We carry out solar maintenance and solar panel cleaning in Birmingham. Here we discuss an example of our work. It is the cleaning of 250KW of solar panels on a privately-owned commerical rooftop in Birmingham.
What Were The Solar Array Details?
In this instance, the 249.75KW solar array was installed in January 2014. It consists of 999 ReneSola JC250M-24/Bb solar panels mounted on Clenergy EZ-racking, with 8x ABB 27.6TL inverters and 1 x 10TL inverter.
Although the system cost about £240,000, it is expected to yield £42,000 p/a and pay for itself within 7 years. Therefore, it shows means that solar panel installations are a good idea for two reasons. Firstly, it proves that rooftop solar arrays are both an excellent use of redundant space. Secondly, the financials stack up, showing they are profitable for business owners to install.
There is a common misconception among the public at the moment that solar is not a worthwhile investment. However, if calculated correctly, solar can still offer excellent cost savings to heavy consumers of power.
Why Did These Birmingham Solar Panels Need Cleaning?
Keeping the solar panels clean is an important part of helping the array hit that 7 year target. There are a number of reasons why the solar panels will need cleaning on this array. Because the solar panels are mounted at a relatively shallow angle, they will hold more dirt.
The M6 in this area of Birmingham is one of the busiest stretches of the M6. The motorway is only about 400 yards away from the array and is at the same height as the roof of the building. Traffic film will accumulate over time. This will inhibit the output of the array if it is not cleaned on a regular basis.
There is also a local population of seagulls that rest on the roof everyday. They are no doubt ‘Beaky Blinders’ (we couldn’t resist!) which make a mess of the solar panels with their droppings. As a result, there was a considerable build-up of bird droppings and some were very stubborn to remove. Bird droppings create ‘hard shading’ on solar panels and can if left, reduce the output. They can also have other effects of bird droppings on solar panels.
Conclusion
Clean Solar Solutions Ltd carry out solar panel cleaning and solar maintenance across Birmingham, the West Midlands and the rest of the UK. If you would like any advice regarding solar panel cleaning on your property or would like a quote, please feel free to contact us.
