Drone solar panel cleaning for rooftop and ground-mount arrays
A pure-water rinse carried by a tethered drone, with nobody walking the array. Dust, pollen, bird droppings and mineral haze removed without the microcrack risk that foot traffic creates on photovoltaic glass. The same equipment, method, insurance and published rate nationwide.
Fully Insured
$2M Liability
FAA Compliant
Part 107 Certified
Commercial Projects
Up to 200 ft by drone
Drone solar panel cleaning, in short
A tethered Lucid Bots Sherpa drone rinses rooftop and ground-mount solar arrays with a low-pressure 0 TDS pure-water pass, so panels are cleaned without a technician ever walking the array. Pricing is $1–$3 per panel, with volume pricing on large commercial arrays, and no minimum charge. FAA Part 107 crews, $2M liability. Rates shown are our published national rates. Every job is a fixed price after a free site survey.
- Surfaces
- Rooftop, ground-mount and canopy solar arrays
- Method
- 0 TDS pure-water rinse, low pressure, no foot traffic
- Reach
- Up to 200 ft (about 18 stories) per staging position
- Rate
- $1–$3 per panel, published nationally
- Access equipment
- None: panels are never walked on
- Compliance
- FAA Part 107 · $2M liability
What drone solar panel cleaning replaces
A solar array only earns its keep if sunlight actually reaches the cells, and dust, pollen, bird droppings and mineral haze all sit on the glass between the sun and the panel. The traditional fix is a technician on the roof or walking the rows of a ground-mount array with a soft brush and a hose, which works, but it puts a person's full weight directly on tempered glass that is engineered to take load from above, not from footsteps concentrated at a boot's edge.
Drone solar cleaning removes the person from the array entirely. A tethered drone flies a low, controlled pass over each row, applying a pure-water rinse that lifts soiling without pressure and without anyone stepping on a single panel. The result is the same clean glass with none of the microcrack and frame-seal risk that comes from walking an array.
The method works the same way whether the array sits on a pitched residential roof, a flat commercial roof, or a ground-mount or canopy structure, because the drone is staged from the ground or an adjacent roof position rather than from the array itself.
Arrays we clean
- Residential rooftop solar arrays
- Commercial rooftop solar arrays
- Ground-mount solar arrays
- Solar carports and canopy structures
0 TDS pure-water rinse, low pressure, zero foot traffic
The aircraft is a Lucid Bots Sherpa, flown on a tether that carries water from a ground rig treated through multi-stage pre-filtration into de-ionization resin until it reads 0 total dissolved solids. Because the water carries nothing to leave behind, it rinses the panel glass and dries completely clear, with no mineral spotting and no film that would itself scatter light.
Pressure stays low throughout, so the anti-reflective coating on the glass and the frame's weather seal are never at risk from an aggressive nozzle. The pass moves row by row, and every array is documented in 4K before and after.
What never touches the array
- No technician walking the panels
- No ladders or roof anchors staged on the array
- No abrasive brush or scraper on the glass
- No pressure washer near the frame seal
Up to 200 ft per staging position
The drone reaches up to 200 ft, about 18 stories, from a single ground staging position, which covers the roof height of the large majority of residential and commercial solar installations. Ground-mount and canopy arrays are flown in rows from the ground with no staging height limitation at all, since the panels sit close to grade.
FAA Part 107 crews, $2M liability, and no risk to the panels
Every flight is conducted by an FAA Part 107 certified remote pilot with a visual observer on the ground. Where a property sits in controlled airspace we file LAANC authorization in advance, and the area beneath the active flight is coned off. Because nobody steps onto the array to clean it, the microcrack, frame-seal and warranty risk that comes with foot traffic is not part of the job.
We carry $2M commercial general liability plus dedicated UAS aviation liability, with certificates naming the owner and property manager issued before mobilization. Runoff is managed to the local rule, with biodegradable rinse water and controlled application near roof edges and drainage.
What moves a solar cleaning quote
Every quote is a fixed price built from a panel count and a walkthrough or aerial survey of the array. The per-panel rate moves inside the published range according to the factors below, and large commercial arrays are priced with volume pricing confirmed at the survey.
- Panel count and array layout, rooftop, ground-mount or canopy
- Roof height and the number of staging positions needed
- Soiling level: light dust versus heavy bird droppings or organic residue
- Site access for the ground rig
- Scheduling around inverter shutdown windows where required
Solar panel cleaning pricing, per panel
Solar arrays are priced at $1–$3 per panel, with no minimum charge. Large commercial arrays are quoted with volume pricing confirmed at a free site survey rather than a flat per-panel number, since panel count, layout and access all move the total.
Per panel
$1–$3 per panel
No minimum charge, at any array size.
Large commercial arrays
Volume pricing
Confirmed at a free site survey based on panel count and layout.
