Solar Design Mistake: a Winter Flaw in DIY Harbor Freight Solar System and Solutions

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I got my solar system fully functional in July of 2023. It has been pretty much on auto pilot since then, being fully functional on its own -- until our first major snow-fall. It automatically keeps the batteries topped off while maintaining LED lighting at night. It powers a few basic things so this period of down time is not the end of the world. It powers outdoor LED lighting, and an access point.

My main concern with no incoming solar power was the health of the LEAD ACID car batteries. Lead acid car batteries, while more affordable than lithium, can become damaged if they are discharged lower than 50% to frequently. While my charge controllers will automatically cut off the load discharge when there is no solar electricity incoming and the battery voltage becomes to low, they will still utilize a micro voltage powering themselves, there-by draining the batteries.

I mounted my solar panels on the south side of the roof on my facility. This works great until we get snow and the solar panels become fully covered. Once they're covered in snow, obviously no electricity is being produced the car batteries are left to there own devices.

Here we are, in the middle of January, we have received our first serious snow fall. To my disappointment my solar panels are no longer producing electricity and will not until the snow melts. This is a major flaw in my solar design and advice to anyone going solar. While I could jump onto the roof and sweep the panels off with a broom, it is not important enough to risk falling off the roof as there may be ice underneath the snow.

These solar panels are not my primary source of electricity so it is not an end of the world scenario. I simply had to disconnect my batteries from the charge controllers so that they will not fully drain after days of no solar power.

Solar Snow Mitigation Strategies

1. Get an extended broom stick so that reaching the roof mounted solar panels and cleaning them off is an option within reach from the top of a ladder. The ladder I use to maintain my solar panels, photographed here, was purchased off Amazon several years ago. My solar panels are hidden there below the snow where the green arrow is just out of reach of a standard length shop broom.
   
   
2. Mount the solar panels on the ground utilizing rack mountable system. A ground mounted solar system would clear safe and easy access to brush off the panels with a standard shop broom.