Loud humming noise neighbor's solar panels

[May]

Hi there all. First of all, I know nothing about solar panels. I don't even have them but I am hoping someone here can help because I am desperate. My neighbour has them and that has brought me here. I am an end terrace house. My neighbour has had solar panels for 5 years and this was zero problem for me until last September when they got a new roof installed and the solar panels went back on the new roof. Ever since then my peace has been disturbed by a humming noise which disturbs me greatly and is now making my life hell. With all the good weather we have been having and the light mornings the solar panel noise kicks in at first light. The noise is so loud it wakens me up very early, 5 am or earlier, and I find it difficult to sleep. There are solar panels on both sides of their roof. The noise seems to travel along the roof space into my house. I can hear it downstairs in the living room during the day and other rooms. It's now starting to give me headaches. The noise sounds like an airplane in the distance - a low electric humming noise. I went to the neighbour's door a few months ago. I thought it might be the inverter at that point but according to her she can't hear any noise and neither can the neighbour on the other side. She called the company who installed the roof and the guy came to my door. He said his mates had reinstalled the solar panels and they were working fine. He also said the inverter was very close to the bedroom of my neighbours and they couldn't hear anything. He said to call him back if I heard the noise again. Here's the thing. Not everyone can hear it. I had a friend stay with me and she was disturbed yet my brother who lives in the house says he can't hear anything. I am now at my wits end because this noise starts early morning and goes all day and I can't get peace in my own house to sleep or read a book. I have health issues and this is causing me great anxiety. I have tried to record the noise on my phone and other devices I have bought, but they aren't sensitive enough to pick it up. I have tried noise cancelling earphones and earplugs. I play white noise on my phone to try and drown out this noise. I am exhausted. Is anyone has any suggestions it would be much appreciated. The noise is definitely coming from the solar panels. There should be no noise. I don't know if this is because they have been installed wrongly or if they are inferior. Before I go back to my neighbour's door I wanted some insight as to what the problem could be. Thanks in advance for any help. Much appreciated.

[bob-n]

May,

Thank you for joining our group and for your question. This will be tough to debug without more information, but I can give you some thoughts.

The likely cause of the hum is the inverter box wired to the panels. Most often, these are installed on the side of the house, not on the roof, so they are easy to access and repair. It may have been damaged or may be incorrectly mechanically attached. It could also be incorrectly wired.

It could also be the way that a panel is mounted, but that seems less likely. There are also other smaller components in a solar array. Someone will need to be on site to trace this to the root cause.

Who is the right person to solve this problem? Probably not a roofer. You either need an electrician or a solar contractor. The solar contractor is a better choice, because they will have a replacement inverter on hand and will also have experience attaching and wiring inverters and panels. Some electricians have solar experience.

In my town, there is no law against making noise during the daytime. If your town is the same, then you can't force the neighbor to fix it. You need to solve this problem with kindness and perhaps also offering to split the cost of repair with the neighbor.

If everyone is lucky, the people who reinstalled the panels will admit their error and fix their bad work for free. That is a rare exception in today's world.

I hope this is helpful. Please continue to ask questions here and let us know what you learn and how this gets resolved.

[solarix]

What brand is the inverter and what type of solar panel mounting is this? (shingle, flat roof, tile roof, metal roof...)

[J.P.M.]

Are you in a condo or multiple dwelling situation ? If so, is there an HOA you can seek help from ?

[oregon_phil]

May , after reroofing, did the roofing company reinstall all of the original equipment in the exact same location or did they install a new inverter or change locations of the inverter?

Noise can be very subjective as you are finding out. Others can hear noises I can't hear and vis versa. Sometimes it's a certain frequency that drives you nuts.

Short of hiring an audio engineer to analyze your situation or buying a hand held audio spectrum analyzer, I thought buying something like the Dayton Audio iMM-6 Calibrated Measurement Microphone for iPhone, iPad Tablet and Android,Black for $20 bucks and using free spectrum analyzer software might be worthwhile. There's probably a small chance this might work, but for 20 bucks, for me it would be worth a try. It would be something quantitative rather than qualitative.

Besides, that you could find a younger person with good hearing (ears not blown out from loud music or work) to listen to your situation. Higher frequency hearing tends to get worse as we age. Just a thought.

[May]

May,

Thank you for joining our group and for your question. This will be tough to debug without more information, but I can give you some thoughts.

The likely cause of the hum is the inverter box wired to the panels. Most often, these are installed on the side of the house, not on the roof, so they are easy to access and repair. It may have been damaged or may be incorrectly mechanically attached. It could also be incorrectly wired.

It could also be the way that a panel is mounted, but that seems less likely. There are also other smaller components in a solar array. Someone will need to be on site to trace this to the root cause.

Who is the right person to solve this problem? Probably not a roofer. You either need an electrician or a solar contractor. The solar contractor is a better choice, because they will have a replacement inverter on hand and will also have experience attaching and wiring inverters and panels. Some electricians have solar experience.

In my town, there is no law against making noise during the daytime. If your town is the same, then you can't force the neighbor to fix it. You need to solve this problem with kindness and perhaps also offering to split the cost of repair with the neighbor.

If everyone is lucky, the people who reinstalled the panels will admit their error and fix their bad work for free. That is a rare exception in today's world.

I hope this is helpful. Please continue to ask questions here and let us know what you learn and how this gets resolved.

