Snow melt system for solar collectors

Abstract

A solar collector system having several evacuated tube solar collectors arranged together, a conductor arranged on the solar collectors, a power source for sending electricity through the conductor, and an indicator connected to the conductor to indicate when electricity is flowing through the conductor. A snow sensor connected is connected to the conductor adjacent the evacuated tube solar collectors and a controller is connected to the snow sensor. The controller controls the electricity flow through the conductor and allows electricity to flow when the snow sensor senses snow covering the snow sensor, and stops the electricity flow when the snow sensor is no longer covered. The electricity flow heats the conductor, which in turn melts the snow on the collectors.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A solar collector system comprising:
 at least one evacuated tube solar collector;   a conductor arranged on the solar collector;   a power source for sending electricity through the conductor;   an indicator connected to the conductor to indicate when electricity is flowing through the conductor;   a snow sensor connected to the conductor and being disposed on or adjacent to the at least one evacuated tube solar collector; and   a controller connected to the snow sensor, and conductor said controller controlling the electricity flow through the conductor and allowing electricity to flow when the snow sensor senses snow, and stopping the electricity flow when the snow sensor does not sense snow.   
     
     
         2 . The system according to  claim 1 , wherein the conductor is a wire. 
     
     
         3 . The system according to  claim 2 , wherein the wire is arranged in a serpentine pattern around a circumference of the solar collector. 
     
     
         4 . The system according to  claim 2 , wherein the wire is made of Nichrome. 
     
     
         5 . The system according to  claim 1 , wherein there are a plurality of said solar collectors and wherein the conductor is arranged around each of the solar collectors. 
     
     
         6 . The system according to  claim 1 , wherein the indicator is a Light Emitting Diode (LED). 
     
     
         7 . The system according to  claim 2 , wherein the wire is embedded within each solar collector. 
     
     
         8 . The system according to  claim 1 , wherein the conductor is a conductive paint applied to each solar collector. 
     
     
         9 . The system according to  claim 1 , wherein the power source is a photovoltaic panel connected to a charge controller and a battery. 
     
     
         10 . The system according to  claim 1 , further comprising a temperature sensor connected to the conductor and to the controller, wherein the controller is adapted to stop the electricity flow through the conductor when the temperature sensor senses a temperature above a predetermined threshold level. 
     
     
         11 . The system according to  claim 1 , wherein the controller is a microprocessor.