solar panel interference??

[niceguy71]

hi Guys
I live in the middle of the woods.. perfect quiet spot.... lately every time I turn around my town is doing something in my quiet woods... making a water reservoir... filling in the quarry .... diverting the river going into the lake... clearing trees for more farm land....... and today I found out they will be putting 326 acres of solar panels about 1200 feet from my Base Station ... is that going to cause my base station CB interference?

 

[WSAC829]

Possibly. However the town/city/state will be purchasing high quality industrial panels and components. Not the cheap stuff the average Joe buys from Amazon or Harbor Freight. While there is a chance it could spew some RF and mess with your noise floor a bit, i’m almost certain you wont notice it. Only time will tell though.

On a side note, my GMRS repeater is solar powered and the panel and antenna are within 5 feet of my CB antenna/coax. No stray RF messing with my CB from it. Also, and i don’t know if it helps or not, but i have snap-on ferrite chokes on everything. All coax, all power cords, all jumpers, etc.

 

[prcguy]

The solar inverters are what make RFI and there are many brands and a couple of ways they do it. Older systems had panels feeding one large inverter closer to ground level and that seemed to be easier to tame RFI using ferrites. Newer systems have many inverters at the panels putting the noise makers outdoors and up high where the wiring can radiate further. You need to treat the input and output of each inverter to tame the noise and there might be newer models of inverters that are quieter than previous models.

From what I've seen the RFI is worse on lower bands like 80.40/20m and it may not be so bad at 27/28MHz. You won't know if its going to interfere until its built and operational. Applying ferrite chokes usually has to be done during construction as you need to run several to many turns of wire through the ferrites needing more wire slack. Just clamping on a few ferrites over the wires after its built does nothing at HF.

 

[slowmover]

Time to get the Amateur License? Have standing to complain. Was texting with my son just yesterday about the versatility of a mobile or portable all-mode HF transceiver. An EFHW at home and a possible antenna variety stored in vehicle fits his needs (past vehicle install).

K4OGO has a popular YouTube channel wherein he demonstrates many remote set-ups; emphasis on antennas. Your being close to the Cape Cod Shoreline would be apt. Don’t forego the possibility.

“ . . 326 acres of solar panels.”

Nothing sez, “stupid, crooked & irresponsible”, more loudly than green electrical generation. The eyesore windy-mills stalled out in West Texas are another example.

Wheatfield, Indiana Solar Farm Devastated by Severe Storm: Assessing the Aftermath

Energy News Beat - Wheatfield, Indiana Solar Farm Devastated by Severe Storm: Assessing the Aftermath Electrical Generation / Utilities

energynewsbeat.co

You might investigate how others build a case for RF interference, starting now. I’ve read long online accounts. What gear with what readings.

I’d expect more “infrastructure” to accompany it.

Even if one doesn’t need to make a formal complaint it’d be peace-of-mind to know the before & after effects, if any. Service to others to report findings on venues like this one.

At least it’s not a major wastewater treatment plant or landfill. Still stinks.

.

 

[RFI-EMI-GUY]

hi Guys
I live in the middle of the woods.. perfect quiet spot.... lately every time I turn around my town is doing something in my quiet woods... making a water reservoir... filling in the quarry .... diverting the river going into the lake... clearing trees for more farm land....... and today I found out they will be putting 326 acres of solar panels about 1200 feet from my Base Station ... is that going to cause my base station CB interference?

If it were me I would be proactive in letting them know you don't want any interference from their inverters. I would go see the City manager in person and followup with a letter.

 

[WSAC829]

Just clamping on a few ferrites over the wires after its built does nothing at HF.

Not entirely true. Before i added the snap-on ferrites i had an average S3-S5 noise floor (at night when DX was gone). I have a power substation 1/2 a block down the road and a bar with neon lights and a wifi juke box across the street. After installing them i’m down to S1-S3 noise floor. I also didn’t do just a few. My 135 feet of coax for the CB antenna has 6 ferrites attached. 3 at the base of antenna. 3 at backside of radio. 2 on power supply power cord. A 2 s-unit drop in noise is a significant improvement.

