[Steven Biggs]

Does anyone do this . The last couple of weeks I've had 2 custys ask me to clean there panels . I'm not interested in spending £500 on a suitable pole , I would rather knock the jobs back . But I have a microlight standoff which sits on the tiles . I know smurf uses one a lot for gutters . Any opinions . Cheers barry . I would still be using wfp , but stood on the ladder .

[Spruce]

Health and Safety says NO.

The safest way of using a ladder is with 3 points of contact. You can't do the with two hands on a pole.

However, the boys at BT and Sky have a solution which you maybe able to copy. They have a need to be up a ladder and drill holes in walls. Using a rotary hammer drill requires 2 hands.

I spoke to a Sky installer once and watched him fit a dish. They drill an anchor point into the wall and secure their ladders to that. Then they use a full body harness which has a safety lanyard clipped onto the front of their harness (not the back) and to their ladder. They are then able to leant back as the safety harness is their third point of contact. Fitting an anchor point in the wall was part of fitting a Sky dish - no anchor, no dish, he told me.

There is a cleaner in our area who takes a chance and does them off ladders, but he will not do them unless he has someone to foot the ladders. He said he wasn't totally comfortable doing them that way.

Me. I would rather pass on the request - I have enough window cleaning work tbh.

[dazmond]

Does anyone do this . The last couple of weeks I've had 2 custys ask me to clean there panels . I'm not interested in spending £500 on a suitable pole , I would rather knock the jobs back . But I have a microlight standoff which sits on the tiles . I know smurf uses one a lot for gutters . Any opinions . Cheers barry . I would still be using wfp , but stood on the ladder .

i pole conny roofs from a ladder sometimes but thats low level.i wouldnt pole solar panels from one though on 2 storey roofs.sod that.an xtreme 47 with a 90 degree carbon gooseneck does the job for most roof panels from the safety of the ground.

its too dangerous mate.

[AuRavelling79]

Does anyone do this . The last couple of weeks I've had 2 custys ask me to clean there panels . I'm not interested in spending £500 on a suitable pole , I would rather knock the jobs back . But I have a microlight standoff which sits on the tiles . I know smurf uses one a lot for gutters . Any opinions . Cheers barry . I would still be using wfp , but stood on the ladder .

This is a wind up, right Baz? 

[Steven Biggs]

No not a wind up at all gold . Serious . If it's a dodgey climb I can get the lad to foot the ladder . Anything else I dig the spikes in the turf etc , totally comfortable working on the roofline with a microlight standoff . I'm not keen on spending money on another pole . One of the jobs to clean from the ground you would have to stand in the neighbours garden .i think that would be the case in small gardens . Besides your not up the ladder long . I do a bungalow 5 minutes to clean 6 panels .

[Smurf]

Using a ladder set up like this you mean with a vertical lifeline for the ladder fall arrest harness so 3 points of contact and all that?

[Positivity]

When I was leaving a Local Authority job to start window cleaning I had a meeting with the Health and Safety officer to help me out with Risk Assessments etc.
He advised me if I was using ladders, the best thing I could do was model myself on the methods used by Sky installers.
Seemingly they leave nothing to chance although a fall arrest harness and anchor points doesn't quite fit in with window cleaning when your moving around a house up and down ladders every couple of minutes!

[the king]

i clean sola pannels off a ladder a microlite and a ankalad will make it safer also as in alans pic a harness ect u ant going no were  hs is over kill and i think its more of a guide than a must lol 

[lal]

 Poling Solar panels from a ladder is a definite no no, if you don't have a long enough pole to do the job,
 just tell the customer you can't do it, its not worth risking your neck for what a few extra quid.

 Lal

[AuRavelling79]

Poling Solar panels from a ladder is a definite no no, if you don't have a long enough pole to do the job,
 just tell the customer you can't do it, its not worth risking your neck for what a few extra quid.

 Lal

Quite right. Come back Solar Steve - all is forgiven! 

[Smurf]

Working at roofline height is inherently dangerous so it’s up to employer’s/contractors what methods, equipment, best practise etc they choose to minimise the risks to their workers so they don’t get fined or sued when something goes badly wrong.

Unlike individuals that can do what they like really.     

[Clever Forum Name]

I purchased the extreme 47 on a credit card and pushed solar panel cleaning.

Has some specific leaflets made up and posted then through doors with a price on (they had panels lol)

Took about a year to get my money back. I did the panels on a Saturday and grouped then together so I was efficient.

I don't think I would do it again TBH as you can do one extra house a day for say £15 5 times a week.... Soon adds up.

I do have a literally brand new 47ft extreme pole though. All paid for.

I allowed for the interest as well (paid using 0% card) was paid off before it started tho.

[Smurf]

 It's near on impossible to clean domestic solar panel arrays from the ground on low pitched roofs or ones with access issues as you probably quickly found out Damo. Hence why it took you so long to earn your money back on that pole.

Like you say I think you have to way up the earning potential as some jobs are just not worth the hassle or risks involed expecialy if having to use ladders.

[Steven Biggs]

Yeh I think your right smurf . Some jobs are just not worth the risk or hassle . I think I'll give solar panels a miss . From the ground and from  a ladder . Most of my custys who have them would be difficult or impossible to clean from the ground . No matter what size pole you had . And doing off a ladder even with a microlight and securing the ladder at the bottom which you could spend more time doing as it would be a one climb job , is still dodgey . Just wondered if anyone had tried it .

[Smurf]

Yeh I think your right smurf . Some jobs are just not worth the risk or hassle . I think I'll give solar panels a miss . From the ground and from  a ladder . Most of my custys who have them would be difficult or impossible to clean from the ground . No matter what size pole you had . And doing off a ladder even with a microlight and securing the ladder at the bottom which you could spend more time doing as it would be a one climb job , is still dodgey . Just wondered if anyone had tried it .

Very wise…

I use to do a lot of roofline work via ladders hence the kit I have but also have a ladder minimisation policy in place so prefer to remove the risk altogether. I will only use my ladder set up now as the last resort when it’s safe to do and needless to say the job pays very well to make it worth my while.

[sunshine windows]

I wouldn't feel comfortable poling solar panels up the top of a ladder. I used to strip my pole of hose and use it as a telescopic gutter clearing tool before I got the vac, to clear muck from above conservatories. Without the extra weight of the hose and water, even that felt dodgy.

[Clever Forum Name]

It's near on impossible to clean domestic solar panel arrays from the ground on low pitched roofs or ones with access issues as you probably quickly found out Damo. Hence why it took you so long to earn your money back on that pole.

Like you say I think you have to way up the earning potential as some jobs are just not worth the hassle or risks involed expecialy if having to use ladders.

No the reason it took a year was lack of interest in cleaning.

Most jobs were £32 16 panels at £2 a panel.

Usually 30mins a job. Most I ever did was 4 in a day.

The extreme 47 was £1300 with an extension and SPC brush.

So I needed between 35 and 55 jobs to get my money back.

[Rich Wilts]

£2.00 a panel? Woah.

The last two jobs I've done solar panel cleaning have been £5.00 a pop and £6.00. Coincidentally they both had 16 panels.

[Smurf]

£2.00 a panel? Woah.

The last two jobs I've done solar panel cleaning have been £5.00 a pop and £6.00. Coincidentally they both had 16 panels.

Wow! that's cheap...Talk about being tight fisted do they have them done monthly as surely that's not a yearly price? 

The minimum I would want to charge to make it worth my while would be £60 for a yearly clean for easy access ones

[Rich Wilts]

Weekly. They wanted them daily but I would've felt a crook