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Cleaning solar PV panels? to increase output

 
Solar Photovoltaic (PV)
Last Post by Tim441 2 years ago
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 Tim441
(@tim441)
Prominent Member Contributor
Joined: 3 years ago
Posts: 288
Topic starter 27/05/2023 8:50 am  

At my home I have 2 sets of panels:

2.28kw on a 45deg pitched roof facing south

6.4kw on a 6deg almost flat roof facing east

During this period of fine weather I thought I would try and do some direct comparisons before/after cleaning. They are all pretty accessible as 1 storey building and the pitched panels can be cleaned from flat roof.

Generally I clean around 4 times a year as the flat panels will clearly not self clean. They were surprisingly dirty this am - a lot of it dust/pollen.

Info from Givenergy app... solar prod for flat roof only bearing in mind its not optimal pitch and not optimal orientation.

DATE:OUTPUT:PEAK PRODUCTION

15/5 26.18kwh 6069w

16/5 28.49kwh 5707w

17/5 27.22kwh 6218w

18/5 28.82kwh 5562w

19/5 25.43kwh 5110w

20/5 32.64kwh 5388w

21/5 31.81kwh 5421w

22/5 24.43kwh 5111w

23/5 25.38kwh 5245w

24/5 31.54kwh 4982w

25/5 30.47kwh 5363w

26/5 34.6kwh 5059w

27/5 cleaned early morning

I will post results in coming days but might like to think I will see a jump? as much as 10%?
Fairly difficult to make precise comparisons unless we have completely cloudless days.

Full year 2022: 5114kwh
May 2022: 683kwh (ave 22)
Peak month Jun 2022: 774kwh (ave 25.8)

Do other people clean their panels? I guess if on a typical house its not easy and if professionals used its liable to be costly vs the improved output?

This topic was modified 2 years ago by Tim441

Listed Grade 2 building with large modern extension.
LG Therma V 16kw ASHP
Underfloor heating + Rads
8kw pv solar
3 x 8.2kw GivEnergy batteries
1 x GivEnergy Gen1 hybrid 5.0kw inverter
Manual changeover EPS
MG4 EV


   
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clean solar pv
 Tim441
(@tim441)
Prominent Member Contributor
Joined: 3 years ago
Posts: 288
Topic starter 27/05/2023 9:20 am  

i see in May 2022 the peak day was 34.39kwh. Only 3 days above 30kwh, 18 days above 20kwh, 12 days under 20kwh & 1 day unrecorded

According to Givenergy the panels produced up to 6.9kwh (briefly) peak production last year - but I think sub 6kwh was much more normal as peaks

This post was modified 2 years ago by Tim441

Listed Grade 2 building with large modern extension.
LG Therma V 16kw ASHP
Underfloor heating + Rads
8kw pv solar
3 x 8.2kw GivEnergy batteries
1 x GivEnergy Gen1 hybrid 5.0kw inverter
Manual changeover EPS
MG4 EV


   
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 Tim441
(@tim441)
Prominent Member Contributor
Joined: 3 years ago
Posts: 288
Topic starter 28/05/2023 8:19 am  

well... Day 1 after cleaning did not show any noticeable improvement! But of course hard to make exact comparisons without being certain of brightness of sun/haze etc. Broadly it was wall to wall sunshine all day. 

27/5 34.4kwh 5012w peak production.

I remain certain that its necessary to clean my low angled panels anyway and would be interested in other people experiences and how often you clean them (if at all!).

Listed Grade 2 building with large modern extension.
LG Therma V 16kw ASHP
Underfloor heating + Rads
8kw pv solar
3 x 8.2kw GivEnergy batteries
1 x GivEnergy Gen1 hybrid 5.0kw inverter
Manual changeover EPS
MG4 EV


   
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