 

[prcguy]

Not entirely true. Before i added the snap-on ferrites i had an average S3-S5 noise floor (at night when DX was gone). I have a power substation 1/2 a block down the road and a bar with neon lights and a wifi juke box across the street. After installing them i’m down to S1-S3 noise floor. I also didn’t do just a few. My 135 feet of coax for the CB antenna has 6 ferrites attached. 3 at the base of antenna. 3 at backside of radio. 2 on power supply power cord. A 2 s-unit drop in noise is a significant improvement.

You clamped on a few of these without winding several turns through the center?

If so the typical 31mix snap on ferrite for HF might have about 100 ohms impedance at 14MHz and three might give you 300 ohms and very little effective choking, well under 10dB of attenuation. An effective choke would have several thousand ohms and 30dB attenuation of common mode currents. You can only get that by winding the proper number of turns though the right ferrite mix for the frequency range of interest and as an example an FT-240-31 ferrite toroid with about 9 turns of coax or power wire through it will achieve up to 30dB of isolation across several MHz and a good 20dB over a very broad range like 3-30MHz with the 30dB peak in the 10-15MHz range.

If you say any improvement you would be shocked at what a proper choke will do in eliminating common mode RF currents on coax or power wiring.

 

[WSAC829]

I’m sure some “proper” chokes would work wonders, but it’s winter here in the north. This was quick, easy, cheap, and actually made a noticeable difference. Well worth the $10 for a bag of 20.

 

[K6GBW]

Panels made today are highly unlikely to cause you a problem. I have panels on my roof for the last three years and no noise. My neighbor just put 20 panels on his roof and no noise. I DID get interference from a cheap Chinese LED porch light off of eBay though. That was tracked down and delt with.

 

[MUTNAV]

Time to get the Amateur License? Have standing to complain. Was texting with my son just yesterday about the versatility of a mobile or portable all-mode HF transceiver. An EFHW at home and a possible antenna variety stored in vehicle fits his needs (past vehicle install).

K4OGO has a popular YouTube channel wherein he demonstrates many remote set-ups; emphasis on antennas. Your being close to the Cape Cod Shoreline would be apt. Don’t forego the possibility.

“ . . 326 acres of solar panels.”

Nothing sez, “stupid, crooked & irresponsible”, more loudly than green electrical generation. The eyesore windy-mills stalled out in West Texas are another example.

Wheatfield, Indiana Solar Farm Devastated by Severe Storm: Assessing the Aftermath

Energy News Beat - Wheatfield, Indiana Solar Farm Devastated by Severe Storm: Assessing the Aftermath Electrical Generation / Utilities

energynewsbeat.co

You might investigate how others build a case for RF interference, starting now. I’ve read long online accounts. What gear with what readings.

I’d expect more “infrastructure” to accompany it.

Even if one doesn’t need to make a formal complaint it’d be peace-of-mind to know the before & after effects, if any. Service to others to report findings on venues like this one.

At least it’s not a major wastewater treatment plant or landfill. Still stinks.

.

Just a thought, you probably should also establish, as clearly as you can, a baseline noise level for the area.

 

[mmckenna]

is that going to cause my base station CB interference?

I can't speak for CB, but I've got 3 radio sites that are 100% solar powered. It's UHF analog, but has been running fine since 2016 or so.
Not uncommon to see solar powered radio sites, it just makes sense in remote locations.

Don't fall for the hype/scare tactics. The only way you are going to know if some portion of the solar farm is going to interfere with your system is to wait and see, and not take 'internet expert' advice.

If you do get interference, there may be steps you can take to address it.

