Newbie Off Grid from Central Michigan

[hrstang]

Hello from Shepherd, MI we are retired and living off grid. We have a single floor ranch home 2,068 sq ft, with propane, heated water floor, and solar energy. This is our first winter in our new adventure, and I have lots of inquiry from anyone living in the cold areas off grid and taking good care of our solar panels. Looking forward to hearing from this group. I am bringing my horses to this new environment next summer, and learning alot as we go! Merry Christmas to all.

[solar pete]

Hi hrstang and welcolme to solar panel talk if this is your first off grid solar adventure .....well buckle up your in for a cool adventure...cheers

[Mike90250]

For winter, with snow and ice, you would want the panels high enough that snow sliding off, does not pile up and block the bottom row of panels
Or sliding snow does not rip your gutters off.

Best in winter, to increase tilt on panels so snow does not stick, and you gain some reflected light off the snow field in view of the panels.

[J.P.M.]

For winter, with snow and ice, you would want the panels high enough that snow sliding off, does not pile up and block the bottom row of panels
Or sliding snow does not rip your gutters off.

Best in winter, to increase tilt on panels so snow does not stick, and you gain some reflected light off the snow field in view of the panels.

Increased winter tilt will also lower the solar incidence angle on panels and in so doing increase the amount of direct irradiance on the panels. That will increase the performance more than any added enhancement from the snow albedo, particularly during the shoulder months when snow cover may be absent.

While adjustable tilts are not always easy to pull off or maintain in winter, they are close to a necessity if reasonable solar array performance is to be expected during that time.

[bcroe]

Increased winter tilt will also lower the solar incidence angle on panels and in so doing increase the amount of direct irradiance on the panels. That will increase the performance more than any added enhancement from the snow albedo, particularly during the shoulder months when snow cover may be absent.

While adjustable tilts are not always easy to pull off or maintain in winter, they are close to a necessity if reasonable solar array performance is to be expected during that time.

So true, this is the only time of year my fixed panels cannot hit peak power; 20% production loss. The
next version will have tilt easily adjustable for season. Keep panels several feet clear of the ground to
avoid snow blockage, and leave a snow gap (6" to 8") between upper and lower panels to minimize
clearing efforts. Bruce Roe

[J.P.M.]

So true, this is the only time of year my fixed panels cannot hit peak power; 20% production loss. The
next version will have tilt easily adjustable for season. Keep panels several feet clear of the ground to
avoid snow blockage, and leave a snow gap (6" to 8") between upper and lower panels to minimize
clearing efforts. Bruce Roe

But how do you get to them in 6 ft. of snow ?

[bcroe]

But how do you get to them in 6 ft. of snow ?

This 28hp AWD snow blower maintains some 1200' of paths to get to everything, besides clearing
the driveways. The worst I've seen is 4', just takes longer. Bruce Roe



BloConv4.JPG

[J.P.M.]

This 28hp AWD snow blower maintains some 1200' of paths to get to everything, besides clearing
the driveways. The worst I've seen is 4', just takes longer. Bruce Roe



BloConv4.JPG

Bruce: Thanks for the reminder of one of the reasons I no longer live in Buffalo where the snow sometimes comes 4' at a time.

[peakbagger]

But how do you get to them in 6 ft. of snow ?

Snowshoes!. No sense moving the snow when you can walk on top of it. I highly recommend the US Army Surplus magnesium snowshoes http://www.armysurpluswarehouse.com/...oe-1-pair.html the prices are all over the place so make sure you do some searching. I do strongly recommend an after market set of bindings like these https://iversonssnowshoes.com/produc...prene-binding/ as the original army versions are probably why they are surplus.

I use a plastic snow rake on my panels to clear the snow. Some folks go fancy with softer rakes but I have three different brands of panels of various vintages and no damage is visible.

By the way be real careful raking panels from below. When the snow lets loose unexpectedly the weight and impact of the snow is lot harder than you would expect..

Just budget for extra fuel for the generator and don't pull your batteries too far down.

[J.P.M.]

When the snow lets loose unexpectedly the weight and impact of the snow is lot harder than you would expect..

One of what sounds funny situations but really wasn't was when I'd be blowing the driveway (!) after/during blizzards and the acoustic vibration from the snow blower engine would cause an avalanche off the roof onto the driveway. Happened with fresh and very cold snow that hadn't had much wind compression. Bad if you're under it. I got clobbered a couple of time. Goes with the territory.

As I write this from San Diego, it's Dec. 13, At 1430 hrs., the sky is cloudless and the air temp. at my array on the roof is 83 F., with an ambient ground air temp. of 77 F. Buffalo's a great place to be from, where it's currently 18 F. and about to snow some more.

[bcroe]

Assuming a ground mount. With landscape mounting and snow gaps between higher panels,
there will be no avalanche, and not much snow piling up in front. Bruce Roe

[hrstang]

Thanks for all the great ideas and comments. We are doing well, and our solar panels are stationery on ground mount with the most advantageous angle year around. Less up keep for us and hubby keeps them clean with a special soft foam home made rack of sorts. No problem keeping snow off the bottom as it slides off we just plow it away. He can strategically tap the foundation structure lightly and snow falls off as well. Enjoying the sunny days and loving my generator on the gloomy days.