I work with solar all the time and have done so for years. I have helped numerous people learn about solar and get a system set up. But I never fully appreciated the value of cleaning your solar panels until just recently.
I upgraded the equipment on one of my off grid solar panel systems and finally put up a meter where I could see system production at a glance. And as I monitored it off and on for a few days I noticed that I was not getting the power out of my panels that I had assumed that I was. One of the upgrades to the system was an MPPT controller so I would have expected a bigger bump in production than I was seeing. So I checked over the system again and everything was fine.
I was brainstorming some video ideas for my Youtube channel and decided to do a comparison of power production with my solar panels before and after cleaning them. I have only cleaned them a couple times before since I installed them years ago. So I got up on my ladder and cleaned them off, noting the power production before and after. WOW! I ended up getting almost a 20% boost in power that lasted several weeks until it rained. I was expecting more like 5-10%.
So if you have access to them, clean them!
If anyone wants to see the video:
[youtube:3tlq74nx]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FySOmo9HV8k[/youtube:3tlq74nx]
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