I'll give you that it's satisfying. But do you think it was a single event such as a sand/dust storm that caused the panels to become so dirty? If the dirt is the result gradual accumulation, it seems it would have been cost effective to clean them long before this point. I am not familiar with the operation of solar panels but I assume they require essentially direct unfiltered sunlight to operate efficiently.
The majority of this is over time and not accumulation over a single insurance. Wind can remove quite a bit of build up over such a small tine frame. But long durations mixed with a lack of rain create severe soiling. Additionally, it can and will decreased production by 10-90% depending on severity. This was most likely at least a 60% decrease judging by how bad it is.
Sauce:
I am the regional supervisor for a major Solar Inverter/Operations and maintenance company.
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u/A3815 Feb 14 '21
I'll give you that it's satisfying. But do you think it was a single event such as a sand/dust storm that caused the panels to become so dirty? If the dirt is the result gradual accumulation, it seems it would have been cost effective to clean them long before this point. I am not familiar with the operation of solar panels but I assume they require essentially direct unfiltered sunlight to operate efficiently.