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Renewables: "talking 'bout my generation"

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Comments

  • EricMears
    EricMears Posts: 3,313 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Trentenders wrote: »
    The snow's not too bad in Suffolk, but not much sun. 0.06 O's for me yesterday.

    Being relatively new to PV (I bought a house a few months back that has panels installed), can I ask if you guys would sweep off snow if you could reach it?
    IF you could reach it easily then there might be some point in trying to sweep snow off your panels. However, most of us couldn't and even if you could, you'd need to be very careful not to damage the panels with a too-stiff brush (and I doubt a soft brush would have much effect on snow).

    But why bother ? A thick covering of snow in June (I realise that's unlikely :D ) would be a disaster - it might cost you £10 or even £15 per day in lost generation. At this time of year it's probably only costing you £1 a day and is that really worth taking any risk for ?
    NE Derbyshire.4kWp S Facing 17.5deg slope (dormer roof).24kWh of Pylontech batteries with Lux controller BEV : Hyundai Ioniq5
  • Martyn1981
    Martyn1981 Posts: 15,444 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Trentenders wrote: »
    The snow's not too bad in Suffolk, but not much sun. 0.06 O's for me yesterday.

    Being relatively new to PV (I bought a house a few months back that has panels installed), can I ask if you guys would sweep off snow if you could reach it?

    I did once or twice years ago, but then started to fear what Eric points out, that the brush (or even ice crystals) might over time cause a tiny bit of scratching if forced across the glass. It wouldn't be significant, but perhaps enough to undo any gain from clearing the panels.

    Safety also important, I did mine via a Velux in the upper middle of the panels, but a lot of effort for next to no gain. When the sun comes out the panels will warm a bit, and the snow will slide off them.
    Mart. Cardiff. 8.72 kWp PV systems (2.12 SSW 4.6 ESE & 2.0 WNW). 20kWh battery storage. Two A2A units for cleaner heating. Two BEV's for cleaner driving.

    For general PV advice please see the PV FAQ thread on the Green & Ethical Board.
  • ASavvyBuyer
    ASavvyBuyer Posts: 1,737 Forumite
    Fifth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    As we live in a bungalow, I used a soft brush on a window cleaning pole to gently remove some of the snow on the lower run of panels.
    But all that happened later was some of the snow from the top panels slid down over the lower panels & froze overnight!
    Hardly made any difference to the amount generated; so not worth the bother.
    212 Wh on 9th Dec
    75Wh on 10th Dec &
    0.88 of a Wh today!
    Don't fancy causing an avalance if I try to clear them again.
  • Merlin139
    Merlin139 Posts: 7,274 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    edited 11 December 2017 at 5:54PM
    13:00 onwards was perfect. Shame the rest of the day was pants!

    1.21 O's
    3.795 kWp Solar PV System. Capital of the Wolds

  • legoman62
    legoman62 Posts: 5,028 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Merlin139 wrote: »
    13:00 onwards was perfect. Shane the rest of the day was pants!

    1.21 O's

    Wasn't Shane a film:rotfl:...Rest of the day was pants? I only made 0.45 O's:mad:
    16 Sanyo Hit 250s.4kWp SMA 3.8kWp inverter. SW roof. 28° pitch. Minimal shade. Nov 2011 install. Hybrid car. Ripple Kirk Hill. N.E Lincs Coast.
  • stevechelt
    stevechelt Posts: 16 Forumite
    Ninth Anniversary Combo Breaker
    Some of the snow slid off today, landing with several loud thumps, mainly where I'd just swept the path, 10 mins earlier and it would have landed on me!

    Managed 0.38 o's with the partly cleared panels.
    Cheltenham. 3.90 Kwp system. SSE = 2.73kwp (14 x 195w panels), WWS = 1.17kwp (6 x 195w panels). 30 degree slope.
    EREV car (Ampera) & eBike!
  • Oscargrouch
    Oscargrouch Posts: 4,393 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Not enough to move the gen meter but there is movement; according to Wattson..0.02 O's..:rotfl:..coffee.gif
    2.5 kWp PV system, SSW facing, 45 Deg Roof. ABB Inverter, Monitor: 'Wattson'.
    Reg. for FIT Nov 2011. "It's not what you generate; it's how you use it that matters". One very clean Vauxhall Diesel Sri, £30.00 Road Tax: B)

    Definition of 'O's = kWh/kWp (kWh = your daily & accurate Generation figure) (kWp = the rated output of your PV Panels).
  • The_Green_Hornet
    The_Green_Hornet Posts: 1,615 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Second consecutive "white out" and I expect the same tomorrow. This is the worst it has been since December 2010.
  • Merlin139
    Merlin139 Posts: 7,274 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Perfect till 11:15 then it went down hill rather fast. Only cloud nothing bad but it ruined the generation!

    1.85 O's
    3.795 kWp Solar PV System. Capital of the Wolds

  • Trentenders
    Trentenders Posts: 1,273 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    0.08 O's yesterday, but a healthier 2.68 O's today
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