Knowing how to clean RV solar panels is more important than you may think. Not only are you protecting the surface of the panel, but dirty solar panels mean less power. We know this isn’t rocket science, but it is important! When solar panels get dirty from dust, pollen, bird droppings, and tree sap, they lose their ability to produce power. Keeping them clean ensures that they continue to put out the maximum amount of power they’re capable of producing.
Therefore, cleaning the solar panels on your RV roof several times a year (or more frequently if you’re like us) is a crucial part of maintaining your solar system to maximize solar output. But the last thing you want to do is use any type of product that might leave a film on the panel. Fortunately, caring for your RV solar panels is actually very simple (as long as you have a safe way to access your RV’s roof).
So, in this post, we tell you how to clean your solar panels and what products are best to use to keep your them performing at maximum capacity for many years.
Is Rain Enough to Clean My RV Solar Panels?
This is a common question and one we’re tempted to answer with another question: Is rain enough to keep your car or RV clean? The answer, of course, is no. While rain is helpful in washing away some dirt, dust, and pollen, other factors come into play. These include bird droppings, tree sap, salt, environmental contaminants, and road grime that comes from driving on many different types of road surfaces.
So, sometimes you have to wash your car using a mild soap to address all of this. The same is true for solar panels that ride along the road with you… and sit under trees, with birds flying above them, etc. In addition, rain may push dust and debris toward the frame of the solar panel, which will then dry, impacting the panel’s output.
Rain is insufficient for keeping your RV solar panels clean and performing optimally.
Rain is not sufficient for the purpose of cleaning RV solar panels over time.
Do I Need Special Products to Clean My RV Solar Panels?
Fair warning: We’re about to step into a bit of a controversial area here.
There are many articles online suggesting that the only thing you should use to clean any solar panel is de-ionized or distilled water, free of mineral ions and all other impurities. Then again, some say you must use a special “solar panel cleaner.” Others say the best way to clean solar panels is with hydrogen peroxide or a mixture of vinegar & water and special scrub brushes. Still, others say you should never use hydrogen peroxide or vinegar on a solar panel. Some even say never to use any type of soap because it’ll leave behind a film.
While we agree that using any type of chemical or harsh brush or pad is a bad idea, we think some people may be complicating the cleaning of RV solar panels unnecessarily. It’s true that chemicals can be harsh and abrasive, potentially scratching the surface of the panels and reducing their effectiveness. But the truth is that rigid glass solar panels are pretty durable. The tempered glass is designed to be pretty weatherproof (including hail, which we can attest to first-hand!), so it’s pretty resistant to most things.
What you don’t want is for dust, pollen, dirt, tree sap, and other grime and debris to remain adhered to your solar panels, including around the frame edges. All of that stuff will reduce the panels’ output, and we need all the power we can get! So, we’re here to tell you what’s worked successfully for two guys who were on the road full-time in an RV (with many solar panels) for over 20 years.
NOTE: We’re primarily discussing traditional, rigid glass solar panels. If you have any type of “flexible” panel, following the manufacturer’s care instructions is the way to go. Not that cleaning them is all that different. However, it’s best to check the owner’s manual for safety.
How to Clean RV Solar Panels
As always, safety first. Anytime you work on your RV roof for any reason, you’ll want to exercise caution. Some RV roofs can be extremely slippery, especially when they’re wet. Even the most agile among us can slip and fall.
Always use extreme caution when accessing your RV roof.
Additionally, not everyone is capable or willing to perform any type of work on the RV roof, and that’s perfectly acceptable. Still, someone needs to address the RV roof from time to time, and cleaning the solar panels occasionally is important. Since you should keep the roof itself clean and prevent RV roof leaks with Dicor maintenance, solar panel cleaning can be done at the same time.
So, step one is to use extreme caution when accessing and working on your RV roof or seeking assistance from a neighbor, friend, or professional.
And step two, the actual washing of the panels, is very simple: clean your RV solar panels with a soft sponge or mitt, using the same mild soap you’d use to wash your car or RV.
Now… we’ll admit that we wouldn’t recommend using just any soap, but we don’t use just any soap to watch our car or RV either. Our favorite is Meguiar's Gold Class Car Wash , which we’ve used on our RV and our car for years. It washes away the dirt, grime, and other contaminants that accumulate from driving along dusty roads. But it’s mild enough not to strip the wax from our rig.
Meguiar’s is also what we use to clean our RV’s roof… and solar panels. It’s mild, and safe for all paint types and clearcoat. We’ve found it to be very effective and safe for use on our solar panels as well. We also use a soft, non-abrasive microfiber wash mitt (though you could also use a soft cloth, like an old tee shirt).
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Between washes (when the panels are just dusty or have a light layer of pollen) you can use a product like a California Duster to remove the dust without doing a complete wash. We use ours on our entire rig, including the solar panels.
- The Original California Car Duster standard model has an easy to use plastic handle and wax treated cotton mop. The California Car Duster signature...
- The wax treated cotton mop quickly and easily removes dust without scratching. Gently sweep the car duster across your vehicle’s surface to lift and...
If the panels are more than just dusty, and you don’t want to wash your rig (or aren’t in a place where you can), we use our favorite glass cleaner and microfiber towels. Invisible Glass With Rain Repellent helps water bead, keeping the panels cleaner between washes.
- 2-IN-1 CLEANER AND REPELLENT: Cleans dirt, road grime, and bug splatter while adding a water-repelling shield that helps rain, sleet, and frost slide...
- IMPROVES VISIBILITY BY 25%: Tested to improve driver response time in rain for clearer sightlines and faster reactions during wet weather driving.
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It’s really that simple (unless you have bifacial solar panels on your RV… then you’ll want to clean BOTH sides). We cared for our solar panels this way on our former motorhome for years, consistently achieving maximum output from them. We continue to care for the panels on our new travel trailer in the same way.
