Yes, this is beginning to be a real problem.  Every time I drive up RT 321 in NC going to Jim’s QTH I drive right by one of Apple’s 100 acre multi-megawatt solar farms that powers it’s nearby Data Center near Maiden, NC. When I begin to get close to the farm and I am listening to my HF rig in the Suburban the noise floor quickly ramps up to a solid “raspy buzz” for a couple of miles.

 

The issue is the commercial DC to AC switcher type power inverters being utilized that currently don’t have to pass the same FCC emissions as consumer devices. And when you are talking about megawatts of power conversion taking place the entire system literally screams !  Until enough people complain about it nothing is going to be done.

 

BTW: there is a GREAT front cover article in the April QST about Amateur radio and the challenge of solar power

 

Ron

WW8RR


From: Fourlanders [mailto:fourlanders-bounces@contesting.com] On Behalf Of whensley11@comcast.net
Sent: Sunday, April 24, 2016 12:12 AM
To: Fourlanders
Subject: [Fourlanders] solar hash

 

At a conference that I attend annually, they had a session on solar generation.  In Georgia, if you draw a line from Columbus to Augusta, almost all of the installations are south of that line.

 

Of interest was a video/audio track.  It was recorded at a substation that was one (1) mile from the solar facility.  The 60 Hz. hash on the AM radio band was bad.  It was from the solar facility!

 

Some facilities can produce hash higher than the AM radio band.

 

F.Y.I.

 

 

73,

Kim - WG8S