electric shock from solar panels

[Cash]

With all due respects Bill, slates really are tougher than you seem to think, and it's perfectly possible to 'lift' these without damage as they are not fitted that "tight" (and that includes Welsh, Belgian, Asbestos Cement and today's Asbestos-free ones) by using the proper tool for the job - a slate ripper. The problem is actually re-nailing the last slate in a repair below the ridge line because the nail would be covered by the slate above it - and this is where lead or zinc 'tingles' are used at the bottom of that slate to stop it falling. [1]

When you see slates broken the way that you describe, this is usually caused (apart from weather) by the uninitiated/dim-witted and cowboy builders trying to lift the slate using screwdrivers or any other odd tool that comes to hand.

Tiles are an entirely different kettle of fish to fix.

[1] I've even seen the 'new-fangled' silicone mastic used to 'stick' slates in place by the unscrupulous from the first time the stuff came into general use on buildings.

Cash

[John Rumm]

I have (fake, i.e. Eternit) slate on my roof... I would not dream of prising one "up". But you can quite easily slide one down and out if required (and the nails have been cut).

(I have never needed to deliberately remove one so far, but have needed to replace a couple that broke for other reasons)

[Dave Liquorice]

THM's daughter works for the London Ambulance Service, London is a shit place to live, no I'll rephrase that, a shit place to exist. So are parts of many other big cities.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

At least we get decent radio reception here. ;-)

[Bill Wright]

I once slept with a joiner's wife. So what?

Making one large hole and then re-tiling and doing it with care is quite different to the solar panel lads making umpteen little leakage points all over your roof.

It isn't the appearance that matters. This is one problem with solar; a lot of the damage is hidden by the panels.

Bill

[Bill Wright]

My windscreen wipers work OK on 12V DC.

Bill

[harryagain]

Chimneys penetrate slate roof with no problems because the job is done properly, ie with lead flashing or soakers Also sewage system vent pipes using a lead slate. All down to the work being done properly.

The problem arises with cowboy installers not doing this which obviously takes time and money. And you can be sure I supervised every aspect of my installation. (I got upon the roof.)

Even if you can't get up there you can use binoculars, you need to see the work being done before the panels are fitted which hides a lot of it.

But these problems mostly arise with (fake) slate roofs. Interlocking tiles are far less problematic.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

It's not common to add a chimney after the roof is finished.

[tony sayer]

Yes you had to ask someone else. I rather think that bill has that knowledge from experience!..

[tony sayer]

Or tinfoil hats;)...

[tony sayer]

Someone I know works for one of the professions and commutes as he needs to get away from the grimy underbelly of what London is ..

[The Other Mike]

They wash insulators and switchgear live, with water, from just a few metres away.

Not 240v stuff though. Grid system voltages and *very* pure water.

[Nightjar]

I would want to see a full failure mode and effects analysis before making such definitive statements myself.

Colin Bignell

[The Medway Handyman]

Don't know if this applies to fire hoses, but when I worked in the pressure washer game I saw some high speed photos of a pressure jet spray. It wasn't a single stream of water, but lots of small droplets separate from each other.

[The Medway Handyman]

Most of Bec's crewmates live in Kent. Mainly due to house prices.

[Jonathan]

We used to live in a 1950s house in a windy location. The tile roof wasn't nailed at all. When we had an extension built the builder nailed the every five rows and said the tiles were much more likely to break than on the old roof. the only risk to the old roof was that loss of a few tile could caus e a catastrophic failure in high wind. We lived there for 18 years and neve r had a problem but you could hear the tiles lifting when it was windy. The tiles were much easier to replace if one broke.

Jonathan

[John Rumm]

A motor needs mains power to actually drive it. The motive power on an inverter is coming from the DC side. All the AC side needs to do is provide synchronisation.

[harryagain]

The grid tie inverter is virtually anamplifier. It gets its contol signal from the mains to generate a sine wave which is automatically in synch. So no mains= no signal = it can't function. It's all part of the "anti-islanding" requirement. But it is not considered to be isolated when self shut down

The other danger is there are capacitors on the DC side that store energy as the mains passes through zero. There is equipment to discharge them but it takes a few minutes.

[tony sayer]

Interesting .. but did you ask him as to what advice, if any, they were given in Solar panel equipped houses?...

[dennis]

So what if its wrong?