Thoughts on solar in snow country

ERG4ALL said:

Johnr wrote:

Check out the Skystream - a small wind turbine with built-in net-metering inverter - you can connect it directly to your house wiring and be running your meter backwards just like that, plug-and-play: http://www.skystreamenergy.com/

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I'd be very careful about any "plug-and-play" set up plugged into house wiring and hence the grid. Although all inverters are required to shut down when they cannot sense power from the grid, there are several lockouts involved to meet code. These guarantee that the utility can physically lock out your system to protect a lineman from getting electrocuted from back-feed current.

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True - to meet code and safety requirements, one would need a separate breaker and a disconnect. And the connections must be checked by an inspector, and the utility must be notified. I didn't mean you should literally plug it in to some outlet - that would be illegal and pose safety concerns. But I call it "plug-and-play" because you don't need to add an inverter - all the main components are built-in. Sorry if I was misleading.

Some Sugar Pine cones are 10" to 20" long, and heavy enough ... to cause damage, I expect.

I do not know what impact the "solar panel" glass can take, but it probably depends upon how the impact is concentrated or spread.

Don't get solar, put the squirrels in a tumbler with a generator attached, problem solved.

EVDRIVER said:

Don't get solar, put the squirrels in a tumbler with a generator attached, problem solved.

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Electric4Me said:

You guys are all missing the obvious! He needs to hook up a treadmill to a generator and have the squirrels earn their pine cones!! :lol:

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You missed that one by a whole day. :mrgreen: :lol: :shock: Electric4Me posted that yesterday (it's on page 2 of this thread)

garygid said:

Some Sugar Pine cones are 10" to 20" long, and heavy enough ... to cause damage, I expect.

I do not know what impact the "solar panel" glass can take, but it probably depends upon how the impact is concentrated or spread.

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This info is normally reported on panel data sheets. Here's the info from Evergreen Solar for their 210-220W panels:

Maximum Certified Snow Load: 80 lbs/ft2
Maximum Combined wind/snow Load: 80 lbs/ft2
Hailstone Impact Test: 1 inch (25mm) diameter ice ball at 52mph (83 km/h)

Try that with a pine cone...

edit..25/52 typo

Frankly, if the panels are close enough to the tree that pine cones will hit the panels, they are more than close enough for pine needles to build up on them which will be a bigger problem - unless the angle is really high I suspect the needles will catch on the lower edge of the panel and shade them reducing output.

Impact test:
1" diameter is more like 25mm, not 52mm, so that might have been a typo?
Driven by 75 mph winds, the 1" hail might break the glass?
Still, rather better than I expected. Thanks.

But, the pine cone might weigh about 20 to 50 times as much?

pine needles are much lighter and i imagine can build up on the roof of a house several hundred feet from the tree. pine cones that heavy would be much less likely.

either way, good luck on your quest. solar is a good thing. there must be a way to make it work for you

garygid said:

Impact test:
1" diameter is more like 25mm, not 52mm, so that might have been a typo?

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Yes - typo - thanks.

garygid said:

Driven by 75 mph winds, the 1" hail might break the glass?

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Yes - so would a pickup truck at 15 mph. Not a joke - I lost two panels when a truck hit my shed.

garygid said:

Still, rather better than I expected. Thanks.

But, the pine cone might weigh about 20 to 50 times as much?

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I'm not the engineer - you'll have to do the F=MA and aerodynamic drag calcs to compare the pine cone and 1" hailstone. Can't help you there.