Introducing a New Solar Snow Guard Calculator

Our engineering stars have aligned with the brightest star of all, the sun! Alpine SnowGuards has developed a snow guard calculator especially for solar installers. As manufacturers of the only solar snow management system on the market, it was only a matter of time. And that time is happily now! If you or your customers Keep reading . . .

Alpine Launched Solar Snow Management System in 2012

Back in 2012, Alpine launched a solar snow management system which has evolved into a three-component system.  At the time, the system clamped directly to the panel frame in the vertical joint between the panels, and could be used on projects with Ground Snow Loads up to 50 psf (psf gsl). Today, the three-component system Keep reading . . .

Rooftop Sliding Snow Mass Causes Damage

When we install snow management systems to protect us from avalanching snow and ice, we tend to forget that there is a mass of both atop our roofs. Snow guards are designed to restrict this mass from exiting the roof in large amounts. We’ll highlight a problem often encountered with solar snow management. And we Keep reading . . .

Best Snow Guards for the New Generation of Synthetic Roofing Shingles

The best snow guards on the market to manage snow on synthetic roofing shingles, at least for residential applications, are Alpine SnowGuards’ Fusion-Guard and Alpine SnowGuards’ Snow Bird. There are other pipe-style snow guard options that are perfect for barricading large amounts of snow over the point of egress. To see more options, search snow Keep reading . . .

Snow Guards for Residential Construction: The Do’s, the Don’ts and the Dilemma

Leading into future blog content, I would like to revisit an important concept. This blog revisits why people make decisions on certain snow guards. It will reiterate the “do’s”, the “don’ts”, and the “dilemma”. To those of you who’ve been following/reading my blogs, thank you. Over the next several postings, I’m confident you’ll begin to Keep reading . . .

Snow Guard Performance Research: Managing Snow on Corrugated Metal Roofs

This article touches on managing snow on corrugated metal roofs as observed from our snow guard performance testing facility in Morrisville, Vermont between mid-January – early March, 2020. We also researched performance on synthetic slate, composition shingles, slate and tile, membrane and solar panels. All research occurred during Jan. 16, 2020 – Mar. 5, 2020 Keep reading . . .

6 Slate Roof Maintenance Tips for Spring

Brian Stearns, the President & Founder of Alpine SnowGuards, wrote the below back in the Spring of 2006. Brian’s deep roots in the slate roofing industry (he began his career as a slate roofer in the 1970’s) has given him a wealth of knowledge and experience that’s honestly too valuable NOT to share (and re-share). Keep reading . . .

Buckles & Cornices: Alpine SnowGuard’s Research Continues

Alpine SnowGuard’s research continues with roof snow management details we observed at our in-house performance testing facility: “buckling”. Some roofing materials, especially those that incorporate Polyolefins in their formulation, tend to shed snow and ice quickly as demonstrated in the below video clip and in our previous blog. Buckles: (intransitive verb) to bend or move Keep reading . . .

Snow Guard Evolution from 1981-1985: Part 1

Up until about 1980, my involvement with the hard roofing industry was primarily with the salvage, sales and distribution of “used roofing slate”. In the early 1980’s, my salvaged slate customers started calling to see if I’d be interested in installing the slate. The truth is, the thought had never occurred to me. I was happily Keep reading . . .

5 Common Snow Guard Questions

As we’ve come to learn, people have many questions when it comes to managing rooftop snow. The answers to common snow guard questions aren’t as cut-and-dry as one would think. Every project has a different set of variables: roof type, location, snow load, eave length, roof slope, snow management needs or expectations, etc. This is Keep reading . . .