Did someone mention winter?

[Rolfe]

That's interesting.

 

[T1 Terry]

I have measured close to 100°C on the underside of solar panels over here in the full summer sun.
It was a common complaint over here regarding solar not working during the day between about 10am and 4pm in mid-summer and became an accepted fact for caravans and motorhomes. The problem was, the Vmp (Voltage Maximum Power) would drop below battery voltage using 12 V nom. panels to charge a 12 V lead acid battery.

Early MPPT controllers were very inefficient, unless you paid mega $$ for the likes of a MidNite solar controller, but they also have a function that can boost battery power to the solar array voltage and turn the panels into heaters to remove a snow load .... there is every possibility MPPT controllers for grid tie systems have adopted the same idea .....

There was a company that developed wet backed solar panels to stabilise the panel and double as a solar water heater .... the cost and complexity of connecting them was quite possibly their downfall, I haven't heard mention of them for quite some time ....

T1 Terry

 

[Everest]

To the mods... Can we block Australians talking about temperatures at this time of the year?

 

[Rolfe]

I have measured close to 100°C on the underside of solar panels over here in the full summer sun.
It was a common complaint over here regarding solar not working during the day between about 10am and 4pm in mid-summer and became an accepted fact for caravans and motorhomes. The problem was, the Vmp (Voltage Maximum Power) would drop below battery voltage using 12 V nom. panels to charge a 12 V lead acid battery.

Early MPPT controllers were very inefficient, unless you paid mega $$ for the likes of a MidNite solar controller, but they also have a function that can boost battery power to the solar array voltage and turn the panels into heaters to remove a snow load .... there is every possibility MPPT controllers for grid tie systems have adopted the same idea .....

There was a company that developed wet backed solar panels to stabilise the panel and double as a solar water heater .... the cost and complexity of connecting them was quite possibly their downfall, I haven't heard mention of them for quite some time ....

T1 Terry

My panels shed their snow quite early yesterday but still didn't do so well as they did the previous day. Maybe a bit more hazy? Today they went great guns again but output is now plummeting as it always does at this time in winter. I had thought the sun was going behind a neighbour's house but it's not that. It's a row of tall trees on the edge of a hill (a moraine) which is doing it, even though they're leafless now and to me the sunshine is still blinding.

Nearly noon, -1°C.

 

[T1 Terry]

-1°C at mid day .... do people even go outside during late Autumn to mid Spring .... if we see a minus anything C in the early hrs as the sun is about to make an appearance, going outside is about the last thing on the list ..... fortunately, it's only 2 or 3 mornings a yr .... but we still complain about the cold if it drops below 10°C and everyone is rugged up in their winter woolies and scarves and beanie's pulled down over their ears ........ We have changed govts if they turned the temp down too low too often

T1 Terry

 

[Rolfe]

It's my birthday today so I'm off to meet a friend for a movie and dinner. Car charged, all-seasons tyres on, good to go. Fortunately it hasn't snowed since Tuesday night / Wednesday morning so the main roads should be fine. I can see someone slithering up our cul-de-sac on summer tyres though, that's still covered in ice.

Now 1°C, but forecast for -7°C tonight.

 

[MG Clive]

Happy birthday @Rolfe

 

[Rolfe]

Thank you!

 

[Rolfe]

-1°C at mid day .... do people even go outside during late Autumn to mid Spring .... if we see a minus anything C in the early hrs as the sun is about to make an appearance, going outside is about the last thing on the list ..... fortunately, it's only 2 or 3 mornings a yr .... but we still complain about the cold if it drops below 10°C and everyone is rugged up in their winter woolies and scarves and beanie's pulled down over their ears ........ We have changed govts if they turned the temp down too low too often

T1 Terry

Try delivering lambs out on the hill before Easter.

 

[Everest]

I had thought the sun was going behind a neighbour's house but it's not that. It's a row of tall trees on the edge of a hill (a moraine) which is doing it, even though they're leafless now and to me the sunshine is still blinding.

On a solar forum I frequent, whenever a discussion about panel position, angle or number of panels comes up in order to improve solar production, the best solution is often a chainsaw!

