That's difficult to say because its more a function of weight than depth
of snow. It's not called Sierra Cement here in the Sierras for fun,
sometimes 4" of snow can weight as much as a foot. We had 3 feet of
"regular" snow (yes, 3 feet) slide of a top-of-pole array with no damage
to the panels, but depending on things like ice stuck to the bottom lip
of a PV can make the difference. Or like Todd said whether or not there
is enough room for the snow to clear the bottom of the array after the
slide event.
Bill
Feather River Solar Electric
Bill Battagin, owner
4291 Nelson St. (Shipping)
5575 Genesee Rd. (USPS, UPS)
Taylorsville, CA 95983
530-284-7849, 258-1641(cell)
CA. C10 Lic # 874049
Solar Powered since 1982
Home of the Sunny Side Up
On 12/6/2024 8:34 AM, jay via RE-wrenches wrote:
Wow how much snow did that?
Jay
On Dec 6, 2024, at 9:26 AM, Todd Cory via RE-wrenches
<re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org> wrote:
Yes, in deep snow country tall pole mounts can be expensive...
especially with enough room below so the sliding snow never meets the
bottom edge of the array. My home system has 5 pole mounts with the
bottom edges ~6' above the ground.
Now that engineering is mandated, this adds more expense to ensure
sure the foundation can support the mechanical forces of this
configuration. But shallow angle roof mounts risk having the bottom
edge of the modules get ripped off (see attached picture) so here in
the Mount Shasta area, this is the only thing that works.
There was a thread where people were experimenting with reverse
biasing modules to cause them to generate heat. I think boB was
working on some kind of possibility for a charge controller option to
do this, but I am not sure where that went.
Todd
<img-0.jpg>
On Thursday, December 5, 2024 5:49pm, "Howie Michaelson via
RE-wrenches" <re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org> said:
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
On Thu, Dec 5, 2024, 5:15 PM Todd Cory via RE-wrenches
<re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org> wrote:
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:
https://glasscareexperts.com/solar-glass-protection/
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 33^st Anniversary 1991-2024!!/*
dba Vermont Solar Engineering
802.559.1225
On Thu, Dec 5, 2024 at 2:19 PM Howie Michaelson via RE-wrenches
<re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org> wrote:
Has anyone successfully used heat panels or cables to melt
iced-over panels (ie. without damaging the panels)? In heavy
snow country, or over periods of freeze/thaw when pelty
slushy snow sticks and freezes to panels, it would be nice to
have a safe method of clearing them, especially off-grid. I
remember discussions of the futility of backfeeding panels to
heat them up to accomplish the same, but not about heat tape
or pans that might be worth trying.
Thanks,
Howie Michaelson
Sun Catcher
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