Chimney For Woodstove With Catalytic Combustor Next To Solar Panels

[Ravenvalor]

Hello,

Would it be impractical to put solar panels 2' away from a woodstove chimney? This is a woodstove that has a catalytic combustor. Which means that most of the time it burns the smoke as well as the wood. I called the manufacturer of the woodstove and they were concerned about the ashes from the stove landing on the panels and blocking the sunlight. I am concerned about hot sparks falling on the panels as well. I considered installing 2 - wire mesh spark arrestors at the chimney exit, one to catch the sparks and a second to catch sparks that might slip by the first one. This is the only spot on the entire property where panels can be installed.

Thanks for all the great advice.

 

[jaggedben]

'Impractical' is an interesting word to parse the meaning of in this situation. I guess I'd say that while it's clearly not ideal, I don't see a reason not to go ahead with it as you've described. It might be prudent to add a 'critter guard' around the array in this case as well, since I'd be far more concerned about sparks getting blown underneath the panels than landing on the glass on top.

 

[Ravenvalor]

'Impractical' is an interesting word to parse the meaning of in this situation. I guess I'd say that while it's clearly not ideal, I don't see a reason not to go ahead with it as you've described. It might be prudent to add a 'critter guard' around the array in this case as well, since I'd be far more concerned about sparks getting blown underneath the panels than landing on the glass on top.

This is a relief to know.
It wouldn't be impractical to clean the ash film off of the modules every spring either.
Thanks......

 

[GoldDigger]

Presumably the chimney is a triple wall air insulated unit where it passes through the roof, and maybe all the way up to the cap.
If not, given that the flue gas temperature is necessarily quite high with a catalytic unit I might be concerned about thermal heating of the adjacent panel.
Hopefully you have looked carefully at the potential shading of cells of the panel by the chimney at different times of day and seasons?
2" is very close to the panel for any vertical component rising (probably quite high) above the panel.

 

[don_resqcapt19]

As a former firefighter I would want to see a lot more room around the chimney because if there is a chimney fire I will want to be able to open the roof around the chimney, but unless there is a building code rule, and some building codes do address firefighter roof venting space, you can install it as close as you like.