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Old 02-27-2019, 12:33 PM   #1
Mini-Skoolie
 
Join Date: Jun 2018
Location: NW Florida
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Year: 2001
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Solar Panels and Lightning

Hey all!

Just wondering if anyone has any advice about having solar panels on my roof in a lightning storm...?

We got all our electrical up and running a month or so ago, and everything is going great. Mostly 12v loads, but I have an inverter with the fridge plugged into it. I've got solar on the roof, wired through a breaker to the charge controller, to the batteries... Last night we had a big storm roll through, and the thunder that woke me up in the middle of the night got me thinking... what if lightning strikes my solar panels? Wouldn't it completely fry all of my electronics (not to mention maybe start a fire)? Is there something I can do about that? A brief google search shows that on a house, you simply ground it with a copper wire. But grounding to the ground is hard to do in a bus... Is there another way to protect myself and my investment?

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Old 02-27-2019, 10:16 PM   #2
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Beeb View Post
Hey all!



Just wondering if anyone has any advice about having solar panels on my roof in a lightning storm...?



We got all our electrical up and running a month or so ago, and everything is going great. Mostly 12v loads, but I have an inverter with the fridge plugged into it. I've got solar on the roof, wired through a breaker to the charge controller, to the batteries... Last night we had a big storm roll through, and the thunder that woke me up in the middle of the night got me thinking... what if lightning strikes my solar panels? Wouldn't it completely fry all of my electronics (not to mention maybe start a fire)? Is there something I can do about that? A brief google search shows that on a house, you simply ground it with a copper wire. But grounding to the ground is hard to do in a bus... Is there another way to protect myself and my investment?
https://www.solar-electric.com/midni...protector.html

I used this
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Old 02-28-2019, 11:46 PM   #3
Bus Nut
 
Join Date: Dec 2017
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You could use a ground... just stake it in the dirt when you make camp.
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