Wildfire Ash and Your Solar Panels: What Bakersfield Owners Need to Know

By Miguel, Elite Pressure Wash Services · Bakersfield, CA

Fire season in the Central Valley means smoky skies for days or weeks at a time. And when the smoke clears, there's a gray film on everything. Your car. Your patio furniture. Your solar panels.

That film on your panels is costing you more than you think.

Two separate problems

When there's smoke in the air, your panels produce less because the haze blocks sunlight. That part fixes itself. Once the smoke clears, the sun comes back.

The ash is different. It settles on the glass and stays there long after the sky clears. That's the part that keeps costing you, and it doesn't fix itself.

Why ash is worse than regular dust

• It's very fine. Ash particles are smaller than normal dust, so they cover the glass more evenly and block more light.
• It gets sticky. When the morning dew hits it, ash turns into a paste that dries hard on the glass.
• Rain doesn't clear it well. A light rain just smears it around and turns it into streaks.

The owners who see the biggest jump after a cleaning are often the ones who had ash sitting on their panels.

What not to do

1. Don't dry-scrub it. Wiping dry ash off with a cloth or brush grinds the particles into the glass coating like sandpaper.
2. Don't hose hot panels. Cold water on glass that's been baking in the sun can crack it.
3. Don't clean while it's still falling. If the fire is still burning and ash is still coming down, wait. You'll just be doing it again next week.

When to clean

Wait until the smoke has cleared and the ash has stopped falling. Then check your app. Compare a clear day now to a clear day from before the fire. If production hasn't bounced back even with blue skies, the ash is still up there.

Then look at the panels from an upstairs window or across the street. Ash shows up as a flat gray haze.

The bottom line

Smoke goes away on its own. Ash doesn't. Once the skies clear, if your numbers haven't come back, your panels need a proper rinse, not a dry wipe and not a hope for rain.