What cleaning and an inspection cost in October 2026
Two kinds of visit, two kinds of price. A clean is water and a soft brush from a cleaner who needs no electrical licence: $15 to $25 a panel in metropolitan Sydney on a service page dated January 2026, with a minimum charge of $199 covering up to six panels, and $8 to $12 a panel on a national service page dated April 2025. For the 15-panel 6.6 kW system every price on this site is built on, that is $225 to $375 in Sydney and $120 to $180 at the national rate. An inspection is a licensed electrician testing the system: $200 to $350 for a residential system up to 6.6 kW on a Melbourne electrician's page priced for 2025 to 2026, and fixed prices of $198, $220 and $249 on three Queensland pages that carry no date.
The cleaning pages all claim a large output loss from dirt and none cites a measurement. The one Australian measurement we could find, a Perth doctoral study, put the loss at 4 to 6 per cent over a year. At that loss, a paid clean does not pay on a Sydney roof at our tariff assumptions; the arithmetic is below.
Cleaning prices from dated service pages
We use the two cleaning businesses' own dated pages and a marketplace guide as a cross-check. The per-system column multiplies the per-panel rate by 15, the panel count of a 6.6 kW system at 440 W. Both service pages still describe 6.6 kW as 20 panels, which was true at 330 W; if a cleaner quotes per panel, count your panels rather than accept the system size. The Sydney minimum of $199 for up to six panels is $33 a panel at the minimum, which matters for small systems. Prices on the pages are stated inc GST or without a GST note; none is ex GST.
| Source type and date | Per panel | 15 panels (6.6 kW) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sydney cleaning service, January 2026 | $15 to $25 | $225 to $375 | Minimum $199 (up to 6 panels) |
| National cleaning service, April 2025 | $8 to $12 | $120 to $180 | 6.6 kW quoted as 20 panels at $180 to $280; two storeys add $40 to $80 |
| Task marketplace guide, June 2025 | $12 average, $10 to $30 | $180 | Sydney $3 to $25; south-east Melbourne $10 to $15 |
What moves the price on every page: a second storey or a steep pitch (one page prices it at $40 to $80), heavy soiling, travel outside the metro area, and a minimum charge on small jobs. A quote under $199 for a whole system is below every minimum we saw.
Whether cleaning pays: the arithmetic
Inputs, all stated. A 6.6 kW system in Sydney makes 9,395 kWh a year (Bureau of Meteorology exposure and the industry yield table in our irradiance file). We value a kWh at 14.50 cents: 35 per cent used at home at the 34c New South Wales rate and the rest exported at 4c. That is $1,362 of electricity a year. The measured soiling loss is 4 to 6 per cent, so dirt costs 376 to 564 kWh, or $54 to $82 a year. A clean at the Sydney minimum of $199 recovers at most a year of that loss, and only if the panels were at the dirty end of the range and stay clean for the year. It does not pay. For a clean to break even against its own price in one year, soiling would have to cost 14.6 per cent of output at our blended value, or 6.2 per cent if every lost kWh would have displaced grid power at 34c (an all-electric home with a battery, or daytime loads that use everything). Melbourne is harsher: 8,672 kWh a year worth $1,049, dirt costs $42 to $63, and break-even is 19 per cent.
| City | Output kWh a year | Value per kWh | Annual value | Loss at 4 to 6 per cent, kWh | Loss in dollars | Break-even soiling for a $199 clean |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sydney | 9,395 | 14.50c | $1,362 | 376 to 564 | $54 to $82 | 14.6 per cent |
| Melbourne | 8,672 | 12.10c | $1,049 | 347 to 520 | $42 to $63 | 19 per cent |
The honest reading: on a tilted suburban roof with rain, cleaning is a cosmetic choice at these prices. It becomes a financial one when soiling is well above the measured range (bird droppings covering cells, a flat array that holds water and dust, a site next to earthworks), when the system is large, or when you use nearly all of your output. If you clean it yourself with a hose and a soft brush from the ground, the cost is your time and the arithmetic flips.
