One thing we all know about solar panels is that they do not require much maintenance. This is indeed one key difference between solar PV based power generation and almost all other renewable energy sources, most of which comprise moving parts and hence require periodical maintenance.
So, yes, it costs little to maintain solar panels. But as any good solar power plant installer would tell you, it makes sense to clean the panels once or twice a month. That’s pretty much all the maintenance required for most small solar power plants (large solar farms might require regular inspections of cables, electrical connections etc)
Now, does cleaning solar panels cost you anything? The answer of course depends on who does the cleaning.
For small rooftop solar panels, if the home owner herself does the cleaning during spare time, there’s little or no cost involved. However, if you were to call someone from outside to clean the panels, the cost is the fee you pay to that person.
As you can thus see, the actual cost could differ from one rooftop solar installation to another.
But for medium and large ground-mounted solar farms, cleaning and related maintenance are usually done by formal teams. How much does maintaining these solar power plants (not just the panels) cost?
To put a cost on this, a ball park estimate is that the maintenance of a solar power plant costs, per annum, about 1% of the total project cost. So, if it cost you $1 million to put up a 1 MW solar power plant, it will cost you approximately $10,000 per annum to maintain it.
You Might Want to Check Out these Questions Too on Maintenance & Repairs
- How Frequently Should Solar Panels Be Cleaned?-Here
- What are the Best Ways to Clean Solar Panels?-Here
- How Easy Will it be to Replace Solar Panels after Installation?-Here
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