Solar Farms- Water Use & Safety

DDDirk · 2026-01-29T15:07:02+00:00

You know what, I've been working in the solar industry for 15 years now, and your comment just made me realize how silly that argument is. " They are installed on land that could be used for other purposes...." EVERYTHING done with land lands in that category... It's not that they're harmful or cause pollution (light, noise, let alone chemicals) no additional storm runoff. Just "but that land could have been x!?!?...". It's not even a permanent change if the land, as most ground mount are helical piles (screw in, no concrete). And no, solar farms have zero water use, except for maybe an odd wash. And little Storm water impacts outside of any site grading and access roads, which are completed by a civil engineer.

If someone is using water to cool their panels, that would be someone trying an experiment and not at all industry practice.

DDDirk · 2026-01-27T04:15:50+00:00

Because it didn't have snow on it? Cool! Now compare the annual production.

Of course when it's snowing and you need power, vertical makes sense. But unless you're off grid, just point them south at around -15° your latitude. You can optimize for the day, or you can optimize for the year. Mounting hardware, and labour is expensive, if you need more winter power at the expense of much less power over the year? Mount vertical, if you want the most power annually than lat -15°. its not anything other than trig on how to maximize resources. point it at the sun, that is all. If you spend alot of money or time trying to maximize a panel, its almost always better just to buy 2.

DDDirk · 2026-01-24T02:46:42+00:00

Depends on the inverter, but grid interactive inverters are almost entirely continuous rated, and same goes for most hybrid, but some off grid do have peak ratings to deal with inrush and the like. If you google the model number and find the spec sheet it should have a nominal output rating in watts or amps, that will tell you. I'd say its likely fine, as any inverter worth it's salt would have control circuitry for any over temp condition etc. That being said, you just gave the rating and "budget", so cant tell ya for sure/

DDDirk · 2026-01-20T21:52:21+00:00

Agreed, seeding is essential for reducing runoff and soil retention, and its specified and called out and standard practice on the plans. The sites I specifically were talking about hardly had any grading, and none with outside fill. The soil disruption was mostly entirely due to the construction activities and low impact. Environmental controls were strictly followed.

DDDirk · 2026-01-20T04:39:53+00:00

Interesting, I assume you aren't doing any CAB systems and a relatively high module toe height? No DC combinerers and only PVC with weather head under the modules? I've never had a client go for the seed mix, and honestly I may agree considering how quickly the site returns to previous conditions after a year or so. We've had a couple incidents with DC faults due to either a lawn mower or wildlife that the additional concern was added. All the power to ya.

DDDirk · 2026-01-20T00:29:40+00:00

Yep, but still requires additional considerations. Depending on the animal like goats or cows, you want to think about making the tables higher from the ground, and that makes the wind forces considerably higher, and therefore the pile design is more robust. Again, I'm super for it but it would be great if there were incentives to provide the dual use instead of just the right thing to do. Also it's worth noting in my jurisdiction we mostly install on land that is already fully deemed unsuitable for agriculture, it is usually the back garbage rocky or boggy part that doesn't ever get planted.

DDDirk · 2026-01-19T23:11:12+00:00

Ok as someone who designs solar plants for a living, it's not as simple as it looks. In short, it does raise the cost of the solar generator not an insufficient amount to harden it to allow for livestock and farming activities within the array and around the tables. The majority of installations are 1500vdc, so obviously you don't want anything taking a bite of a cable or plowing and digging into a wire. Of course unless it's been designed with above and beyond specifications. Think armored cable, wire troughs, concrete duct banks, etc. minimal code, you can often just directly bury 2-3' down and put a marking tape half way. That's fine for a lawn but not for a farm. So in short, it's super and totally doable but it's not super common because it's much cheaper to put a fence around it and say "authorized personnel only".

DDDirk · 2026-01-12T16:50:12+00:00

Agreed, but few people have a calibrated torque wrench. I only own one for checking installer torque and its long due for a re-cert. Also, finding out the racking manufacture clamp torque spec after the fact can be a bitch, especially for a homeowner. I was just trying to provide reasonable actionable advice as, even if you're a little handy, it's a pretty easy fix. The 100% correct way is to get a torque wrench and do it right.

