Photo-voltaic solar farms and aviation

[xrayalpha]

Hi,

Looking for experiences with solar pv installations - large-scale (ie 40 acres upwards) - near (ie within a couple of miles) airfields.

Particularly interested in any research - CAA stuff is over two years old and says "we are working on it"! - as it affects light aircraft and microlights. ie not commercial traffic.

Many thanks.

[Whopity]

Makes a good VRP!

[Gertrude the Wombat]

You could try talking to Marshalls (Cambridge) - they are apparently not keen on solar panels on roofs on their new housing development to the immediate north of their airfield because of reflections.

Which is interesting ... because a solar panel which reflects light, rather than absorbing it, isn't really doing its job, is it.

[Heston]

What difference would there be between a large solar pv array and a farm with lots of glass-houses?

Solar pv arrays track the sun - ie they are aligned so that their surface is at 90deg to the sun's rays - so there shouldn't be reflections off them unless the aircraft is directly between the array and the sun. So in that sense glass-houses seem to me to be more of an issue because its harder to know where the reflection is going to be.

There's one near where I fly and it doesn't seem to cause any problems (but its only been there a short time, so not much to go on yet)

Or are there issues other than reflections to worry about?

[BackPacker]

Or are there issues other than reflections to worry about?

I find myself wondering the same thing now.

Reflections are not really an issue. I regularly fly over the Dutch "Westland" which is possibly the area most densely packed with greenhouses in Europe. Greenhouses are most efficiently built in straight rows, with plate (not curved) glass. That means the reflections are only there for the few seconds that the math works out: The suns rays are coming in practically parallel, and are still parallel after reflection. Only if you happen to fly through one of those reflections will you be annoyed by it. And that reflection is gone once you've passed the length or width of the greenhouse, which is typically under a second.

If the solar installation is PV, then (like others said), the cells will be mounted in the most advantageous position relative to the sun. If they're fixed, the rows will probably run due east-west, and the vertical angle will be very dependent on the latitude. But in any case, the reflections will be predictable and will only last while you are actually traversing an area of sky the same size as the PV field. 40 acres is a field 400x400m - assuming the field is square. Worst case scenario it takes a spamcan about 15 seconds to cross such a field, and the reflection coming off the field will not be brighter than the sun itself. Hardly an issue.

I would be more worried if you have one of those solar heating installations, with mirrors whose angle (both azimuth and elevation) is computer-adjusted to heat a collector located in a central tower at the edge of the field. Flying close to that tower might be very uncomfortable and even outright dangerous. You would not want something like that near an approach. But AFAIK these are not used in Europe, only in the lower latitudes.

The only other possible issue I can come up with is radar degradation. A PV field will have lots of exposed steel trusses and such which may have an impact on (primary) radar performance. I don't know much about radar but I guess you should be able to calibrate those effects out, and AFAIK most civil radar relies mostly on secondary returns anyway.

[500 above]

There is a PV park very close to Larnaka International Airport, Cyprus. Hasn't been a problem at all.

[172driver]

But AFAIK these are not used in Europe, only in the lower latitudes.

Well, I suggest you go to southern Spain then, there are several of these. I've flown close to most, other than an eerily strong light that's visible from many, many miles away, no issue. In fact, these things could serve as perfect beacons - you really can't miss them. Obviously, you wouldn't want to fly through the beam, i.e. between the mirrors and the tower.

The 'standard' PV fields divide into two categories:
- the reflective ones (but w/o the tower)
- the dark ones

Both are abundant in Spain and neither is an issue in any way.

PS: while we are at it - greenhouses are also more than abundant in southern Spain and again, no issue other then in parts a very, very strange landscape, especially around Almeria, where in the right light in winter it can appear as if a glacier was flowing to the sea from the Sierra Nevada.

[radar101]

The only other possible issue I can come up with is radar degradation

.

but they are stationary - unlike wind turbines - and so easily filtered out with MTI or Pulse doppler processing.

[mad_jock]

My main thought is why are they putting in a solar farm anywhere near Glasgow on the west coast of Scotland.

A rain capture farm I could understand.

[Flying Binghi]

via mad_jock;
My main thought is why are they putting in a solar farm anywhere near Glasgow on the west coast of Scotland.

A rain capture farm I could understand.

The natives are stupid

[mad_jock]

More likely there is some government/EU to be had.

The natives aren't daft down there.

[A and C]

My worry is that with the govenment (my) money the solar farm people buy airfields and cover them in panels.

[172driver]

More likely there is some government/EU to be had

Spot on, MJ !

[sunside]

Do you mean something like this? This is Eberswalde-Finow (EDAV) in Germany:

[mad_jock]

Aye but this is more normal in Glasgow.



And the wx averages are here

Weather Averages for Glasgow, United Kingdom

Best month for rainfall is May with 19 days average and 60mm

[A and C]

Sunside

That photo is exactly what I had in mind but in the UK that strip of Tarmac in the center of the photo would also be covered with the solar panels.

[N707ZS]

Here's one near Sevilla Spain. Looks like something from a film close up.