Solar panel protection

oil pan 4
oil pan 4 Solar Expert Posts: 767 ✭✭✭✭

Where I live we get hail and lightning. By hail I don't mean nickel and pea sized stuff the east coast sees once a decade. Nickel and pea size is a non event here unless its falls in amounts that get measured in inches. Golf ball size hail has fallen on my address twice in 4 years and a line of soft ball size hail some how missed me by maybe 100 yards, it ruined houses in the nice part of town.

I hear lightning and hail are bad for solar panels as they are for most things.

What if I were to just put a grounded grid of something like chicken wire in a frame under slight tension suspended maybe a foot above the panels.

If it gets hit by lighning and vaporizes a 1 foot hole in the wire or base ball size hail beats the chicken wire beyond recognition I would be out like $19. 

It wouldn't even have to totally stop the hail, just slow it down. Totally stopping the hail or catching it would be a real bad idea, we had one storm dump 3 inches of marble and nickel sized hail in one go.

I am going to guess even the cheap panels with 3mm tempered glass could easily shrug off marble size hail?

Even if the glass does not shatter the panels getting pummeled with golf ball size hail cant be doing the solar cells contained within any favors.

Solar hybrid gasoline generator, 7kw gas, 180 watts of solar, Morningstar 15 amp MPPT, group 31 AGM, 900 watt kisae inverter.

Solar roof top GMC suburban, a normal 3/4 ton suburban with 180 watts of panels on the roof and 10 amp genasun MPPT, 2000w samlex pure sine wave inverter, 12v gast and ARB air compressors.

Comments

  • mike95490
    mike95490 Solar Expert Posts: 9,583 ✭✭✭✭✭
    A couple of tall metal (grounded) flagpoles will work as lightning rods (look up Rolling Sphere Model)

    But hail is going to be tough.  Maybe a steeper angle, to deflect it a bit more, but then if there is wind, it may be at the "wrong" angle, Call your insurance company and order Full Coverage ?
    Powerfab top of pole PV mount | Listeroid 6/1 w/st5 gen head | XW6048 inverter/chgr | Iota 48V/15A charger | Morningstar 60A MPPT | 48V, 800A NiFe Battery (in series)| 15, Evergreen 205w "12V" PV array on pole | Midnight ePanel | Grundfos 10 SO5-9 with 3 wire Franklin Electric motor (1/2hp 240V 1ph ) on a timer for 3 hr noontime run - Runs off PV ||
    || Midnight Classic 200 | 10, Evergreen 200w in a 160VOC array ||
    || VEC1093 12V Charger | Maha C401 aa/aaa Charger | SureSine | Sunsaver MPPT 15A

    solar: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Solar
    gen: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Lister ,

  • zoneblue
    zoneblue Solar Expert Posts: 1,220 ✭✭✭✭
    we get golf balls here too. as a rule panels are guaranteed for 25mm hail at 25m/s. they are suprisingly strong.
    1.8kWp CSUN, 10kWh AGM, Midnite Classic 150, Outback VFX3024E,
    http://zoneblue.org/cms/page.php?view=off-grid-solar


  • Photowhit
    Photowhit Solar Expert Posts: 6,002 ✭✭✭✭✭

    1 1/2" hail at least, panels did fine, car looks like a golf ball, still does...

    Hail did come in at a glancing angle, but took out many car windows, that were not so lucky.

    Home system 4000 watt (Evergreen) array standing, with 2 Midnite Classic Lites,  Midnite E-panel, Magnum MS4024, Prosine 1800(now backup) and Exeltech 1100(former backup...lol), 660 ah 24v Forklift battery(now 10 years old). Off grid for 20 years (if I include 8 months on a bicycle).
    - Assorted other systems, pieces and to many panels in the closet to not do more projects.