Mnfish
You know my situation. I think about what I am going to do up there almost every day. Not sure if I asked you this yet and if I did I forgot what you told me.
What is your annual snowfall up there and what are the lowest temps you see? Does the snow/ice ever cause you problems on the panels? Is it something you have to constantly check on to keep them clean?
I know you're busy so thanks for your time!
Chad
Chad, I can totally appreciate that!!! I can get my pond/fish fix just about any time and it's still not enough! I can't imagine how being so far away must feel.
My stats:
Annual snowfall is around 50"
Average Jan temps around 12F
A SWAG here; -20F actual can and does happen
Another SWAG 10-15 days of -10F or colder
I built a roof over the panels to keep them free of the snow and ice....
. Sorry, I use that joke way too much and it's really not that funny.
In all seriousness..The angle of the panel is key. I sacrifice panel efficiency for ensuring ice and snow don't build up. If the panels on my cabin needed to be cleaned off, it would be a real bugger. At the angle I have the panels set I have not had any problems with build up. In your area look around, or search the internet, I bet you will see a good strategy to keep panels free of ice and snow.
This is probably more info than you wanted and you're probably doing it already but just in case... With the remote location and very cold temps, I would take a long look at airline redundancies (no matter what aeration system you put in). To state the obvious, line freeze will stop ALL aeration and when it happens it SUCKS to fix.
Hope this helped
