Hurricane Ian in Cape Coral Florida

[Kevcando]

This is why you should have a battery backup, we had power all through the storm and no need for a generator. All my neighbors smirked when I put up solar ground mounts which the city does not allow by the way we just took them down and stored till the storm passed. Now their solar panels are damaged or grid feed feed and they will have no power for weeks. Plan to install rest of panels today and be back to full power, wife is happy.

 

[jbird526]

This is why you should have a battery backup, we had power all through the storm and no need for a generator. All my neighbors smirked when I put up solar ground mounts which the city does not allow by the way we just took them down and stored till the storm passed. Now their solar panels are damaged or grid feed feed and they will have no power for weeks. Plan to install rest of panels today and be back to full power, wife is happy.

What size and how many panels do you have there? What size array does that make?

 

[Atomicpunk]

After Ian we got 24 hours of use to power my fans, fridge, Pond, and freezer with my AC300 system, until the power went back on. My 8ft high ground mount held true to 85+mph winds. Amazing that you made it through so unscathed at almost cat 5, we were sweating it in Tampa area, then it turned, unfortunately towards you. Heartbreaking - all the damage. Curious, Cape Coral doesn't allow ground panel mounts? I think something was passed in 2022 in FL (http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes...tute&URL=0100-0199/0163/Sections/0163.04.html) that even HOA's (let alone city ordinances) have limitations on NOT allowing panels (limited only if either roof mounted/ or grid tie-in). But so many inspectors (and especially county/city government officials) have a hard time comprehending off grid setups that don't tie into a grid.
Edited to include link and this one where I found the passed bill: https://wisepropertymanagement.com/can-florida-hoas-restrict-solar-panels/

 

[Kevcando]

What size and how many panels do you have there? What size array does that make?

250w panels total of 6000w

 

[handinpalm]

You definately have proven a very good reason for ground mount. Don't have any panels yet, but they will be ground mount when I install! Great post. BTW, I'm in Tampa Bay area..

 

[Kevcando]

After Ian we got 24 hours of use to power my fans, fridge, Pond, and freezer with my AC300 system, until the power went back on. My 8ft high ground mount held true to 85+mph winds. Amazing that you made it through so unscathed at almost cat 5, we were sweating it in Tampa area, then it turned, unfortunately towards you. Heartbreaking - all the damage. Curious, Cape Coral doesn't allow ground panel mounts? I think something was passed in 2022 in FL (http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes...tute&URL=0100-0199/0163/Sections/0163.04.html) that even HOA's (let alone city ordinances) have limitations on NOT allowing panels (limited only if either roof mounted/ or grid tie-in). But so many inspectors (and especially county/city government officials) have a hard time comprehending off grid setups that don't tie into a grid.
Edited to include link and this one where I found the passed bill: https://wisepropertymanagement.com/can-florida-hoas-restrict-solar-panels/

Thanks for the info, been trying to hide the panels to keep city folk from getting me. I think they allow ground mounts on 2 acres or more but we are on a lot site of 80 x 125 . I may try and push the issue when we upgrade my inverter and panels.

 

[ArkCabinMan]

This is why you should have a battery backup, we had power all through the storm and no need for a generator. All my neighbors smirked when I put up solar ground mounts which the city does not allow by the way we just took them down and stored till the storm passed. Now their solar panels are damaged or grid feed feed and they will have no power for weeks. Plan to install rest of panels today and be back to full power, wife is happy.

Well done....!!
Good for you, for being prepared..!
Your story is what solar power is all about, and Y'all have set a good example, for sure..!

 

[hankcurt]

@Kevcando glad you had the foresight to protect your system during the storm.

Not sure where you or @Atomicpunk are in relation to the storm path, but I'm curious what you are seeing in regard to the fate of solar panels that were left out in the storm. Do you see systems that survived, or does it appear that you see intact houses with obvious damage to the solar panels?

 

[Kevcando]

@Kevcando glad you had the foresight to protect your system during the storm.

Not sure where you or @Atomicpunk are in relation to the storm path, but I'm curious what you are seeing in regard to the fate of solar panels that were left out in the storm. Do you see systems that survived, or does it appear that you see intact houses with obvious damage to the solar panels?

