Here is why I cleaned my Solar Water Heating Panel and why you should too!

Here is why I cleaned my Solar Water Heating Panel and why you should too! 

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                                                          IMG.1- The Model I currently own 

We all know what a solar panel is. If you don't, Let me just give you a brief introduction. They are layers of doped semiconductors which are helpful in conversion of light energy to different kinds viz. Electrical or Heat. 

         

                                    Img.2: Working and Construction of a solar cell 

This sure is an important component in the Modern World. It enables us to utilize a renewable energy resource i.e The Sun into extremely useful applications. One of them includes Water Heating for Different Purposes such as Bathing, Cooking etc. But sure, this is a quirky piece of instrument and nobody can deny that but we have to accept the drawback that this cell is only 25% accurate in the mean and the Maximum Efficiency one can get is ~44% which was developed by a group of scientists(Source at footer) whose whereabouts are unknown but was able to achieve through an extremely prospective thinking about the working and is also known to be quite expensive for public use. Now, the Average Solar cell as stated above, is only 25% Efficient which might make you think that it is not a big number and it sure is. The Efficiency here, can be defined as the number of quantas of sunlight that it can receive and utilise efficiently in conversion of energy for one's application.
Some of the factors(In Priority Highest to Lowest) are:

• Temperature Derating ~12%
• Dirt and Grime on Panels ~5%
• Inverter Efficiency~5%
• Manufacturer Tolerance~3%
• AC Cable Losses~2%
• DC Cable Losses~1% 

   

               Img.3-Source: https://solarcalculator.com.au/solar-panel-efficiency/

As you can see the above factors, there are not many factors that a common person can work on over other than Dirt and Grime. This 5% might not seem like much but it plays an extremely important role in the working of the appliance where the Electrical based run low on power and Heat based appliances can output less heat. 

Technically speaking, Solar Water Heaters are more prevalent than Electrical Equipments because according to a survey 77 out of 100 homes in a developing city have Solar Water Heaters compared to Solar Electrical Equipments whose ratios are only 22 to 100. Not only Solar Water Heaters are prevalent, There is another one extra crucial point that is Water Scarcity. Water Levels are decreasing rapidly due to various illegal activities, Badly Planned Roads and Worse Water Management Skills. This is one thing that a human being cannot survive without and when threatened, the problems at local levels can keep evolving to a higher level leaving more generations of footprint which can affect the future generations to come. There surely are people who are trying their best to educate people on water management and also masses who surely agree upon the idea and are trying to live up to it. As a citizen myself, there are ideas that are bought out and achieved on through various methods by people but, this is also an important method as tried and tested by myself, which nobody is talking about and hence, I have decided to step-in.          

                                                
                    IMG.4:Wiper                                                                    IMG.5: Soap Water

I went to my terrace as a renovation was going on and just found myself rolling around taking selfies for great sky background. I also found that the solar panel that supplied hot water for my house was in an extremely bad shape and just decided to clean it with soap water and a glass wiper. I knew it that it was definitely going to increase the efficiency of my heater but little did I know, it would make a huge difference in the time and volume required to start flow of hot water unlike the older times. I use a 10L bucket for complete body wash and used to wait for 5 mins literally for the cold water running through to heat up which accounted for about 35-45% of the total volume I used which, further had to be used for any other purpose. After the cleaning action, I started getting hot water immediately for bath, thus saving both my precious 5 minutes and cold water. I surely was surprised at the sight and is currently the inspiration for writing my blog.

According to researchers and surveys it has been proved that taking a shower utilises a minimum of 85-100% more water than a regular sized bucket user. Now, According to my analysis, the cold water that could be utilized from a shower is slim as nobody would care enough for it and would rather just let it flow through. So, approximately, the cold water wastage is also raised exponentially and at this stage every drop of water is surely important. When efficiency is increased, there is a greater chance of a user getting hot water at a lesser time and a lower amount of wastage. At this rate, for us millennials, It surely is a Win-Win as we're on the path of a fast lifestyle and an even faster path for extinction. This surely ensures that both the facts are put back on their good terms and pushes our survival rates.  I hope I could educate the reader on something useful today and Come on people! Get ready with your Soap water and Wipers and be gladiators in the war between Wastage and Saving.

Whose side you take on is your choice. You decide.
                                    
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Source: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/aenm.201700345

-_Bapu Pruthvidhar