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Cleaning and inspecting solar panels, Rockingham, Mandurah, Pinjarra, Kwinana, Dawseville, Baldivis, Byford, Secret Harbour, Halls Head, Madora Bay.

Benefits of keeping your solar panels clean?

Keeping your panels clean is important, "Clean Panels = Efficient Panels"

Dirty panels loose efficiency, we all know that.

Depending on how dirty they are, is how much less power they generate.

Dirt, bird droppings, pollution and leaves, are the most common causes of power losses on solar panels. However, other types of shading can also be a major source of performance loss, they can also lead to "hot spots", which can cause irreversible damage to solar panels.

After "Seabreeze Solar Panel Cleaning Service" has cleaned and inspected your solar panels, we will inform you of any issues that may be affecting your performance output.

Shading on solar panels:

Because most solar arrays run in "series", shade on one panel can cause the entire array to loose output. If one solar panel is 50% shaded, the entire array can loose 50% of output. This photo shows a television dish throwing a large amount of shade on 2 panels. Shading like this can be a major issue in performance and can eventually lead to hot spotting of solar panels.

Trees and large shrubs can also be a major cause of shading.

Trimming offending branches, when required, can vastly improve your panels output.

What are hot spots and how do they occur:

Hot spots are areas of high temperature that affect only one zone of the solar panel and result in a localised decrease in efficiency, and therefore, lower output power and accelerated material degradation in the area affected by the high temperature.

As we already know, solar panels generate energy and hot spots can arise when, for a number of reasons, some of that energy is dissipated, rather than generated, in a localised area. It is as if the solar cells in the affected area were consuming energy instead of generating it. In addition, to top it all off, hot spots are generally unstable and will usually intensify until overall the performance of the panel is eventually nullified.

Why do hot spots appear?

The reasons for the appearance of hot spots are multiple and can be classified into functional or operational.

Functional reasons can be divided into two areas:

Cell mismatch, which occurs when cells of different current are connected in series.
Damage or poor quality of the solar cell, which can occur during manufacture, due to the fact that the silicon cell will be subjected to a stressful process during rolling, handling and transportation.
The operational reasons for the hot spots are related to the design and operation of the photovoltaic installation, and may include:
Seasonal shadows on solar panels: An installer company may accept shading conditions in winter to increase electricity production in summer. But as a result, the panels will suffer systematic shading of the cells during winter.
Roof conditions: Roofs may have areas where shadows are cast. When the cells of a photovoltaic panel are completely shaded (by system design), this can mean that bypass diodes are not used, resulting in an increase in temperature that will degrade the panel.
Partial shading due to trees or vegetation.
Dirt and sand: Photovoltaic panels can become dirty from dust, suspended sand, dirt and other contaminating impurities during their service life. Maintenance should identify situations that require cleaning by making periodic visits to the facility. The frequency of cleaning will depend largely on the weather, the conditions and terrain.

Solar panels can and do fail now and then.

This photo taken in November 2018 shows what happens when moisture gets into the solar panels. The whole panel has what's known as snail trails, which is cracking of the silicone wafers. The orange colored silicone wafers is caused from moisture getting onto the bus bars, both of these issues can significantly cause loss of power to panels. If the array is wired up in series, which most systems are, the drop occurs throughout the entire array.

Rain just isn't enough!

Prior to cleaning these panels in Pinjarra there had been a significant amount of rain.

The difference between the cleaned and uncleaned panels is clearly seen in this photo.