Solar panels and 27 mc

Solar panels and the influence on the 27 Mc transmitters

The cause of the malfunctions usually lies with the inverter or inverter, which switches the DC voltage circuit of the solar panels. The probability of interference depends on several factors, such as the type of inverter, the installation of the cables and the distance from the antenna(s). To avoid interference, it is important to keep the cables from the panels to the inverter as short as possible. This way you avoid power loss, loops and unwanted antenna effects. In Germany, the inverters are therefore preferably placed directly at the panels. Another problem is that many inverters have no or insufficient filtering on the DC side. They do refer to the EN 61000 standards, but they do not yet have binding emission limits for the frequency range of 0.15 MHz - 30 MHz.

Partly thanks to the use of the IARU and the VERON, limits are now being set and a measurement method for switched-mode power supplies is being prescribed. However, this does not yet take into account interference from “Optimizers”. These are DC-DC inverters that are used per 1 to 3 panels to optimize the maximum power. Solar panel installers are often unaware of these problems. If you ask about it, they usually say: "I've never heard of that"! Some inverter manufacturers are honest and do not recommend installing solar panels near an amateur station. For example, see the SolarEdge website.

Fortunately, there are also installations that do not cause any problems! The EMC committee is currently collecting information about the cases where interference does occur and asks amateurs to report this if they are affected.

Do you think you will be bothered by solar panels while transmitting? That should stop when the sun no longer shines.

Source of this article is the VERON website.