Solar panel maintenance basically refers to small things such as clearing off snow or dust from your solar panels – basic things to keep your system’s health and efficiency at peak levels. Most PV system maintenance, however, also refers to making necessary corrections and repairs to your PV system when something goes awry. The purpose of this article is to help you understand how this type of PV maintenance works and what parts you will need to make repairs to your system. This basic maintenance works to keep everything running smoothly – and to ensure that you enjoy long-term cost savings on your solar power system by fixing small problems as they come up.
Some solar panel maintenance costs can be minimized by taking care of small problems on a routine basis. For example, snow and dirt on the panels can clog the tubes in your array – which means your power will cease working. You can clear this off yourself by getting a vacuum cleaner with a rotating head and cleaning the panels on a regular basis. Simple things such as these can save you money in the long run by saving energy and cleaning up the mess that accumulates over time.
If your solar panel maintenance needs are more complex, it may be time to call in a professional. While you can probably clean your panels yourself, you may not have the time or expertise to clean your PV system properly. A professional solar panel installation company or specialist has access to high-quality cleaning equipment and the knowledge to properly clean your panels of debris. They can also perform routine maintenance checks that you may not be able to do yourself.
One of the primary reasons people choose to purchase solar panels is the savings they will realize on their electricity bills. However, even a fully installed array only reduces your electricity bill by five percent. So, even if you were to install every single solar panel you would still only save five percent of your bill. This means that for the most part, you would have to maintain your panels yourself. And maintaining them is a lot easier than it seems. In fact, maintaining your solar panels can actually reduce your bill by up to fifty percent.
The first step to reducing your electricity bill with solar panels installation is making sure you don’t leave any trace of debris on your installation area. One of the biggest causes of clogging is the use of any kind of attachments or screws that could damage the silicon coating on your panels. To make sure that there is no trace of build-up on your solar panels installation area, you can spray the area with a light coat of silicone oil. This helps seal up the pores on your panels and prevents future build-ups.
Another way to improve your solar installer’s workmanship and to extend the life of your array is by performing scheduled preventative maintenance visits. Preventive maintenance simply involves ensuring that the electrical connections are strong and stable. By regularly running an inspection over your entire system and by ensuring that the alignment of the solar array is maintained, you can greatly reduce the amount of equipment that has to be repaired in the event of a failure. Having a well-aligned system will reduce the chance of damage caused by twisting, bending, and moving.
One great way to improve the performance of your solar panels is by adding a solar panel monitoring system to your system. Solar panel monitoring systems are extremely useful because they allow you to keep an eye on exactly where your solar panels are. While a manual inspection can be quite effective, it can become somewhat of a hassle to manually inspect every inch of your arrays. Solar panels monitoring system, however, will do all of the hard work for you. It will check the condition of each and every panel and then alert you accordingly.
Finally, one of the easiest ways to keep your solar panels working smoothly for years to come is to pay attention to little maintenance tasks such as checking and cleaning the contacts of your solar cells. Although cleaning the contacts is not usually required, it is something that is quite important. The contact bearings play a significant role in the proper function of the solar panels, and if these bearings are not properly cared for, it can cause you a great deal of trouble in the future. Fortunately, by adding a little maintenance to your installation process, you can greatly increase the life expectancy of your system, as well as reduce the amount of time that it takes to make your investment pay off.