Why, When & How to Clean Solar Panels?

The solar panel is a device that collects sunlight and converts it into electricity. Nowadays, solar energy is one of cleanest, renewable energy sources available, and is the largest current energy source for the globe. Do you know why, when & how to clean your solar panels? If the answer is “no”, this article will show you the answer.

Why do solar panels need cleaning?

When solar panels are installed outdoors, they are exposed to the elements and naturally accrue dust, road grime, salt spray, bird droppings and other substances. Dirt that builds up on the solar panel prevents sunlight form reaching the solar cell. The more dirt, the lower amount of electricity they will produce. It is reported losses as high as 40% for customers who failed to ever clean their panels.

When and how often to clean solar panels?

As solar panels are tilted, most dirt will fall off or be washed away as soon as it rains. However, if you live in a dry area or there is a lot of ambient dust or sand, they will be cleaned a little more often. Most manufacturers recommend cleaning at least twice a year. This tends to result in a 3 to 5% increase in efficiency. The best time to clean solar panel is early morning or in the evening (ideally on an overcast day).  Too much sun on wet panels can cause them to evaporate too quickly and dirt will become smeared.

How to clean solar panels?

1.      For safety reasons, be sure to check your panel manufacturer instructions for shutting down the system before cleaning, if necessary. Try not to go on the roof to clean your system. It’s risky both for you and your panels. It’s wise to clean your panels from the ground if possible.

2.      Brushing any loose dirt off before spraying them with water will make the squeegeeing process quicker and easier.

3.      A good nozzle attachment on your garden hose might work just fine. If a lot of dust and dirt has accumulated, you might need to clean more thoroughly. Try to clean with a squeegee with a long extension.

4.      Don’t use metal objects, harsh abrasive products or detergents. Scratches on a solar panel can create shadows and affect efficiency. Simply use clean water and a cloth-covered sponge or soft plastic brush.

5.      Rainwater is low in mineral content, but some people have “hard water” or mineral-rich water from the tap. If this is the case for you, just be sure to squeegee the panels dry to avoid mineral deposits and streaking.

How to Clean Walls

Walls collect a lot of smudges, dust, and dirt over time. If you are going to clean the walls, take a look at the suggestions below!

l  Preparation

1.        Cover any carpet or furniture with old sheets, newspapers, towels or moisture-proof cloth to prevent splash of water or detergent from damaging carpet or furniture.

2.        Prepare a broom, brush or vacuum cleaner.

If the broom or brush has strong bristles, wrap an old T-shirt or rag to prevent scratching the wall.

l  Type 1: Cleaning Painted Walls

              

Most painted walls are easy to clean because you don't have to worry about expanding the stains or damaging the paint. However lime walls are easily broken and require extra care.

1.        Use a soft brush, broom or vacuum cleaner removes the dust.

2.        Remove the traces and stains from the wall. One of the simplest and most effective cleaners is to mix the baking soda and water into a paste, pour it on the clean rag, and remove the crayon, pencil, marker, ink and other similar stains on the wall. Crayons or black stains can be removed with turpentine or a little toothpaste (painted for a few minutes and then wiped off).

3.        Scrub the wall. For most painted walls, use warm, soapy water. Alternatively, adding a cup of distilled white vinegar to a bucket of warm water can be more effective. White vinegar will not leave traces and will not be washed with water.

4.        If warm soapy water does not work, you need a more powerful cleaner. It can be made in the home as follows. Mix 100g of sodium carbonate and 4 liters of water.

Scrub the dirty area with this mixture, rinse with water, and dry with a soft towel.

Type 2 Cleaning Wallpapered Walls

1.        Use a broom, brush or vacuum cleaner removes the dust.

2.        Remove the smudges on the wallpaper. If the wall has stains such as ink or crayons, scrub with a liquid detergent such as WD-40 or dry cleaning solution. If the wall has greasy dirt, you can hold a bread with a clean hand (or crumpled it into a ball) and rub it back and forth until it is clean.

3.        Clean the wallpaper. Wipe with a rag soaked in warm soapy water or ammonia-added water or white vinegar.

4.        Rinse with water. Gently scrub with warm water and dry with a soft towel.

Type 3 Cleaning Cork Walls

           

1.        Clean the dust first.

2.        Wipe with hot water, dry naturally, do not add detergent.

3.        Use the following method to remove stubborn stains: Mix methylated alcohol (white wine) and water in a ratio of 1:10.

