Ice melting feature on Classic

[hema]

Hello all

I do run Classic on polar circle and have plenty of snow on my panels.
I installed PVs high up in the wind generator tower on a 24 degree angle
on a 1-axis solar tracker so it is possible for me to turn the panel face down. (see picture)

http://tinyurl.com/8xpmwm7

But ice is stuck on the glass and needs help to drop.
Just a bit of heat would allow the ice to slide off.

I have seen notes about "Melting feature"on Classic,
but documents or Google do not know about it.

What is the status of the feature and how do I use it ?
The firmware I am running is not the latest, does it matter ?

The panels are 2x Sanyo HIT-240 in series and I do have plenty
of 48VDC power in the batteries and a diesel generator to help
via Outback inverters charger.

[niel]

i'll let those at midnite solar comment on the ice melting feature, but i'm curious if that pv angle is correct or not or is it a case of from what perspective one looks at it. i can't tell too well by the photo and they almost look flat. generally we go with being perfectly flat or horizontal as 0 degrees. if your pvs are up off of the horizontal/flat by 24 degrees then that's your problem as they are too flat to shed the snow/ice well in the first place. this would hinder production of power too at that angle. now if you are using vertical as 0 degrees and went off of that by 24 degrees then you are at a good angle for shedding snow/ice as that translates to 66 degrees from the horizontal.

forgot to add-nice tower.

[Westbranch]

Niel, some of his other pics give a better idea of the angle etc.

[niel]

thanks as i guess i didn't go far enough and that answered my concern.

[hema]

Bump!

Midnite guys. Any news, instructions or anything else on this one ?

[boB]

Bump!

Midnite guys. Any news, instructions or anything else on this one ?

Not yet but we did do some more experimentation and I will say that snow melting did work for about 400 watts of
PV in about 30 degree F weather with about 2 inches of snow on the modules.  Melting time took about 45 minutes.
Array tilt angle was about 20 degrees.

It will not work at 20 degrees F with 4+ inches of snow on the modules.  There may be an option for this in the future but
for the moment, may I suggest putting Rain-X on the modules before the snow.  That appears to work great at keeping
snow off at least.

Just a sheet of ice may work better with powered snow melting mode as opposed to not doing anything at possibly low
temperatures but we haven't seen that kind of module covering here in the northwest.

Thanks for asking !  It is a fun thing to play with.

boB

[KevinG]

Are these the Sanyo HIT-Double modules?  I would think if you flipped them the other side would catch the sun and help warm up the underside....if these aren't the bi-facial Sanyo's I'd think about switching to them, especially if you have light reflecting off of snowy surfaces, such a perfect use of that technology....

[hema]

Are these the Sanyo HIT-Double modules?  I would think if you flipped them the other side would catch the sun and help warm up the underside....if these aren't the bi-facial Sanyo's I'd think about switching to them, especially if you have light reflecting off of snowy surfaces, such a perfect use of that technology....

No, those are normal HIT-240 modules. The whole contraption is designed accrding to their specs, height etc, so I doubt that I will be swithing them any time soon. The idea is good though.
The spring sun has now melted the ice and Classic has been fired up. I am getting 400+ watts during the day, but the rotation is not yet worth the electricity it consumes as the day is too short.