Solar Panel -- should I be worried or just clean it?

[Stealaway]

I can see my van roof out of my bedroom window and in two years it has become a little grubby.
The black sooty residual is a bit worrying - is it just Yorkshire muck (the panel drains down to that corner)or some thing more sinister?

 

[Hirsch]

Yorkshire muck that

 

[Boringfrog]

Just filth in the air/rain.

 

[Robert Clark]

Looks like muck to me, though if looks the your tv aerial is shadowing the furthest panel

 

[Winger]

Nothing to be worried about, the black bit in the corner is where the water and muck gets trapped by the aluminium rail and over a period of time it’s dried off by sun/rain, but giving them a clean will increase output

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[Tombola]

clean it before you use it again if youw want good output, it will just be the level flowing that way catchiing the muck. Mine does similar.

On a similar note, you have probably already realised the aeriel will cause big loss if it shades too. Bear this is mind when parking up for some solar, it makes a big difference

 

[Sapper520]

Some tips here……..

Cleanest roof competition

Well as it has stopped raining and the sun was out I got my shorts on and started with my new 3meter step ladders So come on don’t be embarrassed show us your sparkling roofs

www.motorhomefun.co.uk

 

[fat haggis]

Watch what you do when you clean it. Make sure your ladder is well steady you don’t want to fall off it like I did. Life altering injury

 

[Stag man]

Looks the same as mine does (Essex vs Yorkshire muck)
Its not that easy to clean a roof properly, but it’s worth it when it’s done.
I clean mine about once or twice a year with car shampoo then set up the garden hose and give everything a good swill-off.
The roof-lights and other fiddly bits are a real faff.
I never get on the roof, everything is done from a ladder cushioned against the top edge
Option 2 would be to move house so you can’t see it…..

 

[Sapper520]

Ouch. Just showed my wife, who is a retired orthopaedic Nurse, ‘Poor bugger, that must have hurt’.

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[Lenny HB]

Just muck clean it you lazy ***.
Already had my ladder out and cleaned mine twice on my current trip.

 

[barsteward]

Just muck clean it you lazy ***.
Already had my ladder out and cleaned mine twice on my current trip.

Yeh but its not constantly hissing it down where you are unlike Yorkshire. Lets see how diligent you are around Christmas.

 

[Roger S]

Where I park ours it gets crud from a nearby oak tree, I have to clean it twice a year at least, it gets green and horrible, although seeing Fat Haggis's injury I will now pass the job on to the wife

 

[gus-lopez]

roof & solar need cleaning weekly here. I always do the roof when washing the van at the car wash.

 

[Sapper520]

roof & solar need cleaning weekly here. I always do the roof when washing the van at the car wash.

Love the car / van wash places on the continent…….a gantry to wash the roof.

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[A S R]

Drill a hole through the solar panel in that corner. That’ll stop it.

 

[pampam]

id pay someon to come out and do it, i dont have much luck with ladders,id be ok with sides but not the roof,i used to get mine done once a year ,it was well worth it ,then id just do the sides regularly thru summer , i think it just looks like yorkshire muck on your roof

 

[Raul]

Constant shaded cell will heat up and burn the tracks. Do you want to change the panel or regular cleaning?
What’s that aerial doing over the panel?

 

[Stealaway]

Constant shaded cell will heat up and burn the tracks. Do you want to change the panel or regular cleaning?
What’s that aerial doing over the panel?

It's still in traveling position as I've .just returned from France. I can turn it so it doesn't mask the panel

 

[bigwood]

I watched a guy getting a colapsaible ladder out of his motorhome garage and clean his solar panels when we were on a site this summer. He reckoned it was safer on site because the grass was softer than his drive.
He declined my request to clean the roof and panels on mine.

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[Stealaway]

Looks the same as mine does (Essex vs Yorkshire muck)
Its not that easy to clean a roof properly, but it’s worth it when it’s done.
I clean mine about once or twice a year with car shampoo then set up the garden hose and give everything a good swill-off.
The roof-lights and other fiddly bits are a real faff.
I never get on the roof, everything is done from a ladder cushioned against the top edge
Option 2 would be to move house so you can’t see it…..

Thanks for all the comments people and I'm happily reassured that all is well.
I wont be having too many people in my bedroom over the winter so I've decided to ignore it until next year

 

[the1andonly]

Just stick your arm up through the vent. A warm wet sponge will soon sort out the corner.

 

[two]

If it's Yorkshire muck, it may well glow in the dark (?)