3 ms·
Where I live, I wonder how they'd interact with heavy wind, ice, and snow. I imagine during the winter months you'd have to de-ice them, and potentially clear a
by dont__panic 4y ago
Where I live, I wonder how they'd interact with heavy wind, ice, and snow. I imagine during the winter months you'd have to de-ice them, and potentially clear away wet, heavy snow. Whenever a Noreaster or similar strong wind comes through, I wonder what the chance of damage is -- presumably they automatically shut off if the wind becomes too strong?
- mywittyname 4y agoI'm surprised to hear that these don't have built in heaters for de-icing. If you drive through the great plains states, you'll pass hundreds of these going far as the eye can see. They can't require that much ongoing maintenance, because it would be untenable to do so at that scale. I get that these are different designs, but the fundamental constraint of being low maintenance has to be a design requirement.
- jansan 4y agoTo be fair, those weather conditions are not optimal for solar power, either. Regarding strong wind, some wind energy technologies are self limiting, like the savonius rotor. I have no idea how the approach mentionen in the article handles strong winds.