Golf Ball Damage: Protection?

[solarix]

Haven't tried this yet, but think that something like bird netting (11 cents/sqft at McMaster.com) is the best compromise. Stretched under tension a foot or so above (gonna need to test what distance is needed but use as much tension as you can) it should protect the panels with a minimum of shading.
Its too late now, but if you would have gone with my leasing company, their warranty covers golf ball damage.

[J.P.M.]

What about some clear plexi glass mounted a foot or so above the panels? may be even attached on top of the panel itself. You could use your busted panel as a test dummy down at the range. Get permission to set it out there at a hundred yards and let the golfers take aim. Could get a sheet of it and see what the reduction in production is before you go engineering a solution that stands up to wind etc.

Probably not a good idea. The plex will reduce the amount of energy reaching the panel, reducing production. The plex will yellow/haze and get dirty over time, reducing production more. An additional cover directly On top of the panel would inhibit air flow, increase panel temp. and reduce efficiency, perhaps promote early failure, and perhaps cause warranty problems, or void the warranty altogether. Leaving a substantial air gap - say 12" between the array and the additional cover will be fun to design but my bet is pretty visible. I'd also bet it would cause a redesign for the increased wind load. Also, it'll be fun cleaning the array under a 12" space.

I once lived on another golf course where some homes were on the equiv. of an artillery range. One owner had plex. on the tee side of a walkway next to his house probably about 150 yards downrange from and oriented mostly normal to the tee box on a pretty straight ~400 yd. hole. The plex was mostly yellow and opaque except for the two sheets closest to the fairway. Those two were usually clear but cracked from the golf balls that regularly caused damage. Kind of an extreme case. I believe the course planted some trees for mitigation, but other homeowners complained about loss of view. FWIW, last time there, the trees were growing and the plex was still there.

[Riverside Solar]

An idea likely a bad one

What about some clear plexi glass mounted a foot or so above the panels? may be even attached on top of the panel itself. You could use your busted panel as a test dummy down at the range. Get permission to set it out there at a hundred yards and let the golfers take aim. Could get a sheet of it and see what the reduction in production is before you go engineering a solution that stands up to wind etc.

[J.P.M.]

One person in my HOA put chicken wire over a solar water heater. The collectors are 4 ft. X 8 ft., a longer/wider span than most PV panels. I'm pretty sure the collectors are Sunearth, and so probably have 3/16" low iron, tempered glass. Anyway, his yard usually has a ball or 2 in it and in ~ 7 years, no glass breakage that I'm aware of. The chicken wire is somewhat loose, supported by 6 posts attached to the two side/side panels. Once you gat back ~ 150 ft. or so, it's pretty unobtrusive. I suspect, but don't know for sure if/how chicken wire would impair PV efficiency much. Maybe somebody could get a paper or a technical note out of it in one of the journals.

[marant]

I am concerned about shading by a net, which is why I am wondering about using monofilament fishing nets, which are both small filament and at least partially transparent. ???

[Sunking]

Only thing you can do is put up nets, but they cannot cast any shade on your panels. Otherwise get a shotgun and sharpen up your skeet shooting skills. Just put a sign on Tee Box to holler 4 when they hit a slice to alert you of incoming so you can take aim and fire.

In the mean time get a Lawyer and sue for damages.

[marant]

We live next to a golf course, unfortunately on the Slicer's side. Installed a pv system last year, and have one damaged panel. All of the hype about panels not being damaged by hail does not really apply, since a golf ball is larger than most hailstones, and is traveling a lot faster. (energy= 1/2mass x velocity squared?) There may have been other impacts without damage, but do not really know. And yes, we knew it could be a problem, but hoped the 'hailstone information' applied. Not.

So, I am now looking into how can we protect the panels while minimizing the degradation of the solar rays and still not being ugly to look at.

The array is mounted on a flat roof, on racks tilted at 15 fifteen degrees. They are not really visible if one is standing on the ground in front of the house until you get out about 150 feet away. I do not want to put in a high visible 'fence' as it would ruin the appearance of the house. Most of the problem balls come in at a fairly flat trajectory, rather than vertical.

What ideas for protection are out there? I am wondering if I can find a monofilament fishing net that I can stretch over the array semi-taut. Seems I mostly need to just absorb some of the energy of the golf ball, not necessarily stop them. So far, though, I have not been able to find a net. Also, UV damage to most monofilament might limit its life, making it not a viable solution.

What do you all think?

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