Are you new to the marvellous world of solar energy? As you probably already know, solar panels come with minimal fuss. However, that doesn’t mean you can leave them alone entirely and expect them to continue at their full potential. Although you probably won’t need to do anything to yours yet, we’re here to give you some solar panel maintenance tips to help you get ahead of the game.
Don’t let them fall victim to the shade
Although there’s a chance your solar panels will encounter the shade at some stage, too much causes damage. When your solar panels don’t spend enough time being exposed to the sun, they become inefficient.
At Arise Solar, we help our customers overcome this from the beginning by installing panels so that they receive as much sun exposure as possible. In some cases, this means placing the panels on tilts so that they face towards the sun’s rays. Additionally, we recommend keeping a close eye on trees in the nearby area. Recognize when you need to trim yours so that your panels’ cells are receiving as much sunlight as possible.
Document your panels’ daily performance
The daily performance of solar panels varies depending on their quality, size, and your location. Location is particularly important as the number of sunshine hours that households throughout Australia receive depends on their location. For example, Perth is sunnier than Melbourne, so you should expect your panels to perform better if you reside in Perth.
Once you know how much energy to expect, one of our best solar panel maintenance tips is to start monitoring your energy usage. That way, if it starts to deviate for some reason, you know that there may be something wrong. You can try tackling the issue yourself at first. Clean the panels gently with water and look out for shade-causing structures. If you can’t detect the issue yourself, it’s worth contacting a team of professionals regarding their solar services.
Keep an eye on the inverter
Another of our basic solar panel maintenance tips involves keeping an eye on the inverter. Your solar panel maintenance team should highlight where it is when they finish installing panels at your home. Depending on the type of inverter your system uses, it should flash a certain colour when all is well and a different colour when there’s something wrong.
If you see that the wrong colour is flashing on your inverter, contact a maintenance team for advice. When the inverter isn’t functioning fully, your panels won’t be distributing solar energy throughout your home or business. As a result, they’re not helping you save money.
Clean, as well as using our solar panel maintenance tips
Finally, our best solar panel maintenance tip is to keep your panels clean. How often you need to clean yours depends on their surrounding environment. For example, if you know that there are lots of birds active in the area, you might want to check for droppings and clean them when they become apparent. Or, if you live near trees that are likely to spread dander and pollen onto the panels, they’ll need periodic attention too.
If you don’t feel confident cleaning the panels yourself, always ask a team of professionals instead. At Arise Solar, we can also advise you on how often you need to clean your panels, as well as what you should clean them with.
If you need more solar panel maintenance tips, we’re here to help. We install and maintain solar panels throughout Australia, using the best brands and products. To learn more, call us on 1300 274 737 or complete our contact form.
