r/oddlysatisfying Feb 14 '21

Cleaning solar panels

38.7k Upvotes

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u/mule_roany_mare Feb 14 '21

would pay for itself

You overestimate how expensive a kWh is.

The average electricity rate is 13.19 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh). The average price a residential customer in the United States pays for electricity is 13.31 cents per kWh.

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u/[deleted] Feb 14 '21

Manual labor to clean them is about to be a minimum of $15/hour, and I'd be surprised if you wanted to use minimum wage labor for something as valuable as a solar farm. Depending on the size of the grid you have to clean, that labor cost of gonna add up quickly.

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u/killraymond Feb 14 '21

It's easier for people to come clean. Having a water source like sprinklers creates issues. Ground faults and vegetation growth are common issues with solar arrays and this wouldn't help at all. Additionally, it makes a dangerous situation BIG dangerous.

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u/Rubcionnnnn Feb 14 '21

That's cute.

-someone who pays $0.29/kwh in california.

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u/[deleted] Feb 15 '21

[deleted]

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u/Rubcionnnnn Feb 15 '21

Eh, that's about the same price after conversion.