"My neighbour informs me that she is intending to have photovoltaic panels installed on her roof, in a scheme where she gets free electricity (all subsidised by the government of course!)
My concern is the possibility of high levels of interference generated by the kW inverters needed to pump electricity back into the National Grid. I would guess that such invertors probably operate kHz and might be expected to interfere with LF and VLF reception. The wiring to all the panels on the roof might act as a
very good aerial!
It also occurs to me that any lack of RF immunity to my transmissions, in the new installation, might have dramatic consequences - I know from studying electrical engineering at college that connecting a generator to the grid with incorrect phase leads to a big bang!
Has anyone any experience of such installations? Perhaps someone has one nearby and could comment on any EMC effects.
Hugh M0WYE"
Simple QRP projects, 10m, 8m, 6m, 4m, FT8, 160m, WSPR, LF/MF, sub-9kHz, nanowaves and other random stuff, some not related to amateur radio.
24 Sept 2010
Another source of LF/MF and HF interference
This was posted on the LF reflector: we'll have yet another source of LF/MF and HF interference in the years ahead as more people install such systems. Hugh's post got immediate replies from people who'd suffered bad interference from such systems. beware of photocell panels on neighbours' roofs!
A house near me has got a panel of photocells on the roof. I'll have to take a stroll by with the TH-F7E tuned to short wave and see if I can detect any interference.
ReplyDeleteGiven the price of the panels - as anyone who has investigated the cost of one that could run even a modest HF tranceiver will know - and the limited amount of sun we get up here in Cumbria I just wonder whether the owners will ever see a payback, especially as they are pensioners.
it doesn't have to be sunny for these panels to work. hopefully, those who look after the radio spectrum will ensure interference is kept to a minimum.
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