In recent years, due to the rapid development of new energy, solar panel power generation has become a household name, but many people only use electricity, but do not know how to clean and maintain solar panels. Today we will talk about how to clean solar panels? What is the method of cleaning? What safety matters need to be paid attention to during the cleaning process?
Foreword: As solar panels are used for solar power generation, weather conditions are the biggest factor restricting power generation. Secondly, the cleaning of solar panels is particularly important in addition to avoiding losses caused by electrical equipment failures.
The fouling on the surface of the solar panel has a significant impact on its power generation efficiency. First, the pollution on the surface affects the transmittance of light, which in turn affects the amount of radiation received on the surface of the module; second, the dirt adheres to the surface of the solar panel and will form a shadow, which will cause a hot spot effect on the photovoltaic module, and then affect the photovoltaic module. The damage to the panel will affect the power generation rate and shorten the life of the photovoltaic panel. Third, when the power generation rate of the photovoltaic panel is lower than 85%, it must be cleaned.
How to clean solar panels
The cleaning of solar panels currently includes manual cleaning, high-pressure water cleaning, electric photovoltaic cleaning machine, automatic cleaning, and large-scale cleaning vehicles. Because there are a large number of household solar panels, and the most used ones are also household solar panels, so we will focus on manual cleaning below.
1.Manual cleaning
(1) Develop a reasonable cleaning schedule according to the local comprehensive conditions to ensure a scientific and efficient cycle cleaning plan to meet the requirements of power generation efficiency.
(2) The cleaning must be clean and thorough, otherwise it may cause serious consequences such as "hot spot effect".
Under normal illuminance, the solar panels in the corners that are not cleaned will change from generating units to power-consuming units, and the shaded photovoltaic cells will become load resistors that do not generate electricity, consuming the electricity generated by the connected batteries, that is, heating. Hot spot effect. This process will aggravate the aging of the battery board, reduce the output, and cause a fire in severe cases.
(3) Use special cleaning fluid. Some users use ordinary tap water or well water to clean and clean the solar panels. Because the water contains many impurities, they will adhere to the surface glass of the solar panels, reducing the efficiency of solar power generation. Experiments have shown that using tap water to rinse solar panels will reduce the power generation efficiency by more than 1.8% than using a special cleaning solution.
(4) Choose the correct cleaning tools and methods to improve the battery life. The surface of the solar panel battery is high-strength tempered glass, which also has the problem of wear. The service life of the solar panel is more than 20 years. In order to ensure normal power generation, it is generally cleaned once or twice a month. If the methods and tools used are not appropriate, it is easy to cause the surface of the battery to wear and affect the power generation capacity and the life of the battery panel.
(5) Solve the cleaning problem of solar photovoltaic power plant in winter and snow season. In winter and snow seasons, battery components cannot be cleaned with water. In some seasons, there are still problems of condensation and icing on battery panels. Equipment with the functions of snow removal, dew removal, deicing, and waterless cleaning should be used.
2. High pressure water cleaning
High-pressure water flushing is to spray water on the surface of the solar panel by a nozzle connected to a waterwheel (or water pipe) to achieve the purpose of cleaning. The pressure is generally not more than 0.4MPa. This cleaning method is better than manual dry cleaning and has high cleaning efficiency. Some, but more water consumption. On the other hand, excessive water pressure will cause the cells of the solar panel to crack, resulting in a large-area short circuit, which will reduce the power generation efficiency. In addition, after the water-washed solar panel is air-dried naturally, water stains will form on the surface of the solar panel, forming a micro-shadow block, which affects the power generation efficiency. The use of high-pressure water guns to produce ice in winter will severely weaken the optical effect of the components, especially in areas where rain and snow are common.
3.Electric photovoltaic cleaning machine
The electric photovoltaic cleaning machine uses the frictional force of the rotating electric brush to simultaneously spray water to clean and remove dirt and bird droppings on the surface of the solar panel. Electric-driven cleaning is the most water-saving cleaning method, which saves a lot of water compared to water-driven cleaning machines. Photovoltaic washing machines include single-head photovoltaic washing machines and double-head weighing power washing machines. A single-head photovoltaic washer can clean about 1,500 square meters a day, and a double-headed scale power photovoltaic washer can clean about 3500 to 5,000 square meters, about 0.7MW, in about 8 hours a day.
4.Automatic cleaning, large cleaning truck
The automatic cleaning method is to install the cleaning device on the solar panel, and realize the automatic cleaning of the solar panel by the device through the automatic program to control the rotation of the motor. This cleaning cost is high and the design is complicated. Large-scale cleaning vehicles are expensive, and the reliability of the equipment is not easy to guarantee, sometimes the cleaning effect is not ideal, and the site conditions are limited. It is not very recommended to use.
Precautions for manual cleaning
1. In order to avoid the electric shock damage and possible damage to the solar panel by wiping the solar panel under high temperature and strong light, it is recommended to choose to clean the solar panel in the morning or late afternoon.
2. Before cleaning the solar panel, check whether there is any abnormal power output in the monitoring records, analyze whether it can be caused by leakage, and check whether the connecting wires and related components of the solar panel are damaged or stuck. It is also necessary to use a test pencil to test the aluminum frame, bracket, and tempered glass surface of the component. In order to eliminate the hidden danger of leakage and ensure personal safety.
3. The aluminum frame and photovoltaic bracket of the solar panel have many sharp corners. Therefore, the personnel who clean the solar panels should wear corresponding work clothes and hats to avoid scratching and injuries. Hooks and straps on clothes or tools should be prohibited. Threads and other parts that are easy to cause entanglement
4. It is forbidden to step on photovoltaic system equipment such as solar panels, rail supports, cable trays, or other means to use solar panels and supports.
5. It is strictly forbidden to clean solar panels under weather conditions with wind greater than level 4, heavy rain, thunderstorm or heavy snow. Washing should be avoided during cleaning in winter to prevent the temperature from being too low and freezing, causing dirt to accumulate; for the same reason, do not wash with cold water when the panel is very hot.
6. It is strictly forbidden to use hard and sharp tools or corrosive solvents and alkaline organic solvents to wipe solar panels, and it is forbidden to spray cleaning water into solar panel junction boxes, cable trays, junction boxes and other equipment. During cleaning, the impact pressure of the cleaning equipment on the solar panels must be controlled within a certain range to avoid cracks caused by force.
7. When cleaning personnel, it is forbidden to stand at a place less than 1 meter away from the edge of the roof for cleaning. Don't throw tools and sundries downwards, take them away at the same time after the work is completed.
8. The photovoltaic modules should be cleaned when the irradiance is lower than 200W/m2. It is not advisable to clean the modules with liquids that have a large temperature difference with the modules.
The above is the cleaning method of household solar panels, and the cleaning method of portable solar panels is particularly simple. You only need to wipe off the surface dust with a wet cloth, and then use a dry cloth to wipe off the water stains. The cleaning method of ITEHIL 100W solar panel is like this, simple and convenient. Because the surface of our ITEHIL 100W 18V Solar Panel is made with ETFE process. Click to View What Is ETFE Solar Panel?
