Solar panels are an excellent way to save money on your energy bills and to help protect the environment. However, if you don’t clean your solar panels, you may end up seeing your energy bills start to spike. Additionally, dirty solar panels can greatly impact the curb appeal of your home, making it seem uncared for, even if you put a lot of time and effort into maintaining your house. Thus, solar panel cleaning is essential, both for maintaining their efficacy and your home’s curb appeal.

How often you’ll need to clean your solar panels can vary depending on a number of factors. Here is what you need to know about why you should clean your solar panels and how often you can estimate to have this service done. Let’s dive into it!

Why Should You Clean Your Solar Panels?

There’s quite a bit of debate about whether or not you even need to clean your solar panels. We covered this in our previous blog: Is Solar Panel Cleaning Worth It? We’ll touch on some of the reasons why you should clean your solar panels here as well, for your convenience.

Many people assume that rain is enough to clean your solar panels. While rain can clean away some dust buildup, it can’t do much for bird poop or extensive buildup of debris. Plus, think about what happens to your car when you leave it out in the rain: it gets covered in all these little spots because of the dirty film that rainwater leaves behind. Thus, solar panel cleaning is needed in order to keep your solar panels clean, clear, and in optimal working order.

How Often Should You Clean Your Solar Panels?

The truth is that it depends. In general, it’s recommended that you have your solar panels cleaned once or twice a year. This can vary depending on your environment. For instance, if you live somewhere that doesn’t get much rain, you’ll likely need to schedule more frequent solar panel cleanings because more dirt and debris can build up on your solar panels.

Some of the factors that impact how often you need to clean your solar panels include:

• If you live in a desert climate, the amount of dust and sand that your solar panels are exposed to is more than in other areas. This can increase your need for more frequent solar panel cleaning.
• If you live in a heavily wooded area, you will also likely need to schedule more frequent solar panel cleaning because of the debris that can build up on your solar panels.
• If you live in a heavily populated area or near a freeway or a highway, you will need more frequent solar panel cleaning because of the higher amounts of pollution in the air that can build up on your solar panels. 
• If you live in a relatively clean area that experiences quite a bit of rainfall, you likely will not need to schedule your solar panel cleanings as frequently as those who live in other areas, such as those mentioned above.

Should You Clean Your Solar Panels Yourself?

No. Many people assume that solar panel cleaning is easy and want to save money by attempting to DIY their solar panel cleaning. There are a number of reasons why this job is best left to the professionals.

• Safety. It’s dangerous to try to clean your solar panels. Without the proper training and equipment, you could end up seriously injured. It’s not worth the risk to your health and safety to try to cut costs by DIYing a project like this.
• The potential for damage. Solar panels are delicate. You could accidentally scratch and damage them if you try to clean them yourself. Plus, you could end up covering them in streaks, which would impact their efficiency. 
• Your warranty. In some cases, you could end up voiding your warranty if you try to clean your solar panels yourself. Some solar panel manufacturers require that the job is done by professionals.

Professional solar panel cleaners have the equipment, training, and expertise needed in order to ensure that your solar panels are left sparkling clean without damages or streaks.

Do You Need Solar Panel Cleaning?

If your solar panels are looking grimey and your energy bills are starting to go up, it could be time to clean your solar panels. True Clean Power Wash & Seal provides professional solar panel cleaning services throughout the Charlotte area. Contact us today to learn more or to schedule a cleaning appointment for your home or business.

Roofs can be challenging to clean. They’re dangerous, and climbing up on them poses serious risks, especially if you’re not a trained professional with the proper safety equipment. However, your roof makes up a significant portion of your home’s exterior, so when it’s dirty, it can bring down the curb appeal of your entire property. Plus, dirty roofs can be damaged easier and not last as long if you don’t maintain them properly. This can lead to all sorts of problems, hence why people wonder if you can pressure wash your roof.

Pressure washing is a very effective cleaning method for the exterior surfaces of your home. Thus, it makes sense why people would want to know if you can pressure wash your roof. It certainly seems effective and like it’s just the ticket to make your roof look as good as new again. While you need to keep your roof clean as part of its regular maintenance, soft-washing by a trained professional is a better choice than pressure washing.

Here’s what you need to know about the factors involved with trying to pressure wash your roof and what you can do to keep your roof nice and clean. Let’s dive into it!

Should You Pressure Wash Your Roof?

In general, pressure washing is something best left to professionals. This is because pressure washing uses highly pressurized water that could easily damage your home if not handled correctly. With something as important and as vulnerable as your roof, you shouldn’t pressure wash your roof. Doing so could end up voiding your warranty, especially if you’re attempting to DIY the job.

Many well-meaning homeowners end up seriously damaging their roof when they try to pressure wash it. Plus, the water makes your shingles slippery, which adds an extra safety hazard to an already dangerous job.

So, in short, no. You should not pressure wash your roof. You can hire professionals like the team here at True Clean Power Wash And Seal to soft-wash it, though.

What Is Soft-Washing?

Soft-washing is very similar to pressure washing, but it’s differentiated from its more pressurized sibling with its gentler approach. Hence the name: soft-washing. Professionals use a pressure washer to soft-wash your roof, but with a much lower PSI (pressure per square inch) than if they were pressure washing. They also use specialized cleaning solutions. 

