This might be a stupid question regarding solar power but it is an honest one.

[Skidmore]

In an area where solar panels are installed and which receives snowfall, is the amount of light available to be used by the panels increased on a sunny day with snowcover on the ground? Hope it's not too stupid of a question but it occurred to me that the intensity of light in the air is markedly different when snow is present on the ground than when the ground is bare in the summertime.

[MannyGoldstein]

1. Probably not significantly, unless it's directed towards the panels

Solar panels are pretty directional.

[EstimatedProphet]

2. My guess is that it would depend on the amount of snow

And this is just a guess...

We got a lot of snow this past winter. Several times we got 15"+. When I had to take care of the car, during full daylight there was still a lot less light coming through the glass. So, if there's only a few inches, it might not make a difference. If there's a huge snowfall, it might shut out a lot of light making it to the panel.

[drm604]

3. It can be decreased significantly if they're covered with snow.

[MadHound]

5. Good thing the ambient heat generated by solar panels keeps them relatively snow free n/t

It takes a major snowfall, one that drops at nighttime, to prevent solar panels from generating electricity for any significant length of time.

[Yo_Mama]

9. Where are you?

I was up in the NJ area this last winter. There were banks of solar panels partially covered by snow for weeks. Someone has to go out and knock the snow off. They also have a bunch of solar panels mounted on the utility poles, and some of those had a lot of snow cover too.

I follow a lot of alternative energy blogs, and the northern ones all have to go out and clean off their solar panels when it is snowing too.

In some areas, spring mast (tree pollens and the like) can be thick enough to sharply reduce the insolation on the panels and they have to be cleaned then too. In GA, that's one of our issues. You don't want to put the panels anywhere you can't easily reach them. The stuff is very thick and tends to adhere closely; everyone has to wash their cars all the time when it is at the height.

I would think dry dust would normally be knocked off by the wind?

[drm604]

13. That's good to know

but some parts of the country have major snowfalls nearly every winter. Hopefully major solar farms have mechanisms for coping with this, maybe heaters or some sort of mechanized snow removal.

Panels on the roofs of homes will depend on someone cleaning the snow off. Maybe there's a way to heat these panels also.

[Courtesy Flush]

17. But fortunately

Panels are installed at the optimum angle for sun exposure. The further north you are (assuming you're in the Northern Hemisphere), the more vertical they have to be, and hopefully less snow will accumulate. Here in Louisiana they're mounted at a low enough angle that snow would be a problem... if it ever snowed. :)

[hatrack]

4. It would be pretty diffuse, kind of like bounce flash a photographer uses

You might get a touch more power, but the bulk of the energy captured comes from solar radiation striking the surface of the panel as directly as solar angle allows.

[Motown_Johnny]

12. ever heard of snow blindness?

I agree with your analysis but I think you underestimate the amount of light that can be reflected by large amounts of snow.

I lived in (and around) a ski resort in Colorado for over 10 years. I can tell you from first hand experience that on a sunny day the amount of light reflected can actually be dangerous for your vision.

A touch more power might be an accurate description in most cases, but not in extreme ones.

[muriel_volestrangler]

20. But your eyes face straight forwards, rather than angled up

so the effect on a panel will be considerably less. Light reflected from the ground may be coming from over 60 degrees away.

[Overseas]

6. Non-snowy areas can sell their power to those that lose some in snowy times.

That's why we need to transfer all tax breaks and subsidies from Big Old Oil to solar and wind.

We need nationwide tax credits and some national solar and wind power stations to enhance power reserves to supplement snowy areas when they need it and/or sell their reserves to them.

We need aggressive development of solar and wind to supplement the oil we will need to use for decades to come. Big Oil has had billions in profits, so they can handle a reduction of tax breaks and subsidies. They obviously didn't use those dollars to improve their disaster clean up technologies as we had hoped.

[LiberalFighter]

7. I don't think the intensity of light is less during the winter.

I wear transition glasses and the sun off the snow causes my glasses to go much darker faster.

Doesn't the snow reflect more of the sun and the warmth when there is sufficient snow on the ground? When I don't want to shovel all of my driveway, I shovel paths on the other half leaving leaving about the same width on each side that I shovel. It allows the sun to warm up the driveway and melt the snow in the process. While any snow near the garage has barely melted as the warmth of the sun doesn't get close enough.

