Forum Discussion

full_mosey's avatar
full_mosey
Explorer
Feb 05, 2020

Clearing the snow from the solar panels

It is just a graph showing the panels waking up at the crack-of-Noon.

The graph covers a two hour period. The panels were covered with about 6 inches of snow last night.



There are two solar systems each consisting a 200W panel with an MPPT controller. The graph is an overlay of both systems. There are two legends. The data is gathered at one minute intervals from the controllers by a Raspberry Pi 3B.

Each controller is producing about 50W or 25%. The panels are not tilted to 60 degrees and the sky is completely overcast with more snow expected this PM.

HTH;
John

4 Replies

  • full_mosey wrote:
    DIY. I have Morningstar controllers and have basically re-engineered their free MSView software into the Raspberry(RPI).

    Very cool. I have several RPIs and Arduinos, but have not tapped into my solar controller. I like the portability of the RPI for wireless internet access in the RV.
  • Even a light coating of dust will kill output. Had panels on our boat and if the output was low, did a quick rinse and brush with fresh water and you would see the output double.

    Not as difficult on an RV but watch for shadows. A surprisingly small shadow will kill output.
  • DarkSkySeeker wrote:
    I love technical data on graphs. Was this graph from output of the controller or did you DIY it?


    DIY. I have Morningstar controllers and have basically re-engineered their free MSView software into the Raspberry(RPI).

    One big improvement is that the RPI connects to my hotspot and provides a web server that I can reach through any web browser device which is also connected to my hotspot. The graph is a screenshot posted from my workstation located inside the house. The van is in the driveway.

    Here is a 10 day stacked-bar graph showing the daily Amp hours of charging from the two controllers. I included the Firefox window where you can see the IP Address of the RPI.

  • I love technical data on graphs. Was this graph from output of the controller or did you DIY it?

About Technical Issues

Having RV issues? Connect with others who have been in your shoes.24,279 PostsLatest Activity: Jul 04, 2025