Hey guys, not sure if this is the correct category (if it isn't, feel free to move mods).

I am student pilot currently training to get my private pilot certificate. I had my first solo cross-country (In a C-152) over the weekend and encountered an issue that I would like to ask about.

It was a 54 NM VFR flight and the flight to my destination was fine, however on the way back I encountered mild percip as the weather started to deteriorate. I was thinking of diverting but an instructor had actually just travelled the same route about 20 minutes earlier and informed me before I left that it was ok.

Well, I didn't encounter much trouble however about 1/2 way into the flight my entire windshield and windows froze. I could not see anything out of any window. I notified the radio station I was following and they had me contact my home airport tower. I basically just put the cabin heat on and after circling my airport for about 1/2 hour it melted away. Regardless, it was pretty scary for me.

Anyways, my question is, are there any systems in small cessnas that could either prevent this, or once the windshield freezes, melt it in a relatively shorter period of time? It just seems weird to me that they don't include any type of defroster or the sort if this kind of thing is prone to happen.

My instructor told me that cabin heat is really all I need to use, but with the time it took to get everything cleared up (because it just shoots down at your legs) , had I not have had a GPS, I would have been in big trouble I feel like.

Anyways, any advice would be appreciated.

Thank you, nice to meet you all.