Solar near Airports [RE-wrenches]

[Michael Welch]

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Hi Ray. Two years ago, this was discussed on-list with the end result being ... well see for yourself. 

Kent Sheldon (now at SMA) had this to say on the list:

>I helped install 90kW of PV for a hybrid system on the Navy's San
>Clemente Island naval bombing range. They were worried the glare and
>heat signature would attract infra-red guided weapons. Not to date, but
>the Marines managed to blow up part of the array with a little too much
>C4 a little too close.
>
>I've also commissioned large (20-100kW) PV sites on or quite near
>runways at Ascension Island (US Air Force), Las Vegas Airport, Coronado
>Island (Navy) and Glendale - AZ Municipal. I'm sure there were others.
>Never heard of a single complaint from a pilot. Although, I did hear the
>commercial pilots were complaining about the glare from the Luxor hotel
>in Vegas. Last time I checked, it was still there.

Back then, Joel Davidson responded to Mo Rousso:

>Foes of Solar will make up any excuse not to use PV. Marines at Miramar
>Air Base did not want PV because someone there thought glare from the PV
>modules would bother pilots. On the other hand, the Navy at San Diego
>asked about glare from PV modules and was told that glare has never been a
>problem with airplanes. Every day, Navy planes fly over the 90,000 sq ft
>of PV being installed at the San Diego North Island Naval Base.
>
>mrousso at urbanrefuge.com wrote:
>
>> The other important part of this equation also needs
>> to be addressed:  the education of personnel
>> responsible for code conformance and enforcement.  It
>> is extremely frustrating to submit a solid design and
>> then have a bureaucrat tell you that he doesn't know a
>> thing about PV, but he wants to hold hearings and
>> compile evidence that "PV is not a hazard to airplanes
>> flying over." (actual quote!).
>>
>> Done for now...
>> Mo

Then finally, Mo said:

>I ended up going around the bureaucrat in question and
>met with the big cheese.  He was much more reasonable
>and we ended up getting our permit.  However, this
>necessitated a number of 100 mi round trips to
>finalize.  As they say, "fight the good fight!"
>
>Mo


Ray Walters wrote at 03:01 PM 07/15/2004:
  
>        Hi All;
>
>I am looking at a PV installation (may include Hot water panels too) that is almost directly in the flight path of our local Airport. We are about 1000 ft from the end of the runway. It is a municipal airport with some daily commuter flights in a twin engine turboprop. There is some private lear jet usage too. No large commercial airlines though.
>We've gotten some word on height restrictions, that doesn't look to be a problem. We're actually about 300 ft to one side of the actual flight path. The concern being raised is glare blinding the pilots. Aren't the latest modules much better at reduced reflection? (better coatings and less white wasted area) Are there actual regulations on the books, or are we just trying to keep people happy? Would tracking make it better or worse?  Should we consider less tilt, or blinders to the side of the modules (lattice work), etc. or should I run screaming from this one?
>
>Thanks all before hand for your cherished wisdom,
>
>Ray Walters
>ray at solarray.com
>President, SolarRay, Inc.
>NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer
>BS Mechanical Engineering, UT Austin 88
>Returned US Peace Corps Volunteer 
>Your free subscription is supported by today's sponsor:

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