Solar panels problem - Snow and ice

[GuitarStv]

Hey all, I've been having some issues with my solar panels.  They're fixed to the roof of my two story home, and mostly work great.  The issue is that in the winter they sometimes get ice and snow build up . . . when the ice and snow starts to melt it comes off in huge chunks very suddenly and can be kinda scary.  Last winter a large chunk of ice came off and put a very sizable dent into our patio table, as well as knocked a good section of our gutters loose.

I figure that some kind of retention device is needed on the lip of my roof to prevent big slabs of cold stuff from killing anyone or damaging any more stuff, but am at a loss as to exactly what should be used.  I could get some big bolts and screw them down along the roof edge every foot or so, but am concerned about causing water problems by going through the shingles.  Would caulking around each bolt work?

Anyone with some decent DIY ideas for this?

[velocistar237]

How about a long pole with a broom head or some other soft thing to gently brush it off? Then you can at least control when the stuff falls, and how much you let accumulate and turn into ice.

I would be afraid of ice dams forming if you try to keep the stuff on your roof. Did you beef up your roof membrane when you had the panels installed?

[GuitarStv]

It's a 22 ft drop from the gutters to the patio below.  The roof pitch is 30-35 degrees, so to knock the snow off the panels with a pole from the ground I'd need to be far back into the yard . . . our house is built on a hill, so the further back you go the lower the ground gets though.  I'd probably need a 40 foot pole to do this, which would likely be too unwieldy to use.  I'd love to be able to clean off the panels this way though, as we usually get fully snow covered mid January and it doesn't melt off until early April . . . so no power generation during those months.

It would be very dangerous to try to go up on a ladder in the middle of winter to knock overhead snow/ice down, and there's no easy roof access where the solar panels are.  If anyone has an alternative idea for knocking the snow down, I'm all ears.

We don't have a roof membrane, we have tar shingles.  Before putting the solar panels up, the snow would stay stuck to the rough shingles all winter and slowly melt off/flow down the gutters away from the house.  No problems.  I'm not really concerned about keeping the ice/snow up there for that reason . . . I know the house can handle it.  The issue now is that solar panels are very smooth, so it seems to let go all at once when melting starts which is dangerous.

[MetalCap]

You can solve this in two ways (or more).

1. Attach heat trace to the solar panels to warm them up and melt the snow. (Complicated and needs more expertise than I have)

2. Attach snow guards to your panels or at the bottom of your roof.  This keeps things from coming off in sheets and I've used them in numerous situations.  They're pretty cheap and simple.

Good Luck!

[GuitarStv]

Snow guards!  Thank you, I figured there must be a word for this.  That sounds like what I need.  I will do some more searching.

[velocistar237]

I don't think snow guards will work, you definitely need to build a robot.

[GuitarStv]

My son is now old enough to walk, but light enough to throw pretty far up in the air.  Maybe I could just tie some mops to him and throw him on to the roof with a harness. . .

[James]

Nothing wrong with the kid idea, but a bit risky. Better to remove the risk and just use a few cats...

[Lis]

My son is now old enough to walk, but light enough to throw pretty far up in the air.  Maybe I could just tie some mops to him and throw him on to the roof with a harness. . .

Can't remark on the roof idea, but my parents did this (sans rope) when I was little onto the top of the cars. The four year old me remembers this being daring and adventurous... I'm now certain my parents had a decent grip on me that I'm choosing to forget.

But hey, they always had clean cars!

[GuitarStv]

Nothing wrong with the kid idea, but a bit risky. Better to remove the risk and just use a few cats...

My experience tossing cats would lead me to suspect this is the more difficult option.

[TrMama]

My son is now old enough to walk, but light enough to throw pretty far up in the air.  Maybe I could just tie some mops to him and throw him on to the roof with a harness. . .

No need to throw him, just send him up the chimney. He'll also have the chance to sweep it on his way up and down.

[James]

Getting back to the question, how about a quality ladder at the front of the house? I have been on the roof a lot in winter, snow sticks very well and you shouldn't have a problem slipping on the roof itself. You can walk up to the panels from the front of the house and push the snow off going downhill with a long pole with something wide and soft. Maybe a wide broom head, or something else that won't damage the panels. It will then prevent the melting that causes the big ice chunks, and allow power generation in the winter.


The other option might be more simple, but cost some power. Check with the panel company and see if it would damage the panel. But mounting heat tape below the panels would allow you to clear them after every snowfall. Just tape it under the panels with aluminium tape, and run the tape down to the edge of the room. That way the snow melts off the panel and off the roof completely and can't build up. Your power generation during the winter should more than make up for the use of power to clear the panels. And as long as you limited the use of the heat tape to just melting the snow, I doubt it would affect the panels. They must get pretty hot in the summer with the sun shining on them, I doubt the minimal warmth from the heat tape slowly heating them up will hurt anything. I purchased heat tape from amazon last fall and it worked well keeping my roof from building up ice damns around the sky lights. (they caused ice dams and leaking into the house last winter)

[GuitarStv]

GuitarStv doesn't like heights at the best of times.  On a sunny, mostly windless day climbing a 20 ft ladder is tolerable.  I tried to climb up last winter to clean off the panels, and gave up after getting about half way.  (I have to set up the ladder in the snowy yard, which means my boots are all wet and slippery, and it's cold enough that I need thick gloves on my hands which kinda make me feel less secure.)  We have blowing winds for most of the winter too, and knowing that the snow on the roof can give way into a big avalanche at any minute doesn't help.

As to climbing up from the front of the house . . . have you ever climbed on a 35 degree roof pitch?  You pretty much can't walk on it at all.  It's crawlable but scary in the summer, winter is out of the question (for me anyway).


The heat tape is an interesting idea though.  I will look into it.

[James]

Yeah, 33 degree is pretty steep, better to go with the heat tape. I am sure there is a solution recommended by the professionals, I would get an estimate from them. Can always do it yourself if they charge too much, but then you know how they would do it.