Power Boosting Self Cleaning Solar Panels

Your solar panels need to be exposed to sunlight in order to produce power.

Power boosting self cleaning solar panels.

Cleaning in addition to what is done naturally by rain will boost panel output since on average they will have even less dirt on them but it doesn t help much. Fortunately cleaning solar panels is easy for ground mounted systems or for rooftop solar systems on a typical one story house. There are two obvious problems with photovoltaic cells solar panels. This was confirmed by another study by engineers at the university of california san diego which found that a minimum five degree angle helped debris to slide off the panels.

High power self cleaning solar panels might be coming soon to a roof near you. Taking a cue from the self cleaning properties of the lotus leaf researchers at ben gurion university of the negev have shed new light on microscopic forces and mechanisms that can be optimized to. First they are very shiny and so a. Because you don t want to scratch the panels in any way it s best to use just water and a non abrasive sponge to apply soapy water.

To solve this problem curran and his nanophysics group in the institute for nanoenergy developed a self cleaning nanohydrophobic material that coats the solar panel to maintain peak efficiency over longer periods of time. However unless you live somewhere with high amounts of smog dust dirt or sand blowing around solar panel cleaning is generally not necessary. A study done in the united states in tucson arizona found that cleaning solar panels only improved their output by around 1. Google did a study on the need to clean solar panels.

The most effective way to clean your solar panels is with a hose and a bucket of soapy water. Essentially in the same manner you would wash your car at home. They found that tilted panels don t require cleaning as much as flat panels. There are two obvious problems with photovoltaic cells solar panels.

Self cleaning solar panels have been the holy grail of those in regions without a lot of rainfall. First they are very shiny and so a lot of the. And don t forget to choose an environmentally friendly soap. The coating itself is very robust says curran.