Recurring maintenance schedules run 20–30% below the one-off price per visit, for every service. Portfolios of several properties under one owner or manager are priced 20–30% below single-building rates as an alternative to the maintenance discount, not on top of it.
Drone solar cleaning avoids the ladder, harness and roof-anchor costs that traditional panel washing carries on pitched or high roofs, because nobody needs to reach the array on foot.
Rates shown are our published national rates. Every job is a fixed price after a free site survey.
Where we work
Every state, the same standard: tethered Lucid Bots Sherpa drones, heated chlorine-free chemistry with a 0 TDS pure-water rinse, FAA Part 107 crews and $2M liability coverage. Crews and equipment mobilize anywhere in the United States, with travel built into a fixed quote after a free site survey. In Florida we operate as Vista Drone Cleaning.
In New York, drone flights are scheduled around the city's takeoff and landing permit process, and water-fed pole and ground crews cover work that cannot wait for a permit.
Aerial documentation from a full-property drone project
Belmont Village Senior Living · Coral Gables, FL, a 130,000+ sq ft luxury senior living high-rise. Delivered in Florida, where we operate as Vista Drone Cleaning.
Belmont Village needed its entire exterior - facade, windows and floor surfaces - cleaned without closing a single entrance or moving a resident. Lifts, scaffolding, swing stages and rope access were all off the table.
Before
After- 130,000+
- sq ft of exterior cleaned
- 7 days
- start to finish
- Zero
- lifts, scaffolding or closures
- 2×/year
- asked back on a semi-annual schedule
Frequently asked questions
What is drone solar panel cleaning?
Drone solar panel cleaning rinses photovoltaic modules with a low-pressure, 0 TDS pure-water pass flown by a tethered drone, so dust, pollen, bird droppings and mineral haze come off without anyone walking the array. An FAA Part 107 certified pilot flies from the ground, and the panels never carry foot traffic or a squeegee.
Why does foot traffic matter on solar panels?
Panels are glass and frame assemblies rated for load from above, not for repeated footsteps, and a cracked microcrack in a cell can reduce output for the life of the panel without ever being visible from the ground. Cleaning by drone removes the person from the array entirely, so the panels are never at risk from the cleaning process itself.
Does dirty glass actually reduce solar output?
Yes, measurably. Soiling on the glass surface blocks light before it reaches the cells, and the loss compounds over a season as dust, pollen and organic residue build up unevenly across an array. A clean array simply converts more of the sunlight hitting it into power; how much that is worth depends on your system size and local conditions, which is why we do not publish a blanket output-gain figure.
Is pure water safe for solar glass and the frame seal?
Yes. The rinse is 0 TDS pure water at low pressure, filtered through multi-stage pre-filtration into de-ionization resin, so it carries no dissolved minerals to spot the glass and no abrasive to scratch an anti-reflective coating. There is no chemical stripper near the frame's weather seal.
Can you clean rooftop arrays and ground-mount arrays?
Yes, both. Rooftop residential and commercial arrays are cleaned the same way as the rest of the roof, from a tethered drone staged on the ground, up to 200 ft (about 18 stories) per staging position. Ground-mount and canopy arrays are flown in rows, and the same tether and pure-water system apply to either layout.
How much does drone solar panel cleaning cost?
Solar arrays are priced at $1–$3 per panel, with volume pricing on large commercial arrays confirmed at the site survey. There is no minimum charge. Rates shown are our published national rates. Every job is a fixed price after a free site survey.
How often should solar panels be cleaned?
It depends on the environment more than the calendar. Dust and pollen accumulate faster in dry, high-traffic-adjacent or agricultural areas; coastal arrays pick up salt drift; arrays under trees see bird droppings and organic residue year-round. We set the interval at the site survey rather than on a fixed schedule, and build a recurring cycle into the fixed-price quote if you want one.
Do you clean solar panels nationwide?
Yes. Crews and equipment mobilize anywhere in the United States, with travel built into a fixed quote after a free site survey. In Florida we operate as Vista Drone Cleaning, working year-round. In New York City, drone flights are scheduled around the NYPD/DOT takeoff and landing permit process.
What insurance covers a solar cleaning job?
$2M commercial general liability plus dedicated UAS aviation liability, with certificates naming the owner and property manager issued before we mobilize. Every flight runs under 14 CFR Part 107, with LAANC airspace authorization filed where the property sits in controlled airspace, and 4K before-and-after documentation of the array is delivered with the job.
Our core services
- Facade & building cleaningStucco, EIFS, painted concrete, glass and metal panel, cleaned from the air.
- Roof cleaningSoft-wash for tile, metal, shingle and flat roofs with no foot traffic.
- Window cleaningPure-water drone glass cleaning for high-rise and commercial buildings.
- Parking garage cleaningDecks, drive lanes, walls and stairwells at a flat per-square-foot rate.
Get a fixed solar cleaning price
Send the address and panel count if you have it. We confirm the array layout, walk the site and reply with a fixed proposal.