On a routine visit to the Voltaic warehouse in New Jersey, we were pleasantly surprised by the sight of solar systems installed on many of the utility poles in the area. The systems are designed by Petra Solar and are made to tie directly into the grid.
Here are a few things we like about the new additions and some things that we think could use improving:
Likes:
- Modules designed to tie directly into the grid.
- Straight forward construction and design.
- Installation appears to be straight forward.
- Great to see solar all around our warehouse in New Jersey!
Dislikes:
- Not sure if this is more efficient than a larger scale rooftop installation.
- The installation did not take into considerate power-loss due to shading from utility lines (it would have been more ideal to install them on top of the utility poles).
More information on the Petra Solar “grid interactive” utility system can be found here, and more information regarding the AC module can be found here.
Seems a little strange that these have routers mounted on the underside which can be remotely accessed thru the AT&T wireless network.
Some of them are mounted on Aluminum poles and don’t look to be wired into anything.
It doesn’t seem incredible that the routers can be remotly accessed and would of course be able to see any wireless networks within range.
Seems like a series of overlapping routers giving wide coverage and access to any WiFi signal and considering the possibilities they could be used for surveillance and by Law all network encryption can be accessed by remote users with the “Proper” or “Improper” Authority.
They are below the powerlines and transformers so they are shaded and not super efficient but locating them on Poles everywhere with my knowledge as a Programmer who tested security on systems for Prudential I have to say the oppertunity for abuse is there.
Think of it this way also:
We are at war.
In WWII they Tapped Phones
If you wanted a way to watch the traffic without accessing thru the internet (aka “Hacking”) then these would be a perfect way to keep an eye on whats being transmitted which everyone should know resembles a Postcard more than a sealed envelope.
Just Food for thought . . .
Daniel
Programmer since 1986
each day there will be more and more solar installation, just for the fun of been solar, but not thinking on efficiency and power output
its more like a decoration!