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Hurricane Sandy was not even a hurricane when it made landfall and was clearly not a wind event by any measure - so the fact that solar panels remained affixed to the roofs to which they were attached is sort of a moot issue IMHO.
One would have to imagine that if a hurricane with meaningful winds did hit the area that solar panels mounted 20'-30' in the air would be subject to flying debris and subsequent damage - I don't think having them would eliminate the need for a gas generator.
Meaningful winds? Long Island had 94 mph gusts...and myself and neighbors had singles ripped off our roofs. While not sustained winds > 74 mph, the gusts were certainly one hell of a wind event.
Been said already but most solar installations in the northeast, aside from solar hot water, are designed to save money on your power bill, not to provide backup power in the event of a grid outage. The tech just isn't there yet to make generation via solar a cost-effective option since you can only power things via the panels as long as the sun is shining brightly, and batteries are expensive to purchase and maintain.
Some sustainable homes in other geographic locations that get a lot of sun can make better use of the tech via tracking arrays and molten salt energy storage. Not worth it in NY however.
Meaningful winds? Long Island had 94 mph gusts...and myself and neighbors had singles ripped off our roofs. While not sustained winds > 74 mph, the gusts were certainly one hell of a wind event.
Hurricane Sandy was not even a hurricane when it made landfall and was clearly not a wind event by any measure - so the fact that solar panels remained affixed to the roofs to which they were attached is sort of a moot issue IMHO.
One would have to imagine that if a hurricane with meaningful winds did hit the area that solar panels mounted 20'-30' in the air would be subject to flying debris and subsequent damage - I don't think having them would eliminate the need for a gas generator.
We had 96mph winds how was that NOT a hurricane? The cat system only measures winds. Things like the storm surge and other things were at cat 2 or 3 level. even the national weather service disagrees with you.
We had 96mph winds how was that NOT a hurricane? The cat system only measures winds. Things like the storm surge and other things were at cat 2 or 3 level. even the national weather service disagrees with you.
Stop being a drama queen/king already. Holly crap - ONE location in the ENTIRE METRO region had a wind gust measured at 96MPH. Do you live with the guy in Midtown who likened Sandy to Chernobyl in another Sandy thread here on CD?
Solar panels are built to withstand hurricane force winds, hailstorms, etc. Their lifespan is at least 20 years so they're built to be very durable. If you have panels on your roof, they actually will protect your roof from weather damage. If you live in Long Island I wouldn't let the possibility of a hurricane prevent you from installing solar (which will end up saving you money on your electricity bills, vs. the possibility you may not be able to produce electricity if there's another hurricane like sandy, which was a very rare occurrence).
As for not being able to produce electricity when the utility's power lines are down, that is true if your system is connected to the grid. Most residential systems are grid-tied because that's necessary to get a lot of the incentives & rebates available to homeowners. Some people have generators which store energy that the panels produce but are still grid tied. If you're worried about not having power in future storms that's probably your best option.
There's an article about the cost of solar in New York and specifically Long Island that was done by Solar to the People that you might find useful. They describe the average cost for solar and energy you can produce. They also have a bunch of other information about panels that you might find helpful. Good luck on your search!
Unless your house was flooded you had really no need for electricity in Sandy.
And if you house had a gas fireplace, gas stove or a pellet stove in Sandy like my in-laws house in a non-flood zone it really was a non-event.
You need an electric panel for solar to work and a good non damaged electric system. As a DR tool Solar kinda sucks
At one point I borrowed a generator for about three hours. I used it to pump the water out and when I was done it was fairly useless. I had plenty of gas in my flooded cars to sipon so guy was ok giving it to me as I returned it free with a full can of gas to boot.
Next storm night before checking into a hotel in RVC with back up power and ordering room service. Cheaper than doing all this planning stuff
Newer inverters allow one to tap their power production during the day when the grid is down.
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