Bad storm came thru and powers out for 1/2 the county

[ricardocello]

Real Time Lightning Map

See lightning strikes in real time across the planet. Free access to maps of former thunderstorms. By Blitzortung.org and contributors.

www.lightningmaps.org

You can zoom all the way to your street and see how close that last one really was.
and watch the sound travel slowly outwards

 

[PotusGobbleBottom]

Each flashing lightning bolt is real time lightning strikes.....

Better run out and get some toilet paper!

 

[Crowz]

I switched the pv breaker off. That's about all I can do about.

 

[ricardocello]

I switched the pv breaker off. That's about all I can do about.

You don't want to see how many instantaneous PV watts the lightning can produce?

 

[B-Mod]

I switched the pv breaker off. That's about all I can do about.

Stay safe!

 

[Brucey]

I switched the pv breaker off. That's about all I can do about.

Good luck!

 

[Subdood]

It was out about 5 or 6 hours total. Was a little cloudy earlier today and then bam sttttrong winds and rain. A tree fell across the drive and server others are leaning now from it. Hoping I can get the power company to cut them down for free since they are going to take out the main power lines when they go.

We had a tornado warning a couple nights ago up in the extreme NW corner of our county, but it moved away from us. Another severe storm just skirted by us to the north. I went out and got a few pics of the back-lit thunderhead. It would occasionally light up like a Christmas tree. Some folks (like my wife) are scared of them, but they fascinate me. I wanted to be a meteorologist when I was a kid, but ended up in the electronics industry. Anyways here's a few pics from the other night. We've been fortunate to not get hit by any of these storms, being in the hills seems to protect us somewhat.

 

[Subdood]

I switched the pv breaker off. That's about all I can do about.

Yeah I was considering doing that the other night when the lightning was dancing about. Makes me a bit nervous during t-storms..

 

[Crowz]

Well the storm split and it looks like I may get lucky and the gap pass over here.

 

[Subdood]

Well the storm split and it looks like I may get lucky and the gap pass over here.

You're getting more now? I checked the radar for central AL and it's lit up again tonight.

 

[Crowz]

You're getting more now? I checked the radar for central AL and it's lit up again tonight.

Yep its not pretty.

 

[JRH]

I switched the pv breaker off. That's about all I can do about.

If lightning is imminent , I unplug everything via anderson conectors ….turn off all equipment , and just don’t have power Untill the lightning goes away… it dosent take long generally …
small price to pay I think,,takes about 2 min to unhook and 2 to rehook..

Best thing I could figure to do…but lightning pulse may still whack my stuff..who knows.

 

[Crowz]

Well it went north and south of me and I got lucky.

Feel sorry for the ones down south of here. They are getting fried.

 

[Subdood]

If lightning is imminent , I unplug everything via anderson conectors ….turn off all equipment , and just don’t have power Untill the lightning goes away… it dosent take long generally …
small price to pay I think,,takes about 2 min to unhook and 2 to rehook..

Best thing I could figure to do…but lightning pulse may still whack my stuff..who knows.

My IMO PV disconnect is in my solar closet, I've thought of switching it off when storms are lurking. But, I wonder if there was a local lightning strike, could a pulse still come up thru the ground wire from the array and wreak havoc?

 

[Subdood]

Some big storms in North FL, almost 200K without power right now..

 

[Crowz]

Well I guess power surged again last night since the small 12v system's inverter was off when I got up this morning. I'm going to sift thru the videos from last night and catch when it cut off to see if there was another strike. The good news though is that the rerouting of wires and turning off the arrays breaker seems to of protect the 48v main house stuff from any issues.

 

[underdog5004]

I'd be cautious about bragging to your neighbors about the resource that you have that they don't. Desperate people don't have friends. If you have something they want or need that puts you in a potentially dangerous situation. I don't tell people about my solar system. I don't tell them about my backup. During a power outage I don't flaunt the fact that I have power.

 

[Crowz]

I'd be cautious about bragging to your neighbors about the resource that you have that they don't. Desperate people don't have friends. If you have something they want or need that puts you in a potentially dangerous situation. I don't tell people about my solar system. I don't tell them about my backup. During a power outage I don't flaunt the fact that I have power.

Isn't much flaunting when my block is lit up and the rest of the areas are dark

Plus if 1/2 of the people I talked with do what they claim (which just might happen from the follow up calls I got today) the surrounding blocks should all have solar to some extent.

 

[Q-Dog]

I'd be cautious about bragging to your neighbors about the resource that you have that they don't. Desperate people don't have friends. If you have something they want or need that puts you in a potentially dangerous situation. I don't tell people about my solar system. I don't tell them about my backup. During a power outage I don't flaunt the fact that I have power.

I don't brag, they can all see my solar panels. But, what exatly do you think they are going to do? Carry away your solar panels? Steal some electrons when you aren't looking? Maybe stop by and ask if you can help them get some panels of their own?

Most of my neighbors have generators. They don't need anything from me.

 

[Rider]

It's not exactly an apocalyptic event, no one is desperate, so not terribly concerned about my neighbors. I'd be reaching out to them to see if I could assist them in any way.