 

[niceguy71]

I can't speak for CB, but I've got 3 radio sites that are 100% solar powered. It's UHF analog, but has been running fine since 2016 or so.
Not uncommon to see solar powered radio sites, it just makes sense in remote locations.

Don't fall for the hype/scare tactics. The only way you are going to know if some portion of the solar farm is going to interfere with your system is to wait and see, and not take 'internet expert' advice.

If you do get interference, there may be steps you can take to address it.

I'll cross my fingers that it doesn't bother my CB ...they said they will be building massive battery stations to store all the power.... I'm thinking life is going to be different.... 1200 feet away is actually pretty far away... I don't mind the solar...... and I don't mind it across the street from me.... but if it creates RF interference or makes me glow at night.... I'll have a problem...
if it does cause problems... I may have to hire "Ernest T. Bass" .... I guess all you young kids won't know who he is.... but trust me He'll take care of the solar panels if I ask him nicely.

 

[slowmover]

I'll cross my fingers that it doesn't bother my CB ...they said they will be building massive battery stations to store all the power.... I'm thinking life is going to be different.... 1200 feet away is actually pretty far away... I don't mind the solar...... and I don't mind it across the street from me.... but if it creates RF interference or makes me glow at night.... I'll have a problem...
if it does cause problems... I may have to hire "Ernest T. Bass" .... I guess all you young kids won't know who he is.... but trust me He'll take care of the solar panels if I ask him nicely.

Easement & Right-of-Way.
Eminent Domain bs can be expected if a later “new use” for a large property involves road width expansion and/or secondary entrances.

What happens in Texas with mineral rights (separate from land title) is a whole series of book chapters on what incursions landowners are legally bound to suffer.

.

 

[prcguy]

I'll cross my fingers that it doesn't bother my CB ...they said they will be building massive battery stations to store all the power.... I'm thinking life is going to be different.... 1200 feet away is actually pretty far away... I don't mind the solar...... and I don't mind it across the street from me.... but if it creates RF interference or makes me glow at night.... I'll have a problem...
if it does cause problems... I may have to hire "Ernest T. Bass" .... I guess all you young kids won't know who he is.... but trust me He'll take care of the solar panels if I ask him nicely.

If it turns out the interference is really bad you could sneak up to it and install a CW key to short out the panels then try for some broadband DX.

 

[MUTNAV]

If it turns out the interference is really bad you could sneak up to it and install a CW key to short out the panels then try for some broadband DX.

Although spark gaps were outlawed, I guess keying interference if it is low enough might be ok. If the interference is too much, then it becomes kind of a catch 22 (too much interference to use as a wide-band transmitter or not enough for an actionable complaint).

 

[EAFrizzle]

There's a 2000 acre solar farm less than 2 miles from me. I've never noticed any noise problems here at the house, so I went and parked on the road that goes through the middle of it. With a Xiegu G90 and a TinySA, I couldn't find any spurious signals, nor an increase in the noise floor.

I think you'll be safe from noise coming out of the farm. Any amount of energy being radiated as noise or a spur, is energy they can't sell. They'll probably be most ricky-tick on cleaning that loss up.

 

[mmckenna]

if it does cause problems... I may have to hire "Ernest T. Bass" .... I guess all you young kids won't know who he is.... but trust me He'll take care of the solar panels if I ask him nicely.

"Look at me, it's Ernest T."

I doubt you'll have issues.
If you do, FCC Part 15 might help, or not.

 

[niceguy71]

Easement & Right-of-Way.
Eminent Domain bs can be expected if a later “new use” for a large property involves road width expansion and/or secondary entrances.

What happens in Texas with mineral rights (separate from land title) is a whole series of book chapters on what incursions landowners are legally bound to suffer.

.

luckily none of that is happening..... the sites for the solar panels are all along the highways .. they are on the on and off ramps..... and the state either buys or rents the land from the people... so the people are making big money renting dirt pits..... old farm land..... cranberry bogs... plenty of land around, no worries about road width.