Dust, pollen and ash
The loose layer. Dry summers and open ground put a fine film on everything, and fire-season ash sits on the glass until something moves it. Rain shifts the loose part and leaves the rest.
ServicesSolar panel cleaning
Solar panel cleaning in Roseville and Placer County — pure water, a soft brush, and cool glass.
A solar array is glass over live electrical equipment. It collects dust, pollen, ash in fire season, bird droppings and the chalky film that sprinkler overspray leaves behind — and rain rinses the loose dust off while leaving the film. It is the one surface on the property where the gentlest method is the only method.
01How it's done
The order matters more than the effort.
- 01Solar work happens early in the morning or in the evening, never through the middle of a hot day. Before any water touches the glass, the back of a bare hand goes on the panel: if it is too warm to rest a hand on comfortably, it waits. Cold water on hot glass is how panels crack.
- 02The system is shut down before we start — by you or your installer, never by us. A solar array is your electrical equipment and it is not ours to operate. We confirm it is off and note who did it.
- 03Pure water goes on first and lifts the top layer of dust, pollen and droppings.
- 04A water-fed soft brush works each panel top to bottom, including the trim and edges where the film collects.
- 05Debris underneath the panels is cleared where it can be reached, so it stops washing down onto the array and into the gutter.
- 06Pure water dries without spots or streaks — there are no minerals in it to bake on — and we check the array is fully dry and clean before we leave. Then you or your installer switch the system back on.
02What it addresses
Film, not just dust.
Hard-water film
Sprinkler overspray dries on the glass and leaves minerals that rain never removes — the haze on panels that get rained on all winter and still look dull in June. How much of it a pure-water wash lifts is set out at the assessment, not promised in advance.
Bird droppings and nesting
Droppings shade the cell beneath them and etch if they sit. They come off with the wash. Nests and debris under the array are cleared where reachable; keeping birds out of the space under the panels is a different job, and we tell you what we found.
03With the roof
Booked with the roof wash — one visit.
Panels share a roof with the growth a roof wash treats, and the tiles under the panel edge soil faster than the rest of the field because runoff from the array concentrates there. Booked together, the roof gets its soft wash, the array gets its pure-water clean, one visit and one written report covering both. The strong chemistry is for the roof surface around the array — never the glass.
04From the field
05The honest part
What we will tell you before we start, not after.
We don't quote an output percentage. Dust and film sit between the sun and the cell; how much that costs you depends on the array, the tilt and the season, and anyone giving you a number without measuring your system is guessing.
Scratched, hazed or cracked glass is not something cleaning fixes. If we see it, it goes in the report.
Your landscaping and propertyNo detergent and no pressure ever touch the glass. The system is off before we begin and stays off until you switch it back on. Landscaping below the array is pre-wet before any roof work around it and rinsed after.
06Questions people ask
Do solar panels actually need to be cleaned?
Rain takes the loose dust off. It does not take off the hard-water film, the pollen paste or the droppings, and those sit between the sun and the cell. A pure-water clean removes what rain leaves behind.
How often should solar panels be cleaned?
The two moments that matter here are after the spring pollen and after the dry summer. Arrays under trees, near sprinklers or on a bird's flight path ask for it sooner. The assessment tells you which applies.
Can you pressure wash solar panels?
No. Pressure can crack cells and force water past the seals. Nothing stronger than pure water and a soft brush touches the array.
Do I need to turn the system off?
Yes — you or your installer shut it down before we start and turn it back on after. We never operate the system, and the job does not start until we've confirmed it is off.
Does bird poop affect solar panels?
Yes. A dropping shades the cell under it, and left long enough it etches the glass. They come off with the wash; we also clear what we can reach from underneath the array and tell you if birds are nesting there.
07In writing
Our guarantee
If we cleaned it and didn’t get it right — a missed spot, bad prep, something we forgot — we come back and fix it. No charge, and no time limit on that.
What we can’t promise is to remove what isn’t dirt. Permanent staining, oxidation, rust pitting and etching are in the material itself, not on top of it. We’ll tell you which is which before we start, not after.
08Where we do this
Solar panel cleaning across Placer County, plus Folsom. See what we notice in Folsom, Lincoln and Rocklin — or across every city we serve.
Not sure what your property needs? That’s what the assessment is for.
We’ll personally follow up within 1–2 business days.