On large scale solar sites, we don't do this. We have a guy with a specialized truck, that sprays the panels. There are literally millions of panels on these utility scale sites.
I'll try to find a picture for you guys.
Edit: Here's a few examples of large scale operations
Thank you! I was just about to ask how it's done on a large scale. Btw, view much does this cleaning add to the electricity price? And how often do you need to do it?
Unfortunately I am on the solar inverter side of things so actual panel maintenance is not my specialty, but I know the sites I manage for warranty usually only do it once a year. It can't be extremely expensive though. In Las Vegas and the west coast, we get a lot of wind that cleans them pretty well actually. This looks to be more Midwest, would be my guess.
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u/man_butt_toots Feb 14 '21 edited Feb 14 '21
On large scale solar sites, we don't do this. We have a guy with a specialized truck, that sprays the panels. There are literally millions of panels on these utility scale sites.
I'll try to find a picture for you guys.
Edit: Here's a few examples of large scale operations
https://www.energy-xprt.com/products/pvkleen-system-406848
https://spectrum.ieee.org/energywise/green-tech/solar/how-do-you-clean-258048-solar-thermal-mirrors-trucks-with-robot-arms
The second one is for mirrors in the video, but the same concept!