Soft-washing is ideal for the harder-to-clean or more easily damaged surfaces of your home, such as your roof. It was specifically designed for the purpose of cleaning those stubborn algae off of your roof’s shingles. It is gentle, effective, and eco-friendly, and won’t damage your roof when done by a trained professional. 

You shouldn’t pressure wash your roof, but having a professional soft-wash it is the perfect solution to keeping it spic and span. 

Why Should You Soft-Wash Your Roof?

Roofs are constantly exposed to the elements. This means that they can get dirty much faster than other areas of your home. Everything from rain and snow to fallen debris from trees to dirt that was blown onto it to animals nesting there can dirty your roof’s surface. A dirty roof is not only unsightly and brings down the curb appeal of your entire property, but it’s also one that is more likely to be damaged. 

This is especially true if you have moss or algae growing on your roof, as the moisture causes your shingles to crumble, which can leak to leaks. Roofs are quite prone to algae, which is why you may want to pressure wash your roof, so that you can blast it off. However, you don’t want to damage the integrity of your roof structure. 

Soft-washing was specifically designed for the purpose of cleaning the algae off of your roof. Thus, if you want to maintain your roof and keep it clean, hiring a trained professional to come out and soft-wash it as needed is a must.

Regular roof maintenance is an essential part of keeping your home protected by ensuring that your roof stays in good condition for as long as possible. Having your roof soft-washed as recommended is one of the ways you can preserve your roof and ensure that it lives up to its promised lifespan. 

Do You Need To Schedule A Roof Cleaning?

True Clean Power Wash And Seal provides professional roof cleaning services that can restore your roof’s appearance and keep it in good condition for longer. To schedule your roof cleaning service, please don’t hesitate to contact us today!

Many people don’t realize that your solar panels need cleaning in order to continue to perform properly. It’s very common for people to assume that once they’re installed, you can just leave them be, and any dust that does build up on them, rain water will wash away. This leads to raised eyebrows at cleaning services and wondering what would make solar panel cleaning worth it – or even necessary. 

The fact of the matter is that your solar panels are constantly exposed to the elements, as well as dust, pollen, bird dropping, fallen leaves, and more. As such, it’s very easy for dirt and grime to accumulate on your solar panels, lessening their efficiency. Solar panels are an investment that you expect to pay for themselves within a shorter rather than longer period of time. Thus, many people find solar panel cleaning worth it in more ways than one. 

What Makes Solar Panel Cleaning Worth It

From protecting your investment to keeping them functioning properly, there are many factors that make solar panel cleaning worth it. Here’s what you need to know.

Reduce Your Energy Bills

Solar panels are meant to reduce your energy bills, but when they’re in need of cleaning, you’ll likely see them start spiking. This is because solar panels convert light into power, and when there is dirt on their surface, this impacts how much light hits them and how much energy they’re able to provide your home. 

Did you know that studies show dirty solar panels can lose up to 20% of their efficiency? The National Renewable Energy Laboratory states that it can be even more than that. In order for your investment to pay off and for your solar panels to be able to do their job, they need regular cleaning in order to ensure that they receive as much light as possible. 

The goal of having solar panels installed is to save money after all, which certainly makes solar panel cleaning worth it, in order to ensure that they can do just that. If you have solar panels and your energy bills start climbing, it could be because you’re in need of having a solar panel cleaning service done.

Rainwater Won’t Cut It

Contrary to popular belief, rainwater won’t actually clean your solar panels – in fact, it can make them dirtier. It seems counterintuitive, doesn’t it? Rainwater is just water, after all. It makes sense to assume that it can wash away any dirt or debris that’s built up on your solar panels. However, the unfortunate truth is that rainwater is hard water that can actually scratch and damage your solar panels, in addition to making them dirtier.

You know how when you leave your car out in the rain, you end up needing to take it to the car wash? The same goes for your solar panels. Rainwater leaves behind a dirty film that makes it harder for solar panels to do their job, brings down the curb appeal of your home, and can damage your solar panels over time.

If Mother Nature won’t do the job and can, in fact, make the job harder, then yes, you’ll find solar panel cleaning worth it to clear off all those hard-to-remove bird droppings and keep your solar panels clean, efficient, and in good condition for longer.

Avoid Damaging Your Investment

Solar panels are fragile and easy to scratch. It can be tempting when you learn that solar panels can get dirty and need to be cleaned to try to take care of the job yourself. However, trying to DIY solar panel cleaning is both dangerous and can result in you damaging your solar panels and leaving them covered in streaks and scratches. 

Professional solar panel cleaners have the right equipment and products in order to ensure that your solar panels are left sparkling clean, protecting your investment.

Do You Need Solar Panel Cleaning?

True Clean Power Wash & Seal offers professional solar panel cleaning services for both residential and commercial properties. Our experienced team has the knowledge, equipment, and products to be able to clean your solar panels safely and effectively. With our expert services, you can optimize your solar panels’ performance without having to worry about accidentally damaging them or decreasing their longevity. 

Our solar panel cleaning services are designed to make life easier for you by leaving the dirty work to us and to save you money by preserving the state of your property. Contact us today to schedule your solar panel cleaning appointment or get a quote and let us help you take full advantage of your green power source!