We’re half-way through our second winter season with solar panels and I’m starting to perfect my snow removal techniques.
First off, if you have solar panels with a steep pitch or dangerously high on the roof – just let the snow melt or slide off. Not much solar power is generated in the dead of winter and it’s certainly not worth risking your life.
My solar panels are on a garage with a shallow pitch. Gravitiy really doesn’t do much to remove the snow and they can be reached via a six foot ladder. I also have a ten foot ladder which is even better but it’s heavier.
The trick with coaxing snow to slide off the solar panel to: 1. Not damage the panels and 2. To remove the snow with the least amount of effort.
Different storms will bring different types of snow from wet sloppy stuff that wants to slide off with just a bit of a nudge, to powder that can be blow off from the wind or a leaf blower, to a deep pile of heavy snow that doesn’t want to budge.
I have three different rakes which I use depending on the conditions. One is a firm foam head called the EVERSPROUT Never-Scratch SnowBuster Attachment for Removing Snow . I use mine on the end of a long pole I had in the garage with a standard squeeze or paint roller screw end.
The disadvantage of this foam rake is the size. The width is only 16 inches so you have to make repeated passes to clear a panel. But it does work to push or pull snow. Also the long pole I had flexes too much. When trying to reach the very top solar panels, it bangs into the ones below.
Next we have the 193055510 Telescoping Snow Roof Rake with Aluminum Handle, 17-Foot from True Temper. This one is great for pulling off a lot of snow. Two passes will clear the snow from a solar panel, it folds up for storage or can be adjusted for length and has a very sturdy pole.
The only modification I made was to put some duct tape along the edge of the rake to make it a bit softer as to not scratch the solar panels.
When we get a really big storm with deep snow I reach for my Avalance! roof rake. What makes this different is there is no pulling. Before I got this I was having chronic elbow pain from trying to pull tons of snow off the solar panels. The genius of the Avalance! system is you are basically pushing a length of slippery plastic under the snow. The snow then starts to slide off in big chunks (watch out below!). I find it much easier to push this rake through the snow then try to tug at snow.
Is it worth while trying to clear the snow from solar panels in frigid cold January? It all depends. Yesturday we had a sunny, mid-January day and our system generated 15 kWh. Not too shabby. But then today we had a snow storm and only produced .5 kWh, but if I get the snow off today, the sun might come out tomorrow and start generating. So it’s all a matter of how much effort it takes and having the right tools goes a long way to making the task easier.