Should you wash your solar panels?
A solar farm owner conducted an experiment to determine if cleaning dusty solar panels provides a measurable increase in power output. The results showed a modest 2-5% gain, suggesting that cleaning is marginally worthwhile for small-scale setups.
Why it matters
This provides practical, data-driven advice for renewable energy consumers looking to optimize the efficiency of their home solar installations.
I have a small solar farm and the panels have got visibly dusty. Is cleaning them worthwhile? How much difference does it make? Let's find out.
I know that my panels have not been cleaned in the last year. I expect they also weren't cleaned in the year prior to that (why would you clean them when you're about to sell the house?). But beyond that I don't know when they were last cleaned.
The short answer is that I think I got a 2%-5% increase in power output from my solar farm due to cleaning the panels, which will work out to about £60-£150/yr, decaying to 0 over the course of a few years. So, probably just about worthwhile.
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