Performance Investigation of Roof-Mounted PV Systems in Snowy Conditions Considering Snow Coverage and Snow Removal Process

In this paper, the performance of a roof-mounted Photovoltaic (PV) system is investigated in snowy conditions using a model that considers snow coverage and snow removal process. A $5 \times 5$ roof-mounted PV array is modeled in MATLAB/Simulink and its performance is studied considering different snow coverage levels and snow removal. The paper presents the conclusions as how the performance of a roof-mounted PV array including its characteristics curves, power losses, and maximum power point can be affected in snowy conditions.