What you read from many sources can not only be confusing but can also complicate matters unnecessarily. We never use vinegar, hydrogen peroxide, deionized water with a special sprayer, “solar panel cleaner” or Windex (once you try Invisible Glass you’ll never use that again either). Our take is that if you use a mild but effective high-quality car wash on your RV’s paint, you can use it on your RV solar panels.
How Do You Clean Your RV Solar Panels?
If you’ve got a special way to clean your RV’s solar panels that’s worked well for you over the years, we’d like to hear about it in the comments section below.
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Bill
Wednesday 23rd of July 2025
Just a note: Spray Away glass cleaner available at WalMart and Costco is highly recommended by window tint companys to not leave a film or damage tint. Less than $3.00 per can
Jay
Saturday 24th of May 2025
It's not easy to tell when you need to clean your solar panels. I figure that if I'm concerned enough to climb up and look, I might as well clean them.
Climbing up and above a 13' roof is not safe, so my wife assists holding the ladder and handing me the sprayer as I climb up. We have a dozen solar panels on our 37' long MH roof. We want to minimize moving and climbing up the ladder, which I lean against the top of the coach. Even if our coach had a built-in ladder, I don't think it would help much. Our telescoping ladder came from Lowe's. Because the back of the metal rungs are framed in plastic, it hasn't damaged the finish (yet). I want the top of the ladder to be just above the top edge of the coach. Dragging up a bucket of soapy water, a brush and a hose all while maintaining your balance while climbing up can be tricky. I opted not to do that. Like in the article's picture, I power spray the panels which means carrying only one item, the sprayer wand.
I use diluted car wash & wax from Turtle Wax as the soap solution. I am skeptical of testimonials claiming that one wash is better than another. The spray pattern is set on its maximal dispersion. I can't adequately reach all of the panels from just one ladder location because some are partially blocked by the roof airs and other appliances up there, so I have to move the ladder over to the other side. A brush would be more effective than a power sprayer, but that would require moving the ladder many times to reach all of the panels, which would increase the risk of a fall and, from 13', that could easily be catastrophic. The sprayer, itself, is no panacea because it requires 2 hands on the wand to control its significant recoil and that could cause a loss of balance.
If you've ever used just a power sprayer when trying to clean a vehicle, you know how ineffective it can be when trying to remove dried-on road grime. After the vehicle has dried, it often doesn't look like you did anything! However, it does seem to work pretty well on glass, which obviously includes the solar panels.
Be especially careful when working up there. You're not indestructible!
Ann Hauser
Sunday 26th of May 2024
I just read your post on how to effectively clean an RV solar panel. I recently camped where there were many pine trees during pollen release season. There were clouds of the stuff released and of course, landed on my camper with its flexible solar panel on the roof (I have a teardrop camper). After a gentle wash, to my dismay, the pollen has stuck to the solar panel. A call to the dealership has not yet resulted in a return call. I know that these dealerships are extremely busy this time of year, but I am anxious to remove that pollen as soon as possible, thinking that it may be damaging the surface of the panel. Can you tell me of a product that will remove this embedded pollen? Thank you.
Jay
Saturday 24th of May 2025
@Ann Hauser, I do a lot of wood working and sometimes wood resins build up on tools. Tree sap is a sticky gel. To clean them, I use denatured alcohol (ethanol), which does not require a lot of scrubbing. There are a lot of products sold to remove tree sap, but the problem is finding one that won't damage your panels. Of course, you could try contacting the manufacturer. I would test whatever you decide to use on an edge of a panel, letting it dry. If there is no cloudiness on the test area, you can probably proceed onto the rest of the panels. I also suggest using a clean, soft, microfiber cloth.
Chemicals you probably DON'T want to try because of potential damage to the panels would be acetone (fingernail polish remover), paint thinner, mineral spirits, lacquer thinner, methyl-ethyl-ketone (MEK), toluene, diesel or gasoline. Warm, soapy water would be what I would try next if the denatured alcohol causes the test area to get cloudy.
TheRVgeeks
Sunday 26th of May 2024
Hi Ann. Sorry to hear about this. Because there's a lot of variety in the coatings/top layers used by the flexible panel manufacturers, we're loath to recommend something to clean them without being sure it won't cause more trouble. We'd suggest your best bet is to contact the solar panel manufacturer to see if they have a recommendation for something to get that pollen off. Hopefully, you can see a label of some kind that will give you that info (or look through your RV's stack of owner's manuals, there may be one from the panel maker).
Barring that (i.e. no one to contact and no answer from your dealer), we'd suggest staying as mild as possible. A lightly sudsy mixture of Dawn dish soap and water SHOULD be safe... and the soapy nature of it should help lift the pollen off. Our guess is that the pollen isn't damaging the panels... but, rather, that aging of the panels' surface from sun and exposure to the elements may have made that top layer more porous/pitted, allowing the pollen to settle in fairly deeply. Multiple, gentle washes may be needed to get it all off (and up and out).
Hope that helps!
Linda McCaughey
Saturday 25th of May 2024
Any tips on finding a compact, lightweight ladder for this job that can be easily stored?
TheRVgeeks
Saturday 25th of May 2024
Hi Linda. We used a ladder like this for years and loved it: https://amzn.to/3UX2Qrd. It’s quite expensive on Amazon, but you may be able to find it for cheaper somewhere else online. It’s fairly light, and collapses down far enough we fit it easily in the pass-through compartment in our old motorhome. Hope that helps.
RJ
Saturday 27th of May 2023
In my opinion it's glass, I use Maguires Gold car wash soap or just Windex, never had an issue.
Bob
Saturday 27th of May 2023
@RJ,