diy solar

diy solar

Will hot water on snow covered panels cause thermal shock?

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...
We have used to clean and make slippery rain x cleaner in a spray bottle spray on when they are dry and either squiggee off or let dry and snow will do work for you. And when it snows painters pole with a push broom to pull snow off is what we do also.
 
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.
That has been my (limited) experience with snow on panels. More exposed parts warm and help melt the rest.
 
Depends on your snow fall, 20-40” of light fluffy snow storms happen once in a blue moon in my neck of the woods, everything gets blanketed.

Granted it’d be best to invest in a metal roof before panels go up, then you’d have zero issues.
 
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.
Reported hijacked thread! I'm assuming the panels did not receive current external than from the panels in the array. How ever many panels grouped as series, I will guess 4 as paralleled. Panel #1 shorts internal or across diode whatever shorted. Parallel Panels #2, #3, & #4 will try to back feed their amperage into the short. If each paralleled panel set had a fuse at about 2x their shorted amperes it would open and remove the shorted set and be no fire. Bonus; The other three sets would continue to charge the battery.
 
I just take my shotgun out and pepper the snow till its all gone, use bird shot though, buck will go thru the snow and break the panels.... :)
 
OK, the final tally is:

DON'T DO It !!!: 14
Should not be a problem: 2
Do it and let me know what happens: 1
Use your shotgun: 1

Since my motto is: "It's better to ask stupid questions than it is to do stupid things" I think that I will refrain.

Thanks for the help.
 
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