Balcony power plants: Is snow sweeping worthwhile?

In winter, you can expect it to snow from time to time. Anyone operating photovoltaic systems to generate electricity suffers a reduced yield due to snow-covered panels. But is it worth taking measures to free the solar panels from the white splendor?

An anecdotal test using solar panels for a balcony power plant shows that it makes a difference whether the solar panels are covered in snow or not. This can also be directly calculated in terms of the benefits of snow removal.

With snow-covered solar panels, the system, which produces up to 800 watts, reached a maximum of 8 watts at its peak – apparently a contribution from the back of the bifacial modules. However, after careful cleaning with a clean broom, peaks of up to around 150 watts were quickly seen.

Yield increase

At the end of the day, this led to an increase in yield. Instead of 0 kWh, 0.3 kWh was generated for the day. At a high electricity price, this means about 0.10 euros worth of electricity.

However, it feels good if at least the lighting or the fridge in the house are powered by self-generated electricity for a while. However, if the household electricity and the heat pump together consume 20 kWh or more in total on such a day, it becomes clear that the yield is not worthwhile, at least financially. In addition, cleaning solar panels in this way is not necessarily harmless: you risk scratched panels that accumulate more dirt, which means less yield in the long term, or are structurally weakened, which can mean a premature end of life for the modules.

For permanently installed systems on roofs with pitches of generally 35 degrees or more, however, the snow cover is usually not a problem. Careful removal of the snow cover is largely not even possible. However, the snow typically melts away quickly or is blown away, so that significant electricity yields can actually be measured after a short time. Various systems in the surrounding area were almost completely autonomous in the first few fine days of January. Even the batteries of the installations were charged. So there can be no question of a dark doldrums.

(dmk)