Can water beads sunburn panels?

[sorka]

It's raining now but it's going to be sunny later and I will probably still have lots of water beads on the panels (pretty hydrophobic). Will these concentrate sun and cause burn spots?

 

[DoyleS]

Not a likely problem, panels will be dry from heat and wind and change will occur gradually.

 

[jjrandorin]

It's raining now but it's going to be sunny later and I will probably still have lots of water beads on the panels (pretty hydrophobic). Will these concentrate sun and cause burn spots?

I have no real idea on this, but if this was a thing, pretty much every solar panel ever would be completely damaged, because they all get rained on. Even if this is a thing (which again, I have no idea of) there would be absolutely zero anyone could do about it, because your not going to cover the panels with anything.

Hypothetically, if the answer was "yes, that will do something", what actions, if any, would you take?

 

[sorka]

I have no real idea on this, but if this was a thing, pretty much every solar panel ever would be completely damaged, because they all get rained on. Even if this is a thing (which again, I have no idea of) there would be absolutely zero anyone could do about it, because your not going to cover the panels with anything.

Hypothetically, if the answer was "yes, that will do something", what actions, if any, would you take?

....or maybe it just speeds up the degradation that already happens and half the 1% / year reduction is actually caused by the lensing of sunlight from droplets over the years.

Who said anything about covering up the panels. I climbed up on the roof with my leaf blower and nearly all of the beads slid off given how hydrophobic the gorilla glass already is it only took the help of 30 mph wind to knock it all off.

Probably not going to climb on the roof every time though.
The other option is a wide window cleaning squeegee that folks already use to remove the water after the wash their panels using their lightweight extension poles.

 

[Tdriver]

Rain water is very very low in salts.........no danger to your panels. Its basically distilled water.

 

[sorka]

Rain water is very very low in salts.........no danger to your panels. Its basically distilled water.

Did you read the thread

 

[SoCal Dave]

You can start a fire with water in a plastic bag shaped into a sphere. However, the volume is quiet large and the sphere is moved a few inches away to get the correct focal length.

A drop of water sitting on a panel is very small, likely the ambient temperature is going to be cooler, the sun will be obscured from clouds, the focal distance isn't correct, and the evaporation from the water will help cool the drop of water and thus the panel.

A confirmation of this is spraying your arm with water in the summer. It feels cooler even if the sun is nice and bright shining on one's arm.