Brucey
Solar Wizard
100kWp is a pretty solid limit before permitting is required. I'm limited to 25kWp (fixed). Planning on having a bunch of panels on trailers/mobile to get around that.
Unintended consequences of Solar that we see
- Thread starter OffGridForGood
- Start date
Although our local grid supplier says that they will help (to the maximum possible) in anyone's efforts to construct a solar system, such is not the case.
I suspect that their main concern is maintaining income.
It has been months since I contacted them to get their assistance and have not even been contacted in any way.
I did go to their office to find out what the problem is but was told I had to apply for service and was given a form. I told them I did have 3 accounts and they looked them up and found them. They gave me an application for service which requires that I prove I own the property.
I suspect that their main concern is maintaining income.
It has been months since I contacted them to get their assistance and have not even been contacted in any way.
I did go to their office to find out what the problem is but was told I had to apply for service and was given a form. I told them I did have 3 accounts and they looked them up and found them. They gave me an application for service which requires that I prove I own the property.
Zwy
Emperor Of Solar
Here in the US it is opposite. More rules and regulation when installing roof mount. I have plenty of roof space, not interested because it is 28 feet up there and I'm getting older, need RSD, it snows here and stays cold (I did a recent Youtube video showing how long fixed panel arrays go without production during winter, rooftop is worse), rooftop get dirty here and never seem to become clean again, angle is wrong for the latitude, if roof repairs are needed, the array has to come off.
Just so many cons. It does cost more for ground mount due to the infrastructure but long term I think it is money well spent. Quality infrastructure will outlast PV modules and can be reused.
Zwy
Emperor Of Solar
Screw the furniture down and put rails on the bed so you don't fall off. I'll bet it doesn't work well making jello or baking.
Bad Randy
New Member
I have the similar thoughts, my 11K array faces west 10` 0 south and the "school" 3K will face 10` east.I have been adjusting the planned location and orientation for the new structure to get the best PV I can, rather than the ideal location for a barn really. I can adjust the road to suit the barn more easily than adjusting the sun
wattmatters
Solar Wizard
It very much depends on where you are and the installation requirements/regulations. Here a ground mount would be nearly twice the cost. Which is why they are so rare around here. Generally only see them in rural locations when properties don't have a suitable rooftop (like my neighbour). Even then people will tend to build a shed and put solar on that rather than build a dedicated ground mount. It can work out cheaper and provide more functionality.
Bad Randy
New Member
OffGridForGood
Catch, make or grow everything you can.
I can use a non-residential building without RSD or AFDD and get away with it. So I do.
I have 30 acres but much of it is not cleared of trees, so getting the PV up higher gets me away from long winter shadows better.
The re-use of the roof to support the PV is a bonus for me.
All my roof mounts tilt up 72-degrees for winter, and down to 30-degrees for summer. For the Barn design I will build the upper flatter roof at 30-degrees and the lower steeper roof at 72-degrees, with the PV mounted to a tilt frame connected at the change of roof slope.
EastTexCowboy
Solar Wizard
I understand why some people don't have many options and it sounds like some places regulate it more. Ground mount makes more sense to me for most situations if you have the room, for all the reasons already mentioned. I ended up putting mine on the shop because it made sense at the time. Now I kind of wish I had figured out a way to go ground mount, which was my original plan. But foolishly, I let the inverter specs dictate that part of it. Lesson learned. I'm probably going to add more panels but these will be ground mount and in a different direction and farther away. It would be nice to have them tilt but I'm thinking I can just add more panels at different angles about as cheap as I can build in the tilting feature.
On the shop I used S-5 mounts and made every effort to do a quality install. I frankly can't see anything I could have done better. But I'm still dealing with some leaks. The shop is insulated with fiberglass insulation so I can't pin it down exactly from inside. My neighbor owns a metal building company and I've had him or his crew over three times now trying to help me find and fix it with no luck. Looks like I may have to pull a bunch of panels off to see if I can find the issue. But what I always think about is, what if I had put this on the roof of my home and had this problem? In the shop it's not as big a deal. Put a bucket under it and keep looking for the leaks. I had all the screws replaced about six months before I installed the panels but it's gotta be either one or two of those new screws or something missed during the panel install. There's not much way for those S-5 mounts to leak but maybe a rubber gasket got left out or something. Just one of many potential problems with roof mount solar. No way I'd ever do in on the house.
