Snow removal method for self-heating of photovoltaic panels and its feasibility study

•A method for removing snow on a photovoltaic panel is proposed.•The principle depends on the structural characteristics of the photovoltaic cell.•This method is applicable for snow thickness greater than the equivalent height.•Increasing the thickness of the snow is good for snow removal. To solve the problem of winter snow accumulation in photovoltaic power stations, a new method of self-heating to remove snow from photovoltaic panels is proposed. This method overcomes the drawbacks of existing methods. No additional devices are needed, and photovoltaic cell wear, resource waste, and safety risk is reduced. Using the structural characteristics of the pn junction in the photovoltaic cell, a positive voltage is applied to the photovoltaic panel to melt the snow layer on the surface of the photovoltaic panel, and then the snow layer slides down from the photovoltaic panel by gravity. The heat transfer model and the mechanical model of photovoltaic panel snow removal were established. The minimum inclination angle of photovoltaic panel was calculated by the mechanical model. The corresponding experimental research was carried out. The front surface temperature of the photovoltaic panel was simulated by Matlab software, and compared with the experimental results to verify the transfer model. It is concluded that the method of self-heating to remove snow on the photovoltaic panel was feasible when the thickness of the snow was greater than the equivalent height and the inclination angle of the photovoltaic panel was greater than the minimum inclination angle. And the increase in snow thickness is beneficial to the snow removal performance of this method. When the thickness of the snow increased by 1 cm, and the total snow removal duration was shortened by about 6 min.