Will snow affect your solar panels?
I woke up this morning to the first snow of the winter season. Only about 2 inches deep, but enough to cover the yard and streets with a calming white blanket. The snow brings to mind one of the common concerns that people that own, or are considering, solar panels have. Do the winter months affect the efficiency of solar panels? What is the effect of snow on solar panels?
The good news is that, even if the weather outside is frightful, it can still be delightfully warm and lit inside your solar-powered home. In fact, with the installation of solar panels on your home, you may be the only place in your neighborhood that retains power in a winter storm. No need for a generator, either! Don’t let this happen to you:
Truthfully, you will have to consider whether snow on solar panels is accumulating at a rate to slow or prevent their efficient operation. Obviously, solar panels need to be exposed to sunlight in order to work. Some sunshine can pass through an inch or two of snow, but more than that, and you may have to get up on the roof to clear away the snow from the solar panels.
Here are a few tips to deal with snow on solar panels, from actual homeowners:
1. Tilt the panels enough so that snow and ice do not accumulate (I would guess this works for a light dusting or a few inches of snow, but not if you get a big storm).
2. Toss a soft Nerf football at the panels to clear away a small patch – when the sun warms that area, the rest of the snow will melt away.
3. Put rock salt around the solar panels to prevent freezing (some have noted that this may damage the panels).
4. Get out a garden hose and spray away the snow from the solar panels.
5. Use heat tape around the edges of the panels.
What do you think of these options? Have you had to deal with snow on solar panels? If you have any additional tips for removing snow from solar panels, please share them below!
Tags: Add new tag, snow on solar panels, solar panel efficiency
Dec 21,2008
I am looking for others who have a different solution to removing snow from solar panels. My solution is to do nothing, so far. We are in Welland Ontario, near Niagara Falls and just had 10 inches. This as gone from the roof panels in one day after 8 hours of constant sunshine. Just a bit of ice remains on the bottom edge of each row. But what if the sun does not shine? Does any one else have a solution for freezing temps and no sun?
David
Hi David,
I sure hope other people comment and add their suggestions. We have nearly a foot of snow now. When I was driving along the freeway, I was noticing solar powered traffic signs with a bit of snow along the bottom of the panels. I have read that some people use snow roof rakes to clear snow away. It would take some extra maintenance during these winter months, definitely.
Good luck and take care,
Stephanie
This was the only “soft” roof rake I could. All others were aluminum or hard plastic. I am concerned with scratching the glass.
http://www.roofrake.com/Productpages/snowpro2.asp
Todd
Hi Todd, you are right – any roof rake would have to be soft so as not to scratch the glass on the solar panels. I even thought about roof brushes the other day, after watching a friend clear off the windshield of a car the other day,
Stephanie
I usually kick my solar panels from my skylight to get the snow off. you can also try using hot laser beams.
I just got 24 panels on my second story roof and am thinking ahead about winter. Thank you for the link to http://www.roofrake.com. They have something called the razor and it looks very clever. Check it out!
Tom
Visited http://www.roofrake.com and got the soft roofrake they called it the snow pro head. It’s made of polyethylene foam with a hard plastic core so you don’t have to worry about it coming down crooked and damaging the solar panels. I needed 36′ to get to the second story and since telescoping poles cannot be longer than 24′ they offered a unique solution that worked. It was tricky at first but once I got the hang of it it wasn’t so bad. But what other choice did I have? Thanks for the tips.
I have used the Snow Pro head purchased from http://www.RoofRake.com for more than half a dozen snows now (from a couple inches to a couple feet) to clear the 30 panels on my one story barn roof. The Snow Pro head worked great with the 24′ extension pole. Wouldn’t be without it!
Wouldn’t it be smart to have some of the energy generated by the panels diverted to power a small heat source (like rear mindow defroster in a car) that way snow could melt enough to slide off in winter months…?
Marc – what a smart idea! A perfect invention to address snow on solar panels with solar energy that could be stored in a battery or something.
