Solar panels need a garden hose and an occasional visit from professional contractors for regular maintenance. Solar shingles need a certified contractor to help maintain your roof's efficient performance. Here are three factors to make sure your new GAF Timberline Solar Shingles are effectively doing their job.
Use Your GAF Energy Production Monitoring Application
The GAF Energy Production Monitoring app monitors your solar shingles' energy production in simplified charts. Take note of any irregular decreases or increases because these indicate abnormal operations that may need professional evaluations.
Work With Certified Contractors
GAF Timberline Solar Shingle roofing contractors can investigate the roofing system's performance and possible issues. As certified roofing professionals, they have the right troubleshooting methods and equipment to evaluate your roof's existing condition. We highly recommend working with the GAF Timberline-certified team who installed your roof shingles.
Do Routine Cleaning
Lastly, routine cleaning is helpful for both solar shingles and panels. You can use a garden hose to remove the dirt or use a soft brush to avoid damaging the sensitive PV cells.
GAF has an excellent post to help you learn the best ways to routinely clean your PV cells.
How to Clean Solar Panels
You’ll know it might be time to clean your panels if you can see dirt on them or if you notice a decrease in energy production via your smartphone monitoring app.
If you’re a DIY-type of homeowner and your roof is safely accessible, you can gently rinse your solar panels off with a hose. However, make sure you only do this when the panels are cool, such as early in the morning or in the evening, to avoid damaging them with cold water on a hot day.
If you can’t reach the panels safely or you’d rather have a professional handle it, many window cleaning services also offer solar panel cleaning services at an affordable price. If you live in a windy, dusty area with a lot of air pollution, you might have your panels cleaned more often, but this is not required maintenance for the system.
If you live in an area that gets a lot of snow, once the sun comes out, the snow usually melts and slides right off the panels. If not, it can be brushed off using a soft-bristled extended brush. Again, safety first!
Maintaining Your GAF Roof
To help your new roof reach its maximum life expectancy, it’s important to keep it properly maintained.
While GAF recommends that all inspections and maintenance be performed by properly trained roofing professionals (such as the GAF-certified contractor who installed your roofing system or a GAF Certified Maintenance Professional™) as a homeowner you can still play a role as well, especially during storm season, when it’s more likely for damage to occur.
We recommend the “IOU” method of roof inspection: Check “inside,” by looking for signs of roof damage in your attic, things such as sunlight showing through, dark stains or other signs of moisture, or sagging; Check “outside,” by walking around the perimeter of your house to see if shingles might be missing or if there’s debris on the roof such as fallen tree branches; and “up” using a ladder, if you’re safely able to do so, to see if there are any loose nails or blocked gutters. (Continued)
You can always count on us at Roper Roofing & Solar to install the best roofs and solar panels in Golden, CO. Contact us today to learn more about our services.
