When considering the financial viability of a solar project, investors often consider a number of variables in their energy estimates. One such variable, soiling losses, is often miscalculated despite being critical to ROI and system production. Soiled panels should be every solar investor’s worst nightmare. Why? Because dirty panels produce less energy which directly translates to a lower ROI. Dirty panels can also shorten the lifespan of solar panels, reducing returns once a project is paid back.
While soiling is inevitable, it is your choice whether or not to mitigate these losses. Installing an active cleaning solution (ACS) like RST NightWash™ will keep your panels clean and maximize your profits.
The best way to ensure maximum returns on your solar investment is to proactively combat soiling losses by installing an ACS that keeps your solar array consistently clean.
With ACS solar equipment, system owners can clean their solar panels multiple times a week with ease. Other cleaning methods such as manual cleaning allow soiling to build up on panels, drastically impacting energy production rates. Manual cleaning is not only inefficient, but also includes a lot of costly downsides, which can cost up to tens of thousands of dollars a year. Not to mention it can compromise your panel systems’ warranty.
Installing an ACS is one of the cheapest ways of increasing ROI while also ensuring long-term performance of your solar panels. A built-in active cleaning system like RST NightWash™ can fully optimize your panels’ performance. RST NightWash™ lasts the lifetime of the panels and will increase the resale value of your projects and properties should you decide to divest these assets.
A solar farm is no different from any other type of farm in the sense that more production means more profitability. Selling a solar project with an active cleaning mechanism will always be more valuable than its suboptimal neighboring competition.
Since the owners of Nunes and Sons Dairy outfitted their 836 kW solar array with RST NightWash™, they’ve seen an extra $23,000 in production compared to the same period in the year before, and are on track to deliver over $40,000 in extra production by year end. The value of this extra production amounts to more than they’ve paid through RST financing, resulting in a net positive cash flow in less than one year.
“Our RST NightWash™ system has already paid for itself with increased production. It’s a no-brainer investment for our operation. Our solar is producing more than I have paid to RST for the system. The system really doesn’t use much water at all, which is an especially important consideration right now.”
– Nunes and Sons Dairy
Another RST customer, Friesian Dairy Farm, used RST NightWash™ to make their solar project more profitable, with less hassle. In their first year using RST, they saw $25,595 in additional production (a 35.1% increase) and are on track to see $872,579 in added production over 25 years.
These are micro examples, of course. But take these numbers and apply them to the next solar project you’re buying or selling. Who knew keeping panels clean could be so easy and lucrative?
Investing in solar projects pays dividends, regardless. But investing in projects with RST NightWash™ on the array will allow for more energy production and less maintenance costs, maximizing your investment while adding intrinsic value to the project(s).
If you’re interested in maximizing your next solar investment by outfitting the project with automated solar panel cleaning, contact RST CleanTech today.
