Keep snow off solar panels!

13»

Comments

  • boB
    boB Solar Expert Posts: 1,032 ✭✭✭✭
    #62
    Re: Keep snow off solar panels!
    dwh wrote: »
    All I can remember for sure is that a few years ago I saw a charge controller that claimed it could backfeed the panels to melt ice and snow.

    Could that controller have been the Classic ?? It's been quite a while (years?) that I/We've talked about this. The only thing I have found on the net, and I've looked hard over the years now, is something about a Sharp (the company) inverter that supposedly did this. I can't find a lot on this though. I would really be interested to know what you have found if you ever remember or find it again.

    I do think the most logical place for something like this is something like a communications site that has solar but is running their generators anyway because the array is covered with snow.

    OK, Back to work...
    boB
    · Share on Twitter
  • jagec
    jagec Solar Expert Posts: 157 ✭✭
    #63
    Re: Keep snow off solar panels!
    SteveK wrote: »
    DWH, the automation portion you described may have been the downfall of the design. I can imagine a lot of cold cloudy days where a device like that would be tricked into thawing air. I see the need for this to be a manually activated task. Sensors fail.

    Good news is the Classic will allow this task to be performed from near anywhere in the world with web access.

    I dunno, it seems to me that if you have to activate it manually every time, it would be better to just go out there with a plastic scraper instead. I think some kind of snow sensor is a good idea.

    But I agree that you'd have to choose your sensor carefully to ensure that you don't burn energy needlessly. I think the best way to implement the feature would be on a three-position software setting (off/auto/on) so that people can override the sensor to melt undetected snow/ice, or keep it off if the sensor fails or they prefer to clear snow manually.
    · Share on Twitter
  • boB
    boB Solar Expert Posts: 1,032 ✭✭✭✭
    #64
    Re: Keep snow off solar panels!

    I like the idea of a web-cam that is looking at the array to tell if things are working or if anything even needs to be done about it.

    Then it could even be done remotely.
    boB
    · Share on Twitter
  • mike95490
    mike95490 Solar Expert Posts: 9,583 ✭✭✭✭✭
    #65
    Re: Keep snow off solar panels!
    boB wrote: »
    I like the idea of a web-cam that is looking at the array to tell if things are working or if anything even needs to be done about it.

    Then it could even be done remotely.
    boB


    But you risk this happening: ( set phasers to disintegrate )
    20040928-mutantfly02b-lg.jpg
    Powerfab top of pole PV mount | Listeroid 6/1 w/st5 gen head | XW6048 inverter/chgr | Iota 48V/15A charger | Morningstar 60A MPPT | 48V, 800A NiFe Battery (in series)| 15, Evergreen 205w "12V" PV array on pole | Midnight ePanel | Grundfos 10 SO5-9 with 3 wire Franklin Electric motor (1/2hp 240V 1ph ) on a timer for 3 hr noontime run - Runs off PV ||
    || Midnight Classic 200 | 10, Evergreen 200w in a 160VOC array ||
    || VEC1093 12V Charger | Maha C401 aa/aaa Charger | SureSine | Sunsaver MPPT 15A

    solar: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Solar
    gen: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Lister ,

    · Share on Twitter
  • SteveK
    SteveK Solar Expert Posts: 387 ✭✭
    #66
    Re: Keep snow off solar panels!
    jagec wrote: »
    I dunno, it seems to me that if you have to activate it manually every time, it would be better to just go out there with a plastic scraper instead. I think some kind of snow sensor is a good idea.

    That got really old this winter. Unusually high snowfall amounts and frequency kept me shoveling the roof (and the panels) far too often here. Ladders are no fun while slick and the height and pitch are pretty daunting. I'd have dumped some power to not have to do this.

    Wish I could ground mount but far too much shading.
    · Share on Twitter
  • dwh
    dwh Solar Expert Posts: 1,341 ✭✭✭
    #67
    Re: Keep snow off solar panels!
    boB wrote: »
    Could that controller have been the Classic ??

    IIRC, it was on some online store - i.e., I could have bought it if I'd wanted to. So unless you've been selling them on the side for a couple years and not telling anyone...

    I want to say it was part of a kit, but I'm not sure. After napping on it, now I have a glimmer of some memory that maybe it knew when daylight was supposed occur because you could program in the location and time.

    The only thing I have found on the net, and I've looked hard over the years now, is something about a Sharp (the company) inverter that supposedly did this. I can't find a lot on this though. I would really be interested to know what you have found if you ever remember or find it again.


    Yea, I've searched pretty hard for that thing a few different times and no joy.

    One problem of course is that Google has fostered an environment where there are 100 pages which serve no purpose other than to display Google Ads for every page with actual information - which has diluted the results from the Google search engine to the point where perhaps half of what you get is trash pages. x10 if your search has the word "solar" in it. Time for a new search engine to come along. If you ask me, these dorks have shot themselves in the foot.
    · Share on Twitter
  • System2
    System2 Posts: 6,290 admin
    #68
    Re: Keep snow off solar panels!

    Ice melt socks keep snow off solar panels all season.
    · Share on Twitter
  • Vic
    Vic Solar Expert Posts: 3,208 ✭✭✭✭
    #69
    Re: Keep snow off solar panels!

