How To Maintain Solar Panels Safely
Author: Ross Zurn
A solar power system is neither too dangerous nor too difficult for most people to maintain. It doesn’t require any supervision from any government agency because it presents no risks. Nevertheless, there are still a number of safety tips you should abide by when working on a solar power system..
To use solar power panels safely in practical applications, they must be:
Protected from physical damage during manufacture, transport, and installation.
Protected from extreme weather conditions such as hailstones, wind and weight caused by a build up of snow. This is particularly important for wafer-based silicon cells which are fragile.
Sealed so as to protect them from moisture, which will corrode metal contacts,particularly the transparent conductive oxide layer found in thin-film cells. Not doing this will inevitably result in reduced operation and their ultimate lifespan.
After reading that, I shouldn’t have to say that it’s never a good idea to work on solar panels if ever it is raining.
Just like car batteries, the batteries for a solar power system contain highly corrosive battery acid. If you should get acid on your skin, in your eyes, or just on your clothes, it is vital to remove it straightaway. When you are working on the batteries of your solar power system,it is best to make sure that someone can hear you if you have the need to shout for help. You may require the assistance of someone else in case you have an accident of some sort.
Making sure you have a supply of water close by will help to clean any spillages of battery acid off you. If you get it on your clothes, remove them before it soaks through to your skin. For your eyes, you need running water to flood your eyes, and after that you will need to visit a hospital promptly.
It is never wise to smoke or let any source of ignition anywhere near a battery. Not only that though, metal instruments may cause a spark, which can cause an explosion. You should constantly be mindful that sparks may occur when you ever have to work on the panels. The risk of sparks is one of the reasons why you should never have any flammable gases anywhere near the panels.
You must make sure that, if you have a hybrid system, your backup generator is switched off so it it’s impossible for it to start whenever you are doing anything with the battery.
Another thing to be mindful of is that you must never wear anything made of metal such as jewelry or watches when you are close to the battery. A short circuit can produce enough current to melt the metal onto the other metal. The heat energy from this happening could easily cause you severe burns.
There are also a few other safeguards you should take when you work on solar panels. Firstly,for safety reasons, you should cover the outward side of the panels to ensure sunlight can’t reach them. This stops them from generating electricity whilst you are working.
You have to be mindful of what you touch when you are installing solar panels. It is unsafe to touch the terminals if they are exposed to light. You should also work with insulated tools to protect yourself from shock.
If you leave a solar panel unsecured there is a possibility that it can fall and get broken. It’s not just the fact that you will lose an expensive solar panel, but you will have the hazard of broken glass all around too. For this very good reason children should never be permitted to play any where near when solar panels are being fitted.
All these safety measures for handling solar power panels are primarily for installation and maintenance. Solar power is still very safe when you compare it to most other forms of energy. It only needs for you to take a couple of sensible precautions and a little bit of knowledge to keep the system running correctly with no possibility of danger to you or anyone else.
About the author: Want to build your own solar power system or even a complete home energy system? Then you need a fully illustrated and step by step guide. I have seen them all, good and bad, and you can discover which is the best at Green Power Easy