Solar Panels in Snow: What Happened During the February 2026 Storm

February 2026 was our one bad month. In twelve months of tracking, it was the only one where we owed the utility money rather than the other way around. We owed $50.45. The reason was a snowstorm — actually a series of snowstorms — that our area hadn't seen anything like in nearly 40 years.

Solar panels and snow have an interesting relationship worth understanding honestly. First, the good news: solar panels generate heat, and in many cases snow slides off relatively quickly. A light dusting often clears itself within a day. Second: when panels are only partially covered, they still produce — just at reduced capacity. Third, the honest news: when panels are heavily covered with wet, heavy snow and temperatures stay cold for days, production drops significantly.

That's what happened in February 2026. Multiple storms dropped substantial accumulation, temperatures stayed below freezing long enough to prevent the typical slide-off, and panel production was suppressed for a stretch that meaningfully impacted our monthly numbers. Our Tesla Powerwall provided battery backup through outages, and we drew from the grid when necessary. Normal household life continued. We just happened to be net buyers that month.

The larger context matters: one month out of twelve, in a historically unusual weather event, and we owed $50.45. The other eleven months generated a combined $746.86 in credits. The annual net was still $696.41 in our favor. A single bad weather month didn't meaningfully dent the annual math.

For anyone designing a net zero home in the Southeast and worrying about snow, our data should be reassuring. Design for the typical year, not the worst single month. Our system was more than adequate for eleven of twelve months and handled the extraordinary month gracefully.