Hard water is generally not harmful to one s health but can pose serious problems in industrial settings and when applied to solar panels.
Cleaning solar panels with hard water.
They found that tilted panels don t require cleaning as much as flat panels.
Fill a bucket or spray bottle with warm water and soap no other special equipment is needed.
Cleaning ones solar panels is not hard at all.
All the electrical stuff is safely protected with aluminum frames hardened glass and insulation.
Avoid using water with high mineral content.
As a rule avoid using hard or mineral rich water.
Otherwise you can use distilled or de ionized water.
In this article you will learn how to clean solar panels the right way.
We ll get to the best way to clean your solar panels in a minute.
If your panels are readily accessible you can clean them yourself.
This is where cleaning solar panels may have to be done.
Check with your solar installers and providers to determine if there is any information about solar panel cleaning recommendations and dos or don ts when it comes to cleaning your system.
Module manufacturers recommend the use of distilled or de ionized water to clean solar panels.
It can damage panels over time.
Simply put if you can clean a window you can clean a solar panel.
The most effective way to clean your solar panels is with a hose and a bucket of soapy water.
They might have specific recommendations for cleaning.
It is not particularly complicated.
Google did a study on the need to clean solar panels.
The temperature of the water being used for cleaning should ideally be the same as the solar panel temperature at the time of cleaning.
Hard water is water that has a high mineral content in contrast with soft water.
The first thing you want to do is to check with your solar panel manufacturer.
A maximum difference of 20 degrees is acceptable.
Of primary concern for hard water spotting on solar panels is the combined levels of magnesium and calcium.
Mineral rich water may leave deposits of particles over time and its chemistry is not recommended for the glass of modules.
Solar panels are generally self cleaning but in particularly dry areas or where panel tilt is minimal dust and other substances such as bird droppings can build up over time and impact on the amount electricity generated by a module.
If your area only has hard tap water you can buy an inexpensive water softening hose attachment to filter out minerals.
Use soft brushes and squeegees.
How to clean solar panels.
Grime and bird poop doesn t need to cover an entire panel to have an effect.
The grater the difference between the water and the solar panel the greater the chances of the glass cracking due to a sudden temperature change thermal shock.
Usually a good hosing off will do most of the job but you can also use a soft cloth or a soft bristled brush or broom and some warm soapy water or glass cleaning agent if they are particularly dirty.
They may look scary and technical but in fact the technology is securely sealed inside the solar panel.
