Hey man, Contact me off-line and I will tell you if it’s my old system. *Kirk Herander / **kirkh@vermont.solar <kirkh@vermont.solar>*
*Owner|Principal, VT Solar, LLC* *Celebrating our 33st Anniversary 1991-2024!!* dba Vermont Solar Engineering 802.559.1225 On Sat, Dec 7, 2024 at 7:37 PM John Blittersdorf via RE-wrenches < re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org> wrote: > I'm starting to think that Vertical panels are the only sure fire way to > keep them clear. I did a small cabin years ago with 2 panels on the south > wall of the cabin. All they wanted is a few lights and cell phone charging > and rarely used in the winter. It worked great. Their Trace 1200 watt > inverter was turned off when they were not there and the C40 kept the > batteries charged over the winter without any problems. Now I am > stressing over an unreachable camp on an island (you may know this one > Kirk) where I updated a 12V system with outback inverter and about 1kw of > solar which had been shut down in the winter months. I replaced the > inverter with > a VFX3648, added an FM100, Installed 5 kw of PV on a ground mount at 45 > degrees (mistake- should have done 60 degrees or more with more space at > the bottom but assumed not much snow there, all to run a Starlink and > Optics monitoring and lots of cameras. 60 days into this saga today at 4 > pm, the signal was lost. Is it snow or ice on the panels, or just lack of > enough sun (which has been minimal) which caused low battery cutoff. > Batteries are new AGMs and I set cutoff at 45.2. I didn't want to run them > too low. If I had some of the panels vertical and 4' above the ground, I > could probably be assured that snow would not stay on long. Our problem > here in Vermont is that when the clear > weather arrives, it usually comes with frigid cold and ground and pole > mounts are kept frozen by the ambient temperature until the sun can warm > them up but that doesn't happen with 6" on snow on the face. Only above > freezing > temperatures or still air with intense sun will clear them. I'm working > on a ground mount now that was started by a previous owner of a property > where the base for the ground mount array is a post and beam substructure 4 > to 8 feet above the ground. I'm thinking about putting 4 panels vertical > and 4 at 45 degree angle on the north edge of the structure and 8 panels at > a summer angle on the South edge with adequate space for snow shedding. . > We have a temporary array at Approx 35 degree angle that has somewhat shed > the snow but with no space for snow buildup, the shedding stops. > > I am planning to build a fence around my garden this summer with PV > mounted vertically with the stacks of 110 watt modules I have accumulated > from repowering pole mounts. South and North side of garden facing south > and the east and west sides facing east and west. Any thoughts on this > crazy idea? > > John Blittersdorf > Off Grid Vermont > > > > On Fri, Dec 6, 2024 at 1:51 PM Dana Orzel via RE-wrenches < > re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org> wrote: > >> Having installed at up to 13,200’ elevation (60° rack mount) and in snow >> country for most of most of 37 years and dealing with installations by >> others that almost or completely come off the roof here is my 0.02: >> >> >> >> Low angle roofs less than 35deg seem to take on most of the damage >> incidents. Avalanches are most prevalent at 32-35+deg. Avys tend not to >> slide at less than 32 deg. >> >> Is the lower edge of the array shaded or partial shade on part of the >> array with the low angle winter sun? This allows for ice up on the bottom >> edge or on a section of the array. >> >> Is there a drop zone for the snow? I use 5’ min below the leading edge >> for a mountain install I would increase this to higher. >> >> I know this sounds obvious - Is there a snow fence or obstruction (door >> shed roof) below the array? >> >> >> >> I now install esp. on lower angle roofs a mid-third rail & use 50% more >> contact to the roof points (cheap array life insurance). >> >> If using a micro inverter or optimizer – attach this to the panel so it >> flexes with the panel if necessary not the rail mount system. Watch out for >> bolts that stick up close to the back sheet. >> >> >> >> Happy Hollar Daze all! >> >> _________________________________________________________ >> >> Dana Orzel GREAT SOLAR WORKS! >> >> C – 208.721.7003 E – d...@solarwork.com >> >> W - www. greatsolarworks.com www.solarwork.com >> >> *“Responsible Technologies for Responsible People since 1988!”* >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> List sponsored by Redwood Alliance >> >> Pay optional member dues here: http://re-wrenches.org >> >> List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org >> >> Change listserver email address & settings: >> http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org >> >> There are two list archives for searching. When one doesn't work, try the >> other: >> https://www.mail-archive.com/re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org/ >> http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org >> >> List rules & etiquette: >> http://www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm >> >> Check out or update participant bios: >> http://www.members.re-wrenches.org >> >> _______________________________________________ > List sponsored by Redwood Alliance > > Pay optional member dues here: http://re-wrenches.org > > List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org > > Change listserver email address & settings: > http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org > > There are two list archives for searching. When one doesn't work, try the > other: > https://www.mail-archive.com/re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org/ > http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org > > List rules & etiquette: > http://www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm > > Check out or update participant bios: > http://www.members.re-wrenches.org > >
_______________________________________________ List sponsored by Redwood Alliance Pay optional member dues here: http://re-wrenches.org List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Change listserver email address & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org There are two list archives for searching. When one doesn't work, try the other: https://www.mail-archive.com/re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org/ http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: http://www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out or update participant bios: http://www.members.re-wrenches.org
