I have been thinking about this too after the past few years where my ice didn't get thick enough before a snow came or nothing froze at all like last year. I think I am going to try it in two stages, the first being and "active/passive" cooling system. Basically I would buy the PEX tubing...

No the water running through the tubes and pump would be separate because you'd want to add some anti-freeze or alcohol to prevent that from freezing. SO it would be just like a regular pro cooling system except your mesh density would be lower (unless you want to buy a few thousand feet of tubing a...

You can use a roof rake to pull the snow off from the edges. It's a fair bit of work, a lot more than shoveling, but it will work when you don't have enough ice to stand on yourself.

J