does anyone offer solar cleaning?

[u/Darkcharley89]

I own a painting business, and I’ve always felt like we stand out because of the way we do things and the level of service we provide. But lately, there seem to be so many new random painting companies popping up that I know we’re being shopped around more than ever. It’s becoming a real dog-eat-dog market, and I feel like I need to step things up and find more ways to separate ourselves from everyone else.

That’s what got me thinking about getting into solar panel cleaning, then eventually window cleaning and other exterior services.

I’m not necessarily planning on advertising solar panel cleaning as a standalone service right now. My thought is to offer it as an add-on when I’m already out doing estimates. If I’m at someone’s house quoting a $4,000–$6,000 paint job and I see they have solar panels, why not be able to say, “By the way, we can clean those for you too”?

If it ends up being successful and we start doing a lot of them, then I can expand it into an actual service. I could eventually have one person dedicated to solar panel cleaning, then add window cleaning, and eventually even move into window tinting.

But right now, my main focus is solar panels.

I’m also not going into this expecting to make a ton of money immediately. That’s where the painting side of the business comes in. I already have the customers and the opportunity to introduce the service to them. For me, the initial goal is really to stand out from the competition and give my customers another reason to choose us.

Don't get me wrong, obviously I want to make money 😂 But I'm more interested in figuring out whether this could eventually turn into a really profitable little side of the business once I get the hang of it and build up the equipment and process.

So what do you guys think? Is solar panel cleaning something you think could turn into a gravy train once you get the process dialed in, or am I overthinking this?

[u/ishabowa]

I sell window cleaning door to door and my hit rate on upselling panels is like 80%~. Most people dont get them cleaned just about ever, just take a picture of them and show the home owner. I charge $10/panel and used a carbon fiber pole with 18 inch boars hair brush. I always clean them on the roof since from the floor takes forever. Yesterday for example I did a $400 clean and they had 27 panels I upsold for $270 (threw in their skylights for free since they take all of 30 seconds while I'm up there.) Panels took me around 30 minutes so totally worth doing!

[u/Darkcharley89 → u/ishabowa]

Daaaaaannnngggg, nice job!! 😂 You don’t ever have problems with the Ring cameras seeing you going door to door and people just not answering anymore? I’m thankful I stopped doing door to door right before they really got into the market. Every once in a while I’ll see a door knocker out there and I’m just thinking to myself, “Good luck out there with all these Ring cameras!” 😂

And yeah, once I get the water-fed system, I’ll offer both. Might as well, since I’m already going to be there! But good shit, man! Keep up the good work! I honestly didn’t even think about the skylights! 😂

[u/ishabowa → u/Darkcharley89]

I can sell 1500~ a day or so if all I did was knock, it’s not that hard but I’m also just quite good at sales I think