How To Clean Solar Panels on Garden Lights.Outdoor solar lights such as those used in gardens, trees, patios, or mounted on the exterior of a building are exposed to the elements: water, dirt, pollutants, and of course, the sun.
They must be cleaned regularly to ensure their optimum function and longevity. Luckily, this is not difficult. The solar lights in your home and garden can shine with a few cheap and simple green cleaning products and a little routine maintenance.. However, to enjoy all its advantages, it is also important to learn how to properly clean the solar panels of garden lights.
How To Clean Solar Panels on Garden Lights?
You should refer to the owner’s manual for your garden lights, if you still have it, or look it up online. Check the manual for any special instructions on how to clean your garden lights. If there aren’t any, you can continue with the rest of the instructions.
What you need
If your garden lights don’t come with special cleaning instructions, you can simply clean them with soapy water. If the outer layer of the solar panels is made of tempered glass, you can also use glass cleaner.
- Fill a bucket with lukewarm water and mix in just enough mild detergent to make it foam up a bit. Do not use any other cleaning product, such as bleach, as it will damage the surface.
- Use a garden hose to spray the solar lights with water. This will remove much of the loose dust and dirt from the panels. In addition, it will loosen accumulated dirt. This will save you having to scrub afterwards.
- Take a kitchen sponge. Avoid the type of sponge that has a scouring pad, as it will scratch the surface of the solar panels and decrease their effectiveness. Dip the sponge into the bucket of soapy water and proceed to scrub the solar panels on the garden lights.
- Once you’re done scrubbing, turn the hose back on and proceed to rinse the solar panels. You don’t have to worry about drying out individual solar panels. They are not big enough to worry about leaving scratch marks on their surfaces.
Things to remember
- Do not immerse garden lights in bucket of water. It is more likely that they are only waterproof but not completely waterproof.
- Don’t rub too hard. Rubbing too much can scratch the surface of the solar panels. When the surface of your solar panels becomes too dull, you’ll need to buff it with rubbing compound and a clean rag.
- Clean solar panels when it’s cold outside. Not only will it make your task easier, but it’s also best to clean solar panels when they’re not hot. Suddenly spraying hot panels with cold water can cause thermal shock which will cause the panels to crack.
- Do not use an electric cleaner. Power washers may seem like a fun way to clean your solar lights, but they’re not recommended. Water coming out of the nozzle of a pressure washer squirts out with such force that it can cause solar panels to crack.
Also, pressurized water will be able to find its way inside your garden lights, causing a short circuit.
How often do you have to clean the solar panels of garden lamps?
It is essential to know how often you have to clean the solar panels of the garden lights. The frequency of cleaning will depend on the weather conditions where you live. If you live in a rather dry but not arid area, your solar panels may need cleaning every six months or so. The same is true if you live in a place with a tropical climate.
On the other hand, if you live somewhere fairly dry and dusty most of the time, you’ll want to hose down your solar panels whenever you can to keep dust from building up, and wash them every 3-4 months.
For example, if you live in the southwestern states, like Arizona or Texas, you have to wash them more frequently. The same is true if you live near the highway. In addition to removing dust and dirt, you also need to watch out for falling leaves and other debris from garden plants and trees.
