Is this solid metal pidgeon proofing ok?

My Bro we will call him Godel, he got solar. very high quality system but the installers, instead of installing the standard black mesh pidgeon proofing.


They install some ("Screams commercial roofing contractor or metal building contractor.) They installed some solid metal pigeon proofing that I am concerned will cook my brothers solar panels in the HOT Las Vegas sun where the panels are.

I told him it was a great opportunity to install a 3/4 ton ac or divert some of the AC air under the center of the solar panels and close the gaps Of course an engineer would figure out manifold pressure and a pid controller to stop cooling when panels reach highest efficiency in the conditions they are in full sun july ect.


Anyways. engineers and insulation experts. Convince me his system is okay or convince him to rip the sheet meatl and have some mesh installed instead.






They

Based on the picture, I thought the installer was trying to find the best way to cook panels.

Imagine this, I did not see a picture of his panels. I was watching a you tube video then I remembered how he described the pidgeon proofing. Then I immediately started talking about forced air cooling under that system. Then asked for a picture. LUCKY i was able to infer what they did based off his description.

Now convince!

His metal skirt system REALLY sets him up for forced air cooling something. He is slightly overproducing and the power grid "Stores (sells to his neighbors immediately)" his energy for him. His bill consists of $10-25 connection fee. Which is a ungodly scam.

Give people Juuuuuust enough solar to sell the excess to your neighbors. Not only make a huge chunk selling your profit, charge you more money per mo for the opportunity.

Anyway who cares, USE the excess energy and use it to cool the panels and possibly make more energy than is used to cool them. But most likely last a ton longer.

Also set up monitoring of your phases and multiple surge units. You cant expect, if you dont inspect. Don't trust the grid NEC only protects the system and does not care about your house. You wires in your house don't care about your equipment. It's up to you to cover MULTIPLE layers for surges and other types of appliance attacks.

Solar panels lasting double or triple their life is where REAL money savings comes in.

That metric is pretty magical figure. I estimate with active cooling system it would extend teh life by 2x ad least am i crazy?

isiton said:

That metric is pretty magical figure. I estimate with active cooling system it would extend teh life by 2x ad least am i crazy?

Click to expand...

Yes. It's winter. When it's summer, those panels are going to be extremely hot and inefficient.

Trying to create a forced air cooling system over jagged roof tiles and the panel frames might allow you to achieve the same performance as a proper gap with natural circulation. You definitely won't see a net gain.

Panels are screaming, "I can't breathe".

MINIMUM 20cm/8 inches of AIR between panels and top of your tiles.

LydMekk said:

MINIMUM 20cm/8 inches of AIR between panels and top of your tiles.

Click to expand...

?
That's a huge gap! Most commercially available racking systems are more like 3-4" from roof to panel.

400bird said:

?
That's a huge gap! Most commercially available racking systems are more like 3-4" from roof to panel.

Click to expand...

I was thinking the same. I helped my neighbor install his commercial racking system a few months back, and the gap was adjustable with a max of about 5".

Scarecrow Owls​

I just put bird spikes along the top row of panels, no problems at all.

Sp predictions for end of life if left alone ??
Prediction of life of system if regular pigeon proofing is installed?

isiton said:

Sp predictions for end of life if left alone ??

Click to expand...

Shortened.

isiton said:

Prediction of life of system if regular pigeon proofing is installed?

Click to expand...

Less shortened.