I ve been here for 2 years so it s 2 3 years old at a guess today in cental qld at lunch time i m producing 1 7kw on a 3kw system 10 panel single string system.
Paint overspray on solar panels.
I don t know if you have an ar coating on the outside glass very rare in that case i don t know if acetone will harm it.
Per national electric code nec internal parts of electrical equipment including bus bars wiring terminals insulators and other surfaces shall not be damaged or contaminated by foreign materials such as paint plaster cleaners or abrasives.
Unlike traditional solar panels it s extremely easy to scale solar paint using the same spray gun you can just spray a smaller or larger area.
It came to our attention from the owner of a winery where the paint oversprayed vehicles were parked that the paint overspray had also affected 630 solar panels.
It will do bad things to the edge seal so be careful to only clean the glass over the cells don t go all the way to the edge seal.
I also wrote it doesn t make a lot of sense to clean them yourself.
As you can see in the before and after pictures above and below we also discovered that a thick glazed layer of dust accumulation and debris spots had collected across the entire system.
We had a very unusual request a few years ago when we were removing paint overspray from many affected vehicles at a location at a california winery.
Solar panels are generally pretty much self cleaning as natural rainfall will usually wash away the accumulated dust and grime.
This unfortunate situation happens when the homeowner has their home repainted and during the application of paint on the eaves and gutters overspray covers the pv modules.
Looks like 2 or 3 of my panels have some paint over spray on them from when my facia was painted.
However if your solar panels are only tilted minimally or you live in a high traffic dry or dusty area or even by the sea then you re going to need to clean your solar panels in order for them to continue generating maximum output of power.
These panels had an extensive amount of paint overspray damage.
Solar paint can also be applied to surfaces of almost any shape or size and to numerous surface types including plastic fabrics and even car bodies.
Once you add in the value of your time the chance of falling off the roof and killing yourself and how cleaning panels usually only adds a couple of percent to their average output it is not really worth it.
I have already written about why it doesn t make sense to pay people to clean your solar panels.
We have experienced an increase in calls this year related to paint overspray affecting the energy production of homeowners pv systems.
This was definitely preventing the solar system from experiencing optimal solar output.
