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Author Topic: RF pollution from solar panel installations  (Read 1305 times)

Offline ChrisSmolinski

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RF pollution from solar panel installations
« on: December 14, 2019, 1538 UTC »
The Swedish Electrical Safety Agency and the Swedish Energy Agency are investigating radio interference from installations with solar panels

Sweden's national amateur radio society SSA reports:

Solar panels are becoming more and more common. An increasing problem is that interference can be created to radio reception.

The newsletter (LÄNK) from the Swedish Electricity Safety Agency states that they are looking more closely at the inverters and optimizers found in solar panel installations.

The Swedish Electric Safety Authority is doing this together with the Swedish Energy Agency in a project that is ongoing until March 2020.

The Swedish Electricity Safety Agency article is at
https://www.elsakerhetsverket.se/om-oss/press/nyhetsbrev/2019/december/storande-solceller/

Source SSA https://tinyurl.com/SwedenSSA
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Offline Josh

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Re: RF pollution from solar panel installations
« Reply #1 on: December 14, 2019, 2010 UTC »
Inverters and pv voltage controllers are huge noise sources in many cases since the makers have no care about rfi.
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Offline JimIO

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Re: RF pollution from solar panel installations
« Reply #2 on: December 14, 2019, 2153 UTC »
I was gonna say I can't read Swedish so I didn't click the link, but then I did.
Anti renewable BS! Kinda like saying wind turbines kill birds in a country that eats over 200,000 chickens every day.

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Re: RF pollution from solar panel installations
« Reply #3 on: December 14, 2019, 2241 UTC »
Chris -

I have had solar panels for 6.5 years.  I mainly listen to the radio in the living room on the first floor of my house, the solar control panel is in the basement (on a wall 4 feet below and 35 feet away), the panels are about 15 feet above from where I listen.  Also, my outdoor longwire is about feet 15 feet beneath the panels and a little further away from the control panel.  My experience pre/post-solar panels show no interference with radio reception.

On a side note:  In 2013, my electric bills were about $125-150 a month.  Now, nine months a year the bill is $9 (minimum hook up charge), two months in the $20-30 range, and one month $50-70.  This includes stretches of time my panels are snow covered because the front porch roof makes it too perilous to attempt to clear the panels some 25 feet above the ground.  My suggestion, if you have ample sunlight, do it.  It paid for itself in 3.5 years with the help of State/Federal Tax credits.
« Last Edit: December 14, 2019, 2301 UTC by Ct Yankee »
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Offline redhat

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Re: RF pollution from solar panel installations
« Reply #4 on: December 15, 2019, 0029 UTC »
If you buy good stuff you shouldn't have any problems.  The cheap charge controllers and inverters made overseas will (and are in my experience) make a lot more noise.  The FCC let this cat out of the bag many moons ago, and its not likely to get any better.

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Offline NJQA

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Re: RF pollution from solar panel installations
« Reply #5 on: December 15, 2019, 1517 UTC »
The April 2016 issue of QST had an article by K1KP on his experiences with his solar panel installation, including what he did to control RFI.  There was some good advice in the article.

Offline Looking-Glass

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Re: RF pollution from solar panel installations
« Reply #6 on: December 16, 2019, 1144 UTC »
Samsung refridgerator with "Digital Inverter Technology" stay clear of this if you don't want RF interference on your radio... >:(
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Offline redhat

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Re: RF pollution from solar panel installations
« Reply #7 on: December 16, 2019, 1501 UTC »
Add to that list modern multistage furnaces with ECM motor inverter technology.  I had to look high and low for a furnace with a conventional motor in it.

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Offline refmo

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Re: RF pollution from solar panel installations
« Reply #8 on: December 16, 2019, 1629 UTC »
Add to that list modern multistage furnaces with ECM motor inverter technology.  I had to look high and low for a furnace with a conventional motor in it.

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Yes, having installed a new furnace and air conditioner back in July of this year, I am now frustrated by the RFI generated by the furnace.
Oddly, the RFI is not present when using the air conditioner, even though both the AC and the furnace use the same blower motor (I far as I can tell).  Fortunately, the RFI is limited to just a few segments of the spectrum (75 meter and 31 meters are the worst).  I may install some chokes/reactors to see if that helps.
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