Panel Talk!

Someone might come up with something but most will just be selling Windex repackaged at 10 or 50 times the cost.

You don't want to spray them with hard water - would most likely leave a residue.

Spraying (when the sun don't shine) as Mike mentioned seems to be the most widely accepted method.

Russ

[barbapapa5800]

thnx for the reply.
This would mean i'd have to go up the roof every week or so.
We have lots of dust in the air here.

[barbapapa5800]

and what do you mean when you say don't use hard water?

[russ]

Hard water from Wiki -

Hard water is water that has high mineral content (in contrast with soft water). Hard water minerals primarily consist of calcium (Ca2+), and magnesium (Mg2+) metal cations, and sometimes other dissolved compounds such as bicarbonates and sulfates. Calcium usually enters the water as either calcium carbonate (CaCO3), in the form of limestone and chalk, or calcium sulfate (CaSO4), in the form of other mineral deposits. The predominant source of magnesium is dolomite (CaMg(CO3)2). Hard water is generally not harmful to one's health.
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It would tend to leave deposits on the surface - defeating the purpose of washing to begin with.

Whether you use some fancy product or water cleaning frequency will be about the same.

There are new glass coatings coming out that tend to shed dirt from the window surface. They are only starting to be used for PV panels I have read and are expensive at present.

[allthingsrenewable]

Window cleaner poles

Depending on the height of your roof, you could use the long window cleaning pole with a scrubber/squeegee.

You can get those along with a nice professional window cleaning solution at Home Depot. The cleaning solution is more or less a little dish soap in water. A good squeegee job is the key to optimal performance.

[barbapapa5800]

thnx for the reply.
maybe i'm lazy from nature, but i whas looking for a way to not have to go on my roof every month to clean the panels
i see myself doing this in the beginning, but in about 5 years or so, it will get less.
so i whaslooking for a way that the panels wouldn't become dirty so quick

[russ]

What you are looking for is a solar panel with self cleaning glass such as in the link provided http://selfcleaningglass.com/

I have not yet read of any solar panel manufacturers using this glass.

[energytightwad]

I just received a Kyocera KD135GX-LFBS. (blue) in the install manual (third page) number 11, maintenance, it states
/ under most weather conditions, normal rainfall is sufficient to keep the module glass surface clean. If dirt build-up becomes excessive, clean the glass surface only with a soft cloth using a mild detergent and water. PV modules that are mounted flat (0* tilt angle) should be cleaned more often, as they will not "self clean" as effectively as modules mounted at a 15* tilt or greater/
Hope this helps
Ray

[SolarPanelCleaningCA]

I have a solar panel cleaning business in Southern California. We do not use any kind of chemicals or detergent because they leave a sticky residue on the solar panels. This sticky residue gives the dust something to stick to and they get dirty, fast.
We use a green alternative. Our Solar panel cleaning technology involves super purified water, which has been known to keep the solar panels clean up to 10 times longer.
The only down side; it is expensive to set up this kind of system.
I have more information about the advantages at our website; http://SolarPanelCleaningCA.com/
I hope this helps.

[Mike90250]

Agreed, DI water is the way to wash the panels. I do mine in the morning, while the dew keeps the dirt soft, and before the sun heats them up. I can reach mine with water spray from hose nozzle.