[RE-wrenches] PV scum from Dixie Fire

Thu Sep 16 18:04:00 EDT 2021

Never had any problem with soap and water in the 3 fires that went over
us. Obviously you want to not do anything in the sun. It is just tempered
glass so as long as the cleaner is compatible, I would not be worried about
something stronger if soap did not work. Still alot of fire season left.
Two weeks after the last rain is the new guide for fire season. Good Luck! 

Dave Angelini Offgrid Solar
"we go where powerlines
don't"
http://members.sti.net/offgridsolar/ [1]
e-mail offgridsolar at sti.net
[2]
text 209 813 0060

On Thu, 16 Sep 2021 13:20:09 -0700, Bill Battagin 
wrote:    

Dan, 

 I remember reading some REC material regarding cleaning
panels and they we very hesitant about anything brush or sponge-like to
clean their PVs, though I too, for my own arrays have used a car-washing
brush (very fine and soft) to carefully remove scum. It seems it may be the
only method for getting off hard-core crud. 

Bill On 9/16/2021 1:08 PM,
Dan Fink wrote:   Bill; Similar situation in my area (CO) from the big fire
that went through here last fall. Some had enough water onsite for the
sprinkler trick, but the biggest issue was thick coats of pink fire
retardant from the slurry bombers. The only thing I could find that worked
on both the ash/mineral scum and the pink slurry was.....dish soap and soft
scrub brush. And LOTS of brushing, 3-4 times over all my PV arrays. I was
hesitant to try anything stronger, like Simple Green, and tried to get info
on that and other chemicals from a couple PV module manufacturers, with no
success. Good luck!
            Dan Fink  Owner, Buckville Energy
Consulting LLC IREC Certified Instructor for PV and Small Wind Installation
NABCEP Certified PV System Inspector NABCEP PV Associate d
[3]anbob88 at gmail.com [4] 970-672-4342  

  On Thu, Sep 16, 2021 at 1:49 PM
Bill Battagin  wrote: Dearest wrenches,

 Trying to get back in the saddle
here in the Plumas Natl. 
 Forest...We are just coming out of 7-8 weeks of
threat of fire from the 
 Dixie fire in NE CA....has been life changing,
three of our communities 
 were lost or severely impacted.

 But many of my
customers did the old "sprinkler on the 
 roof" trick and left for
evacuation so much ash and (well)water on 
 panels for weeks at a time.
Depending on a variety of factors some 
 folks have not been able to see
the PVs clean up with a simple water 
 spray and I've been very hesitant to
recommend anything like soap, soft 
 brushing etc. Will the eventual
several inches of rain remove ash and 
 minerals left from well water?, its
pretty backed on.

 I'm looking for proven suggestions and/or experiences.
No 
 structure loss here but fire took part of our trees/property. Of
course 
 some of the system arrays are easy access and some are on two
story roofs.

 Thanks,

 Bill

 Feather River Solar Electric

Taylorsville, CA

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