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Cleaning solar panels with a hosepipe

 
Solar Photovoltaic (PV)
Last Post by JamesPa 1 hour ago
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JamesPa
 JamesPa
(@jamespa)
Illustrious Member Moderator
Joined: 3 years ago
Posts: 5217
Topic starter 30/07/2026 12:10 am   [#3118]

The question is, is it legal for a householder to clean their solar panels with a hosepipe when a TUB (often called a hosepipe ban) is in force.

It's not as simple as you first think.  The water industry act 1990 defines the types of activity a water undertaker may lawfully ban.  The act is clear that only the defined activities may be banned.

At this point it's worth recalling that a 'water undertaker' is, in many parts of the UK, a privately owned for-profit monopoly that has been the beneficiary of a donation of public assets in return for which it is required to provide a service that is essential to life.  Nevertheless the guiding purpose of that monopoly is profit, limited only by legislation. That in my mind is an important context.

The water industry act is supplemented by the flood and water management act ( https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2010/29/contents) and the The Water Use (Temporary Bans) Order 2010 as amended.

I think the question ultimately hangs on the definition of 'roof' but am not sure.  It may hang in the definition of 'artificial outdoor surface' but this term seems to be specified in the The Water Use (Temporary Bans) Order 2010 as amended, and the only part of the specification which could include solar panels is 'roof'.

My water company has failed to respond to a request to clarify this question.

My personal interpretation of roof (inspired by internet definitions) includes the requirement to be impermeable and to protect the building from the ingress of water from above.  In-roof solar panels do that, but solar panels mounted on the roof do not.

So I'm currently of the view that it is unlawful for a private monopoly to seek to prevent the use of a hosepipe to clean a solar panel mounted on a roof.

I realise that @majordennisbloodnok may disagree, and would invite him and others to challenge my interpretations once more, this time in a more appropriate thread.

For the avoidance of doubt this is not asking a question about public morals, it is asking a legal question about the extent to which a privately owned monopoly charged with providing an essential public service may (or may not) unilaterally curtail their obligation and therefore, by extension, what investment they must plan for before distributing dividends to shareholders.

 


This topic was modified 50 minutes ago by JamesPa
This topic was modified 48 minutes ago 2 times by JamesPa

4kW peak of solar PV since 2011; EV and a 1930s house which has been partially renovated to improve its efficiency. 7kW Vaillant heat pump.


   
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