Panel angle for snow shedding

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  • northerner
    northerner Solar Expert Posts: 492 ✭✭✭✭✭✭
    #32
    Re: Panel angle for snow shedding

    When the wind is blowing on my panels, it keeps them clear of snow. Although, I have my panels mounted at about 15 degrees off vertical in winter and the snow here is usually very dry. Perhaps you could rig up a compressed air line with nozzles to periodically clear the panel(s). May be too much trouble to rig up, but could be an interesting project to keep the panels clear?
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  • icarus
    icarus Solar Expert Posts: 5,436 ✭✭✭✭
    #33
    Re: Panel angle for snow shedding
    DanS26 wrote: »
    No argument that these panels are not very efficient. But for solar enthusiasts in snow prone areas who are either unable or unwilling to climb up on their roof to clean snow in the winter, this product may be the answer. Lots of people for health or safety reasons do not want to climb roofs, but they want their batteries to stay charged in winter.

    I can second that notion! I blew out BOTH knees this past winter and was hobbling around with a cane and knee braces on each knee. While my wall mount panels are enough to keep the batteries in float while idle, I can't live with only thier output. We had snow everyday (nearly!) from mid Feb through mid April, lot some days, a bit lots of days.

    I just had to bite the bullet (literally a time or two!) hoisted myself up the ladder, stomped thru the deep snow on the back side to give them a sweep. Every once in a while I would re-tweak myself to great cries of agony!

    As I said before, I would love to ground mount (or wall mount) the bulk of my array, but I don't have the space or exposure.

    Tony
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