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If the pitch starts at your door and ends with "sign tonight for the special," sleep on it. The sun will still be there tomorrow; so will we.
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After
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AfterFast, Reliable Solar Panel Cleaning Across Los Angeles
Solar panel cleaning in Los Angeles typically runs $150-$350 for a standard residential array, and for most homes we can be on the roof within 48 hours. Between the inland heat, wildfire ash, and the dust that settles across South LA, panels here lose more production than most owners realize. We’ve been working these neighborhoods long enough to know which arrays need more frequent attention. If your panels are looking dull or your production reports are slipping, call (877) 550-6892 and we’ll take a look.
Los Angeles isn’t one market. It’s a patchwork of bungalows, stucco cottages, and apartment buildings that each present their own set of cleaning and access challenges. Our crews work every zip code from 90001 through 90004 regularly, so we know what to expect before the ladder goes up.
Why Gus’s Solar Is Los Angeles’s Preferred Solar Panel Cleaning Company
Gus Petrakis put his name on this business in 2011 and has never hidden behind a call center or a subcontracted crew. When you schedule a cleaning in Los Angeles, the people who show up are Gus’s own background-checked, uniformed technicians. They’re the same people who install and service arrays across the city, which means they understand how a system should perform after it’s been cleaned.
We answer the phone with a live person 24/7. No voicemail maze, no ticketing portal. If a storm blows through Koreatown on a Saturday night and you’re worried about debris on your panels, someone picks up and actually helps.
Our reputation in Los Angeles is built on the L.O.C.A.L. values we don’t advertise because they’re just how we operate: local roots, on time, community first, accountable, loyal. If the cleaning isn’t done right, the 90-Day Done Right Promise kicks in and we make it right, in writing, no argument.
Our Solar Panel Cleaning Services in Los Angeles
We offer more than a rinse. Every job includes a visual inspection of the array, a check on mounting hardware, and an honest note if we spot something that needs attention before it becomes a repair.
Residential Panel Cleaning
Most Los Angeles homes with rooftop solar sit on pitched roofs, and many of those are original 1920s-1950s bungalows. We use soft-brush and deionized water systems that clean without scratching the glass or forcing water into rooftop equipment. A standard residential cleaning in Los Angeles takes 1-2 hours depending on array size and roof pitch.
Commercial Array Cleaning
From Koreatown’s 1960s-era apartment buildings to flush-mount commercial rooftops across South LA, we handle larger arrays without disrupting tenants or building operations. Commercial cleaning pricing in Los Angeles runs $0.08-$0.18 per watt depending on access, roof type, and how much soiling has built up.
Bird & Critter Guard Installation
Pigeons are relentless in Los Angeles. They nest under panels, their droppings corrode rails and connectors, and their debris blocks drainage channels. We install bird mesh and critter guards around the entire array perimeter, secured to the panel frames and rail system. This is one of the most cost-effective things you can do to protect a system in this city. Critter guard installation in Los Angeles typically runs $400-$900 for a standard residential array.
Debris & Soiling Removal
Wildfire ash, freeway particulate, leaf litter from the mature trees that line older Los Angeles streets, and the fine dust that accumulates during Santa Ana wind events all cut into production. We remove loose debris by hand, then clean the glass with a low-pressure deionized rinse. For post-storm jobs, we also check roof penetrations and flashings while we’re up there.
What happens when you call
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A real person answersNo phone trees - you reach a local pro.
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You get an upfront price rangeHonest numbers before anyone is dispatched.
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A background-checked tech heads outLicensed & insured, dispatched right away.
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You approve before work beginsNothing starts until you say go.
Trusted Brands We Service in Los Angeles
We clean and service panels from Tesla, SunPower, Enphase, SolarEdge, Qcells, and Panasonic, among others. Most Los Angeles systems we see are Enphase IQ8 microinverters paired with REC or Qcells modules, and we’re familiar with how those systems report output before and after a cleaning. We don’t stock brand-specific parts for cleaning jobs because cleaning doesn’t require replacement components, but if our inspection turns up a failing microinverter or a corroded connector, we can get the right part ordered same day through our local Los Angeles suppliers.
Common Solar Panel Cleaning Problems We See in Los Angeles Homes
- Bird nesting under panels. Pigeons find the gap between the panel frame and the roof irresistible. Their droppings are acidic enough to corrode aluminum rails and their nesting material blocks airflow, which raises panel temperature and cuts output. We see this constantly across 90001 through 90004.
- Wildfire ash accumulation. Inland Los Angeles neighborhoods catch ash from the same fire seasons that blanket the foothills. Ash is fine and sticky. It bonds to glass when it gets damp, and a light rain just smears it around. Panels that look merely dusty after a fire season are often losing 6-10% of production.
- Pressure-washer damage from other services. We’ve responded to calls in Koreatown where a handyman or roofing crew hit panels with a pressure washer. The water forced its way into rooftop AC disconnects and panel junction boxes. Several manufacturers explicitly void warranties for high-pressure cleaning. This is avoidable, but only if the person on the roof knows what they’re doing.
