Do solar panels kill flowerbed?

[DavidT]

I had solar panels installed on my roof last December - 33 Suniva 260 Mono Black Modules on the front of the house. Now I notice that the flowerbeds just in front of the house are dieing. Everything in them - Cherry Laurels, Barberry bush, Holly tree...

I'm in Maryland and we got a good bit of snow this year, but never a real deep snow which would have caused the beds to get hammered by all the snow sliding off the panels. Do solar panels have some type of residue on them that can kill plants? Anyone else have the issue I'm having?

Rain wouldn't be an issue since the gutters would have captured that. But the snow rolling off the roof would have landed in the beds. The Cherry Laurels (big green bushes) actually extend out a couple feet to the side of the house on the West end. Those two feet of bush are still green. The rest is browning out badly. This is not winter dormancy.

[pleppik]

I had solar panels installed on my roof last December - 33 Suniva 260 Mono Black Modules on the front of the house. Now I notice that the flowerbeds just in front of the house are dieing. Everything in them - Cherry Laurels, Barberry bush, Holly tree...

I'm in Maryland and we got a good bit of snow this year, but never a real deep snow which would have caused the beds to get hammered by all the snow sliding off the panels. Do solar panels have some type of residue on them that can kill plants? Anyone else have the issue I'm having?

Rain wouldn't be an issue since the gutters would have captured that. But the snow rolling off the roof would have landed in the beds. The Cherry Laurels (big green bushes) actually extend out a couple feet to the side of the house on the West end. Those two feet of bush are still green. The rest is browning out badly. This is not winter dormancy.

Haven't you also had an unusually cold winter there?

I'd direct this question to a local master gardener--my first guess is that what you're seeing is most likely winter die-back from the harsh weather.

[DavidT]

Haven't you also had an unusually cold winter there?

It's been colder and wetter, but not what I would consider brutal. Mother Nature is pretty resilient. The weather is a possibility though, but seems awfully suspect that it's particularly right where the snow from the roof would hit the bushes. We have had unusually high repeat patterns of snow, thaw, snow, thaw... I'll know soon enough if they're beyond the point of no return, once everything else starts to green back up.

[Ian S]

Can't imagine anything from the panels themselves. However, could something leaching from the mounting sealing materials be the culprit?

[DavidT]

Can't imagine anything from the panels themselves. However, could something leaching from the mounting sealing materials be the culprit?

That would seem unlikely since that wouldn't mix with the snow, which would be on top of the panels. If it mixed with rain it would be carried away once the rain entered the gutters. I looked at the lawn where the gutters empty out. Doesn't seem any browner in that area than the rest of the lawn.

[Mike90250]

something the installers did, a bucket of slime they spilled. Solar PV panels are pretty inert, since they have to last 25+ years.

[DavidT]

something the installers did, a bucket of slime they spilled. Solar PV panels are pretty inert, since they have to last 25+ years.

No buckets of slime... and even if something like that could happen it wouldn't have caused everything to die over a 40 foot span.

[Mike90250]

The only thing I've even remotely heard of , was intense glare from reflections, from a skyscraper, causing heat problems. But a dozen panels on a roof, any reflections should be going up from the panels, not down to the ground. No idea.

Wait - have you annoyed a voodoo priest recently ?

[russ]

Upset neighbor?

[DavidT]

Well... I doubt it's one of the neighbors or a voodoo priest. If a neighbor is not happy with the appearance, destroying the flowerbeds would only further deteriorate the aesthetics from their view.

Could all the snow avalanching off the panels have bruised these bushes that much? They were planted in 2003 so they're very well established and they've survived back to back 3 foot snow storms (pre solar) with no problems.

Regarding reflection... that wouldn't be the issue here, but I'm pretty sure my windows have low-e glass (low emissivity ) which can cause reflectivity to the point where it can melt the vinyl siding on nearby houses. On sunny days I can find spots on my lawn where the grass has a certain "shine" to it, and it will be spots where the reflection from the windows is hitting the lawn and warming it some. That reflection wouldn't be hitting the beds though.

[russ]

If it is the solar panels it is the first time anyone has mentioned it - meaning there is no way in hell it is the panels.

[DavidT]

If it is the solar panels it is the first time anyone has mentioned it - meaning there is no way in hell it is the panels.

Believe me, that's exactly what I was hoping to hear. I'd much rather it be due to the unusual weather we had this winter. Very suspect though since it's every non-grass type item in the front beds and only the portions directly in front of the house. That little bit that wouldn't have been hit by falling snow sliding off the panels is still nice and green.

[Naptown]

I live in Maryland and although it has been unusually cold and a lot of snow the snow has not been in that great a quantity to bury the bushes.
I would suspect heavy wet falling snow if anything. how far are your panels above the gutter?

[DavidT]

I live in Maryland and although it has been unusually cold and a lot of snow the snow has not been in that great a quantity to bury the bushes.
I would suspect heavy wet falling snow if anything. how far are your panels above the gutter?

The panels come down pretty far - between 1-2 feet from the gutter. If the snow slides off with any speed at all it will miss the gutter. I've never seen a tremendous volume come crashing down at a given moment, but that doesn't mean it hasn't happened. I wouldn't think I'd want to install any sort of snow guard. We want that stuff to slide off the panels.

[OvertheSun]

The panels come down pretty far - between 1-2 feet from the gutter. If the snow slides off with any speed at all it will miss the gutter. I've never seen a tremendous volume come crashing down at a given moment, but that doesn't mean it hasn't happened. I wouldn't think I'd want to install any sort of snow guard. We want that stuff to slide off the panels.

How is the soil drainage? Could it be root rot from the excess snow melting that would otherwise go into the gutter and be carried away? You might wind up with foundation issues, too, if that's what it is.