Protect Your Solar Panel Installation

When you invest in a solar panel installation you are going to want to ensure that your investment is protected. While solar panels are very durable, but there are rare cases where the solar panels can break, and there are ways that you can help prevent your solar-powered system from being damaged.

Falling Debris

No matter where you live, there’s falling debris, like twigs, leaves, and dirt may cause micro-scratches on your solar panels. When your solar panels get scratched, the efficiency of a solar panel can be dramatically lowered, because the scratches decrease the amount of solar energy that each solar panel can absorb because the scratches keep the sunlight from shining directly on the solar cells. The heavier debris like full branches or acorns could break the solar panels completely.

The most logical solution is to ensure there are no trees directly overhead or nearby, but considering the many benefits of having trees around your home, which isn’t as simple as it sounds. But if you maintain your tree trimmings, you aren’t going to have to choose between them or your solar panels.

If you allow the debris to build up you will see a significant decrease in the efficiency of a solar panel, but this can be avoided. If you want to get rid of the debris that is on building up on your solar-powered system, you should clean them regularly. You can clean them regularly using a microfiber cloth and your garden hose. You aren’t going to have to do it very often, about a season should be enough.

Clean Your Solar Panels

As discussed above, if you want to ensure that the debris isn’t going to affect the efficiency of a solar panel you should clean your solar panel installation. If you decide that you need to clean your solar-powered system, there are two main ways of doing it, you can either hire a professional or you can do it yourself. A lot of solar companies are offering cleaning solar panel installation services, or they will suggest you get it done every so often when the come to install the solar panels. The truth is, what you get back cost-wise in your energy bill does not surpass the amount that you need to shell out these solar companies to perform the work. Solar companies are often going to charge quite a bit to do the cleaning, for not much return on your energy bill.

On the other hand, if you’re interested in doing it yourself, you are going to generally give all you will need to do it at home. In most cases, it won’t involve anything more than a hose, maybe some soap and you’re good to go. This may is helpful in drought-prone areas as well, because essentially what you’re doing with the hose is the same thing the rain would if you got more of it in your area.

There are certain ways to determine if your solar panels need cleaning, to begin with. One is a physical inspection of the solar panels for debris, dirt, bird droppings, etc. The other way is the use of a solar power monitoring system that will alert you on your solar panels' performance. This will alert you to any maintenance needs for your solar-powered system, whether that’s a mechanical, electrical, or the cleanliness.

Monitor Your Solar Panel Installation

After getting a solar panel installation and it is operational, homeowners wonder if they should monitor their solar-powered systems and how much solar energy it is producing. The answer is yes, it is a good idea to monitor the solar-powered systems and their solar power-producing. Knowing exactly how your solar panels are operating will enable you to see whether they are a good investment or not.  

A monitoring system for your solar-powered systems is built to help you understand your system’s performance. Through this, you can stop relying on what someone else tells you about it.

With a monitoring system for solar panels, you will be able to get real-time information about the various aspects of the operation of your solar-powered system.

A monitoring system for solar panels offers you information about solar energy production and consumption, any damage that is done to the solar-powered systems, optimization of solar energy use and more.

When you monitor your solar-powered systems, it ensures that you aren’t going to be caught off-guard in case something goes wrong.

There are also modern solar-powered systems monitoring methods available for homeowners with a solar panel installation. These methods offer more convenient options to track everything, including hardware setting, the efficiency of a solar panel, long-term usage, and more.

Solar Panel Installation Maintenance

When it comes to solar-powered systems it is often advertised as 100% hands-off. Once the solar panel installation is complete you won’t have to think about your solar panels anymore.

But that’s just not true, because a solar panel installation is comprised of different parts causing different issues:

- Wires Degrade

- Solar Panels Shift

- Connections Break

- Fuses Blow

- Components Rust

The high-quality solar panel installations that are done by expert technicians can help minimize these issues, but there are no ways to avoid them entirely.

This is the reason that routine solar-powered system maintenance is essential.

Like with annual doctor's appointments or yearly auto inspections, your solar-powered system must pass the test periodically. Each audit will give technicians a chance to repair any of the damaged parts and optimize your solar panel installation to produce the most solar energy as possible.