Free Power is great! But …

Blustery day

It was one of those windy nights we see in the fall. One where you hear those ‘extra’ noises outside; house creaks, things falling over, and other noises that make you want to pull the covers over your head and wait till morning. Living in the Cascade mountains at 3,000 feet, we get our share of wind in the fall and spring.

Morning came and the gusty wind continued. Tar paper on the chicken shed blew off, but that was no surprise, since the rolled asphalt roofing was not complete.

'Grounded' solar array

I ventured outside and found the solar panels and mounting frame were secure. I took the opportunity to snug up the cable adjusters for the tie downs. The 10′ x 10′ array can become a wing in high wind if not held down.

The wind was probably a steady 20-25 MPH with gusts up to 45 or 50 MPH. It had been like this for at least 20 hours straight. This wind, while strong, did not compare to ‘the big one‘ 3 years ago, when we had 110MPH gusts! My solar array survived that, so I hoped it was fine for this wind.

Darn, new project created

Mid morning, we noticed that a temporary wall/lean-to that I made with some 2x4s and a sheet of OSB had blown over in the barn area. No big deal, just more fall projects. It was a Saturday afternoon and I couldn’t work on the outside projects I planned, so a nap on the couch seemed good. Next thing I remember is my son waking me up with, “dad! dad! the solar panels blew down!”. What a rude way to wake up fast! Outside, the solar array was trying to flap in the strong wind. With Eric’s help, we managed to strap the array into its current ground position. I used a cement block under the bottom edge to relieve any dangerous twisting stress on the frame. The key cause; the cable adjusters I tightened did not have Locktite, or bailing wire twisted through them to prevent the slow steady unscrewing that took place!

Very fortunate

This corner was 3 feet high.

Well it was a close call, the solar array was mounted about eight feet high on a fixed frame and about three feet on the other side with steel pipe legs. I was so relieved to see that none of the solar panels were damaged! However, there is more work to do fixing the front legs and re-working all the cable tie downs. There ‘s a serious crack in one of the 4×4 poles on the vertical frame. It began to split about 18′ above the cement. It looks like the temporary repair for this fall, will be a splint. I’ll have to cut a small section of new 4×4 and drill holes through both. Then the splint will be secured with all-thread rods and nuts to strengthen the ‘fracture’.

We need a splint here!

Lessons:

* sustained winds for more than 12 hours are powerful at taking things apart!

* Use wire or Locktite to secure your cable adjusters.

* Reguar mechanical inspection and adjustments should be made 2 or 3 times a year!