[SCCC] Experience with RFI from solar panel installations?

[Jim Price]

Gang - we are getting close to buying a solar power system for our home.
The panels, as luck would have it, would be mounted on the roof *directly*
above my ham shack.

 

The basic question is:  do the inverters generate a lot of RFI - or more to
the point, RFI that I would care about for HF contesting / DXing?

 

Sub-question:  in terms of RFI, is there any difference between getting
"micro-inverters" (one per panel) vs. a single large inverter?

 

And:  the company we are homing in on would send the monitoring signals from
the inverters over our home's power line to a device that is in turn
connected to our internet.  Is that signal something to be concerned about,
e.g. are they using something like the dreaded BPL?  The rep was here today
and we looked at some tech. info, but this issue wasn't addressed.

 

The rep also called a local ham who has their system.  He said the only
noise he's heard from the inverters has been in the AM broadcast band - but
presumably that would be an issue on 160?  Otherwise he's heard nothing on
the ham bands.  In his case, the inverters are >100 feet from his shack.

 

Any info would be most appreciated, ASAP, pse.  Tnx / 73 - Jim, K6ZH