Rain X on Solar panel

[cgjt]

Was wondering if putting an application of Rain X or similar water repellent on the solar panel would help in keeping the panel cleaner. Any thoughts on this idea appreciated. Thank you.

[mr_andyj]

There are glass panels and there are those cheap-o flexible plastic covered panels. I think if you damage the cheap-o plastic one you will be doing yourself a favor to get a glass one. Only use the flex ones if you absolutely have no other choice... My opinion based on some wasted money...

[Fisherman]

The only problem I see if the solar panel is laid flat level on the roof, any type of waxy oily protectant will cause water drops to group together. When the sun comes out, those water drops can become magnifying before they dry up. I don't know if that would cause any damage to the underlying solar grid, just a thought.

[deltabravo]

Grit dog wrote:

gbopp wrote:
I think Rain-x is not recommended for solar panels.

I can’t possibly imagine how this could be possible.

Ditto.

I can't see how there would be a problem putting Rain-X on any glass surface.

[ktmrfs]

TurnThePage wrote:
I don't know what the top of solar panels is made of, but it's not glass. RainX is for glass and can damage some plastics. It'll fog headlights for instance. Maybe there's some kind of car wax that might work.

I just use a long handled brush/squeegee. To clean mine periodically.

friend of mine helped develop many solar panels for many companies. In all cases the cover was glass. Now it is NOT repeat NOT your typical glass, it's designed to transmit as much of the useable wavelengths of light that the panel is sensitive to. A lot of work goes into that glass.

As for Rain-x, I doubt it will damage the glass, however the unkown is if the coating will absorb any of the wavelengths that the cells like for energy conversion.

[delwhjr]

Found this article on cleaning:

Cleaning Panels

[TurnThePage]

I don't know if that's the case as I can't find that info for my panels. But if it is, RainX might work nicely. At any rate, I got curious and googled it, and came across this product line, which looks interesting. They say it's safe on glass and plastic, and they claim it will last for years.

[Boon_Docker]

TurnThePage wrote:
I don't know what the top of solar panels is made of, but it's not glass. RainX is for glass and can damage some plastics. It'll fog headlights for instance. Maybe there's some kind of car wax that might work.

I just use a long handled brush/squeegee. To clean mine periodically.

Solar panels are covered with tempered glass.

[2oldman]

lane hog wrote:
I've never washed mine in 15 years. Rain takes care of that for me.

You sure about that? Rain is how mine get dirty.

[TurnThePage]

I don't know what the top of solar panels is made of, but it's not glass. RainX is for glass and can damage some plastics. It'll fog headlights for instance. Maybe there's some kind of car wax that might work.

I just use a long handled brush/squeegee. To clean mine periodically.

[lane_hog]

I've never washed mine in 15 years. Rain takes care of that for me.

[cgjt]

Thank you to everyone’s replies. I knew someone would know. Thanks again.

[Grit_dog]

gbopp wrote:
I think Rain-x is not recommended for solar panels.

I can’t possibly imagine how this could be possible.

[wildtoad]

Every so often you might want to rinse them off or perhaps wash them with soap and water but other than that leave them alone.

[gbopp]

I think Rain-x is not recommended for solar panels.