30/09/2025
This month, October 2025. Marks 15 years since I started Cleaning Solar PV Panels. Here is a bit of insight of "The man, the myth, the legend!"
Scott Meloni, Owner of Wee Plumb. Based now in the small town of Banana Qld. This Months marks 15 Years since I started Cleaning Solar PV Panels, this is also my 33rd year of Plumbing.
I remember back in 2010 when I was living in Dubbo NSW, I read an article in the local paper stating that Dubbo had become the highest per capita for Solar PV installations. I thought to myself "Do these panels have to be maintained? Cleaned!) As in about 2007 I teamed up with Solahart in Towwnsville for their installation and Maintenance (Part of their 5 year Solahart Maintenance Service, was to clean the panels) I started to look into it more. Lots of googling, I found only 1 other Solar Cleaing buisness in Australia, SA from memory. I then found lots over in the USA. The most information I found was a guy over in Hawaii, So stalked his page a bit.
Looked up some Solar Panel Manufacturers Manuals. And found out, Yes they have to be Cleaned at least once every 12 Months.
So away I went, with the little information I found, Oates soft bristle broom, a bucket and a hose.
Back then (showing my age) most systems were only 6 or 8 Panels. But the FIT at the time was $0.60 / Kwh.
It was a slow start, as installers were telling people that "the rain will clean them, Solar panels are "Maintenance free" and I still have people tell me this today.
Moving forward to 2014, I moved back to my home State QLD. Moved to Nerang, on the Gold Coast and came up with a buisness name of Solar Cleaner Australia.
In 2014, on the Gold Coast I found there was myself and I other buisness offering Solar Cleaning. In the Gold Coast area, and there was still the barrier of owners not knowing or being misinformed about the need of Solar Cleaning. Also during my 4 years on the GC I worked out how to read Solar Inverters, and be able to show my customers calculations on how their system is performing (I still do this today!)
I also got contacted by a UK company called "Aqueous" about a Nano product they had developed for use on Solar panels, It helped protect the panels from the contamination of the elements keeping them cleaner longer. They taught me the benefits of their product and I started using it for my customers Aqueous Eco Solar was and still is a great product.
By 2018 there was about 100 businesses advertising "Solar Cleaning" around the GC and SEQ and me NOT really being a big City person. I decided to move up to Gladstone CQ. I struck a deal with a small buisness in Ipswich "I Clean Solar" I liked the name! So with permission to use it, I started I Clean Solar Central Queensland based in Gladstone Qld.
Solar systems were getting bigger by now, 20-30 Panels on the average domestic house. And still the education barrier! About "the rain cleans your panels" Gladstone being an industrial town, I came up against a new problem. The baked on coal dust and fall out from QAL proved alot more difficult to clean off panels than what I was used to over the last 8 years! In about 2019 I was contacted by a company in Portugal about their product of Solar Wash and Protect that they were bringing to the market and sent me a 500ml sample bottle. So I tried it and WoW what a difference, not only helped me clean the solar panels in the Gladstone Region better and quicker but helped improve the performance for my customers (Win Win) Solar Wash and Protect or as we call it SWaP is the only chemical in the World that has conforming letters from I think now up to 17 of the Top Tier 1 Solar Panel Manufacturers in the World approving it can be used to clean panels without voiding any warranties. I still use it for every Solar clean today.
In 2020 a new obstacle presented itself on a solar clean at Ocean Tyres in Gladstone. Their Panels were installed at 2 deg pitch and a stain was forming along the bottoms of the panels covering/shading up 2 rows of cells. There Panels were about 10 years old at the time and never cleaned. I tried everything I could (Panels were out of warranty, but i still didn't want to cause any damage) without any luck. In 2021 I seen a post on instagram showing these clips that clip over the solar panels frame and help the water drain off the panel. Being old 50mm frame panels, I contacted the company overseas and got some specially made up (as 50mm panels were no longer used) Installed these water drainage clips and cleaned panels with SWaP, and the next year (2022) annual clean, the stain had not only stopped travelling up the Panels but had shrunk! I also noticed when removing the clips before cleaning the Panels that there was a build-up of dirt under them where the water siphons through. So I contacted the company, bought 1000 of each size clip and came up with the name Solar Muck Suckers. That I now not only use for my own customers, but sell onto Solar Installers and Cleaners all over Australia.
In 2015 (sorry going back a little) I created a Facebook group called "Solar Panel Cleaning Mates" to connect with Solar cleaners all over Australia for the purpose of helping with education as i found it was scarce here in Australia and there were lots of business offering this service to customers now.
During my time in Gladstone we had the great Covid Pandemic! This made buisness slow down for me, luckily I had the opportunity presented by Jacobe from Vision Energy, to get in and do some Solar Installations. I found it a great way to learn more about the industry and it also helped me learn more about what I can and can't do for my customers during annual clean and inspection of their Solar systems. Hands on experience I've always found is best.
Moving closer to the presant day. In 2024 after being in Gladstone now for the past 6 years and renting, myself and my now wife decided we wanted to buy our own house/property. Looking around and trying to make offers on houses in the area, and also not having a big bank account for a deposit we as all know were finding it hard to move out of the rental market, and our lease was ending in Sept 2024, so that meant either moving or paying more rent.
So we started to look little further around. Thinking back to the GC where sometimes meant driving to Brisbane for jobs (M1 traffic and 2-4hr trips) we found a shouse out in Banana Qld (never been out there before) I had about 5 customers on annual Solar cleans out in Biloela that I serviced, so we looked at the Banana Shire region. Worked out the travel it will entail to still be able to service my existing customers I've built up over the last 7 years in Gladstone, and finding out about the limited availability of Plumbers out west of Biloela (Yes I am a QBCC Licenced Plumber, believe me Solar Cleaning doesn't pay the Bills!) We took the dive and on the 1st August 2024 we moved out to set up a base in Banana Qld. So now service the Banana Shire and Gladstone Region for Solar Cleaning.
So now October 2025, 15 Years of Solar Cleaning feels like a long journey, lots of weekend Markets in Gladstone. Lots of education for myself and my customers, Lots of Hot summers on roofs here in Qld Cleaning Solar Panels. And hopefully lots more to come.
15 years to me is a long journey, and for something I have found a passion for I hope you found this little insight about myself as interesting as I did reflecting back on my last 15 years.
Wee Plumb has become the main business name we are trading with now. I still have Solar Cleaner Australia, I Clean Solar Central Queensland and Solar Muck Suckers. But we found it becoming difficult and confusing for not only ourselves but also our customers.
So if you call myself or my wife Suzi at Wee Plumb and Clean Solar. You know your going to get one of the longest serving Solar Cleaners here in Australia!