[Maine_Nurse]

14. the quality and quantity of useable light is less in the winter...

as the sun is lower in the sky, thus travelling through more atmosphere and having more light "filtered" out by both the atmosphere and particulate matter trapped in it. The level of the sun in the sky depends on how far north (or south) of the equator you are, but here in Maine, the effect is pretty noticeable.

Snow cover does reflect a lot of light, but it is a more diffuse light. It can be hard on our eyes, but not as hard as staring into the sun itself. I'm sure snow reflection could be captured and provide some use, but not as much as having the panels directed up at the sun, even at reduced wintertime light levels.

[Motown_Johnny]

8. It isn't a stupid question

although I seem to be reading it differently than some.


It seems to me that you are asking if the reflection off the snow adds to the amount of light available to a panel, thus increasing efficiency. Others have responded as if the snow was reducing the amount of light. Perhaps they think you are worried about snow being on the panel and effectively keeping it in shadow.


I am only guessing but I would think that reflected light would add to the output of a solar panel.


A quick search for the answer to your query led me to this idea for a science fair project. I would think that it could easily be adopted to test your hypothesis. Just use something white to reflect more light onto the panel, it doesn't need to be snow for proof of concept.


http://www.makeitsolar.com/science-fair-ideas/03-wavelength-light.htm

[Yo_Mama]

10. I don't think so

I know what you are talking about regards the snow and light. The snow reflects it back up and it appears much, much brighter.

But I don't think this would give you much more on the solar panels, because light is very directional. Solar panels get energy from the light that comes in at a straight angle, and the light that is reflected back up from the ground wouldn't hit them directly.

[Greybnk48]

11. I just read something useful about solar panels.

There's a company near me that sells solar roofing. Their hook is that, unlike panels that have to be removed to repair or re-shingle your roof at great expense and risk of damage, their product IS your roof. Their solar roof looks like one of the metal roofs and seems like the snow would slide off relatively quickly on a southern exposure (unless it's below zero). I'm thinking of checking it out myself. Part of their ad led me to believe that you can also accumulate power credit when there's an abundance of sunlight to be used when there's not.

We've never really bothered looking into it seriously because of all the snow in WI and the number of overcast days. But this might work.

[TorchTheWitch]

15. I have a far more "stupid" question...

Except mine is probably actually pretty stupid...

Do clouds or other obstructions matter? For instance, my backyard gets very little sun during daylight hours because the building itself blocks the morning sun, and when it gets high enough to get up past the roofline there's a neighbor's big tree that blocks most of the sun until very late in the day when the sun is going down. I get a little sun through the tree branches and maybe an hour of straight sun around noon when it gets past the roofline until it moves behind that damn tree, but that's really about it until late when it's on its way down for the night.

I have a little pool in the summer in my yard and was thinking of using a little solar heater for it, but with the small amount of sun I get in my yard would it even work? Or work enough to be worth it?

[Geoff R. Casavant]

18. I think clouds and obstructions do matter.

Anything that interferes with the amount of light hitting the panel.

But for heating, you might consider a trick my brother came up with -- he attached an extra-long hose from the filter pump to the return nozzle, then coiled up the extra hose and put it in a box that was painted black and kept in as much direct sunlight as possible. The inside of the box got very warm, and the water going through the hose came out warmer.

[TorchTheWitch]

21. that's an interesting idea

I'm not sure the filter would be able to pump through a really long hose though... it's only a bitty 8 foot diameter "bag" pool with an itty bitty filter. Maybe that's something I could ask the folks at the pool supply place.

This little heater I was looking at is only $40 and apparently it's meant for a WAY bigger sized pool than mine, so I was wondering for the cheap price and the small size of the pool if it might end up being worth trying. It's not like I want the water like bath water or anything but just a wee bit warmer especially to stretch out the season.

I'm still thinking of sneaking out late at night and cutting down that neighbor's damn tree. Ok, no, I wouldn't, but it's fun to fantasize about.

Thanks for the info!

[in_cog_ni_to]

19. Yes, obstacles blocking the sun DO matter. They will do a sun survey

to determine the best place on the roof to mount the solar panels. If you have trees or a neighbor's roof line blocking the sun, it will matter in the survey. As for your back yard, that would be iffy. Probably not enough sun to make it worth it.

[Ordy116]

16. Maybe

There are solar powered stop signs on my street. When it snows, the panels are covered and they shut down.

[ieoeja]

22. There are no stupid questions. Only stupid questioners.

Sorry. Could not resist.

:toast: