Solar over Septic?

griffen · May 21, 2024

Early Stages of planning.

Assuming I dropped all electrical lines clear of septic and all septic lines clear of electrical.
Assuming I left access to clean out valves and main tank(s).
How dumb an idea would it be to put a Solar Array over the Septic and Leach field.
I don't have much experience with septic.
And I don't now how much I'll curse myself out when i have to move everything to fix Septic.
Plan on no deep root plants near septic. Also subsoiling / deep rip around the field and driveway every year to prevent roots except where the lines are.

Thanks.

ricardocello · May 21, 2024

Not sure of the legality of it, but you would need to consider how to dig into the ground around the existing septic lines.
I used 46" ground penetrator anchors for my ground mounts, and they can be removed if necessary (if someone objects)
Those would have the narrowest profile for ground mounting.

PE46-Hex8: 46-inch Penetrator with 8-inch extended hex head

Permanent, temporary and mil-spec ground anchors for soil, sand, asphalt and underwater applications. Penetrator screw-type anchors and cabled anchors in arrowhead and bullet style.

americanearthanchors.com

You'll have to figure out how to make your own ground mount with 2" pipes, however.
My lines are fairly close to each other, I wouldn't be digging holes and filling with concete footings.

Partimewages · May 21, 2024

Septic leach lines works best if there is grass or similar above it. If you start shading you will likely diminish its rated capacity. If you live anywhere where there's a health department it's likely this would not be legal.

42OhmsPA · May 21, 2024

I've thought about this many times, my sand mound would make a great location for E/W facing arrays and another S facing. I talk myself out of it every time, realizing sooner or later it will end up being a shitty situation to deal with.

v_green57 · May 21, 2024

Partimewages said:
Septic leach lines works best if there is grass or similar above it. If you start shading you will likely diminish its rated capacity. If you live anywhere where there's a health department it's likely this would not be legal.

Yep, exactly right. Most folks don't realize that leach fields are not just about getting rid of septic tank discharge via perc. In dry climates, leach fields perc apx. 60% into the ground, the other 40% evaporates to the surface. If you remove the sun, you remove some of that evaporation.

Also there's the problem of maintainability - hard to get a backhoe under a panel array to replace a failed leach line branch, for example.

v_green57 · May 21, 2024

42OhmsPA said:
I've thought about this many times, my sand mound would make a great location for E/W facing arrays and another S facing. I talk myself out of it every time, realizing sooner or later it will end up being a shitty situation to deal with.

Hah, ha. "shitty". Good one.

G00SE · May 21, 2024

Could probably place a row of panels on the northern edge of your system as a sort of boundary maybe?
Keeps the shade off the field, doesn’t interfere with maintenance or post/trench issues

My lines are somewhere around 40’ in length, long enough for 12 portrait orientation panels, or 24/36 stacked 2-3 row array

Now you’ve got me pondering for my own

JRH · May 21, 2024

griffen said:
Early Stages of planning.

Assuming I dropped all electrical lines clear of septic and all septic lines clear of electrical.
Assuming I left access to clean out valves and main tank(s).
How dumb an idea would it be to put a Solar Array over the Septic and Leach field.
I don't have much experience with septic.
And I don't now how much I'll curse myself out when i have to move everything to fix Septic.
Plan on no deep root plants near septic. Also subsoiling / deep rip around the field and driveway every year to prevent roots except where the lines are.

Thanks.

I wouldn’t do that.. if you have a problem you won’t want to have to use a hand shovel to get to the septic system…unless you can move your array rather simply…
Depending on the issue when the back hoe shows up it can make a real mess
My parents had this done… naw…if I understand you correctly , I wouldn’t do that…

seneysolar · May 21, 2024

Let your septic and drain field get as much sun as possible. Shading from the panels will be counterproductive.

Solar over Septic?

griffen

New Member

ricardocello

Watching and Learning

PE46-Hex8: 46-inch Penetrator with 8-inch extended hex head

Partimewages

Solar Addict

42OhmsPA

What's in a title?

v_green57

Solar Enthusiast

v_green57

Solar Enthusiast

G00SE

There’s two O’s in G00SE

JRH

Solar Wizard

seneysolar

Solar Addict

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