One of the main questions people installing solar panels in Newcastle ask us is how do their panels need to be maintained? To get the lowdown on what you need to know about maintaining solar panels, read on.
Maintenance Begins With The Right Installation
Most solar panel users hope that once the panels are installed, they will be able to sit back and simply let the panels do their thing. Fortunately, provided that you have had your panels installed by a reputable company, the chances are your panels will not need much maintenance at all.
When your panels have been installed correctly, the panels will stay put even when weather conditions are adverse. The best solar installers will also only use the highest quality solar panels. These panels will usually have a manufacturer warranty of around 25 years so you can trust that they will be working well for a long time. However, The Renewable Energy Hub estimates that the latest solar panels could last for as long as 40-50 years!
Another important thing to consider is that solar PV installation is not just about putting some panels onto any old roof and hoping that they work. Before solar panels get installed, the engineer needs to ascertain if the roof is pitched at the right angle, if it faces the right direction and if there are any tall trees, buildings or structures that could obstruct precious sunlight.
Keeping Birds Away
As solar panels tend to be installed on your roof, the chances are you won’t need to worry about people or other animals interfering with them. Apart from birds of course.
Birds can easily access your roof and unfortunately they can see your solar panels as prime real estate for making nests. While it’s good to help wildlife out, you’re much better off installing bird houses in trees than letting your solar panels become a nesting ground. This is because unfortunately birds can damage your panels when they nest in or around them.
To prevent this from happening, you can have bird guards made of mesh installed around the perimeter of your panels. Roughly 4 out of 5 solar PV customers opt to have this add-on to keep their panels in top condition.
Do solar panels need servicing and cleaning?
The short answer to the above question is no. As previously mentioned, good quality solar panels can last for decades in the UK.
While your solar panels don’t need regular servicing, you can speak to your installer if you think your panels aren’t generating energy properly or if another component of your system such as the inverter does not seem to be working as it should.
Cleaning your solar panels is also not an essential part of solar PV maintenance in the UK. This is because rain water will wash away most dirt on solar panels. The vast majority of solar panels have also been designed to be self cleaning. This is another reason why you should not need to regularly get your solar panels clean.
Of course, if you find that you do want to have your solar panels cleaned there are companies that provide this service. Just make sure they get good reviews, they won’t damage your panels and that they have the specialist skills and cleaning products to carry out the service. Please also be wary that you could be wasting money on what is probably an unnecessary service.