I have had my panels up for a while now, and the New Mexico dust collects quickly(1). I've been rinsing them off with a water hose from the ground, but discovered our hard water has been leaving VERY noticeable lime spots which collect the dust even faster. I just cleaned them and put on a coat of Rain-X (2)to help the dust and water come off more easily in the future.
What does everyone else do to keep the crud off their panels and let the most light shine in?
(1) Only those from around here can comprehend the amount of dust we get daily.
(2) Great product designed for car windshields/windscreens
Hey,
The dust isn't an issue here in Arkansas but early spring brings TONS of pollen. Luckily we get a lot of heavy rain to wash that off fairly often. Arkansas is experiencing major flooding over in the flat land right now as a result of these monsoons.
I saw a solution somewhere that involved a length of yarn that the wind buffeted over the face of the panel removing dust. That would work but I worry that abrasion might damage the glass.
I wonder if a good auto wax might be a good choice for making the glass less receptive to gathering dust.
R
OK!
I'm going out right now and inspect mine. I'm worried about acid enriched grains of lava. That might be a slight over statement but we don't have dust - we have grit and I can't use the roof water any more because it'll kill most of my fish.
Heads Up Lads, To The Future.
Casey
I use a automotive car wash with a wax component I believe it is eagle 1 that discourages water beading and leaves the panels pretty slick reducing the amount of dust that collects. I normally wash my panels early spring before they get loaded with pollen and it does seem to help. It really helps remove the pollen even in a light rain or if they are hosed off. I can only do this on my ground mount array as the others are too high to get to.
I have a lot of dust and acidic rain water stored in a pond via garden hose and nozzle, a quick rinse in the AM, before the sun heats things up. I'll look into getting a Eagle 1 car washer thingy. I was originally thinking about a DI car wash cartridge (Mr Clean) for my city panels, but sold the house before I bought the DI .
Now I'm thinking about a NiFe battery bank, and that it uses a lot of distilled water, and maybe getting a counter top distiller ? maybe a DI unit ? suggestions ?
On my ground array the get rinsed off every other morning in the warm weather by the in ground lawn sprinkler system. The sprinkler system was in long before the array but it just worked out great that there are 3 heads on the back of our property that wash down the panels nicely when they are on, and the water still gets to the lawn but not quite where is is supposed to go ;D. Interestingly enough if it is real hot out and i let the sprinklers run for about 2 minutes the panels cool enough to see a 10 to 12% increase in efficiency for about 15 minutes.
Hmmmm,
So would sprinkling every 15 minutes be cost effective?
Should I hook up a sprinkler system on my collector roof as the runoff goes back into the irrigation cistern where its picked up by the pump and pushed back up to the roof?
I checked. They're pretty clean after six months. I was getting 3350 watts out of a 3675 watt array a couple of days ago. Its directed for high noon equinox maximomento. Next time we're rotating to 10:30 because the mornings are much brighter in the tropics.
Casey
Quote from: Carlb on May 09, 2011, 01:30:40 PM
On my ground array the get rinsed off every other morning in the warm weather by the in ground lawn sprinkler system. The sprinkler system was in long before the array but it just worked out great that there are 3 heads on the back of our property that wash down the panels nicely when they are on, and the water still gets to the lawn but not quite where is is supposed to go ;D. Interestingly enough if it is real hot out and i let the sprinklers run for about 2 minutes the panels cool enough to see a 10 to 12% increase in efficiency for about 15 minutes.
Carl,
That's an interesting concept. One of things, I proposed about 2 years ago was a reverse refrigeration cycle mounted to the bottom of the panels and using the heat absorbed from the panels to heat hot water. I haven't had time to build a prototype yet...but that's on my list.
I'm thinking with the efficiency gain bc of the cooler panels, it should result in near free hot water.
The only issue I have come up with is possibility of uneven heat scavenging across the cells...
Lloyd
Quote from: Lloyd on May 09, 2011, 06:34:00 PM
Quote from: Carlb on May 09, 2011, 01:30:40 PM
On my ground array the get rinsed off every other morning in the warm weather by the in ground lawn sprinkler system. The sprinkler system was in long before the array but it just worked out great that there are 3 heads on the back of our property that wash down the panels nicely when they are on, and the water still gets to the lawn but not quite where is is supposed to go ;D. Interestingly enough if it is real hot out and i let the sprinklers run for about 2 minutes the panels cool enough to see a 10 to 12% increase in efficiency for about 15 minutes.
That's an interesting concept. One of things, I proposed about 2 years ago was a reverse refrigeration cycle mounted to the bottom of the panels and using the heat absorbed from the panels to heat hot water. I haven't had time to build a prototype yet...but that's on my list.
I'm thinking with the efficiency gain bc of the cooler panels, it should result in near free hot water.
The only issue I have come up with is possibility of uneven heat scavenging across the cells...
Lloyd
Carl,
I just noticed that you've got a 69 groundpounder..kids never dye.
I don't seem to have time..maybe it's inclination(anymore)..I miss those days(68 RamAir IV GTO)
Lloyd
I was a beautiful day here in southern new jersey yesterday and I took the Camaro out for a little ride. Two hours later and 50 dollars or so worth of gas, I returned home happy and a little lighter in the pocket, but you cant put a price on fun and when I drive that car I make sure I have fun. No reason to drive it if I can't drive it hard (I am a long time racer) and no need to turn the radio on since you wouldn't be able to hear it anyway ;D
Kind of funny when some "youngster" pulls up next to you in a souped up rice burner with 200hp and revs his engine lol.