Solaron®
Install it. Start it. Forget it - Consumer apathy resulting in solar plants not generating as per their full potential
Install it. Start it. Forget it - Consumer apathy resulting in solar plants not generating as per their full potential
A decade back we saw a motorcycle brand become very popular with their slogan “Fill it. Shut it. Forget it”. Today as people go about setting up rooftop solar plants on their rooftops they seem to have adopted a similar mindset of “ Install it. Start it. Forget it”. Solar plants do thrive on the abundant availability of sunlight and the generation of solar power is directly dependent on the solar irradiance. However consumers seem to forget that the soiling of the glass of the solar panels can significantly impact the generation of solar power. Over the last few years we have studied 100’s of plants in residential premises and observed that cleaning of solar plants plays an important role in maximising the generation of solar power. Today one can invest in a solar plant on their rooftop and recover their investments in 4-5 years. However if one does not clean regularily the savings can come down dramatically and the breakeven can get pushed to 6-7 years. As per our observation of 100s of solar plants we have put down the impact on generation of solar power vis a vis the cleaning frequency followed by consumers :
1. Daily cleaning - 100% generation or max potential as per site irradiance and site shadow conditions
2. Weekly cleaning - 90-95% generation
3. Monthly cleaning -80-85% generation.
4. Quarterly cleaning - 70-75% generation
5. Half yearly cleaning - 50-55% generation
Basis the above it is clear that consumers need to follow weekly cleaning of their solar plants at the very minimum to maximise their savings from a solar plant. Daily cleaning is ideal and hence consumers can also install water sprinklers to enable daily cleaning of the solar plants. Remember to clean the edges of the solar panels and not allow muddy water to collect there. In the short term soiling of solar panels will impact the generation of solar power but in the medium term consumers also risk faster degradation of the solar panels. Hence we would strongly recommend that consumers not follow the idiom “Install it. Start it. Forget it”.
1. Daily cleaning - 100% generation or max potential as per site irradiance and site shadow conditions
2. Weekly cleaning - 90-95% generation
3. Monthly cleaning -80-85% generation.
4. Quarterly cleaning - 70-75% generation
5. Half yearly cleaning - 50-55% generation
Basis the above it is clear that consumers need to follow weekly cleaning of their solar plants at the very minimum to maximise their savings from a solar plant. Daily cleaning is ideal and hence consumers can also install water sprinklers to enable daily cleaning of the solar plants. Remember to clean the edges of the solar panels and not allow muddy water to collect there. In the short term soiling of solar panels will impact the generation of solar power but in the medium term consumers also risk faster degradation of the solar panels. Hence we would strongly recommend that consumers not follow the idiom “Install it. Start it. Forget it”.