Soak a clean rag and wring it out. Wipe the wall until the smudges are removed. Wash with a damp cloth.

Type 4 Cleaning Wood Walls

1.        Use a broom, brush or vacuum cleaner removes the dust.

2.        Wipe the wall with warm soapy water. A mild detergent can also be used.

3.        Wipe the wood wall outside.

It is best to clean the wood walls outside during the day so that it is dry faster and avoids wood decay. If possible, do not use a high-pressure water gun, as the water may seep in and wet the plasterboard inside, causing mold to grow.

Use a rag soaked in white vinegar to remove the lichens and algae, remember to wear gloves to avoid being scratched.

Type 5 Cleaning Diatom Mud Walls

1.        Remove dust with a duster, clean rag, or vacuum cleaner.

2.        If the diatom mud wall is accidentally stained with the colored liquid such as coffee, orange juice, red wine, etc., it is best to wipe it in time before the stain is completely penetrated and diffused. The shallow traces can be treated with chlorine bleach. Remove it with a clean cloth and gently wipe it. If it has penetrated and spread and the stain is large, it needs to be shoveled after it is completely dried, and then covered with same diatom mud.

3.        For handprints, footprints, ball prints or handwriting on the surface of diatom mud, it can be easily removed with simple tools such as soft rubber, hard rubber or fine sandpaper.

Type 6 Cleaning Wall Cloth

              

Nowadays, the wall cloth has been treated with waterproof, greaseproof and anti-fouling and will not be soiled by general sewage, juice or oil. Even if there are stains, wall cloth is easy to take care of:

1.        For dry dust, pat or use a feather duster to remove it;

2.        For mild dirt, it can be scrubbed with a white wet towel, and then allow it to dry automatically in summer. In winter or rainy days, it can be blown dry with a hair dryer (the temperature should not be too high);

3.        For heavy dirt, it can be scrubbed with a white wet towel with neutral detergent, soap or wall cloth special cleaning agent.

Different Types of Flooring Materials

With the rapid development of technology, there are many kinds of flooring materials to choose from. Different types of flooring materials have its unique functions, benefits and disadvantages. Here are some of the more common flooring.
l  Concrete Flooring

                                          Ordinary Concrete Floor                        

                                          Polished Concrete Floor                  

Concrete flooring is one of the most important floors. It is extremely strong and is able to withstand the pressure from very heavy equipment such as cars, trucks, etc. Usually used in factories, warehouses, parking lots, etc.

l  Wood Flooring or Timber Flooring

Real Wood Floor

Wood Flooring or Timber Flooring is natural materials. It is healthier and more environmentally-friendly green. Mainly used in individual homes, high-end private places and basketball courts.

l  Stone Flooring

Marble Floor

Terrazzo (Marble Chips) Floor

Stone flooring is natural, beautiful, and always stylish. Natural stone tiles also come in different types like limestone, granite, marble, sandstone, slate, travertine, etc. The naturally cool, hard surface is ideal for warm climates.

l  Tile Flooring

Frosted Tile Floor

Mosaic Tile Floor

Tile flooring is very old, common and popular types of flooring. The tiles are mostly coloured and glazed. They are available in many types like vitrified tiles, ceramic tiles, etc.

l  Carpet Flooring

Wool Carpet

Plastic Carpet

Carpet flooring is the most versatile of all flooring options, featuring more colors and textures than any other types of flooring. It resists moisture, crushing, mildew, etc. It is also a good sound absorber.

l  PVC Flooring

PVC Floor

PVC means Polyvinyl Chloride. These tiles are colourful, having a very smooth top surface and a rough lower surface. PVC flooring has a shiny, modern appearance and is popular for its cost-effectiveness, quality and durability.

l  Linoleum Flooring

Linoleum Floor

Linoleum flooring is made of linseed oil, wood or cork powder, and ground stone. It is recyclable material and available in different colors, styles and patterns and resists water easily. It is most commonly used in kitchen, bathroom and laundry rooms.

Floor Scrubber: Disc Versus Cylindrical

If you’re new to autoscrubber or just new to hearing these terms, let us discuss the differences between disc cleaning and cylindrical cleaning.

What is disc cleaning?

Disc brush is flat and round……like a pancake. Disc machines have greater overall down pressure than cylindrical machines, so they do a better job at cleaning tough soils or stains. The heads turn at slower rpm's than cylindrical machines. Floors will need to be swept prior to scrubbing with disc machines since these machines are not designed to pick up any debris. 