How much output dirt costs: the sourced figure and the ones that are not
Cleaning service pages checked 27 October 2026 claim losses of 5 to 30 per cent, 5 to 35 per cent and "up to 30 per cent", with no study named. Two name research bodies without a document. We could not find a national measurement of soiling loss on Australian rooftops, so we do not print one. What we could find: a 2018 doctoral study at a Perth university measured a power loss from dust of 4 to 6 per cent over one year on test modules in Perth, found modules left for almost 18 years without cleaning down 8 to 12 per cent, and concluded that the 5 per cent dust de-rating factor in the design standard AS/NZS 4509.2:2010 was appropriate for modelling Perth. One site, one city, one study; we use its range as our assumption and label it as such. A 2022 study of dust on Australian solar farms (not rooftops) reported seasonal losses that rain largely removed. Neither supports a standing 20 or 30 per cent loss on a suburban roof.
When cleaning is worth paying for
- Flat or near-flat arrays. Rain runs off a pitched panel and pools on a flat one; dust and lichen build at the lower edge. Tilt frames or a clean every year or two.
- Bird droppings and tree debris. A dropping over one cell can cut a whole string on a string inverter; this is the one case where the loss can be a large share of output, and a monitoring app will show it as a string that underperforms its neighbour.
- Dust, salt and construction. Unsealed roads, quarries, coastal salt film inside a kilometre or two of surf, and earthworks next door. The Perth study is the closest Australian measurement for a dusty site; clean after the works finish rather than during.
- Large systems and high self-consumption. The dollar loss scales with kW and with the share you use at home; a 13 kW array on a workshop roof earns a clean that a 6.6 kW roof does not.
- Not worth it: a pitched suburban roof with regular rain and no trees. Check the monitoring data before and a week after any clean; if output did not move, do not book the next one.
Inspection and service prices, and what a five-yearly inspection covers
An inspection is electrical work. Only a licensed electrician may open the inverter, test the DC isolators and connectors or touch the earthing; in most states the person should also hold solar accreditation. Prices below are from electrician and installer pages checked 27 October 2026; only the Melbourne page dates its prices.
| Provider type and date | Price | Scope as published |
|---|---|---|
| Melbourne electrician, priced 2025 to 2026 | $200 to $350 | Up to 6.6 kW; larger or complex roof $300 to $500; fee credited against repairs |
| Sunshine Coast electrician, undated | $220 inc GST | Inverter and roof inspection, voltage and performance tests; cleaning sold separately |
| Moreton Bay installer, undated | $249 | Written report; cleaning not included |
| Brisbane electrical firm, undated | $198 (terms apply) | Switchboard, inverter, DC cabling, panel condition |
| Queensland motoring body, undated | $330 one storey, $385 two storeys, inc GST | Service listed as temporarily suspended |
| Independent guide, September 2025 | $300 to $550 | "An inspection done right" |
How often. The ACT distributor's published requirement is that the inverter be tested at least once every five years. A dated guide reports that the South Australian and Victorian networks also require testing every five years; we did not see that on a distributor page we could fetch, so treat it as reported. The Victorian safety regulator's advice, as reported in January 2023, is a service by a suitably qualified professional every two years. Queensland's government guidance sets no interval and tells you to follow the installer's maintenance schedule. Five years is the longest interval any authority accepts.
What a five-yearly inspection covers. The rooftop and inverter DC isolators (weather seal, operation, no water inside; isolators of the 2012 to 2021 era are the most common fire cause on regulator notices); every DC connector (matched brand and model, locked, no discolouration); earthing and bonding of frames, rails and the inverter, tested to the wiring rules; cable condition, conduit and roof penetrations; the inverter's fault log, voltages, fan and cooling; panel fastening and any cracked glass or hot spots; the switchboard and the solar circuit breaker; a performance check against the expected yield for your city. You should receive a written report and, where any wiring was repaired, a certificate of compliance for that work.
What the warranty documents say about cleaning
Cleaning pages say manufacturers "require regular cleaning" to keep the warranty. We read four current Australian module warranties on 27 October 2026. None sets a cleaning interval. What they do is exclude damage from not following the maker's maintenance or installation manual, from chemical exposure and from unauthorised service, which is the clause a pressure washer, a detergent or an abrasive pad would trip. Keep the manual, clean with water and a soft brush, and the warranty is untouched. The cleaner's method matters more than the schedule.
