Hurricane Ian solar panel damage

[Davebones]

Know a lot of damage was from Ian water surge . Has anyone seen how solar panels did in the high winds ?

 

[ptonsparky]

One of the 'solar communities' that was developed in the last few years is still totally functional. It is just a few miles from Fort Meyers (?).
The roads were designed to flood and drain, not the homes. Imagine that. All utilities underground.

High end construction, not the manufactured housing that seems to be so prevalent in Florida.

 

[gadfly56]

One of the 'solar communities' that was developed in the last few years is still totally functional. It is just a few miles from Fort Meyers (?).
The roads were designed to flood and drain, not the homes. Imagine that. All utilities underground.

High end construction, not the manufactured housing that seems to be so prevalent in Florida.

Do they have some sort of public dashboard that clocks their power output? Or are you just commenting on non-solar infrastructure?

I wonder how PR did. Is caribconsultant in the house?

 

[caribconsult]

Do they have some sort of public dashboard that clocks their power output? Or are you just commenting on non-solar infrastructure?

I wonder how PR did. Is caribconsultant in the house?

I'm here, gad. We still don't have grid power at our house from Fiona and that was like three weeks ago, I think. They're just dogpoop slow and understaffed. There was a big turnover when PREPA (Puerto Rico Power Authrity) sold off the distribution and billing to LUMA, whoever the hell they are, and lots of line workers got laid off, some got rehired but they are way short of linemen. There were scads of linesman's bucket trucks here for months after María, but now their all gone wheh we sure could use them. And personell. While we have staggering unemployment here, they can't or won't get enough staff. There's massive line damage, poles blown down, lines in the streets, traffic lights work some places and not others, so you have to be extra careful driving. But stores are open, food is available, so is gas/diesel, the airports are open, life is going on. We hear all kinds of rumors about this guy took this or that guy didn't do that, or some other guys stole all the FEMA money they didn't use, and after a while you don't know what to believe except the power co is horrible and you need to have your own. . I saw some trucks working on a main road today but they quite a ways from our road. I'd say maybe in two more weeks we might have grid, but our Tesla has been working great if there's enough sun. We've actually had several days in a row of cloudy rainy afternoon and so our solar harvest was way down, and we wound up using our gen for a couple of hours, to preserve what battery we had, then switched back to the Tesla at night so it was quiet again. And prayed for sun the next day. So far, we've had to use the gen not even an oil change's worth, which it will get when the grid returns. I don't think it needs a valve adjustment yet. We've learned how to deal with the situation here instead of just bellyaching about it, as some do.

 

[caribconsult]

I wonder how PR did. Is caribconsultant in the house?

Just to finish my thought here, more and more people here are getting solar in some way shape or form, there is a flood of new vendors and some of the feedback I hear regarding many of these noobies is not good, they just want to sell it to you, finance and sell the loan to some bank, which gives a rat''s patooty about your solar system, and I think some people get shafted, often because they don't do any research at all, just plunge in and accept what's put in front of them, no questions asked because they don't know diddly about solar and so they can't make an intelligent question.

 

[caribconsult]

Oh! I think the original topic here was storm damage to panels. We had one serious storm this season so far, winds up to about 85mph, and no damage to panels at all. Lots of rain, wind, probably some stuff flying through the air, but no panel damage. We added a rider to our house storm/earthquake insurance coverage, which we have to have for our mortgage loan, for the panels

 

[analog8484]

One of the 'solar communities' that was developed in the last few years is still totally functional. It is just a few miles from Fort Meyers (?).
The roads were designed to flood and drain, not the homes. Imagine that. All utilities underground.

High end construction, not the manufactured housing that seems to be so prevalent in Florida.

If you are talking about Babcock Ranch then it's 30-40 miles from the ocean. It survived Ian very well but I doubt such communities would do nearly as well if they were much closer to the ocean. Perhaps it's a good model for regional storm shelter centers that people along the coast can quickly evacuate to on short notice instead of clogging up the highways.

 

[ptonsparky]

If you are talking about Babcock Ranch then it's 30-40 miles from the ocean. It survived Ian very well but I doubt such communities would do nearly as well if they were much closer to the ocean. Perhaps it's a good model for regional storm shelter centers that people along the coast can quickly evacuate to on short notice instead of clogging up the highways.

