It just snowed in Michigan. 8 Inches

[Murby]

So we got our first snow since we put the solar panels in this summer. While we ended up with 8 inches on the ground, the panels seemed to only have accumulated about 4 inches.. But OUCH! That 4 inches shut down all production on a bright sunny day.

When I went out there this morning, our 7.56KW system was producing a whopping 65 watts with 4 inches of snow covering.

Went to Home Depot and purchased one of those 16 foot telescoping painters poles ($38) and screwed an 18 inch push broom onto it and went to work. Our system is 4 rows high by 7 columns long and mounted on a slightly elevated ground mount where the highest point is about 14 feet in the air.

It took me about 15 to 20 minutes to clean them off.. it was an extremely cold night so the snow was dry and fluffy and most of it just slid right off the array when I pulled on it.

Production went from 65 watts to 3300 watts and eventually climbed to 6000 once the sun warmed the panels up and melted the remaining streaks of snow the broom left behind.

Wow, that snow is a real killer.... but now I'm armed and ready....

[AzRoute66]

I'm a little surprised this kinda caught you by surprise. I believe I remember when you posted the installation pictures that a bit of a conversation about snow removal ensued. Not all 'flavors' of snow will be so easy to 'brush off'.

[Murby]

What I was surprised about is how much production loss there was....I expected 50% to 75%, not a total collapse. But, at the end of the day, there's nothing I or anyone can do about it. Snow falls, it has to be removed. At least now I have an easy way to do it.

[bcroe]

The sun won't penetrate much snow, so you get no power and no melting, till its pushed off. I managed to clear 250' of mine
this week in 16 min; has taken me up to 90 minutes to clear heavy snow in the past. Now I have gaps for the snow and better
ground clearance as described in other posts. Bruce Roe

[ButchDeal]

What I was surprised about is how much production loss there was....I expected 50% to 75%, not a total collapse. But, at the end of the day, there's nothing I or anyone can do about it. Snow falls, it has to be removed. At least now I have an easy way to do it.

Why would you expect production with the pv modules covered?
What I find interesting is the number of people that feel that light will penetrate snow and produce power. Had several installers argue that you would still get production even with several inches of snow, and that I was wrong about no production with even 1/4 inch of snow. I even showed them photos of my system and records from system all over the US,
you can

[Murby]

How do these people with roof mount arrays deal with this? Yikes! You get snow cover at the start of winter and lose power for the rest of winter? Oh man that would suck.

[J.P.M.]

How do these people with roof mount arrays deal with this? Yikes! You get snow cover at the start of winter and lose power for the rest of winter? Oh man that would suck.

Perhaps not quite that bad, but depending on how much snow is received over a winter, probably close. Things the salespeople never tell you. Caveat Emptor.

[bcroe]

How do these people with roof mount arrays deal with this? Yikes! You get snow cover
at the start of winter and lose power for the rest of winter? Oh man that would suck.

Right, I don't see snow removal as a practical thing on roof mounts. A few have attempted it at great
peril.

Production is way down in snow months, due to short hours and clouds. But I still do not want to lose
any more, to snow. On my list of 40 reasons to prefer a ground mount, 2 are for snow. Bruce Roe

[Sunking]

Solar panels cannot tolerate any shade, even snow. What made you think otherwise?

[J.P.M.]

How do these people with roof mount arrays deal with this? Yikes! You get snow cover at the start of winter and lose power for the rest of winter? Oh man that would suck.

With a few exceptions and for the most part, they don't. They just have lower production in winter. Puts a crimp on cost effectiveness however.

[Mike90250]

Solar sales droids giving the customer a snow job

[drbob]

I have 1 inch of frozen slush topped by 6 inches of frozen snow on mine. its butt ugly..

[SunEagle]

Maybe it's time for those up North to wish for a warmer climate without any snow.

[drbob]

I have shut mine off until mid January I suppose, it isn't worth cleaning the panels off until the sun shines. there is so little sun this time of year. after jan 15, it will be a different story

[J.P.M.]

I have shut mine off until mid January I suppose, it isn't worth cleaning the panels off until the sun shines. there is so little sun this time of year. after jan 15, it will be a different story

Why shut it off ?