Burning down the shack

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  • peakbagger
    Solar Fanatic
    • Jun 2010
    • 1566

    #1

    Burning down the shack

    There is on an going media frenzy on a "hermit" that lived off grid in shack in the woods along a river in NH near the state capital. Search "River Dave" He was in jail as he was squatting on another persons property and had been for 21 years. Squatters rights did not apply as the owner had taken the required action over the years to preempt this process. The dispute was going on for years but it came down to he was going to stay in jail unless he came up with an alternative place to live. A couple hours after a court hearing his shack burned down. It was thought be deliberate but this item came up from a preliminary investigation.

    Canterbury Fire Chief Michael Gamache said that while the investigation isn't over and arson is not being ruled out as a potential cause, the fire was more likely caused by accident. He said a representative of Giles who was starting to demolish the cabin on Aug. 4 disabled solar panels, which still had electrical charge in them. He also used a power saw to cut into metal supports that held the panels onto the roof. Either action could have created sparks to start making things smoke.

    This was just a shack in the woods with various orphan panels attached to the roof built to no known code, no running water or sanitary and no access from the road so no way to quickly respond to the fire. It would have been a cold place to live during winter in NH for 21 years.

    A reminder to all that a panel in the sun unless permanently disabled still is potentially capable of producing power until the day its recycled.
  • Burning2nd
    Junior Member
    • Apr 2021
    • 11

    #2
    I saw the story...

    makes me reconsider my safety disconnects

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    • solarix
      Super Moderator
      • Apr 2015
      • 1415

      #3
      I've seen some pretty horrendous off-grid DIY setups in my time. It can be pretty amazing what some people will do. Its getting to the point I won't even service off-grid solar because they can be such a nightmare.
      BSEE, R11, NABCEP, Chevy BoltEV, >3000kW installed

      Comment

      • peakbagger
        Solar Fanatic
        • Jun 2010
        • 1566

        #4
        When I lived in VT near a popular off grid area I ran into a couple of folks who had their house burn down from off grid installation gone bad. Folks go cheap and take safety compromises since no one typically inspect the installations.

        Comment

        • robbyg
          Member
          • Apr 2021
          • 93

          #5
          I saw a solar installer take 7 panels of 365W in series and he held the Positive and ground close together until they arced. I was amazed when this blue Plasma flame appeared between the two wires. He kept it arcing for about 2 seconds and it actually cause my eyes to have a welding flash effect for about 10 minutes. Lots of potential to start a major fire from just a few panels.

          Comment

          • peakbagger
            Solar Fanatic
            • Jun 2010
            • 1566

            #6
            There is You Tubes video of a guy that welds steel with just the leads of solar panels hooked series to welding rods. DC arcs are impressive,

            Comment

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