| My students and I ran some very basic tests on some different versions of melting snow and none of it worked or was mathematically feasible. This was back on 2012 so I can’t recall all the particulars, I might have some files in my office.
Like was mentioned in a previous post, steep tilt works best. We just had a bunch of snow here and at the school the 22 degree array and the 32 degree array are covered in snow, the 50 degree had some minimal snow that looked to be stuck from wind but it slid off this afternoon and the 60 degree array was always clear.
I’ve always noticed that if the first snow of the fall melts and causes that water to freeze on the frame lip of the module it’ll hold snow there as the winter goes on. That was the one thing the old silicon energy module had going in its favor!
Sent from my iPhone On Dec 5, 2024, at 7:51 PM, Howie Michaelson via RE-wrenches <re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org> wrote:
Todd, In general that had been my philosophy, but sometimes pole mounts are just logistically to difficult/ expensive - especially large ones. In general, if it is a windy location, the snow doesn't stick around that long. However, even pole mounts at a steep angle can get encrusted and if it doesn't get warm enough or sunny, that can stick on the panels for a week or more. I've never considered anything like heat panels or tape, but if there is something that works that doesn't harm the panels, then it might be a decent option in some cases. Howie Passive works best. In big snow country here, I learned the hard way to only do pole mounts... and set the angle steep in the winter. The snow slides off and all is fine.
Todd
On Thursday, December 5, 2024 1:01pm, "Kirk Herander via RE-wrenches" <re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org> said:
I’ve never tried it but just heard about these people. From the bio they are the original makers of rain X, but they customized a product, several of them, to clean Pv panels and they also mentioned it can help to shed rain and snow.
By the way, Rainx is not approved for such an application.
Kirk Herander / kirkh@vermont.solar
Owner|Principal, VT Solar, LLC
Celebrating our 33st Anniversary 1991-2024!!
dba Vermont Solar Engineering
802.559.1225
Sent from Finest Planet WebMail.
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