A truly effective ice scraper for solar panels?

softdown · December 2016

Finally found one. Normally used to scrape off drywall texture or paint.....it is an 8" one sided thick razor blade that fits in an extendible round handle. Ice will dull the blade over time. You may want about 50 or so....

Another note.....east and west facing panels just never get warm enough to shed snow and ice in a truly cold winter environ.

December has got to be the most brutal month for solar if one regularly experiences temperatures below 0F. The shortest days. The cloudiest days. Some of the snowiest days. Even steep southern facing panels may not be capable of "self cleaning" for several days at a time. Ugh...almost wish I could hibernate until February.

Estragon · December 2016

My south facing arrays set at max steepness can stay snow covered for months if not cleared!

softdown · December 2016

Easy to believe. The snow is easy, it is the ice which can get pretty thick.

I wonder what angle is needed to be, more or less, self clearing.

Estragon · December 2016

My racks only go to 65deg. Would have to go to pretty close to 90 to stay clear I think.

The ice and/or wet sticky snow is what causes the problem as it reflects whatever sun there is. I use a plastic shovel to get enough off for some sun to get through and warm up the panels. There's about a month (now) when the sun is just too low and too short to do anything though.

animatt · December 2016

I believe there used to be a mode in the midnite solar controllers. They could take battery power and send it to the panels. This would heat the panels and hopefully melt what is there.

Not sure if that feature still exists. I could see it being useful for roof mounted panels that are hard to get to.

Estragon · December 2016

As I recall, that was a feature they considered but didn't go ahead with.

I have thought about heat tape on the back of the panels though.

Has anyone done this?

DanS26 · December 2016

IMO, metal or hard plastic ice scrapers are more harm than good on solar panels. They can scratch or worse case damage the surface of the panels. Much better to use snow push and pull devices designed to remove snow from automobiles without marring the paint surfaces of cars.

Here is a device I cobbled together from multiple snow removal devices. You can easily replicate the device from just looking at the pic. I used a telescoping pole and sno pro units. All readily available on the net or even at your local hardware/HD/Lowes store.

softdown · December 2016

^^^Plastic can't hurt glass. If it did, all northern cars would have scratched up windows. Few things will scratch glass. I think you need to take a basic geology course. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohs_scale_of_mineral_hardness

mike95490 · December 2016

softdown said:

^^^Plastic can't hurt glass. If it did, all northern cars would have scratched up windows. Few things will scratch glass. I think you need to take a basic geology course. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohs_scale_of_mineral_hardness

Hard plastic can damage the edge seals at the edge of the glass/metal frame interface. But if you like using metal tools on expensive glass, it's your choice

Ralph Day · December 2016

I use a pool cleaning brush (about 16 inches across) to brush snow off panels. Notice I said brush. Scraping not good. And any heavy headed tool risks a hard drop on panels quite easily (a foot slips, a hand slips and bang). But then I have utility power available so a day without sun production won't put me in the dark.

softdown · December 2016

Perhaps some of you don't get 1/2" of ice with regularity.

I once had 48 150 watt solar panels with no frames at all. Not a single panel has malfunctioned due to lack of a frame. Using several right now.

If you guys like plastic, and soft plastic at that.....more power to you. It just doesn't work here,

solarhills99 · December 2016

Take a conventional snow rake. Cut a 3" slice of 1" foam insulation the length of the blade. Saw a slit in the foam so it fits over the blade. Works on most snow types but not icy frozen snow.

706jim · December 2016

I use a plastic car window scraper and brush with good results. But I don't have a gazillion panels like some here. Once the bulk f the snow has been cleared off, the panels are pretty good at melting off the remaining ice film if there is decent sun. I do this one weekend in February only.

just starting · December 2016

I'm at 10200' I get cold my batterys are at 5ºc right now. My panels get full sun at 1030am until 230pm they get over 1/2" of ice I Broom of the snow and wait 1/2 hour at a time and go sweep off the ice. It melts as the panel shorts and heats up. Some days I don't even try I run the gen go one gallon of gas however long that is.

morpho · December 2016

I usually find the ice that collects on the panels (If it's not freezing rain) is from the snow hitting the "warm" panels and turning to water, as evening comes, the temp drops on the panels the snow and water turns to ice. By morning I am facing a layer of ice covered with snow. Nasty.

I've found that if I go out and sweep the panels of snow and water after the sun goes down, ice doesn't form and it is easy to sweep the snow off come morning.

I've also considered canvas panels to place over the array and on occasion even a garage door on a track with an automatic door opener so I can stay inside when it's -30 outside!

A truly effective ice scraper for solar panels?

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