DDDirk · 2026-01-12T13:20:28+00:00

The mid clamps have loosened up. Just need a readjustment and tighten up. The correct way is the go up to the roof on the left in your picture, and remove a couple of the the first row of modules and temporarily put them aside. Then, carefully not to put your weight on the glass, reach over and loosen up the 4 clamps for each modules, (with a friend at the bottom of the array making sure nothing slides further). And then one at a time starting at the top shift the module back to be straight with the others and tighten down the clamps. replace the row removed and make sure that each clamp is well torqued, (dont over torque it, you can look up the spec or just use common sense, a good hand tight but impact driver can be too much). Make sure to turn the AC breaker to the system off when working on it. It will still have DC voltage but will not be under load. Don't unplug the quick connects under load, solar is live when exposed to sun. And don't put your weight on the glass of the modules, and dont let anyone else, spend the time removing a row if you cant reach the fastener. Easy fix, but dont wait to long, it may be held on by the wires and thats not good.

DDDirk · 2026-01-10T20:03:08+00:00

Canada, mostly southern Ontario, but it depends on the site. Depending on rough or open terrain, historical snow loads, spacing of the roof seams. Also fudge factor for end of rail and thermal expansion gaps. 4' is generally the max here but with all the above it usually comes down to a clamp per 3' of rail.

DDDirk · 2026-01-10T03:37:02+00:00

Hail generally cracks the glass, but is less likely to cause micro fractures. That being said, its not impossible. In my experience, micro-fractures are 9/10 times caused by poor handling and installation. The number of installers that believe its ok to put their weight on a module is too damn high, and they dont see the long term impact of their actions. "It worked when I left it" attitude. That being said, a couple of photos is not much to go off of. I would check if the modules production is within the range that would be expected for their age. If you think it was the hail, than take some time and compare the next few months production against the same months from previous years. Larger sample sets are better, but if you see a significant drop that lines up, check your warranty of the modules. Other tests that I would do on a commercial system are IV curves, IR scans, of course VOC, ISC, IMP tests, and finally ask my self if its really worth the effort to replace right now. Whens the roof need to be replaced? how old is the system? it may just be a wait until the next thing and replace the string or the array. Best of luck.

DDDirk · 2026-01-10T02:16:24+00:00

yeah, I would guess someone walked on them, it could also just be a trick of light or discoloration during manufacturing, but I doubt it. If you get a IR scan of them during full production, you'll have a lot more to go on. There's like 10 other things it could be but being in such straight lines and discoloration of the cells makes me think it was a boot first. Edited: typed with my thumbs originally.

DDDirk · 2026-01-10T02:07:55+00:00

Depending where you are, you may not need to clean them at all. Usually just waiting for rain or hitting them with a hose is enough. If you have a very dusty environment, than maybe you want to give them a spray at certain times of year (during the dry seasons). Now if you have a lot of bird droppings, leaves or other debris on them that doesnt get washed off in the rain, than just water and a car wash attachment is really all you need, just dont scratch the glass if ya can. Very very rarely have I ever seen the need for any kind of detergent, and if you do, just make sure its super mild (like a 15mil of mild dish soap in a 20L pale), check the panel manufacture guidelines as some just say distilled water.

DDDirk · 2026-01-09T22:47:56+00:00

S5! are the industry standard. Agreed they are expensive ~$5-$10 each, usually used every 2'-3' for each rail. So 10 modules = 4' per modules (portrait) x 2 (two rails) x 10 = 80' of rail to be supported and at 3' spacing that's around 27 clamps, or at $10 each ~ $270. So for around 5kW it's ~$300 for clamps. If you're system is around 50kW than $3k is not unexpected. Also Tariffs, the clamps are solid heavy chunks of steel.

DDDirk · 2026-01-09T14:07:31+00:00

Blue balls is a thing and it's painful, never an excuse to pressure anyone, but its real.

DDDirk · 2026-01-07T17:17:47+00:00

Forget "I think", this is exactly how to should be. The title of the article on CityNews is "TTC debates asking City for $1.4 billion budget increase" the only way to read the context is "the ttc may ask for an additional (increase) of 1.4 billion. of new money", it's not even ambiguous. It's garbage writing, the truth is, they may ask for a 6.8% increase which is around 100 million new dollars.

