Comment on The World’s Largest Solar Plant is Rising in Tibet. It's So Vast It's the Size of Chicago
Novamdomum@fedia.io 1 week ago
Wow, I had a look around on Google maps for "solar panels in NW China’s Qinghai Province"... it's incredible and so vast and there's so many other massive solar and wind farms everywhere as well. How do they keep them clean? Surely output must degrade over time no? There's even one where they made it into the shape of a giant horse. I guess that must be the logo of the energy company? Amazing...
Rain keeps solar panels clean. Output degrades over time naturally regarldess.
I lived off grid with a 2kW system for a decade,. As a test we cleaned themmonce at about the 5 yr mark with soap, water and a broom. My measuring equipment wasn't sensitive enough to notice any difference.
That said I have seen small robotic cleaners (like robotic window cleaners) used on vast solar arrays, possibly an array that vast and a small increase is worth it?
Sir_Kevin@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 week ago
I’ve seen some that have a bot that goes along a rail and cleans the panels. The bot itself with it’s own solar panel.