Panels in the US must be able to withstand 1” hail stones at 100MPH. That doesn’t happen very often. I got solar so I would have some power if the grid went down. We have had a couple power outages due to ice or wind but I never had even a blink in my service because I have a very substantial battery bank.
My system is free, kind of. It has paid for itself and now is paying me basically a couple hundred bucks or so a month in reduced electricity costs. The system cost me about $30k after you figure the government subsidy tax break. I didn’t have to pay any taxes at all for a few years.
Anyway Solar is a hassle that I am willing to put up with for the promise of security. I’m old now and the reduced monthly expenditure is appreciated.
Yes from time to time I have snow and or ice, but the sun usually melts it off with a day. If I were completely depending on the Solar for all my electricity I would likely clean the snow and or ice off. If I had to I could just get the garden hose out and spray it off. I dont usually have to do anything, the batteries supply what I need and the solar cells will make up for whatever I lost once they are producing again.
“My system is free, kind of. It has paid for itself and now is paying me basically a couple hundred bucks or so a month in reduced electricity costs. The system cost me about $30k after you figure the government subsidy tax break.”
At a savings of $200 a month and an initial cost of $30,000, you will break even in about 12 years. I understand the desire for a secure power source and if having the solar system gives you that, it pays off in peace of mind. Glad it’s working for you. I’ve considered putting a solar system at my house but the cost/benefit ratio didn’t seem worth it, so I went with a generator based system.
“If I were completely depending on the Solar for all my electricity I would likely clean the snow and or ice off. If I had to I could just get the garden hose out and spray it off. “
Strikes me as an odd statement... while there’s ice and snow on my panels, the water if any is frozen in the hose.