The Most Challenging Solar Installation I Ever Did

(trigger warning for solar nerds – this story has a very sad ending)

Finn asked me to write a post on the worst solar installation I ever had to do. The worst? Ah, let me count the ways I could interpret that… this could become a series.

To pick one that comes to mind, I need to set a scene:

A fairly substantial 1930’s(?) bungalow on the main road of a prominent well-to-do suburb. Broad verandahs, detailed eaves and timber fretwork made this place quite pretty. It must have been expensive to build and had recently been given much more expensive reconfiguration as an up-to-date childcare centre.

The brittle terracotta tiles, complex roofline, three orientations, chimneys, exhaust fans and blithe solar panel placement (x 109 modules) by the satellite-enabled and visually-challenged sales consultant meant this was always going to be an arse to complete.

I was most heavily involved in wiring the two inverters via a dozen or more conduits through the roof, and getting 10 pairs of DC cables marshalled together …

.. while also running two AC feeds and putting everything down the wall cavity away from prying little fingers.

The Whole. Job. Was. A. Mission.

However, it was a successful mission. It gave the team something to curse about, a yardstick for madness, a reason to punish the sales staff so they would buy pies and drinks, and it offered a sense of achievement.

The Worst Thing About This Solar Installation

Well, the street view camera didn’t quite catch us in the act, but we were there in July 2019.

Fast forward 13 months and the next available image in August 2020 doesn’t show any solar panels on the roof. Even weirder, there was a temporary fence and a 20-ton excavator.

And by December 2020, the entire place had been erased.

At the time of writing, this is the most recent aerial photograph available:

So $98 million later, we have a bigger intersection for more snarling traffic (as promoted by a dude who can’t even afford a tie or kerning on his website) and a big patch of dirt.

While the former government wasn’t sharp enough to understand induced demand, at least the current office holders, renewable champions that they are, will use the freshly cleared urban space for a new ambulance station.

Hopefully, that will have a better roof for solar panels.

Original Source: https://www.solarquotes.com.au/blog/challenging-solar-installation/