Whos doing it?
Whats needed? Whats entailed? Profitable?
Very interested to know.
Thanks
I started out as having that as one of my services and now im switching over to pressure washing. reason being most residential jobs are only a couple panels. It’s not worth it to drive out and only clean a couple panels. The residents are also not willing to pay the price to make it worth your time. If it’s a part of a regular window cleaning then yeah it could be worth your time.
I have a buddy who owns a solar panel cleaning company here and I just send him the business. But he doesn’t just survive on cleaning solar panels alone. He helps draw up plans and execute installations.
I suppose if you got big comercial accounts it would be worth it.
I offer it, like Bubba said, residential ain’t worth it unless you are already there. Commercial on the other hand is another story. I just wfp them and we are out. Easy as cleaning windows.
Here in Austin, Im really surprised there aren’t more of them. I see them on some lake front properties, but they are 3-4 stories to the roof.
My uneducated guess would be that its just not cost effective to rent the equipment needed to clean them when your only gaining an extra 10-15% in extra energy savings. Other than that…we get 5-6 decent hail storms each year, maybe that’s what is scaring them away.
Check with Troy Liposec.
We have a handful of quarterlies that we do. They are pretty good money makers for us, we usually run two water fed poles and get them done quickly. I am looking forward to pushing this service harder and getting more on the schedule.
If I can get away with wfp’ing the solar panels or just use GG4 with washer & squeegee, I would take it up in a minute.
But
If it takes a whole new investment like Solar Panel soap and Mr Longarm pole (I have their window cleaning pole, btw),
And
If you don’t have videos to watch to show how to clean solar panels safely and efficiently,
Then
I’ll have to pass on it for now.
Such an easy question…
Why can’t I give an answer 
Vic
Lotsa WC’ers clean solar panels with either traditional methods (washer/squeegee/pole), WFP, or PW’er.
Larry
I like the new avatar, I’m more partial to Hairway to Steven. I saw them play with Stone Temple Pilots, on the Barbecuemitzvah Tour at the Polish-American Beach Club in Webster, Ma. That was the show Weiland got busted for hitting a guy in the head with a guitar for throwing a sneaker on stage. He was forcibly crowd surfed to the stage, it was pretty crazy.
Alex, Depending on the size of the project, they can be cleaned with standard tools and methods. We did some large projects (thousands of panels at some locations) and found that pressure washing was the most efficient. Feel free to call me if you want.
I got a buddy who is cleaning PV out here with power washer. I talked to him about it and MAKE SURE YOU CONTACT COMPANY TO FIND OUT WHAT PRESSURES VOID WARRANTY. He said they were very vague about it (probably cause they didnt know) but he dug for an answer and go one. Out of respect for the work he did to get those answers i didnt pry for answers.
I prefer the early stuff (I’m a bit older than you!)…saw them some in the '80s, including with DKs in SoCal.
You can wfp them or just use your poles brushes and squgees just fine. I did my first set a few weeks back. About $75 for 75 panels. took all of about 20 minutes. JUst saw the owner yesterday and he said his energy output had a huge spike after the cleaning. What I found interesting was even though the panels were not cleaned for 1 year after the install they still looked and felt very clean and he said he had a huge energy spike. He monitors his panels daily and keeps a log of the energy they create.
I am a little late to this one however solar panel cleaning is lucrative in commercial because of the total energy used and how quickly they see the return on the investment if they are kept clean, with residential it does not save the client as much and alot of residences cant find the money to even have them installed due to the economy, upside down in the mortgage etc.
I would however suggest wearing insulated electrician gloves when you clean the panels so you dont die for a few bucks
I clean solar panels. I average between $100-$225 per hour on site time cleaning solar panels. I think that’s considered profitable. To see what’s needed take a look at the 3 videos below.
Yes not too many on the homes to work with, usually 50 or less, some nice views (and precarious situations) though up on the 2nd floor rooftops
My favorite, a “solar panel farm” comml bldg, over 1600 panels on 3 different rooftops
What are others charging per panel? Randy? Perhaps for homes a min start price
Some have the designs and such as Randy and I posted, however there are some solid brown glass older ones that do not look that great when done (stripes etc, stuff sticks more too)
I would be intrested in doing solar panel cleaning with a WFP but I’m not real thrilled about spraying water all over a giant electrical contraption. Besides the gloves that Mark mentioned, what kind of precautions should one take while cleaning them with a WFP? Can you shut them off or something like that? I have no clue about solar panels.
Neither did I, but you know, they are made to withstand the weather. No probs at all, not like you are pressure washing the open electrical panel that xfers power to the grid. Everything is to code, pvc etc. the tops are nothing to scrub and rinse, I never saw a risk.
So your saying that you do not need to take any precautions at all?
well, besides the usual common sense. I’ve only seen the wiring underneath the panels and inside tubing that is up to code and there’s no reason to be under there. The junction boxes, it’s clear where they are and again there’s no washing going on there. No need to stick a tucker pole underneath the array or anything like that.
I can only speak from expereince on the jobs I’ve done, all professional installations etc. I’m sure there’s some homebrew things going out there too, but look at Randy’s video above, that’s about it. On homes, it’s the 2nd story roofline and getting your stuff up there that can be the most worrisome.
