diy solar

diy solar

Should i Knock Down my neighbor's Panels?

single or double ought buck??
OK ok ok, sorry didn't realize I typed that out loud here. {Geez it is SO Canadian to apologize for thinking bad thoughts}.
I would first move my panels up the roof line, or further south as you noted,
Later I would wonder about just moving.
 
OffGridForGood said:
single or double ought buck??
OK ok ok, sorry didn't realize I typed that out loud here. {Geez it is SO Canadian to apologize for thinking bad thoughts}.
I would first move my panels up the roof line, or further south as you noted,
Later I would wonder about just moving.
Click to expand...
Neither… # 7 shot or #8……blankets everything …..double don’t spread enough with only 9 pellets.
i wouldn’t move anything… this is bully action…even if it cost you money keep an attourny on his butt… make sure he knows your not the one to mess with or push around….make his life miserable having to show up at court and constantly pay an attourny…
he won’t mess with ya again.
don’t let a bully’s intimidation control your life…fight back…..
 
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Mattb4 said:
Depending on your location you might have recourse to local building laws. Many places do not allow putting structures up that negatively impact a neighbor.
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I would start with finding out if your location has an ordinance that protects your rights to the sun. Otherwize if you have room move them up your roof pitch to get out of the shade. Before you do anything get a better sense for what the shading is during all seasons. There are calculators and devices that you can rent that can help you plot the sun angles during different seasons.
 
Did they "DIY" or paid a contractor?
Perhaps they didn't even realize what the installation was going to do to your set up.
They may even have have been motivated into getting solar because you have solar.

Say they were first up with solar, before your East facing panels, then you would have put yours further up near the ridge line, and or further south along the roof.
No it didn't happen this way, but such is life maybe.
If you're not interested in moving, maybe best to move the panels a bit, and get along. No sense building animosity with your neighbour long term. It was kinda a shitty thing, maybe they knew/maybe they didn't, but hey there are worse things. At least it's not a crack house next door or something.
 
The installer should have known better. By the way I hear cold water on hot panels is a really bad thing…. So don’t do that?
 
I have a minor (compared to yours) case of bad neighbors as well and I suspect many cases exist.

I have new neighbors that put this pool cabana structure up last summer. It violates the 4ft set-back from property line city ordinance rule for 'structures' and the top is so high that sun angles <27deg cause a shadow on some of the lower panels. So I have 'some' power loss at worst time of year (low sun angle) from ~Nov 21 thru Jan 21 for a few hours a day.
1686016103803.png

Note: I purposely lowered the ground array angle (and incurred some losses) so the neighbors wouldn't be bothered by my panels tilting up in the air at 30 or 40deg.... but of course no good deed goes unpunished.

It's annoying but I suspect it's more cluelessness than anything else. The bad part is they are not approachable / very tense to even try to talk to them about anything - and one needs to pick their battles. The actual loss is maybe 5% (~40kwh / 8 weeks).
 
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Hedges said:
You complain about the cabana? It seems low and far.
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It shouldn't be there - blatantly against city code.

Hedges said:
What about the palm tree shading it in the picture?
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They are purposely being grown to block our view of the valley rather than interfere with the array and nothing in city code to stop it. They told us this quite pointedly when we first bought the house. These folks are bitter about our home (and neighborhood) built up the hill from them that took their views away up the mountain. But these trees were planted prior to the array so the array placement is on me.

As I said, I'm just annoyed to loose ANY power and especially in winter - but one needs to keep perspective! :)
 
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Oh man shit sittuation but at least im getting some laughs from all you guys comments.


Hedges said:
... after checking first to make sure you yourself don't live in a glass house.

Neighbors up my canyon got in a p!%%!ng contest over shared use of a bridge, and one with a non-permit addition.


Put up a banner that casts a hard shadow on his panels?

View attachment 151832

View attachment 151831


Yes, it is a concern if one section of your panels gets a shadow while the rest is in direct sun. Diodes may overheat and burn panel, crack glass. Some brands say only meant to be activated when sun at an angle.



True, higher up plus end of building ahead of neighbor's array can stay where it is.
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Thats my fear, that i end up with a lot of damaged panels. Is there any documentation about how risky it is?, or how much shadowing they can allow?. I guess some obstruction is expected, as real world has trees, signs, other structures, etc. But how much its too much?.

That might determine how fast do i need to move them.

----

Another good idea for the future, just increase my roof height by around 3mt, i really need the internal space!
 
mrdavvv said:
Thats my fear, that i end up with a lot of damaged panels. Is there any documentation about how risky it is?, or how much shadowing they can allow?. I guess some obstruction is expected, as real world has trees, signs, other structures, etc. But how much its too much?.

That might determine how fast do i need to move them.
Click to expand...

Start with data sheet, maybe contact manufacturer. Some are said to have that problem, others may not.


When sun is off-angle so current forced through diode by other panels is less, not a problem. Sun hitting orthogonal, max current. Then diode heats up over time. No large heat sink to absorb the energy, slow it down.
 
The diagram shows morning shade and full sun at about noon?

Time to raise your panels to give some afternoon shade. :cool:
 
Ampster said:
That looks more like a reflection on the panels and not shade of those trees.
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Only light reflects, not darkness.

Upper row of panels, that does look like reflected image of palm tree.
Lower corner, looks like a shadow to me. Whether from palm tree or from top of that conifer.
 
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