Clear plastic alternatives are often presented as being inconspicuous. Manufacturers claim that they are "practically invisible" due to their "colorless transparency".
"Clear" plastic snow guards (left) vs. ColorGard® on matching roof (right). Which one is really less conspicuous?
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A few short years in the elements causes clear plastic to dramatically discolor.
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What manufacturers neglect to say is that these plastics are petroleum derivatives that change as they age. The sun's ultra-violet rays draw out the oils and plasticizers leach out of the material causing the material to yellow with time.
The appearance of these buildings is marred by roofs "polkadotted" with clear plastic snow retention devices
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Because these products generally have low load-to-failure values, they must often be used in a very redundant fashion to avoid overload and failure. Because of ColorGard®'s Herculean strength, less ColorGard® is required. Based upon lab tested load-to-failure data, it can take up to 10 plastic parts to equal the strength of just one row of ColorGard®.