[RE-wrenches] Strategies for hurricane resistant solar arrays?

[Benn Kilburn]

Here is are a couple bare bones suggestion...tweak as needed...

I would avoid permanently closing in the back of the array in any way as it will increase heat build up and reduce efficiency. Have some pre cut materials, ready to go, stashed on the roof that could be attached in short time only when needed. 

If the glass is being "sucked out" the front of the frame and the racks and mod frames themselves are proving to be strong then maybe adjust your rack mounting strategy so the number of mods in a row is reduced so that, when hurricanes are forecasted, you can clamp down to the frame or rack (or otherwise attach) a length (or two) of 2" angle aluminum/steel or other suitable material across the front of the mods. The strength of the material would determine how many mods wide it could span. 
Line the back of the "hurricane bar" with carpet or other suitable material so not to scratch the glass. 


Benn Kilburn
SkyFire Energy Inc. 
780-906-7807

> On Oct 13, 2016, at 4:20 PM, Darren Anderson <darren at self.org> wrote:
> 
> In light of Hurricane Matthew and the loss of some of our PV systems on South Coast of Haiti (despite being designed for 120 - 150mph winds), I’d be interested to hear of any strategies being used for making hurricane-resistant solar arrays. The maximum wind speed that most commercially available racking systems seem to provide is 130 – 150mph, but in many cases it seems the racking survives okay anyway while the glass is blown right out of the module frames. 
> 
> Are there any modules rated for higher than 2400 Pascals of wind loading (which seems to be the norm)? I recall seeing a Mitsubishi module a few years back that had an additional frame member running across the back of the module. Would that provide extra wind load protection?
> 
> Would using small solar modules with less surface area be a useful strategy? (We typically use standard 60-cell modules.)
> 
> Can some sort of wind break or shield be designed into the frame to take the wind load off the solar modules themselves? (Many of our systems are on tilt-frames on flat concrete roofs so that back of the array is exposed.)
> 
> Any thoughts/advice/experience in this area would be much appreciated. Thanks. 
> _______________________
> Darren Anderson | Project Manager
> Solar Electric Light Fund | www.SELF.org
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