Will hot water on snow covered panels cause thermal shock?

[scott harris]

Ok, so it is my first winter with my solar panels and as expected they are now covered in snow. I have the ability to redirect water from my hot water heater to an outside hose bib. Should I just hose them down with hot water, or is this going to break the panels?

 

[markansas]

Ok, so it is my first winter with my solar panels and as expected they are now covered in snow. I have the ability to redirect water from my hot water heater to an outside hose bib. Should I just hose them down with hot water, or is this going to break the panels?

LET US KNOW WHAT HAPPENED please.. dont think that is a good idea tho.

 

[MrM1]

Ok, so it is my first winter with my solar panels and as expected they are now covered in snow. I have the ability to redirect water from my hot water heater to an outside hose bib. Should I just hose them down with hot water, or is this going to break the panels?

Thermal Shock? It would for me. ?

 

[MurphyGuy]

Ok, so it is my first winter with my solar panels and as expected they are now covered in snow. I have the ability to redirect water from my hot water heater to an outside hose bib. Should I just hose them down with hot water, or is this going to break the panels?

1) When you pour hot water on them, don't be surprised if you destroy your panels.

2) You don't need to clean the snow off the panels perfectly anyhow. Go to your local big hardware store and buy an extension pole.. long fiberglass pole painters and window cleaners use. The one I have goes from 9 feet to 16 feet. Put a push broom at the end of it and use it to brush the snow off the panels by starting at the top and pulling the broom down..

There is no need to clean the snow off really well because the dark solar panels will quickly heat up as they are exposed to the sun.. and once that process starts, it accelerates quickly.

The trick is to try not to leave any 4 inch thick clumps on the panels.. but even then, when they heat up, the layer below the clump of snow melts and the stuff usually slides right off on its own. Of course, this depends on the angle of the array.

Hot water is a very VERY bad idea...

 

[curiouscarbon]

Ok, so it is my first winter with my solar panels and as expected they are now covered in snow. I have the ability to redirect water from my hot water heater to an outside hose bib. Should I just hose them down with hot water, or is this going to break the panels?

as satisfying as watching it all melt away could be, it might come along with a weird faint cracking sound and in the absolute worst case followed by a visible crack appearing on the panel front glass. due to the hot water exposed parts expanding vs the “contracted” cold parts of glass.

as @MurphyGuy mentioned, as soon as one small part of the dark panel is able to see the sun, it will naturally heat up and melt the snow progressively.

long stick with gentle tool like a brush or something at end to push snow away appeals to me, but i have not yet needed to deal with heavy snow accumulation.

good luck

 

[Wellbuilt]

I use these , the pole on the rite is a 16’ roof rake I clean under the panels with it .
The pole on the left is 35 ‘ painters pole with a plastic / foam window squeegee.
This pic was from Christmas Day last year
The black corner of the panel in the pic was the last I saw of them for 10 weeks .
We got 18” but the wind blows the snow off .
If the temp isn’t in the mid 20s the snow doesn’t melt off here , I’m going to try a 6” scraper on the pole so I can remove the ice .
My trees are growing 4 years ago I did not get shadows on the roof , but it looks like 300 pm in the pic

 

[markansas]

crack in glass can cause a short..

 

[markansas]

I use these , the pole on the rite is a 16’ roof rake I clean under the panels with it .
The pole on the left is 35 ‘ painters pole with a plastic / foam window squeegee.
This pic was from Christmas Day last year
The black corner of the panel in the pic was the last I saw of them for 10 weeks .
We got 18” but the wind blows the snow off .
If the temp isn’t in the mid 20s the snow doesn’t melt off here , I’m going to try a 6” scraper on the pole so I can remove the ice .
My trees are growing 4 years ago I did not get shadows on the roof , but it looks like 300 pm in the pic
View attachment 75167

that would s k .. oh makes me want my panels lower to the ground.. i am getting too old for this s t on ladders in the snow.. sorry for ya

 

[markansas]

Ok, so it is my first winter with my solar panels and as expected they are now covered in snow. I have the ability to redirect water from my hot water heater to an outside hose bib. Should I just hose them down with hot water, or is this going to break the panels?

second thought would hosing them down with cold water hurt the panels.. it would melt the snow.? they are wet already

 

[Wellbuilt]

It depends on how cold it is ? at my place the water would freeze before it hits the roof ?
I just get a few steps up on the ladder so I can reach all the way to the left , if I can get 9 panels clear it give me some good power .
my morning starts with putting the coffee on , then starting the Honda , then start the charging in the utility room .
Then I take the coffee pot off the stove so it cools a little an I clear the panels .

 

[740GLE]

Domestic Hot water at say 120f? Via a long garden hose? I see no issues, your not using boiling water poured directly on the bare panels. The panels will have snow on the that’ll melt and cool the water down.

IMO the thermal shock probably won’t be any worse than a nice sunny day in summer, panels baking along, then a nice cool rain shower hits the panels. I will say it might take a ton of water to melt the snow and you may have other icing issues on your roof.

I routinely wash our cars in the winter with our domestic hot water, 20f outside, 120f water via a 100ft hose. The long hose drops the water temps down quite a bit say 80-90f depending how vigorous I’m rinsing the cars down.

 

[time2roll]

Set the water heater to "vacation" and take a shower first so the bottom of the tank is somewhat cooler. Hose bib comes off the bottom and should only be Luke warm. Use a spray nozzle to spread the water around more evenly and lose some heat before it hits the panels. Have I done this? No but that is the best shot I can think of. Good luck.

 

[12VoltInstalls]

second thought would hosing them down with cold water hurt the panels.. it would melt the snow.? they are wet already

Just go with this being a terrible idea and don’t do it. Water is ALWAYS hot compared to snow.

I’m not a fan of roof mounted panels for a reason.
Granted my latitude forgives me a little for this but my panels are vertical for this very reason.
I “need” a good 600W system (probably need 1500W in winter lol) so I’ve got 800W of panels to offset my inefficiency. In summer I have a lot of unharvested watts but they don’t actually cost me anything out of pocket.

Be careful with a snow rake. Lotta skylights have died in the war against snow over the years.

 

[upnorthandpersonal]

I have the ability to redirect water from my hot water heater to an outside hose bib.

We call that a snow cannon.

 

[Joe BoyKey]

Just take your Water hose inside so it doesn't freeze, next morning at 1st light hose down panels with regular faucet temp water, works perfect, Joe.

 

[740GLE]

But . . but . . but the damage and the cracking?!?!?

Lol

 

[Quattrohead]

You are already harvesting the power of the sun, so use it again for clearing your panels !!!!
As others have said, clear them off as best you can and let the heat of the sun do the rest.
Just be careful LOL -

 

[Tecnodave]

Not really a good idea, the hot water on cold multilayer objects will cause thermal stressing, possibly causing stress cracks in the cells, the glass probably can take the heat but the cells are thermally bonded to the glass so that bond will create traces in the cells which will increase the chances of cell failure.

At my cabin in Alaska I leave a small set for winter minimum power with panels set at high angle, 65-70 degrees from horizontal to slide the snow off.

 

[Zil]

crack in glass can cause a short..


View attachment 75170

Improperly fused parallel panels.

 

[Hedges]

Improperly fused parallel panels.

Only if a short. What two conductors are close enough to short?

Alternate possibility is bad contact, or failed bypass diode and current forced through cells.