I have been in need of this sort of info for quite a while now and at last I found it. Fantastic stuff you have got right here, finally someone who gets it.
A swiss company Volotek just came out with a self cleaning solar panel but it’s not on the market yet and of course it’s too late if your already have your panels.
http://www.volotek.com/renewable-technologies
I don’t think putting salt on expensive solar is a good idea. I think a snow rake is the best option.
Solar Panel Deicer Sock pays for itself in electricity generation in a single day. http://store.airconditioner-po.....-sock.html
We use RoofIce Melt Sock to keep snow off our PV panels all winter.
Where do you get Roofice melt sock?
Im on Cape Cod, Ma. I made a sprinkler system for my panels. Three rotor type sprinkler heads sweep back and forth on a 10 min timer. It keeps panels clear of snow but too early to tell about summertime use if I get more power. Cheap to build about 165.00 dollars complete
Just google roofice melt sock. Lots of different suppliers out there.
It seems to me that simply designing a few of the top solar cells in a panel so they can recycle power to produce heat just before sunrise should let the morning sun finish the job. Thats how ice melt socks work. It may even take less energy and would certainly be easier than putting ice socks up and down each winter.
OOPS, I probably should have patented that idea before sharing.
Oh well, guess I’m more of an Environmentalist than a capitalist.
Ice melt socks do not use salt and actually recommend not using salt in large red type. Lots of other ice melt out there that is non-corrosive to metal. Some potassium based ice melt crystals actually strengthen glass to better withstand the effects of acid rain.
Hi
Great article on snow removal from solar panels. I live where we just wash them down. I linked and posted your article on my solar blog. Thanks! dan at dansolar.wordpress.com. I have a daily blog on solar and how mine is working since August 2010, photos, videos, graphs etc.
Thanks Dan! I’ll check out your solar blog – great to see another person publishing on this super renewable resource. Best, Stephanie
Thank you for the post. I’m still trying to figure out the best approach for us and our 5.59 kW system in Aurora, Colo., where we have a shallow roof pitch so snow doesn’t slide off our panels, where even a roofrake won’t give me access to the upper of our two arrays, and where snowfalls are typically followed by bright, sunny, but also often cold days. I’m also concerned about a roofrake’s aluminum pole potentially scratching panels.
–Christof Demont-Heinrich
Editor & Founder, SolarChargedDriving.Com
The Canadian Mortgage Housing Association recommends using CMA and EZdeicer for removing snow and ice dams from roofs all over Canada. These ice melt crystals have a lower corrosivity than “acid rain.” Placing these low corrosivity crystals in an icesock and on top of a PV panelcan keep a small area open on winter nights. When the sun comes out the next day it finishes the job.
How do you attach ice sock to the panel, does it block part of the panel? thanks.
I’ve let the solar installers leave the 2 roof anchors at the ridge of the roof that they used for harnessing. I’m going to stretch an aircraft cable between the 2 anchors and then loop a rope around the cable. I’ll be standing at ground level swinging the snow to the ground. Anything that I don’t get this way, I will attach a microfibre mop to a telescoping pole and sweep it down from the roof.
I just had my solar installed a few weeks ago so I have yet to see how the scheme will turn out.
Very nice idea with anchors and cable.
I was thinking about the same before
Does it work for you ?
I have also very high roof and the house beside doesnt let me to use roof rake
Regarding my earlier posting, it is not very effective being at ground level swinging a rope suspended on the roof to shake the snow off. I ended up using the rope instead to help support myself to get up onto the top of the roof. I then get a push broom on an extension pole to sweep the snow vertically down the surface. Works for me because I have a flatter pitch roof. Also only walk on the roof if there is enough snow on the roof… otherwise the footsteps are damaging to the brittle shingles.
roofrake.com carries soft roof rakes that can be used to take snow off solar panels. They can be used up to 41? in length. They were very helpful in getting me the right length for my needs. And the head is soft on all sides so i don’t have to worry about it coming down crooked and damaging the panels. It can also push or pull snow so it’s very efficient at getting the snow off the panels.