Disc brushes pros

l     Pads are inexpensive and are easy to change

l     Disc pads last longer than cylindrical

l     Lower initial cost

l     High-pressure scrubbing offers superior cleaning and shine

l     Better than cylindrical for tough soils or stains

l     Effective for tile floor cleaning

Disc Autoscrubbers are Ideal for: facilities with pre-swept floors, tile floor cleaning, hospitality, warehouse, manufacturing, and facilities with smooth floors such as sheet vinyl or polished concrete.  Retail operations looking for floor shine, and locations such as educational facilities dealing with scuffs will also benefit from a disc scrubber.

What is cylindrical cleaning?

Cylindrical brush is long and tubular……like a cylinder or perhaps a baseball bat. These brushes clean using higher rpm's that "flick" soils away from flooring. Two rod-shaped brushes turn in opposite directions. The rear brush turns backward and kicks small debris into a hopper behind the scrub head. Cylindrical brushes are good for floors that have cracks or grout lines. 

Cylindrical Scrubber Pros:

l     Greater productivity - no need to pre-sweep

l     Uses less water than disc scrubbers

l     Captures debris which leads to fewer squeegee clogs

l     Good for floors with cracks or grout lines

Cylindrical Scrubbers are Ideal for: facilities with debris such as plastic, metal filings or glass, operations with wet floors or wet debris (such as food and beverage or manufacturing) and floors with cracks or grout lines. Cylindrical scrubbers are also popular with warehouses and parking garages.

Choosing between the two truly depends on your cleaning requirements. If you require versatility between cleaning tasks, then disc cleaning rotaries are the best option. However if you require a deep scrubbing between grout lines and ‘difficult’ floors, then cylindrical machines such as scrubber dryers are the best solution.

W1 autonomous floor scrubber of DDROBO Robotics features double disc brushes for an unparalleled experience. Ideal to clean warehouse, hospitality, manufacturing, tile floor cleaning etc. The automated scrubber will keep your facilities clean, inviting and safe.

Please click the link below to learn more about it http://www.ddrobo.net

The Importance of Cleaning Your Parking Garage

With the development of society, the number of cars on the roads is increasing steeply. In order not to occupy the urban land and set aside a larger area for greening construction, more and more underground parking garages have emerged. Since the underground parking garage is the first thing people see when entering a property, it should be treated like a welcome mat and cleaned routinely.

Just imagine if you park your car for a business meeting and their underground parking garages are full of debris, trash, dirt and grime, and had broken fixtures, you would probably have a bad impression of management and be less likely to accept any deals. This can indicate that why an unsightly parking garages can damage your business financially.

Sand, gravel, dirt, trash and other debris pile up on the surface parking garage, all of which pose a hazard to vehicles and pedestrians. Should accidents occur due to poor maintenance or negligence, property owners have an unshirkable responsibility.

Besides, a dirty parking garage can become a feeding place for rodents and other pests, which is unsanitary and can be dangerous.

When it comes to parking garage cleaning, people are starting to get in trouble. The parking garage is vast, and it is really a problem to clean up. It is unrealistic to solve the problem by traditional labor as the result of the large amount of labour required. Due to a steady flow of traffic, it is impossible to operate the cleaning work normally. It is even more difficult to encounter rain and snow. If you want to clean the underground parking lot efficiently and quickly, you can use an autonomous floor scrubber.

DDROBO Robotics W1 floor scrubber robot is a great option. The cleaning robot can automatically build a map through laser scanning, and planning a path to quickly enter the cleaning mode with a cleaning efficiency of 2880㎡/hour. It saves labor costs associated with floor cleaning. While our machines clean the floors, your staff can be reassigned to work on higher-level projects, dramatically reducing your floor care costs. At the same time, it reduces fatigue, errors and repetitive strain injuries for your cleaning staff. The W1 floor scrubber cleans better and more consistently than humans. As an autonomous robot, it doesn’t get tired or sick, resulting in maximum uptime and productivity.

Let us help you work smarter, instead of harder – Call DDROBO Robotics and order W1 floor scrubber robot.

Super Smart Clean Robot

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W1 autonomous floor scrubbers will keep your facilities clean and preserve the integrity of your floors. SHOP NOW Robotics is on the rise – also in the cleaning industry. Autonomous cleaning solutions or cleaning robots are predicted to be the next big thing delivering increased productivity and better reliability.  Intuitive touch interface + control via mobile device Fully automated systematic operation Reliable navigation Connectivity and documentation