+1000 on the frothpack. We applied it (per chucks recommendation) several years ago and it made a huge difference!!!
Like I said earlier too, I'd highly recommend applying rainx which makes the panels slick. Between that and the extra heating from the insulation our panels produce a significantly greater amount of electricity. FYI we are in NW CO and we typically get 350-500 inches of snow per winter. (~30-40 feet!) it typically snows everyday of December and most of jan & feb. we have 4 solar sites with propane generator backup (we have 1 week battery banks, but that much snow requires generator backup) 2 cents -Sean On Sunday, September 20, 2015, Chuck McCown <[email protected]> wrote: > Yeah, the antifreeze system was a bit spendy. We used an electric hot > water heater tank due the fact it has a tube that goes to the bottom. Used > a CO2 tank from a soda machine. > > I had some photos of insulated and non insulated side by side. It was > fairly dramatic when full sun came out on fresh snow. Snow was all off the > insulated panels by 10 am and the non insulate still had some snow in them > when the sun went down. > > I am of the opinion that you have to ensure there is no air gap between > the insulation and the backs of the panels. > > Spray foam can be purchased in “froth pak” kits. It is not messy. Very > easy to apply. Two tanks that look like freon tanks. They feed into a > disposable gun. They give you a few disposable nozzles because once you > start spraying, the nozzle is good until you stop. The chemicals mix in > the nozzle and it plugs up in seconds after stopping spraying. > > *From:* Steve D <javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','[email protected]');> > *Sent:* Sunday, September 20, 2015 1:55 PM > *To:* af <javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','[email protected]');> > *Subject:* Re: [AFMUG] The dreaded annual "how to keep snow and ice off > my solarpanels" thread > > Anyone got any pics of insulated panels side by side with uninsulated > panels? We tried taping a piece of styrofoam to the back of one once, but > it never seemed to make enough of a difference (especially for the hoar > frost that plagues our mountain tops). Bosses aren't convinced the mess of > sprayfoam would be worthwhile. > > I enjoyed reading your testing with the different sprayers Chuck. The > antifreeze was fairly expensive though if I recall? > > -Steve D > > On Sun, Sep 20, 2015 at 11:36 AM, Chuck McCown <[email protected] > <javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','[email protected]');>> wrote: > >> I did lots of experiments about 15 years ago adding heat to panels with >> various methods. Heat tape, hot air blowers, exhaust, all kinds of ideas >> were worked on. >> >> I came up with two things that work. First, lots of insulation on the >> backs. Spray foam worked extra good. It helps to speed up snow/ice >> sliding/melting off when the sun comes out. >> >> Second thing that works is the application of antifreeze. Propylene >> glycol is environmentally safe for the wildlife. Sprayer at the top works >> pretty good. We rigged up one tank that was pressurized with air and had >> solenoid valve that was turned on via telemetry. Takes almost no energy to >> pump. Did CO2 pressurization too but that will carbonate the antifreeze >> and it doesn’t spray as well. >> >> You can vent the tank and have it drain back if you want. I also tried a >> deicing product made from beet juice. It didn’t work too well. Plugged up >> the spray nozzle. >> >> *From:* Steve D <javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','[email protected]');> >> *Sent:* Sunday, September 20, 2015 12:05 AM >> *To:* af <javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','[email protected]');> >> *Subject:* [AFMUG] The dreaded annual "how to keep snow and ice off my >> solarpanels" thread >> >> Maybe it's Saturday night exhaustion talking, but piping the exhaust from >> a standby generator toward the back of solar panels a bad idea? I'd expect >> it to not put heat on the panels in the summer except it's weekly exercise >> cycle but that shouldn't be too bad? LP too so shouldn't be any soot. Or >> would this just create one little hole of open panel and a pile of ice? >> Bad in general for the panels? >> >> If I did this again, I'd put the damn thing directly under the panels... >> these Onan's get stinking hot. My little "cool running", comparatively >> speaking, portable yamaha's will melt a two foot radius of snow around them >> if they run for a good length of time, all this heat going to waste! The >> Onan would probably clear the whole rack if it was sitting right below it. >> >> Grumble grumble... snow... something, something, curse words... >> >> Cheers, >> >> Steve D >> >> > >
