Green Daily

What happens to the water? Is it filtered and reused? Or does it just get wasted?

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The spray system was designed to use "reclaimed water" so we can reuse the water by sending it through a "gray water" filter system to remove the dirt and soap. And the spray nozzels won't get clogged!

One of the other benifits of the system is the ability to circulate water during the hot time of the day and cool off the panels increasing the preformance.

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Rich - you're right that cooler panels put out more energy but it's actually a really bad idea to put water on your panels in the hot sunny afternoon. The problem is that the system is running at a very high voltage and you run the possibility of creating a breakdown voltage between the cells and module frame. Most modules are supposed to stand up to this but in general you're much better off cleaning the modules when they're not under sun.

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After close review of these automatic wash systems I have concluded that they are functional, but only to a small degree.

Most issues with clean panels is not just the thin layer of dust, that these systems can remove, but it is the sticking debris like sap, bird dropings, leaves, etc that these systems will not. Nothing will ever fully replace a man and his cleaning brush.

I will stick with the guys at Solar Maid to keep my system running at its best.

John Rainer
System Owner
South Florida
http://www.mygreenscene.com/thesolarmaidcompany/index.html

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