During snowy weather, who doesn’t feel worried about the solar panels left on the rooftops? If your entire house’s power source depends on solar energy, it’s obvious to get worried about the snowfalls. Wondering about How to remove snow from a solar panel? It’s not a big deal!
By following a few steps, you can easily keep your panels safe from the snow. For your ease, we have gathered every way of protecting the solar panels from snowing and today we will share what we found out in detail. Later on, we will share other matters of facts to consider, and also, we are going to share a few myths that people believe.
So, what are you waiting for? Keep on reading and dive into the details!
How to remove snow from a solar panel?
In several cold regions, using and managing solar panels are really tough, especially when you have no idea how to deal with snowfalls. This is why people often make mistakes while removing snow from the solar panels and thus damage the whole solar panel. To remove snow from the solar panels, here are a few things that you can do:
Place the solar panels in a guarded place
The first step you can take to avoid snow covering your solar panels is to place them properly after buying so that the snow slides off from the solar panel’s surface. Angling helps to slide off the snow from the top of your solar panels.
Let the snow melt by itself
If your roof is dangerous to climb, then you better not try to remove the snow by yourself. Your safety should be your first concern. In this case, don’t do anything by yourself and wait for the snow to get melted by itself. After melting, it will automatically slide down from the panels.
Use water spray
Spraying might be a good option to remove the snow from the solar panel’s surface easily, but if the weather is too cold, then it might come as a backfire on you. The water might turn into ice due to extreme cold. Then, if you try to pull the ice off the surface, it can cause damage to your solar panels. If it’s not too cold, then you can spray a little water on the snow-covered surface of the panel to make the snowmelt.
Sweep if you can
Sweeping the snow away from the surface is an option for those who have their solar panels placed in a reachable place. If your solar panels are situated in a place where it is hard to reach, like high up on the rooftop, then this option is definitely not for you.
Try sweeping the snow away by using a long yet soft brush if you can reach the solar panels without struggling. Don’t use hard materials to sweep the surface as it can harm the solar cells.
Try heating the surroundings
Many people have tried a lot of ways to make the surroundings warm enough to get the snow to melt faster. For example, you can use a leaf blower and add some pipes to it to blow warm air around the snow-covered surface, or you can try pulling the snow off by using a vacuum cleaner if the solar panels are under your reach. But don’t use too much heat to melt the snow. Otherwise, you will end up damaging the solar panels.
Read next: Solar panel installation guide
Should you remove snow from solar panels?
Many specialists advise not to remove the snow that has covered your solar panels by yourself. The main reason for this advice is that you might hurt yourself by trying to clean the snow off from the solar panel’s surface as it is very high to reach up.
Every solar panel is designed and placed to make the snow slide off from the surface. So, usually, you don’t need to clear them by yourself. Even if they don’t slide off from the surface, they will melt eventually. In most cases, solar panels still get sunlight even if they are covered by snow. As solar panels only need to get in touch with the sunlight to produce electricity, it doesn’t matter even if they are covered by the snow.
Even if you manage to reach up to the solar panel’s surface to remove the snow, you have to be very careful of the equipment that you are using to get rid of the snow from the solar panels. If the tool that you are using is very hard, then it might damage your solar panels. This is why you shouldn’t try to remove snow from the solar panels by yourself if you are not steady enough.
What to consider while removing snow from solar panels?
As removing snow from the solar panels all by yourself might be a little bit risky, you need to be very cautious while removing snow from the surface. You need to take some considerations before actually removing the snow. The considerations are:
Height: If the solar panel’s surface is too high for you to reach, then you better not try to clean it. As it is placed on the rooftop, there’s a big possibility of you being in danger while cleaning the solar panels.
Safety equipment: Make sure you have safety tools before reaching up towards the solar panels to clean the snow up. For example, check if the ladder that you are using to reach for the solar panels is strong enough and will not break down easily.
Snow cleaning tools: The most important consideration before trying to clean the snow off from the solar panels is to check what you are using to clean the panels. You should use a soft brush to clean the surface rather than hard things as they can cause damage to your solar panels. Also, don’t try to clean if the snow has turned into ice, as pulling it from the panel’s surface might damage the solar cells.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
How do you get the snow off solar panels?
For soft snows on the surface, use a brush with soft Brussels to get rid of them. Don’t try to remove hard ice from the solar panels by yourself, otherwise, it will turn out to be very risky for you. Using a tough thing to remove snow from the solar panels might damage the solar cells. So, avoid using tough things on the surface of the solar panels.
How cold can solar panels get?
It is proven by a test that solar panels can get up to 15°C to 35° C temperature during winter. Although the cold weather doesn’t damage the solar panels, they work a little bit less during cold weather.
Do solar panels work if covered in snow?
As the main job of a solar panel is to produce electricity which it does by using the sunlight, it surely won’t work if covered in snow as snow will block the sunlight from reaching the solar cells. By taking it as a concern, designers have designed solar panels to be able to make the snow slide off of the surface of the solar panels.
Do solar panels work better in the cold?
The weather doesn’t matter to the solar panels in producing electricity as long as the sunlight is hitting the surface of the panels. As they turn the sunlight into electricity, even if it’s cold outside it won’t affect the solar panels at all as long as the sunlight is meeting the panels.
Do solar panels work on snowy days?
As long as the heavy snow isn’t blocking the surface of the solar panels completely from reaching the sunlight, they can work even on snowy days. Even during snowfall, sunlight still manages to reach the solar panel’s surface, and thus it produces electricity.
Final words
By now, you know How to remove snow from solar panels quite elaborately. We have shared the ways depending on our research and experience. So undoubtedly the ways will be equally helpful to you. But one thing that we always suggest is do not to attempt hard on removing the snow front at the top of your solar panel.
A common myth is that solar panels do not work better in cold weather, which is truly a scam to fall for. So even if you do not clean the snow by yourself, eventually it will melt down and get cleared up on its own. As long as it’s safe to remove, you can handle the snow in our given ways. Good luck!