Yes, BR.

 

[caribconsult]

Our situation is a bit different than Florida. First of all, we have mountains and hills and terrain, something Florida lacks. So rainfall here naturally flows towards the creeks and rivers, which often overflow their banks and create lakes all around, trees topple blocking roads, making many roads impassable. Not a lot can be done about that, the government has no concept of controlling the flow via dredging, dams, etc. But there is serious development all along the coastline, because that's where many want to live, like Florida, with views of the ocean and nice breezes. Unfortunately for them, there's really no serious storm drainage or sewer system to carry off all this water from the rain, and the water draining down the hill. So flooding is worse...since they are almost down to sea level, there's no way for the water to run off except really slowly. So that inhibits repair crews and we wind up stuck in a gridlock of flooding, vulnerable grid gear, and governmental corruption and inaction. We were granted almost 100 million in FEMA money for relief after María, that was 5 years ago, and most of that money never got spent. Where is it? Probably in the pockets of a few politicians.

 

[Phil Timmons]

Our situation is a bit different than Florida. First of all, we have mountains and hills and terrain, something Florida lacks. So rainfall here naturally flows towards the creeks and rivers, which often overflow their banks and create lakes all around, trees topple blocking roads, making many roads impassable. Not a lot can be done about that, the government has no concept of controlling the flow via dredging, dams, etc. But there is serious development all along the coastline, because that's where many want to live, like Florida, with views of the ocean and nice breezes. Unfortunately for them, there's really no serious storm drainage or sewer system to carry off all this water from the rain, and the water draining down the hill. So flooding is worse...since they are almost down to sea level, there's no way for the water to run off except really slowly. So that inhibits repair crews and we wind up stuck in a gridlock of flooding, vulnerable grid gear, and governmental corruption and inaction. We were granted almost 100 million in FEMA money for relief after María, that was 5 years ago, and most of that money never got spent. Where is it? Probably in the pockets of a few politicians.

Thanks for the update. Curious question -- more Civil Engineering than Electrical -- at least to start . . . There MUST already be detailed topographic modeling and maps of the entire area? From that one could tell exactly where any given area will flood -- how much, what level, when and where -- on and on . . . . right?

 

[caribconsult]

To address your question, yes there are detailed topographic maps and models of the whole island, have been for many years, but the key is no one pays any attention to them, or there's no money (left) to do any work on any of this, or it's God's will, or make up any BS excuse you can think of and it probably applies. Simple things like dredging out the garbage-filled reservoirs would increase our water capacity significantly, yet we have droughts here on an island that gets plenty of rainfall and has lots of underground water sources, springs, etc. And no dredging of any significance has been done. We should NEVER experience drought but we have for pretty much the same reason we have massive floods...there's nothing sexy about draining a reservoir, or creating a run-off channel that blends with the terrain, or cleaning out an existing one, and so the local pols just ignore these issues and get their pictures in the news presiding over the opening of yet another shopping plaza, of which one of their friends or relatives likely has a big piece. That's the kind of wasted, non-functional, almost completely corrupt government we are saddled with and no one here sees anything resembling imminent change. Yes, there are protests frequently but you have to examine the quality of the candidates offered, and there's a lot of crook in there. An honest one would never be supported by either of the major parties, for fear he/she would screw up everyone else's little side deals. It's the reality of politics in PR. It's a self-perpetuating license to steal. Love it or leave it is the motto.

Our response is to have as little to do with it as possible. We no longer run a business here, we keep our important assets stateside, we have very adequate water reserves, a generator and the Tesla, so we always have water and power, something I can't say for many other people. Some just don't want the expense despite having to throw out expensive food and/or meds of even for a small generator, and solar is basically beyond the reach of many price-wise, coupled with the plethora of new solar dealers here who know absolutely nothing about solar other than how to sell it, so many new solar users are having tech issues and getting little intelligent and capable help. But the weather, the friendliness of the people and the general charm of life in PR overcome many of these concerns. Feel free to ask more and more specific questions...I'm happy to reply.