Solar Snow Fence Controls Drifting Snow While Generating Power [Implementation Summary]

Details

• Creators:
  Yang, Mijia ; Gullickson, Dan
• Corporate Creators:
  North Dakota State University ; CTC & Associates LLC
• Corporate Contributors:
  Minnesota. Department of Transportation. Office of Research & Innovation
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  • Snow and ice control
  • Maintenance practices
  • Solar energy
  • Implementation
• Resource Type:
  Brief
• Geographical Coverage:
  United States
• Edition:
  Implementation Summary
• Corporate Publisher:
  Minnesota. Department of Transportation
• Abstract:
  A 100-ft field implementation of the proposed solar snow fence was conducted In Glyndon, MN. The implementation process started with the manufacturing of solar stripe frames, U connection with steel posts, helical piling, electrical power harvest and storage, electrical use in snow melting, and monitoring of the solar snow fence systems. A 12-ft lab prototype was first built, and verification of the monitoring sensors and the efficiency of the solar snow fence has been completed. All the sensors have reached more than 95% accuracy, and an average of 829 W power was produced through the 12-ft prototype. The full 100-ft solar snow fence assembly and field construction were completed in August 2023. In the past 18 months, the solar snow fence has proven to work well with different ambient conditions, and the temperature, moisture, wind speed, solar intensity, electrical voltage, and current have been collected. The correlation between the solar intensity and the power harvested has been created, and an average of 11-25 kW*h energy has been produced daily. The energy produced has been used to melt snow effectively.
• Format:
  PDF
• Funding:
  (c)1036338 (wo) 4
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/85622/dot_85622_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 176.94 KB]
• Collection(s):
  US Transportation Collection
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:45e6f8142195c4d715a7acd631a9c857cf9faeaa7d9d1e23455fc2f5798b3528c54c3f4005deb38be0e34c15b1f6f2405754b66872acd3865381a7d3ea5ddde0