- Soiling shadows in tight rows. Many Los Angeles roofs have arrays squeezed into limited space, with rows spaced close together. Dust and debris accumulate unevenly along the lower edge of each panel, creating a shaded band that drags down the entire string. Cleaning these tight-clearance rows properly takes patience and the right tools.
Pricing for Solar Panel Cleaning in Los Angeles, CA
Here’s what we charge across Los Angeles, and these numbers hold whether you’re in View Park-Windsor Hills or over in Echo Park:
- Residential panel cleaning (up to 25 panels): $150-$250
- Residential panel cleaning (26-45 panels): $250-$350
- Bird guard / critter guard installation: $400-$900
- Post-storm or heavy-soiling cleaning (extra soiling premium): add $50-$100
- Two-story or steep-roof access: add $50-$150
What changes the price is roof pitch, number of panels, and whether bird guards are already installed. That’s it. We don’t add fees for parking, and we don’t charge extra for a senior or veteran discount, because that one’s 10% and it never expires. Call (877) 550-6892 for a free estimate. The number we quote is the number you pay.
We Also Serve Cities Near Los Angeles
Our Los Angeles crews handle jobs across the city proper, and we regularly work the surrounding neighborhoods. That includes Solar Panel Cleaning in Los Angeles as well as close-in communities like Koreatown, Echo Park, Silver Lake, and View Park-Windsor Hills. If you’re within a half hour of central LA, chances are we’re already in your neighborhood weekly. For everything from basic cleaning to full Solar Panel Cleaning packages, one call covers it.
Serving Los Angeles, CA - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Los Angeles area and know this community well. Use the map below to see our service coverage - if you’re nearby, we can almost certainly help.
FAQs - Solar Panel Cleaning in Los Angeles
LADWP’s tiered rate structure means dirty panels don’t just lose production, they lose production at the exact hours when your household is paying the most per kilowatt-hour. If your array is underproducing during peak afternoon hours, you’re pulling more from the grid at top-tier rates. For inland South LA homes outside the coastal marine layer, summer soiling from dry dust and ash can accumulate faster than on the westside. We recommend a cleaning every 6-9 months in the 90001-90008 corridors, and more often if you’re within two miles of the 110 or live under mature trees. Call (877) 550-6892 and we’ll check your production history before we recommend anything.
No. Cleaning does not require a permit from LADBS or LADWP, and it does not trigger an interconnection review. What matters is that the person on your roof isn’t modifying wiring, racking, or roof penetrations. We stay strictly to cleaning and inspection unless you ask us to add bird guards, which is also a non-permit item because it’s a mechanical attachment to the existing racking, not a modification of it. If we spot something that does require permitting, like a damaged roof boot or a failed microinverter that needs replacement, we’ll tell you before we touch it.
It can, if it’s installed wrong. Rapid shutdown compliance depends on the module-level electronics staying properly grounded and bonded. If bird mesh is left loose or unbonded on a stucco cottage, it can rub through wire insulation over time and trigger ground-fault errors on Enphase IQ8 microinverters. That’s a real failure mode we’ve corrected in Los Angeles. Our bird guard installs are secured to the racking and bonded to the existing grounding path so the system’s rapid shutdown continues to operate as designed. If you’ve had guards installed by someone else and your system is throwing ground-fault errors, call us. We find the problem quickly.
Homes in 90008 and the surrounding Baldwin Hills/Crenshaw area sit above one of the largest urban oil fields in the country. The soot and fine particulate that drifts from the field near the Inglewood-Baldwin Hills boundary settles on panels faster than in most of Los Angeles. We cleaned a 6.4 kW SunPower array on a 1920s bungalow in Baldwin Hills where accumulated soot cut production by 8%. Our crew cleared the panels, installed bird guards, and verified microinverter output before the homeowner’s LADWP true-up statement arrived. If you live in 90008 and you’re not cleaning panels twice a year, you’re leaving measurable production on the table.
We clean every major brand installed in Los Angeles: Tesla, SunPower, REC, Qcells, Panasonic, Canadian Solar, JinkoSolar, and others. Cleaning does not void the warranty, provided it’s done with soft brushes and deionized water rather than pressure washing or abrasive chemicals. Several manufacturers, including SunPower and REC, specifically exclude high-pressure or abrasive cleaning from warranty coverage, so the method matters. We use the same low-pressure, soft-brush approach every manufacturer specifies. If you have a warranty question, bring us the panel model and we’ll confirm the cleaning method is compliant before we start.
Call Gus’s Solar for Solar Panel Cleaning in Los Angeles
If your panels are dirty, if your production reports are dropping, or if you just want a pair of experienced eyes on your array before your LADWP true-up, call (877) 550-6892. We’ll give you an honest answer, a straight quote, and a time we can be there. Bring us a bill and we’ll bring the math. Take two weeks to think about it. The price will be the same. That’s how we’ve worked in Los Angeles since day one.
Written by the team at Gus’s Solar, serving Los Angeles with locally owned, owner-operated solar care since 2011.