| Warranty | Cleaning requirement | Relevant exclusions |
|---|---|---|
| Canadian Solar TOPHiKu (Australia, orders from 30 May 2026) | No cleaning interval | Excludes "extraordinary hot, salt or chemical exposure", "unauthorized service", and modules "moved from its original installation location"; removal and reinstall costs stay with the owner |
| WINAICO (Australia, 1 July 2024) | No cleaning interval | Excludes "non-observance of" the installation and user manual, "industrial chemical exposure", and removal from the first installed site |
| Maxeon (Australia, 1 August 2024) | No cleaning interval | Excludes installation not complying with "operations and maintenance instructions"; pays removal and reinstall of warranted modules up to $375 for five and $75 a module after |
| LONGi Hi-MO X6 (December 2025) | No cleaning interval | Excludes "improper installation, use and maintenance" against the "maintenance manual"; dismantling and reinstall costs borne by the customer |
Clean, service or repair: who does what
- Clean ($15 to $25 a panel): a window or solar cleaner with roof-safety training. No electrical licence, no testing, no report. Must not open isolators or move panels.
- Inspection or service ($200 to $350): a licensed electrician, accredited for solar in most states, who tests DC and AC, checks earthing and isolators and writes a report. May include a clean as a line item; ask for it separately so you can see the price of each.
- Repair: the electrician again, with a certificate of compliance for any wiring work. An inverter swap is on the inverter replacement page; panel removal for roof work on the removal and reinstall page.
- A "maintenance package" that is mostly a clean at an inspection price is the thing to refuse. Ask which licensed person is attending and what they will test.
Cleaning them yourself
Safe and warranty-neutral: a hose and a soft brush on a pole from the ground or a ladder you do not leave, early in the morning when the glass is cool, with plain water. Not safe or not allowed: walking on panels, a pressure washer, detergent or solvent, a metal scraper, cold water on hot glass, and any roof with a fall of two metres or more without edge protection, which is why cleaners charge more for a second storey. If you cannot reach the panels from the ground, the Sydney minimum charge is the price of not falling.
A maintenance budget over 25 years
An illustration with its inputs: one paid clean every two years (12 over 25 years) at $199 to $375, and one electrician's inspection every five years (5 in total) at $200 to $350. That is $3,388 to $6,250 over the life of the system, before any repair. Against a Sydney system making $1,362 of electricity a year at our assumptions, the inspections are the part that protects the asset; the cleans are optional on a pitched roof. Budget the inspections and decide the cleans from your monitoring data. One inverter replacement in that period is likely and is costed on its own page. The purchase price the maintenance sits on is on the solar panel costs page, and a maintenance package bundled into a new-system quote should be checked as a separate line in the quote check.
Cleaning and maintenance questions
How much does solar panel cleaning cost per panel?
$15 to $25 a panel in metropolitan Sydney on a cleaning service page dated January 2026, with a $199 minimum for up to six panels; $8 to $12 a panel on a national service page dated April 2025; $12 average on a marketplace guide. Two storeys and heavy soiling add to the price.
How much does it cost to clean a 6.6kW solar system?
$225 to $375 for the 15 panels of a 440 W 6.6 kW system at the Sydney rate, or $120 to $180 at the national service rate. Count your panels: older 6.6 kW systems have 20 or more smaller panels and cost more to clean.
Is solar panel cleaning worth it?
$54 to $82 a year is what dirt costs a Sydney 6.6 kW system at the measured 4 to 6 per cent loss and our tariff assumptions, against $199 or more for one clean. It does not pay on a pitched roof with rain. It can pay for flat arrays, bird-fouled strings, dusty or coastal sites and large systems with high self-consumption.
How often should solar panels be cleaned?
Every 1 to 2 years on a flat or shaded array, after any nearby construction, and otherwise only when monitoring shows a drop that rain has not fixed. No manufacturer warranty we read sets a cleaning interval.
How much does a solar system inspection cost?
$200 to $350 for a residential system up to 6.6 kW on a Melbourne electrician's page priced for 2025 to 2026; $198, $220 and $249 as fixed prices on three Queensland pages; $300 to $550 on an independent guide from September 2025. A licensed electrician must do it.
Does cleaning void the solar panel warranty?
No, not with water and a soft brush. The four Australian module warranties we read exclude damage from chemicals, abrasives and methods outside the maintenance manual, so a pressure washer or detergent can void it; plain water cannot.
Do solar systems need a five-yearly inspection?
5 years is the interval in the ACT distributor's published rules for testing the inverter, and the interval reported for the South Australian and Victorian networks; the Victorian safety regulator recommends a service every two years. The inspection covers isolators, DC connectors, earthing, cabling and the inverter, and a licensed electrician must do it.