The Most Challenging Solar Installation I Ever Did

A very challenging solar power system installation

(trigger warning for solar nerds – this story has a very sad ending)

Finn asked me to write a post on the worst solar installation I ever had to do. The worst? Ah, let me count the ways I could interpret that… this could become a series.

To pick one that comes to mind, I need to set a scene:

Childcare centre with solar panel installation

A fairly substantial 1930’s(?) bungalow on the main road of a prominent well-to-do suburb. Broad verandahs, detailed eaves and timber fretwork made this place quite pretty. It must have been expensive to build and had recently been given much more expensive reconfiguration as an up-to-date childcare centre.

The brittle terracotta tiles, complex roofline, three orientations, chimneys, exhaust fans and blithe solar panel placement (x 109 modules) by the satellite-enabled and visually-challenged sales consultant meant this was always going to be an arse to complete.

Complex solar panel layout

The detailed solar panel layout was developed using an aerial photo, martini shaker and glitter.

I was most heavily involved in wiring the two inverters via a dozen or more conduits through the roof, and getting 10 pairs of DC cables marshalled together …

roof cavity wiring conduit

Count ’em, there are five conduits into that junction box and another passing by.

.. while also running two AC feeds and putting everything down the wall cavity away from prying little fingers.

roof cavity

Take the drill, climb over and down there…

roof cavity with insulation

Watch where you step…

Cabling from switchboard

From the switchboard…

cabling through wall cavity

Thread cables down here… mind the brick ties.

cable run in wall cavity

Viola! AC cables are hidden.

The Whole. Job. Was. A. Mission.

However, it was a successful mission. It gave the team something to curse about, a yardstick for madness, a reason to punish the sales staff so they would buy pies and drinks, and it offered a sense of achievement.

The Worst Thing About This Solar Installation

Well, the street view camera didn’t quite catch us in the act, but we were there in July 2019.

Fast forward 13 months and the next available image in August 2020 doesn’t show any solar panels on the roof. Even weirder, there was a temporary fence and a 20-ton excavator.

And by December 2020, the entire place had been erased.

At the time of writing, this is the most recent aerial photograph available:

The site in May 2022

There used to be a heritage building and a much-loved solar-powered childcare centre here.

So $98 million later, we have a bigger intersection for more snarling traffic (as promoted by a dude who can’t even afford a tie or kerning on his website) and a big patch of dirt.

While the former government wasn’t sharp enough to understand induced demand, at least the current office holders, renewable champions that they are, will use the freshly cleared urban space for a new ambulance station.

Hopefully, that will have a better roof for solar panels.

About Anthony Bennett

Anthony joined the SolarQuotes team in 2022. He’s a licensed electrician, builder, roofer and solar installer who for 14 years did jobs all over SA - residential, commercial, on-grid and off-grid. A true enthusiast with a skillset the typical solar installer might not have, his blogs are typically deep dives that draw on his decades of experience in the industry to educate and entertain. Read Anthony's full bio.

Comments

  1. Oh dear, that’s heartbreaking stuff.
    All that hard work erased forever!

  2. We’ve seen those random panels on that new childcare and was sad to see it go just few months later. Oh well, hope someone can make sense of that intersection upgrade.

  3. That’s very odd….

    Why would they even bother putting the solar system in at all in the first place.

    Surely, the premises would have been notified that the building was going to be demolished for roadworks not too very far in the future (what 18 months or so?). Roadworks notifications usually take years and consultation with community that their properties would be acquired.

    Obviously, someone missed the agenda somewhere of impending roadworks.

    What a waste of time, effort and equipment, let alone the money for a complex installation.

  4. Reg Watson says

    Well you don’t tell us your ballpark figure for the solar installation. But whatever it was I am sure it paled into insignificance compared to the millions in sale price of the property – even bulldozed.

    Someone has a very fat bank account.

  5. *Please* tell me that (at the very least) those solar panels and inverters were rehomed/recycled and not just turned to dust by overzealous demolition crews ?!

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