Solar near Airports [RE-wrenches]

Dean T. Newberry deant at dcn.org
Mon Jul 19 10:14:07 PDT 2004


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Hi y'All,
This is probably way off the subject, but.....an attorney friend 
recently got a case where a small plane on approach to San Jose CA 
airport inexplicably diverted into a hill nearby. He has PV on his house 
and business, and we discussed the RFI problem when designing his 
system. Inverter interference is not considered a possible cause in ths 
San Jose incident at this time, however we need to insure that PV is 
never considered a cause in these kinds of situations.

cul  Dean T. Newberry

Bill Brooks wrote:

> 
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>
>John and Wrenches:
>
>I completely agree that defining a reasonable standard for conducted and
>radiated frequencies is absolutely essential. We have two incomplete
>documents that we are trying to use to address this problem and neither is
>all that great as far as I can see. IEEE 519 just says that stuff above the
>35th harmonic has to be .0squat and the FCC regulates the radio frequencies.
>The FCC are very important so I am not going to argue that point.
>
>The biggest problem, however, tends to be the switching frequency of the
>inverter, and that is currently not being dealt with in any reasonable
>fashion.
>
>Bill.
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: John Berdner [mailto:jberdner at sma-america.com]
>Sent: Friday, July 16, 2004 4:17 PM
>To: RE-wrenches at topica.com
>Subject: Re: Solar near Airports [RE-wrenches]
>
>Wrenches:
>
>I reiterate my concerns about siting any inverter close to an airport.
>This is especially true if the inverter lacks FCC approval (ask your
>manufacturer for a copy of the certificate of compliance if you are not
>sure).
>Many in our industry have said that FCC compliance is not required for
>PV inverters.
>After spending quite a bit of money for legal advice on the subject,
>including getting an opinion letter directly from FCC, I am convinced
>FCC is required.
>
>
>The "how close is too close" question is irrelevant here.
>This way of thinking is a roll of the dice and nothing more.
>You might as well ask how much risk you are willing to accept.
>
>If there is a problem with interference then the FAA will file a
>compliant with FCC.
>Then FCC will investigate and, if they find a problem, they can require
>you to cease operation.
>After that they can demand a certificate of compliance before you are
>allowed to resume operation.
>The certificate of compliance will be very expensive at best or perhaps
>impossible to get in the field,
>At this point your customer might be a little PO'ed since their really
>expensive PV system can't be turned back on.
>Make sure the inverter you use has FCC approval in the first place to
>avoid this problem.
>You might still have to make some corrective actions but you will not
>have to come up with a certificate of compliance since the manufacturer
>will already have one.
>
>Best REgards,
>
>John Berdner
>
>
>
>
>  
>
>>>>ray at solarray.com 7/16/2004 10:51:37 AM >>>
>>>>        
>>>>
>
>
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>Hi All;
>
>Thanks for the great responses. I am now considering Watt-sun trackers,
>
>since the direct reflection would be straight into the shadow of the
>aircraft as Randy noted.
>
>The concern I have is John Berdner's comment about radio interference.
>How
>close is too close? The aircraft are about 300 ft off the ground as
>they
>pass over the site, and about 200 to 300 ft to the side or 400 ft from
>the
>aircraft. The inverter would be inside a metal building, and I could
>install additional shielding if I knew what to put in.
>My Dad is a solar engineer and private pilot also, so you better
>believe I
>want to do this right.
>
>Ray
>
>  
>
>>,
>>This same concern came up a while back -I copied and pasted some of
>>    
>>
>the
>  
>
>>traffic below. Of course, the comments are in reverse chronological
>>    
>>
>order. A
>  
>
>>couple of other issues of interest are brought up, too. I think the
>>    
>>
>argument
>  
>
>>that solar modules/collectors are designed to absorb light, and
>>    
>>
>generally
>  
>
>>have anti-reflective surfaces, should carry some credence. Hey, if
>>    
>>
>"solar"
>  
>
>>Taos can't get around this...
>>
>>Dan Rice
>>Abundant Sun, LLC.
>>Escalante, UT
>>
>>Unfortunately, there is a real issue here that has not been
>>    
>>
>discussed.
>  
>
>>The large inverters out there being considered for such projects
>>typically do not meet the FCC requirements for radiated or conducted
>>emissions. These babies are radio stations radiating across a wide
>>spectrum of frequencies. This is most certainly a violation of
>>    
>>
>Federal
>  
>
>>requirements and could very well represent a real "hazard to aerial
>>navigation". The guy who designed these inverters is a friend of
>>    
>>
>mine,
>  
>
>>a pilot, and he agrees.
>>
>>IMHO, installation of one of these systems in
>>close proximity to an airport demonstrates some pretty questionable
>>judgment.
>>
>>John Berdner
>>
>>SMA America, Inc.
>>    
>>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>--
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