snow covered solar panels

Living in Michigan we are vulnerable to a wide array of weather conditions ranging from sunny days, to dreary rainstorms, to freezing temperatures and massive snowfall. This is a setback for eco-friendly residents yearning to power their homes with energy produced by the sun. Our solar array protects itself from the elements of the not-always-ideal Michigan outdoors,
while taking a new direction from standard solar fields by adopting an animated surface.
Looking at other solutions that have already been discovered, I found the roof rake. This allows for one to "easily" reach his or her roof in attempts to scrape off the accumulation of snow. Although a viable option, it appears as just another chore added to the list. And this one involves cold weather, and falling snow... snow being pulled off the roof, and potentially right on top of you... this either meant I wasn't looking hard enough, or that maybe there WAS potential for our snow removing solar panels...?

We thought about a heating device, although were uninspired, and unprepared for creating such a surface. We really wanted the animation of the surface and were turned off by the heating device which already exists in many surfaces to prevent ice/snow accumulation.

As if shoveling the sidewalks isn't enough.

I began to wonder whether our solar panels, even when facing the snow covered grounds of Michigan, would be collecting sunlight due to the reflections from the piles of snow...
I assume they would be less efficient due to light that is lost via reflection, but it is definitely something I want to look into.