Subdood
Photon Wrangler
You're a lucky "Dog"..I wish mine was more interested. Other than her helping me put on the panels on the ground mount, I did all the work myself. It would've been nice if she had helped me dig the 50ft long, 2ft deep PV trench like she said she had originally. Oh well. She probably won't really appreciate it until we have an extended power outage.
I need to show her how to check and run things, but don't know how receptive she would be to it. Talking solar to her is like her talking arts and crafts to me, with the glazed eyes and big
forming over the head.
OffGridForGood
Catch, make or grow everything you can.
I never expected the better half to get 'into' the solar thing at all, but I was Wrong, she is all over it.
She asked me to set up a small tablet in the laundry room connected to the shop Solar Assistant so she knows the ESS SOC and as long as its' sunny and ESS is above 50% she knows it's Green light for the Dryer to run. She doesn't even ask me about it anymore. I noticed her checking the local forecast for a couple sunny days, and that is when she runs the laundry, like this was something we always did, or something. Wow I didn't expect that.
I guess we have come a long way from2020 when the original idea was running some lights and few 120 outlets in the shop during a utility outage!
She asked me to set up a small tablet in the laundry room connected to the shop Solar Assistant so she knows the ESS SOC and as long as its' sunny and ESS is above 50% she knows it's Green light for the Dryer to run. She doesn't even ask me about it anymore. I noticed her checking the local forecast for a couple sunny days, and that is when she runs the laundry, like this was something we always did, or something. Wow I didn't expect that.
I guess we have come a long way from2020 when the original idea was running some lights and few 120 outlets in the shop during a utility outage!
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OffGridForGood
Catch, make or grow everything you can.
without any significant snow, I sure wouldn't bother with tilting! - just pick a good overall angle for the whole year, set it and forget it!
OffGridForGood
Catch, make or grow everything you can.
ok reply to my own post - if that isn't too strange,
we finally got a touch of snow today, only an inch or two, (25-50mm) and nope, no snow accumulation on the PV due to the steep winter angle.
Sure bets brooming them off.
My daughter came to visit from Vancouver - she says about 50% of the cars in the City are EV's out there, partly due to price of gasoline, and cheap overnight utility rates. I asked her about solar - but she says not a lot of residential solar in Vancouver really - too much foggy cloudy weather.
Zwy
Emperor Of Solar
No way I'm brushing off snow.
I guess you have seen the "light".
Bad Randy
New Member
My solar Panel support progress
Attachments
KITROBASKIN
Solar Enthusiast
Arid regions boom then bust?
e360.yale.edu
How a Solar Revolution in Farming Is Depleting World’s Groundwater
Farmers in hot, arid regions are turning to low-cost solar pumps to irrigate their fields, eliminating the need for expensive fossil fuels and boosting crop production. But by allowing them to pump throughout the day, the new technology is drying up aquifers around the globe.
e360.yale.edu
OffGridForGood
Catch, make or grow everything you can.
This is a good example of "unintended consequences of solar that we see"Arid regions boom then bust?
How a Solar Revolution in Farming Is Depleting World’s Groundwater
Farmers in hot, arid regions are turning to low-cost solar pumps to irrigate their fields, eliminating the need for expensive fossil fuels and boosting crop production. But by allowing them to pump throughout the day, the new technology is drying up aquifers around the globe.
the low cost solar power, being used during the time of day where solar is abundant, but is also the time of day with the worst evapouration rates...ops.
Pumping from ground water should be limited to ground water replenishment rates, so the resource is not over-consumed. We do this with hunting, fishing, logging, but it seems since no one "sees the falling aquafer" over-use gets permitted.
This would be a case where using net zero metering to feed into the grid during the best solar time of day, and draw from the grid for irregation during the low evapouration rate time of day could benefit both the farmers and water conservation.
OffGridForGood
Catch, make or grow everything you can.
Had a family get together today, yup, I ate far too much.
The solar became a hot topic of discussion, everyone wanted to know what it can do, what it cost, how much it saves compared with paying Hydro One - the provincial utility, can you charge up the EV from that system?! - on a sunny day like today I can, yup.
Another unitended consequence of solar: non-solar people are pretty keen to know more and ask you questions.
The solar became a hot topic of discussion, everyone wanted to know what it can do, what it cost, how much it saves compared with paying Hydro One - the provincial utility, can you charge up the EV from that system?! - on a sunny day like today I can, yup.
Another unitended consequence of solar: non-solar people are pretty keen to know more and ask you questions.
teal95
Solar Enthusiast
I'm continually getting questions, frequently from people I don't really know as some intermediary told them about what I was doing.
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