Can I go through car wash with solar panels on my roofrack?

I"m asking about the drive thru kind of car wash, with those things like giant red squid that attack your car with flopping carpet strips. I have not ever seen a pressure-wash one.

No, I am not so cheap that I will hand wash rather than pay $5 there :).

I would not do it, in a car wash with brushes
Maybe a brushless wash depending on the water pressure

We had all kinds of vans and pickups at my work with cranes on them, and things like ladder racks on top of a van roof. They would catch the brushes and hanging rinse things on a typical gas station like automatic car wash, so you could not run a class B motorhome through that type of car wash with solar panels on the roof.

However we did have a power wash system that used high pressure wash nozzles, they where mounted about 10 feet off the ground and 9 feet wide, so that the vans and larger trucks could fit through it. While it only did a 'ok' job of cleaning the vans and trucks, it was a great way to rinse them off. Something like that was designed for the vans with ladder racks, and would work well with your solar panels.

You might look at a truck stop, and see if they have a 'trailer wash' system. It would have 14' high doors, and the power wash system inside a small building in most cases. How well will it wash and they normally use high pressure air to blow dry a car or class B might be questionable.

To wash my motorhome, I started using a high pressure washer. While not good for the EPDM roof to spray it with high pressure, if you hold it back far enough, you can give it a good rinse. The sidewalls hold up well to getting washed by the 1,600 PSI water, just keep the nozzle about 3-4" away from the surfaces.

The solar panels are pretty robust. Their mounts normally can handle being pulled up by the wind from 70 - 100 MPH winds every day you are out there driving around. They withstand hurricane force winds and rain while mounted on a house, and in RV use see even more sever abuse, and take it all in stride. .

Good luck,

Fred.

I've seen rear wipers torn off at an automated car wash.

I would not trust it on those drive through car washes with the spinning brushes.

If it is just a pressure washing, then no problem

I have run my RV thru the Blue Beacon Truck Wash
I have Solar panels on my RV have never had a problem with them.

Naio wrote:
Can I install them in such a way that this would be ok? Very protected and secured wiring, controller indoors, etc.? Or is hand washing a sacrifice I would have to make?

I thought you said you were cheap? Hand wash your car.

Pressured wash my roof and panels all the time even underneath them no problem in 12 yrs.

If you install properly, pressure washing should be fine.

If you are talking about the drive thru places where there are automated brushes coming in from all angles...too easy for something to catch and rip out the panel. I'm sure you could do something but not simply.

I don't know, but the attendant, if there is one would.