It Snowed Last Night

Should Your Remove the Snow from your Panels

One of the first things that people who have the microfit solar panels installed want to do is to remove the snow from their panels.  I have setup some rules to follow that just might help you.

1.  No one is allowed on our roof if it has any snow or ice - period.

2.  Only place ladders on dry, ice or snow free surfaces.

3.  Have a ground person to help

4.  Never reach for anything while working on a ladder.

5.  Secure the base of the ladder with a safety board  or rope tie system.  One could install an eyelet into the side of the house and use it in the winter to secure your ladder.

6.  Only use the best class 1A ladders that you can buy.  You can write it off as an expense for your income from your microfit program.  The Home Depot have an excellent 22 ft folding ladder.  I got our 17 ft similar ladder from Canadian Tire on sale for $100. priced over $200?.  Both are excellent ladders and almost identical in construction.  I love how the base has been designed to help prevent tipping.  I feel safe on this ladder when it is secured.
7. Purchased an extension pole from Home Hardware.  It is 6-18 ft.  Fitted the end with a wide broom head and I can reach almost all of my panels.

Remember, it is NOT the fall that hurts, only the sudden stop on the way down!

Safety First, Last and Always

We all hate to see panels that are covered in snow.  Fortunately there are 3 locations where the snow like to accumulate on our roof.  One of these areas is in the front of the house in the valley between the garage and house.  The other is similar location in the back of the house.  I found a great tool for helping to remove that light powdery snow.  

I use my Leaf Blower.

In fact the Leaf Blower works so well I have been using it to remove 80% of our snow removal on our driveway and off of our car.  It also works well on the 6 most trouble some panels that we can easily get at.  By using the Leaf Blower I can get down to the dry concrete in front of my house.  In the back, I first clean our wooden deck with the Leaf Blower and I have screwed a safety board  to the deck so that the ladder can't move.  Then I can only reach the 3 corner panels.  Fortunately, most of the panels at the back of our house are normally cleared by the wind.  The panels on the array do get snow on them.  Sometimes raising and lowering them helps the snow to fall off.  Otherwise, I just let the sun do its job.

Today, I had to leave 4 panels completely covered in snow on the east array.  The west was relatively clear and producing good result in the AM when it was raised. Raising the west panels also helped to warm the panel so that any snow could melt off. They will clear on a nice sunny day.  Even with 1 kW of panels covered, at 11:30 AM we were producing 7.2 kW peak when the sun did come out.  Not bad for 31 December.

If we don't remove the snow, then it will remain on the panels for a long time.  If the weather turns a bit mild, then snow comes off easier and you will start generating power again.  I like to have my panels clean before a snow storm.  If you get a layer of ice under the snow, then the wind just might help to blow it off.  Ice normally will clear it self.  In the end, we all are just people standing by until the weather gets better.