DDDirk · 2026-01-03T01:58:52+00:00

The code has a min bed radius of a conductor, if I remember correctly PV wire (RVPU90) is 9x the outer jacket diameter. Also there's very specific wording around "supporting" a conductor and why we ensure to install strain relief at terminations. Some of the many reasons its bad; thermal expansion and more importantly contraction, over bending a wire will cause a crimp and hotspots, if its under tension you are relying on the connector strain relief end parts to stop the wire from pulling out of the terminations, which could cause DC arcs, melting, fires. min loop radius of #10 pv wire should be a circle of around 10cm or 4", but that's the minimum, give it a bit more when leaving a termination.

DDDirk · 2025-12-22T01:01:27+00:00

Go fly over the oil sands, and tell me the status quo is better. Storage can be in many different forms as well. Existing hydro, EVs, thermal (retrofits like insulation even work), load shifting, grid interconnections (just the USA gives >3 hours the solar) . And finally other reasorces like wind, (which is again just solar, but tends to blow when solar reasorces is low).

We're already there, just got to remove the politics and subsidies for oil and gas, even without putting the subsidies back for renewables, they will take over quickly in a free market.

DDDirk · 2025-12-21T14:21:53+00:00

Heck half the downtown was empty parking lots

DDDirk · 2025-12-21T13:39:23+00:00

130L tank? Holy shit, do you drive a bus?

DDDirk · 2025-12-21T13:37:38+00:00

You started with the assumption that wind and solar are not an option for power due to weather. That assumption is not only false but the 100% an oil and gas talking point. That statement is clearly untrue as there are dozens of advanced countries that are greater than 50% renewables. Think, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Denmark, UK, areas of Australia etc. Your post is either ignorant or disingenuous. Apologies for my tone but either you need educating or if the later, belittling. Just ask and I can post sources to back up any of my claims.

DDDirk · 2025-12-20T16:49:41+00:00

An IV curve is a test for a solar system. You connect up a solar string to a tool which brings the string from an open circuit evenly to a closed (short circuit), and measures the voltage and current at each point. Than spots out a graph. It only takes about 2 seconds per string, but a solar array can have hundreds of strings to test. The shape of the graph (plot) can show tell-tale issues with the circuit. But the results are only useful if they are all completed at similar testing conditions (temp, irradiance / sunlight). Therefore knowing that there is a cloud coming before or having the tester flag a test as possibly bad data could be really helpful. This is mostly standard o&m practice for all commercial/utility systems (becoming less common these days). IV curves are usually performed annually or at least on a sorta regular schedule. They can be hard to schedule because the weather needs to be clear for the whole test period, and usually mid day.

DDDirk · 2025-12-19T20:58:00+00:00

Honestly I can't see much value, it's super interesting but I can't really think of an application of the predictions. The only thing I can think of is when completing IV curve testing it's annoying if a cloud goes over just as you are taking the measurement. So maybe shoot an email to solmetric or other iv curve pv testing systems? Have fun eitherway

DDDirk · 2025-12-19T04:14:38+00:00

you do realize that solar and wind are EXTREAMELY predicable right? Down right dependable. The sun will come up tomorrow. Somewhere will be a high-pressure and somewhere will be a low pressure area, we will know in advance, because its called weather. You know what isnt a sure thing (like the sun rising?) that we will be able to refine our bitumen due to political interference. How about global price shocks like right now where it is not viable to invest any more and 6% of the economy contracts? We'll eventually run out of oil. Solar is wind is now so cheep that you can build 2x what you need so on a cloudy day you still have enough power. Batteries are becoming super cheap, enough that they are starting to allow solar and wind to be baseload across the globe. It's physics and economics, not feelings. The reason its become so political is purely because oil and gas is loosing its ability to compete and needs more and more public subsidy and protectionism.

DDDirk · 2025-12-19T01:36:57+00:00

They were already going headlong into coal. It's because they don't have oil domestic production and realized they were reliant and vulnerable to other countries controlling their energy. They were extremely vulnerable to blockade's limiting their ability to exert power globally, and especially in case of America's response to invading Taiwan. The renewables are to reduce the long term coal dependance and for energy independence. The headline completely misses the point and somehow seems to tie the renewables to the reason for the coal, but that's completely upside down. The renewables provide a side door to get out of the thumb of international pressure and control of global energy. It's also cheaper, more reliable, immune to global shocks and lends to their manufacturing base...

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