The Economics of Solar Farm Cleaning
Why scheduled cleaning is the highest-ROI O&M action available to a solar farm operator.
Cleaning isn't guaranteed to pay for itself. Estimate its value using measured additional generation, your actual electricity or export rate, and the service cost. Seasonal changes, weather, shading, and equipment faults can also affect output.
Typical soiling rates in San Diego County
Dirt and debris can block sunlight, but the effect varies with the amount of buildup, panel tilt, rainfall, shading, and equipment condition. We don't have a verified typical loss figure for San Diego homes. Compare monitoring data under similar weather conditions before and after cleaning rather than expecting a fixed percentage gain.
Cleaning cost vs. recovered revenue
Cleaning isn't guaranteed to pay for itself. Estimate its value using measured additional generation, your actual electricity or export rate, and the service cost. Seasonal changes, weather, shading, and equipment faults can also affect output.
Optimal cadence by site profile
Most San Diego solar farms land on a 2–3 cleaning per year cadence with a deep cleaning ahead of the highest-irradiance summer months. Sites near agricultural operations or active construction often benefit from a quarterly schedule. We model the math from site-specific weather and irradiance data.