    Well, a separate (small) heated irradiance detector, plus knowing the local time could help determine if it would be worthwhile to burn battery power to melt snow. Mabe AGS included in the options, too. It could take quite a lotta power to do the job ... Think it is on the list of possibilities for the Classic CCs.
    We have little snow here. VIc
    Off Grid - Two systems -- 4 SW+ 5548 Inverters, Surrette 4KS25 1280 AH X2@48V, 11.1 KW STC PV, 4X MidNite Classic 150 w/ WBjrs, Beta KID on S-530s, MX-60s, MN Bkrs/Boxes.  25 KVA Polyphase Kubota diesel,  Honda Eu6500isa,  Eu3000is-es, Eu2000,  Eu1000 gensets.  Thanks Wind-Sun for this great Forum.
    · Share on Twitter
  • System2
    System2 Posts: 6,290 admin
    #70
    Re: Keep snow off solar panels!

    For those who use ice melt to keep the snow off the solar panels, does the salt cause any problems for the panels? Are there any parts that can rust from the brackish water? The panels that I'm using now to learn about solar power are on the ground, so I can brush them off. I'm trying to get them to power a shurflo 8000 pump to pump water or to use for a sprinkler system.
    · Share on Twitter
  • Cariboocoot
    Cariboocoot Banned Posts: 17,615 ✭✭✭
    #71
    Re: Keep snow off solar panels!

    Panel frames are aluminium. Add sodium-chloride solution and you get aluminium oxide, or corroded panel frames.
    Not a process I'd recommend. Feel free to disagree.
    · Share on Twitter
  • vtmaps
    vtmaps Solar Expert Posts: 3,741 ✭✭✭✭
    #72
    Re: Keep snow off solar panels!
    Cariboocoot wrote: »
    Panel frames are aluminium. Add sodium-chloride solution and you get aluminium oxide, or corroded panel frames.
    Not a process I'd recommend. Feel free to disagree.
    I agree that salt is bad for aluminum, but I don't think aluminum oxide is the issue. I think that all bare aluminum is already oxidized. Aluminum oxide
    sticks to the underlying aluminum (unlike iron oxide which flakes off the underlying iron) and seals it from further oxidation. If I recall correctly, salt breaks down the aluminum oxide coating on aluminum and that leads to corrosion.
    --vtMaps
    4 X 235watt Samsung, Midnite ePanel, Outback VFX3524 FM60 & mate, 4 Interstate L16, trimetric, Honda eu2000i
    · Share on Twitter
  • Cariboocoot
    Cariboocoot Banned Posts: 17,615 ✭✭✭
    #73
    Re: Keep snow off solar panels!

    Yes, but then again no. :D
    The problem is the same with both iron and aluminium (and any other metal that oxidizes): if the initial layer of oxidation is left untouched the process does not continue. Trouble is, what caused the oxidation in the first place usually erodes the surface layer and exposes fresh metal to assault. Areas where the roads are salted and sanded in Winter know this, as the resulting spray not only oxidizes the cars but "sand blasts" the oxidized layer off. The result is that "lace curtain effect" known so well in those parts. Here in BC we have a saying "Never buy a boat from the coast". This is because it has probably been used in the ocean, and people never rinse the salt water off (or flush the cooling systems)!


    I can even show you a whole gallery of photos of oxidation at its artistic best! In Rust We Trust: http://in-rust-we-trust.deviantart.com/

    :D
    · Share on Twitter
  • niel
    niel Solar Expert Posts: 10,300 ✭✭✭✭
    #74
    Re: Keep snow off solar panels!

    salt or other chemicals will put a film on the glass that will inhibit solar collection and thus cause lowered output. i don't recommend anything that could inhibit power production.
    · Share on Twitter
  • waynefromnscanada
    waynefromnscanada Solar Expert Posts: 3,009 ✭✭✭✭
    #75
    Re: Keep snow off solar panels!

    Nothing beats mounting snow-belt panels in such a way that allows them to be tilted to the vertical for Winter. Snow does not collect on them and best of all, you get extra power output from having both direct sunlight hit the panels, as well as reflected sunlight from the snow covered ground that more than makes up for not having the panels tilted for best possible collection from direct sun only light. No salt, no electric heat, no bonfires to melt the snow. No long handled scrapers to pull the snow down on your heads. So simple, so productive, so satisfying.
    · Share on Twitter
  • t00ls
    t00ls Solar Expert Posts: 250 ✭✭✭
    #76
    Re: Keep snow off solar panels!
    n3qik wrote: »
    I have gone out 2 times with a rubber hammer to knock 2-4" of ice off the panels. Any type of brushing would have failed on my setup. Any heater setup, would/could use more power then the panels would make that day/days. Hammer,broom,scrapper and sun for me.

    Note, I have the glassless Unisolar panels, so NO ONE should try the hammer trick on theirs. The neighbors think I am nuts for doing the above action.

    I' in the same boat with my neighbors, they dont ever know what I'll do next....seven families live here on the "hill"....they all think I'm nut's, but they like me...I think
    · Share on Twitter

Categories