Does a Liquid De-Icer Damage FWC Solar Panels? [Zamp]

[Wallowa]

If I run into serious icing and can't just warm the roof from inside with furnace use, will the use of a spray on de-icer damage the solar panels?...Zamp's in my case...I will try to call Zamp today but getting through to them is tough..

Thanks...Phil

Just talked to Joe at Zamp....one of the features of Zamp panels is an AR coating...Anti-Reflective...that does not reflect sun light off of panels...therefore the panels will absorb/capture solar power and heat the panels...he said that the unknown of potential damage from any chemicals to the AR coating was not a good risk to take...

Any other ideas out there? If no sun but coated in ice, solar power will be in the bag.

 

[rando]

You may be overthinking this . If you have snow or ice on your solar panels, brush them off with your snow brush. If there is enough sun to produce solar power the panels will quickly get warm, even through a layer of ice, and melt what ever snow/ice is on them. They are at best 20% efficient, the other 80% goes to heat.

 

[Wallowa]

Rando...entirely possible that this is a non-issue...but I have experienced very thick coatings of ice [not with the Hawk but a shell] on my Tundra and a thick coating of ice with a marginal, or minimal, I should say, amount of sun [Winter] would effectively take the panels off line and only melt the ice over a protracted period if at all....hence, I was looking for a "free-lunch" = spray on de-icer.

 

[PaulT]

Phil,

You might consider this linked DIY solution. Two Ingredient de-icer.

isopropyl alcohol and water. Shouldn’t even bother flexible panels with polymer coating. Definitely shouldn’t bother gorilla glass.

Added advantage may be hand sanitizer secondary use.

Paul