From what I see the houses are intact so are the solar panels as long as something didn't hit them. Mostly what the solar company's are pushing down here are grid feedback systems so when there is no grid power they are not able to use any solar they produce.

 

[cs1234]

From what I see the houses are intact so are the solar panels as long as something didn't hit them. Mostly what the solar company's are pushing down here are grid feedback systems so when there is no grid power they are not able to use any solar they produce.

 

[hankcurt]

Thanks for the reply @Kevcando . Systems without batteries and off-grid capability are really worthless in a true emergency. And it doesn't take a large battery. 5 to 10 kwh covers a lot of essential needs when there is no other source of power.

I was mainly curious if the panels themselves and the mounting systems stood up to the extreme loads. It sounds like if the roof stayed on the panels stayed there too.

For roof mounted systems, it seems like it would be prudent to have a few panels in the storm shelter in case the ones on the roof get damaged. Batteries without panels doesn't do much good when the power is down either.

 

[chess-equality]

wife is happy.

 

[hankcurt]

What I was remembering was this picture from an article on Vox after hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico in 2017.


Hurricane Maria was a true category 5 and this solar farm was on the east side of Puerto Rico and took the full force of the hurricane as it came ashore. However, this result contrasts greatly with the result in Babcock Ranch after Hurricane Ian. Babcock is a solar community just north of Fort Meyers Florida and took a fairly direct hit from Ian. I was looking for pictures of the solar farm on the news to see what it looked like after the hurricane and couldn't find any, but I did find this article from CNN that said the lights were still on in Babcock. So I assume the lack of blown down, broken solar panels made it not worth photographing.

My question is; what was the difference? Is it just hurricane intensity? Or is is solar panel quality and mounting system design? The system in Puerto Rico appears to have more square looking panels that are less common in the market today, so maybe they were older and more poorly designed. A 2017 article from PV Magazine had this quote about what did and didn't work in hurricane Maria:

A 645 kW rooftop array on the VA Hospital in San Juan (installed in 2015) is operating at 100 percent – even after facing sustained 180 MPH winds from hurricanes Irma and Maria. Why is it still operating? This particular system, which sits atop the 100-foot-tall deck of this 9-story building, was engineered to withstand 170 MPH burst of 3 seconds (ASCE 7-10).

The array was installed with a combination of ballast and mechanical anchors. It’s a pliant racking system that is polymer based, and injection molded from glass-reinforced nylon. This gives the array the ability to flex in multiple directions without breaking – the main reason it’s still on the roof.

Anyway, it is worth considering "best practices" for panel mounting in order to have a working system when its needed. I appreciate any insights other people have on this.

 

[Atomicpunk]

@Kevcando glad you had the foresight to protect your system during the storm.

Not sure where you or @Atomicpunk are in relation to the storm path, but I'm curious what you are seeing in regard to the fate of solar panels that were left out in the storm. Do you see systems that survived, or does it appear that you see intact houses with obvious damage to the solar panels?

We are just south and a little east of Tampa and we had at least 85mph+ gusts based on so many trees with broken branches in the neighborhood and strong tropical force winds for 24 hrs+ (the howling winds were so loud), along with broken fences (including part of mine), snapped a 4x4 but it was an old one... SO, no damages to houses beside fascia and gutters being ripped off. Also, a few weeks before, we had a downburst and very strong winds and hail slightly greater than Pea size. In my case, everything is fine. I re-inspected my construction and still held strong. Most of the powerful winds came from the north and my panels, of course, faced south. They look fine and are still getting the same output. Also, the neighbors who have a grid-tied "professionally" roof installed system "looks" ok, HOWEVER, they are still waiting for it to be turned on; It's been 3+months since they had it installed, but are having issues with red-tape. They are paying for it and not benefiting from it at all. They wish the storm ripped it all apart because they have had it with the entire "many explicative's inserted here" panel install. They wish they did, what I did.
As for construction and wind force, the panels are designed for at least 2400 Pascals which is Cat 4 force, now whether the structure can maintain stability or not is a different story. Also, that doesn't take into account that someone's trampoline or grill canopy crashing into them.

So whether roof mounted or "canopy/ground" mounted, the panels looked like that a Strong Cat 1 or Cat 2 is easily handled over a long period (not just 3 second bursts) from my perspective.
Hoped that answered your question.