It depends on the condition and accessibility of the solar panel:  

• For example, If your solar panel is in a factory setting and the panel is new, clean and can be sprayed at ground level this is the lowest cost option.  Subject to a minimum quantity of panels to be sprayed, this will cost approximately £6/m2. 

• If your solar panel is not clean, it will need to be cleaned before it can be sprayed.  We can arrange this, however, if you already have a contract for someone to clean your panel then we can spray after they next clean it.

• Access to spray the panel is an important cost factor.  If the solar panel is at ground level, maybe in a solar farm, or in your garden, then we do not need to allow for access equipment such as scaffolding or mechanical access equipment.  Each location is different, and we need to assess the location to determine the safest and cheapest solution for the works.

• Typical costs for normal solar panel cleaning range from £5/m2 to £23/m2 in the UK subject to geographic location and the factors mentioned above.  Our costs for coating panels are also subject to accessibility costs.  Excluding access equipment, we charge between £6/m2 and £22/m2 for spraying our coatings subject to the area of panels to be coated.

Reduced frequency and intensity of pressure washing,

Cleaning can be done half as often, and with half the effort,

Panel performance and output can be increased,

Measurable contribution to corporate sustainability goals,

Points for innovation & environmental promotion.

In summary: Reducing cleaning means less water, electricity, chemicals and labour, disruption & inconvenience which not only saves you money it is good for the environment. 

Clean solar panels can be 5%-35% more efficient than dirty ones!

As soon as the coating has dried and it is in daylight.  (The UV-A light in daylight makes it work.) It dries in seconds and cures in 24-36 hours to form a clear, hard, water permeable, inorganic mineral film that is 40nm thin.  

We provide a 5 year warranty.  This is subject to how you treat your panel after it has been coated.  Any future cleaning requires minimal abrasion, although the coating is very tough and durable it can be damaged with ardent scraping using sharp instruments. 

Checking your energy generated regularly will identify trends in weather and associated changes in the power being provided.  By comparing these you should be able to notice if the panel is not working efficiently.  It may need the smaller particles of sand to blown off the panel or a quick water rinse.  Any larger debris that is on the panel should also be removed.

About half as much as before and with less effort.  It is usually recommended by panel manufacturers to clean your panel every 6 months.  This can be reduced to once a year.  This is enabling a 50% saving in cleaning costs.  PURETi™ is super-hydrophilic, makes glass super-slippery – rain runs off taking organic and non-organic dirt particles with it.  Inorganic dust (ie sand) will still be attracted to PURETi™ coated panels, but without the “sticky” organic grime to stick to, inorganic dust will fall off.  Large debris items like bird droppings can be removed whilst the remainder of the panel only needs a quick rinse of any sand or smaller particles of dirt that are resting on the panel rather than stuck to it.

We only coat panels when the air and surface temperature is between 5°C and 40°C as the water solution cannot be allowed to freeze or evaporate from the panel before it has cured fully.  

The relative humidity has to be greater than 25% to ensure sufficient product during curing without excess loss of water to the atmosphere. 

We also consider if there is too much wind as is it may impact on our spraying pattern and we do not spray if rain is likely within 24 hours as it dilutes the solution further.

Interestingly solar panels do not like being too hot either – excess temperatures slowly damage the panels over time.  Our coating although clear to the eye actual helps lower the panel surface temperature slightly which helps with the longevity of the panel life.

Teflon, silicone, wax and polypropylene all reject PURETi’s water based carrier and are the only four materials to which PURETi™ will not bond.  Applying wax or other similar chemicals over PURETi™ will block the moisture needed to activate photocatalysis. Gum, bird droppings and other large masses of light blocking matter will also limit PURETi’s functionality.

All our coatings are pressure sprayed onto the surface of the panel being treated using electrostatic sprayers.  This requires the person spraying to be standing beside the panel being treated.  Panels can be sprayed before installation or in situ subject to suitable access.

PURETi™ oxidizes (breaks down) organic particles at the molecular level before they stick to the surface.  PURETi™ is sold in solution form consisting of 99% water and 1% nano Titanium Oxide (TiO2) encapsulated in water. When sprayed onto a surface, PURETi™ dries in seconds and cures in 24-36 hours to form a clear, hard, water permeable, inorganic mineral film that is 40nm thin. 

To put this in perspective, 1nm = 1 billionth of a meter, and 40nm (working thickness for PURETi™ to do its job) = 1/25,000 the thickness of a business card. Chemical and physical bonds – Van der Waals forces and hydrogen hooks- bond PURETi™ to the material being treated, making it a very durable, tightly bonded mineral film that can be described as a polymeric like ceramic.

For those that want more technical information please read on:

PURETi’s patented 3-day production process results in a solution that can be spray-applied electrostatically to form a clear, durable, 40 nanometer thin mineral film on virtually any construction material – glass, metal, stone, concrete, paint, plastic, etc.  When ultraviolet light (from the sun) energizes the TiO2 crystal in PURETi™-applied nano-thin mineral films, an energy band gap is created within the crystal that causes it to act like a magnet and pull a hydrogen atom off H2O molecules that are present in everyday humidity, leaving a hydroxyl radical (OH-).

The hydroxyl radical (OH-) is the strongest non-poisonous oxidizing agent in nature and literally acts like a pac-man to rip apart the carbon hydrogen bonds in any organic compound that comes in contact with it.  All of this happens in nanoseconds and within angstroms of the PURETi™-treated surface. The TiO2 in PURETi™ serves as a catalyst to trigger these reactions (safely decomposing organic matter) and does not get consumed in these reactions. In the presence of light, PURETi™ becomes a perpetual hydroxyl radical creator. Short-chain hydrocarbons get destroyed the fastest, with longer-chained molecules taking longer. No heat is generated by the photocatalytic process.

A second set of reactions is equally powerful at combating urban smog. This happens when the photocatalytic process causes an electron to pop onto an oxygen molecule, creating O2, a super-oxide anion. This highly reductive species interacts with NOx and SOx, (two indirect greenhouse gases, criteria pollutants and key ingredients in the formation of smog) and instantly reduces these noxious airborne molecules to relatively harmless nitrates and sulphates.

Since TiO2 acts as a catalyst that does not get consumed by the photocatalytic process, it will continue doing its job as long as it is not physically scraped off or painted over. While the layer of TiO2 is extremely thin (40nm), it is inorganic and extremely tough, making it very hard to remove.

TiO2 is GRAS (Generally considered safe) according to the FDA and European Science Commission has determined TiO2 to be safe in all forms – active and inactive, nano and micro. The National Sanitation Foundation has registered PURETi™ as safe for material surface contact. NIOSH has found PURETi™ application methods to be safe. There are no respirable powders with PURETi™ and near zero risk of human contact. Independent university tests have found that PURETi™ requires great force to abrade and that it abrades in flakes larger than 100nm and above the threshold of concern.

There is a range of functionality that PURETi™ delivers that depends on the amount of light it receives. 

Outdoors:  PURETi™ claims a full set of self-cleaning and air purifying benefits. These functionalities only require 0.1mW/cm2 of UV-A light. Direct sunlight delivers over 1mW/cm2 and the north side of buildings – even in the shade – receive more than 0.001mW/cm2 of UV-A light.