Thanks for the advice, all. Obviously, no snow on an array is the best case scenario from a production standpoint. Just for context, most jurisdictions in my state of Vermont require snow guards on commercial sloped roofs above pedestrian traffic. However, the situation I am working with is a residential dwelling with an array three stories above a large back porch and I would like to be methodical about not inadvertently killing someone via avalanche. Typical VT snow loads vary from 20-80 psf.
It sounds like there might be room for innovative competition in this small market dominated by Alpine. Kindly, Chris On Wed, Oct 1, 2025 at 6:02 PM Garrison via RE-wrenches < [email protected]> wrote: > Here in the Midwest I’ve had good luck with both Alpine and Snaketray, but > our design snow loads are only 25-30 psf. We generally only use small > sections of it over doors and to prevent damage to things like heat pumps > below a large array that is close to the roof edge. I prefer Alpine, but if > you have a small gap between panels the clamps shade the lower cells a bit > on some panels. I have not seen a better option out there. > > Just an anecdote, but a customer who I helped (I didn’t do the original > install) had his car in the driveway and shedding snow from his array > totaled it. Luckily it was fully insured. Made me think more seriously > about recommending snow guard even if it’s not perfect. Oh and maybe adding > a disclaimer to the contract. > > Best, > Garrison Riegel > Celestar Solar > > > > On Oct 1, 2025, at 11:47 AM, Sam Haraldson via RE-wrenches < > [email protected]> wrote: > > > > Chris, > > Where we install in our valley the average yearly snowfall is around 80 > inches and buildings are rated to assume a 50 lb per sq. ft. snow load. As > the elevation climbs out of the valley and into the mountains we're looking > at 400 inches of annual snowfall and load ratings increase to around 200 > lb. per sq. ft. We have installed hundreds of systems with Alpine > Snowguards and earlier on we installed a few dozen Snake Tray guards. > > The Alpine snowguard product works well for our installs at lower > elevations as it is limited in how much weight it can handle. When you > read their spec sheets closely they indicate that no more than 6" of snow > should be allowed to accumulate on the array. We had a banner snow year > last winter and quite a bit of snow guard came out broken in the Springtime > which has given us pause as to whether we should be installing it at all. > > Your question was whether there are better options and we have not found > anything better than Alpine. It is also honestly inadequate for where we > live and have not been able to come up with an alternate solution. When my > home array avalanches it is an impressive event and if there was a walkway > or doorway underneath it I would absolutely want something mitigating that > which is the case for many of our clients so it's certainly a conundrum. > > Cheers, > Sam > > [image: OnSite Energy] <https://onsiteenergyinc.com/> > > Sam Haraldson > Operations Specialist > 1515 N. Rouse Ave Bozeman, MT 59715 > <https://www.google.com/maps/search/1515+N.+Rouse+Ave+Bozeman,+MT+59715?entry=gmail&source=g> > Locally owned and operated since 2012 > [image: B Corporation] <https://onsiteenergyinc.com/bcorp> > _______________________________________________ > List sponsored by Redwood Alliance > > Pay optional member dues here: http://re-wrenches.org > > List Address: [email protected] > > Change listserver email address & settings: > http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org > > There are two list archives for searching. When one doesn't work, try the > other: > https://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ > http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org > > List rules & etiquette: > http://www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm > > Check out or update participant bios: > http://www.members.re-wrenches.org > > _______________________________________________ > List sponsored by Redwood Alliance > > Pay optional member dues here: http://re-wrenches.org > > List Address: [email protected] > > Change listserver email address & settings: > http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org > > There are two list archives for searching. When one doesn't work, try the > other: > https://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ > http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org > > List rules & etiquette: > http://www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm > > Check out or update participant bios: > http://www.members.re-wrenches.org > >
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