 

[Rolfe]

I remember @QLeo showing me his solar panels (ooh, Matron!) and him pointing out that they were at a very steep angle to make the most of the winter sun.

 

[Archev]

It's my birthday today so I'm off to meet a friend for a movie and dinner. Car charged, all-seasons tyres on, good to go. Fortunately it hasn't snowed since Tuesday night / Wednesday morning so the main roads should be fine. I can see someone slithering up our cul-de-sac on summer tyres though, that's still covered in ice.

Now 1°C, but forecast for -7°C tonight.

Wishing you a very happy birthday Rolfe.

On a solar forum I frequent, whenever a discussion about panel position, angle or number of panels comes up in order to improve solar production, the best solution is often a chainsaw!

They tried that in Cumbria and look at the furore that caused

 

[T1 Terry]

Happy Birthday from over this side of the globe, Hope you have a wonderful day.

Easter over here can still be quite warm if it's an early one, getting a tad cool when it's a late one ..... we leave the sheep to have the lambs here in Aust, not sure about NZ though

T1 Terry

 

[Rolfe]

I had a lovely birthday thanks. I recommend "The Running Man".

 

[T1 Terry]

I had a lovely birthday thanks. I recommend "The Running Man".

Is that a re-release of an old movie? Just did a Google search to make sure it was an old movie and not just a book I'd read.
Have you watched the 1987 version? Is this 2025 version better?

T1 Terry

 

[Ian Key]

To the mods... Can we block Australians talking about temperatures at this time of the year?

-1°C at mid day .... do people even go outside during late Autumn to mid Spring .... if we see a minus anything C in the early hrs as the sun is about to make an appearance, going outside is about the last thing on the list ..... fortunately, it's only 2 or 3 mornings a yr .... but we still complain about the cold if it drops below 10°C and everyone is rugged up in their winter woolies and scarves and beanie's pulled down over their ears ........ We have changed govts if they turned the temp down too low too often

T1 Terry

It sort of goes against their tough image when a bit of frosty weather gets them running indoors

 

[Archev]

It sort of goes against their tough image when a bit of frost weather gets them running indoors

Frosty Dundee. Now that’s film I’d like to see

Frosty Dundee. Now that’s film I’d like to see

that’s not a windscreen scraper -
THAT’S A WINDSCREEN SCRAPER !!

 

[Rolfe]

Is that a re-release of an old movie? Just did a Google search to make sure it was an old movie and not just a book I'd read.
Have you watched the 1987 version? Is this 2025 version better?

T1 Terry

It's a 1982 short story by Stephen King, set in a fictional 2025. It was made into a film in 1987 starring Arnold Schwarzenneger, with the action set in 2017. I haven't seen that film, or read the story. The friend I was with had seen the Schwarzenneger film but I'm not sure how well she remembered it.

From reading Wikipedia I gather that the new film is much more faithful to the action of the book than the first one. It was very well done and messes with your mind. It's sort of a cross between Blade Runner and The Hunger Games.

 

[T1 Terry]

It's a 1982 short story by Stephen King, set in a fictional 2025. It was made into a film in 1987 starring Arnold Schwarzenneger, with the action set in 2017. I haven't seen that film, or read the story. The friend I was with had seen the Schwarzenneger film but I'm not sure how well she remembered it.

From reading Wikipedia I gather that the new film is much more faithful to the action of the book than the first one. It was very well done and messes with your mind. It's sort of a cross between Blade Runner and The Hunger Games.

Sounds like a must see ..... One to mess with the mind is District 9, a 2009 film set in South Africa and maximum I guess you'd call it interspecies level bias, where aliens have arrived in earth's orbit and finally emerge as giant prawn type creatures ..... the part that twists the ending is where one of the "prawns" is a scientist and says there was a fuel leak and this is the result .......

Rather than spoil the film for anyone who hasn't seen it, I won't go further.

Another two that mess with my head is Butterfly Effect and Groundhog Day ..... all for completely different reasons .....

T1 Terry

 

[Anon70]

That's one of the things you notice with an EV none of this wasted heat energy coming form the engine bay, so the bonnet does not melt snow/ice and there is no stream of warm air on the outside of the windscreen. Also the headlights do not have any heat from behind them to help with melting the cold stuff.