Residential
Hawaii leads the nation in roof top solar per capita. Especially on the island of Oahu. When you were sold your solar system it’s unlikely you were told there is maintenance involved, as this is not a good selling point. But here you are 1 year later and your system is only producing at 75% of what it should be.
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So why are you experiencing a loss? The panels convert the sun’s energy into electricity, so the more sun that reaches the panels the more energy you produce. If dirt, dust, salt water residue, bird droppings, and other environmental pollutants are on your solar panels, it could be preventing sunlight from reaching the solar cells. According to the national Renewable Energy Laboratory, losses range up to 30%. A simple, inexpensive solar cleaning will drastically decrease your loss
Who should do the cleaning? We have seen many system owners get on a ladder and hose the panels down, but this is not good for a number of reasons. Getting on a ladder should be avoided if you are not a trained professional. Just hosing down a panel will only wash off about 10-30% of the dirt and leave hard water residue. The panels normally need a good scrubbing from a soft brush and a rinse from a pure water system.
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