[TowerTalk] keeping the bands quiet: 12 KW PV array

[Mike Ryan]

Sooner or later I was sure I would read something on this subject on here. 
It was a nightmare here for me when a neighbor decided to put in some 
truck/bus batteries in his garage, and solar panels and a wind turbine over 
house. He is/was using an inverter that was obviously at fault. I have some 
memory of what brand it was but I could look it up to be sure. But the 
neighbor here KNEW it was noisy and while struggling to figure out where 
this horrendous noise was coming from with the aid of Florida Power and 
Light, the guy would turn the system OFF, whenever the rfi investigator was 
on our street.  (Nice guy, right?)  When the investigator DID finally help 
me find the source (the guy) I was able to get him to put MIX 31 donuts on 
his cables which reduced the noise quite a bit. However, they did not 
totally eliminate the crud. After the neighbor's wife got tired of me 
bothering the guy about it, I was on one visit there and asked rather 
impolitely to leave the premises. A letter to the neighbor from the Tampa 
FCC Field Office was met with contempt and in fact I was told that he 
ignored it thinking it to be a forgery produced by me. I won't go into the 
rest of the story aside from the fact that the noise is still prevalent on 
the low bands, and that I can hear it in my hf mobile over 1/2 mile away. 
The toroids helped a lot...I suspect with some more work with them we might 
have had much greater success.  Good luck and '73. -Mike, K4CVL

-----Original Message----- 
From: Doug Ronald
Sent: Monday, October 27, 2014 4:06 PM
To: 'Lizeth Norman' ; 'towertalk'
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] keeping the bands quiet: 12 KW PV array

After completing my 6.6 kW solar plant, and being initially bitterly
disappointed with the HF noise it generated, is to recommend only the use of
equipment that has an FCC Part 15 B rating. Also, if possible, keep your
antenna as far from the plant as you can. I won't go into all the boring
details of how I got the noise down to an acceptable level, but it nearly
doubled the effort. My chargers and inverters do not have any FCC rating -
big mistake.

-Doug
W6DSR

-----Original Message-----
From: TowerTalk [mailto:towertalk-bounces at contesting.com] On Behalf Of
Lizeth Norman
Sent: Saturday, October 25, 2014 4:34 PM
To: towertalk
Subject: [TowerTalk] keeping the bands quiet: 12 KW PV array

Hi all,
Am getting ready to work with a pair of engineers and spec out a 12 KW
installation. There will be 3 poles with 14 modules on each pole. The
inverters will be at a central location in the panel area, with the AC
running 70' to the service panel.

Have spent several evenings reading various mailing list archives as well as
many other sources regarding RFI/EMI as it applies to PV arrays and ham
radio.

I've taken three things away from my research. One is spend the money on an
inverter that has a transformer in it. The second is to run as much (both AC
and DC) in conduit as possible. The third is to take care when designing the
grounding. (I WILL be using Cadwelds one
shots.)

Does anyone have any experience with PV's regarding RF noise and mitigation
strategies?

By the way, I think the whole thing can be sourced from made in USA parts.
What a concept!

Thanks,
Norm n3ykf
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