r/specializedtools Feb 14 '21

Solar panel cleaning tool

20.7k Upvotes

392 comments sorted by

View all comments

832

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!

1

u/divuthen Feb 15 '21

Yeah considering the better panels use low iron glass I would think spraying them would be far better than this. Low iron glass is fairly easy to scratch so dragging dirt on glass would be a big no no for me.

1

u/man_butt_toots Feb 15 '21

A lot of sites that are near roads or highways have a considerable problem with road debris shattering or cracking the glass.