Steve, any reply to my question? Cheers.
Didn't pick up the question originally Carl sorry. I was away over the weekend when the thread must have dropped off. This was one of our earliest jobs of this kind. We've learned a lot and implemented a lot since...
Cheers Steve, so what do you do differently now?
Lots... 
Now hang on a minute Steve. When I queried why you didn't use PPE you, in this thread, stated that this was one your first jobs and that you had learned and implemented a lot since then. In the same thread you said it was a job that you did "early last year", that is, in early 2013.
But I found a thread here from Dec 2012: http://www.cleanitup.co.uk/smf/index.php?topic=162447.msg1355751#msg1355751 in which you state, and I quote, "We are doing it A LOT! Priced up a 17,000 panel installation this week. We market it as a premium service." and where in later posts in the same thread you state "I've started talking to a very well respected university about the possibility of them accrediting solar panel cleaning training days. It will focus on cleaning, health & safety, marketing, pricing, benefits of solar cleaning etc." and finally in answer to the question of possible electrocution "Yes, it is possible. If the panel is cracked, if there are loose wires or the panel frame is live, you will get shocked.".
Steve, if you remember i've defended your right to retain information you have discovered about the danger of electrocution in cleaning solar panels. You've argued the toss with lads who've said that cleaning panels is generally safe. But here you are cleaning without PPE.
Am I then the only one who concludes that you actually believe that the actual risks are extremely low as many have asserted but by instilling fear through the "if you only know what I know" argument is an attempt to corner the market nationally for your own company?
Whoaaaa! Hold your horses! No Carl. I did not say it was one of our first jobs, I said it was one of our 'earliest jobs of this kind'. You did not quote me contextually.
In 2012, we were doing a lot in a relative sense. We were doing a lot of marketing, research into electrocution risk and training, building of websites AND some cleaning. The training course thing is still moving forward by the way and is in the 'gathering of information for modules' phase.
When I originally came up with solar cleaning for my business about 6 years ago, I would have been overjoyed with 50 panels per year. Relatively, that was a lot back then. In 2011 things began to creep forward. I loved doing 100 panels per year, that was a lot, relatively. In 2012, we cleaned about 300, again, a lot relatively. Did many other guys on here clean 300 panels in 2012? It's doubtful.
In December 2012 when we did our calculations for what we thought we would do in 2013, we came up with a figure way, way under what we actually cleaned, 53,350. Again, that's a lot relatively, far beyond what we thought. So relatively, when the statement was made, yes, we were doing a lot. I had no idea then that here in January 2014, I would consider 300 panels to be small job, but it is now, relatively.
There are few industries in the UK that are moving as quickly as the solar industry. Technology, government policy and guidelines, size of arrays, number of arrays and the demand for cleaning is changing rapidly as new problems are presented. Our approach to cleaning some sites last year will be completely different this year because of the experience that we have gained over the last 12 months.
My statements from 2012 that you have quoted were based on the scale of what we were doing and on information we had at the time. There is still NO HSE advice on SPC, no training, no qualification, conflicting stories from manufacturers and installers about loads of different issues. There is not even a standard way to build solar farms yet! I can't find ANYONE in the whole of the UK that is doing what we do to the same scale. If there is someone, step forward and we will can share ideas and do business together. We have been guessing our way through a minefield for the last 6 years, but I now feel I know the score. You won't find any posts on here 6 years ago from me because I knew nothing.
There would have been a time believe it or not that Alex Gardiner would not have dared come on an open forum in the way he does now. He has now done his research, knows his field, knows his marketplace, knows his products, has built up an excellent reputation as an industry leader for WFP. Go back through some of his posts and I'm sure they seem outdated with how he approaches things now and the products he sold years ago were inferior to what he sells now, but they were the best he could manufacture and sell based on the information and knowledge he had THEN.
Businesses and their products, strategies and working practices DEVELOP over time. My business is no different. Last year, I never thought we would clean over 53,000 panels, but we did. I'm not going to tell you what I think we will do this year because I will be laughed off here, but potentially, we can smash past last years total figure on one job alone. If we get one contract for which we have priced and gone through checks for, my approach to solar panel cleaning will change again because the job will demand it.
I'm sorry if you feel I am duping people on here, but I'm not. Updated videos from this year's cleans will show we have extra measures in place. Watch this space...