Many thanks for the very kind response. It is very helpful. I think that I will contact an independent solar contractor as suggested and pay for it myself after discussing with the neighbours. They are a couple who are retired and the reason I have left it this long and tried to deal with it myself is because I didn't want to cause them any problems.They have been there for years and we get along very well. I will keep you appraised as to what happens next. Thank you again for your prompt response and time.

[May]

What brand is the inverter and what type of solar panel mounting is this? (shingle, flat roof, tile roof, metal roof...)

Many thanks for your reply. Because the solar panels are on my neighbours roof if I don't know the brand of inverter or any other details. It's a tile roof. Solar panels are on both sides of the roof. It's a terraced house. I am the end terrace and they are beside me.

[May]

Are you in a condo or multiple dwelling situation ? If so, is there an HOA you can seek help from ?

Hi, I am an end terrace house, owner occupier, and the house with the solar panels is next door terrace, owner occupier. Many thanks for your reply.

[May]

May , after reroofing, did the roofing company reinstall all of the original equipment in the exact same location or did they install a new inverter or change locations of the inverter?

Noise can be very subjective as you are finding out. Others can hear noises I can't hear and vis versa. Sometimes it's a certain frequency that drives you nuts.

Short of hiring an audio engineer to analyze your situation or buying a hand held audio spectrum analyzer, I thought buying something like the Dayton Audio iMM-6 Calibrated Measurement Microphone for iPhone, iPad Tablet and Android,Black for $20 bucks and using free spectrum analyzer software might be worthwhile. There's probably a small chance this might work, but for 20 bucks, for me it would be worth a try. It would be something quantitative rather than qualitative.

Besides, that you could find a younger person with good hearing (ears not blown out from loud music or work) to listen to your situation. Higher frequency hearing tends to get worse as we age. Just a thought.

Hi there! Many thanks for your reply. Unfortunately I don't know if the panels are in the same place or if the inverter is changed. I would need to ask these questions and indeed I will when I go for my door knock to discuss this. It's the frequency that's driving me crazy. I can hear it through ear plugs and it's hard to muffle out to sleep. I did download an app for sound but as much as it could pick up the slightest rustle around about me it didn't pick up the Solar panel noise because it wasn't sensitive enough. I will look into your suggestion and thank you for that. My friend did hear the same noise when she slept in the bedroom closest to the house next door and therefore closest to the solar panels. It gets quite loud in there. I was relieved when she confirmed she heard the noise because I deliberately didn't mention it. I am so grateful for all of the info and suggestions here because it's giving me a path forward. I will keep you updated as to how things progress. Many thanks.

[J.P.M.]

Hi, I am an end terrace house, owner occupier, and the house with the solar panels is next door terrace, owner occupier. Many thanks for your reply.

You're welcome.
Yes, I understand all that. My question was: Do you have an HOA ? - that is , a legalized and recognized homeowners group that all the homeowners in your development must belong to as a condition of ownership and pay monthly dues to ?
If so, there are usually a set of rules called Covenants, Codes and Restrictions, or CC & R's for short that all members agree to adhere to when they buy into the development.
One of the things CC & R's usually cover and deal with is excess noise made by any member that infringes on another member's quiet enjoyment of their property.
So, if the answer to my question is yes, I'd suggest you may have some recourse to your noise problem by taking your situation up with the HOA's board of Directors or whatever governing body in the HOA handles such matters.

[May]

You're welcome.
Yes, I understand all that. My question was: Do you have an HOA ? - that is , a legalized and recognized homeowners group that all the homeowners in your development must belong to as a condition of ownership and pay monthly dues to ?
If so, there are usually a set of rules called Covenants, Codes and Restrictions, or CC & R's for short that all members agree to adhere to when they buy into the development.
One of the things CC & R's usually cover and deal with is excess noise made by any member that infringes on another member's quiet enjoyment of their property.
So, if the answer to my question is yes, I'd suggest you may have some recourse to your noise problem by taking your situation up with the HOA's board of Directors or whatever governing body in the HOA handles such matters.

Hi there, many thanks. No we don't have an HOA. I am in Scotland and not familiar with this. It sounds like a great concept though! I wish I did have one! I feel so bad because this is not the neighbours fault. I also have excellent hearing and that's on me!

[bcroe]

It would be good to know the frequency as suggested above. I suspect the power
line, 50 HZ for you? And does the strength rise and fall over the day. Really I do
not see how it could be the DC panels, but rather the inverter (a single string inverter?)
or its connection to the line. Good to check the inverter output numbers while this
is going on.

If it is micro inverters, the source will move to their mounting at the panels, likely
just one has a problem. good luck, Bruce Roe

[J.P.M.]

Hi there, many thanks. No we don't have an HOA. I am in Scotland and not familiar with this. It sounds like a great concept though! I wish I did have one! I feel so bad because this is not the neighbours fault. I also have excellent hearing and that's on me!

It's a great concept that, like many on paper look great, then get mucked about in the execution.

I have many friends in and also from Scotland as well as some shirttail kin.

Whaur urr ye located ?

Best Regards,

J.P.M.

[PVAndy]

Is it possible the noise is not the solar panels and coming from a different source?

Andy

[scrambler]

Frequency buzz source identifying can be misleading,
It could be worth asking the neighbor to make a test during the day when you are hearing it, and shutdown their solar system for a short while to see if the noise disappears.