Panel theft

AE-NMidlands
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Joined: Wed Jun 02, 2021 6:10 pm

Panel theft

#1

Post by AE-NMidlands »

https://www.northantstelegraph.co.uk/ne ... rk-4265993
the second raid at the site in recent months
Police are appealing for witnesses and information after [80] solar panels worth around £10,500 were stolen from an energy farm in the east of the county.

Between 10pm on Monday, August 21, and 7.50am on Tuesday, August 22, unknown offenders entered Chelveston Renewable Energy Park, at Chelveston Airfield, after cutting a gate from its hinges and driving across fields off the B645 and damaging fencing to enter the park.
Might have been safer if they had been on the roofs of sheds...
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Stinsy
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Re: Panel theft

#2

Post by Stinsy »

My local sports centre had pallets of panels stacked up in the car park for weeks awaiting installation in the roof. I was surprised they weren’t pilfered!
Last edited by Stinsy on Thu Aug 24, 2023 5:16 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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(Artist formally known as ******, well it should be obvious enough to those for whom such things are important.)
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Joeboy
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Re: Panel theft

#3

Post by Joeboy »

Make ye weep eh? Scum is scum anywhere. Those panels will be sold off cheap through FB marketplace, Gumtree etc.
£8,000 worth, they'll fly off the shelf.

The farm owners should have chipped the panels. Insurance will pay.

Sad stuff. 😔

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https://businesstech.co.za/news/energy/ ... th-africa/
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AE-NMidlands
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Re: Panel theft

#4

Post by AE-NMidlands »

Joeboy wrote: Thu Aug 24, 2023 5:09 pm Make ye weep eh? Scum is scum anywhere. Those panels will be sold off cheap through FB marketplace, Gumtree etc.
£8,000 worth, they'll fly off the shelf.

The farm owners should have chipped the panels. Insurance will pay.
Sad stuff. 😔

Related
https://businesstech.co.za/news/energy/ ... th-africa/
In a bid to mitigate rising solar panel theft, a European company is manufacturing and intentionally ‘damaging’ solar panels specifically for the South African market.
De Jager recently met with a company representative to discuss their solar products. The representative showed him photos of their solar panels exported to South Africa, and he noticed that they all appeared broken.
“All the panels had something wrong with them – a corner that was missing or broken, cracked glass, and the like,” De Jager said. At first, he thought the damaged panels were second-hand. However, the representative clarified that they were intentionally damaged new panels.
The company purposefully produces panels that look damaged for the South African market, making them less attractive to criminals.
Smart!
Image
2.0 kW/4.62 MWh pa in Ripples, 4.5 kWp W-facing pv, 9.5 kWh batt
30 solar thermal tubes, 2MWh pa in Stockport, plus Congleton and Kinlochbervie Hydros,
Most travel by bike, walking or bus/train. Veg, fruit - and Bees!
ecogeorge
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Location: Gloucestershire

Re: Panel theft

#5

Post by ecogeorge »

Joeboy wrote: Thu Aug 24, 2023 5:09 pm Make ye weep eh? Scum is scum anywhere. Those panels will be sold off cheap through FB marketplace, Gumtree etc.
£8,000 worth, they'll fly off the shelf.

The farm owners should have chipped the panels. Insurance will pay.

Sad stuff. 😔

Related

https://businesstech.co.za/news/energy/ ... th-africa/

Apple air tag hidden inside a junction box ??
George
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AGT
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Re: Panel theft

#6

Post by AGT »

Yeah, I have one on the dogs collar in case
He slips the lead when we are out, and one hidden in our cars to track it if it gets nicked
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AlBargey
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Re: Panel theft

#7

Post by AlBargey »

I put together an autonomous water pump and filtration system for our community orchard. It has two solar panels and is in public space in East London, so we're assuming something will happen at some point.. It's got a Eufy WiFi camera inside the cabinet as a last chance alarm.

However, I noticed the panel voltage never drops below 0.3V so I've set an alarm in the Victron VRM if the voltage drops below 0.2V someone's cut the cables! - It's on a PTP WiFi to our network so I should get notified asap and be able do something.

Surely a big solar park has cameras, sensors, and alarms on voltage to be able to act quickly!?
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Joeboy
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Re: Panel theft

#8

Post by Joeboy »

AlBargey wrote: Sat Aug 26, 2023 12:12 pm I put together an autonomous water pump and filtration system for our community orchard. It has two solar panels and is in public space in East London, so we're assuming something will happen at some point.. It's got a Eufy WiFi camera inside the cabinet as a last chance alarm.

However, I noticed the panel voltage never drops below 0.3V so I've set an alarm in the Victron VRM if the voltage drops below 0.2V someone's cut the cables! - It's on a PTP WiFi to our network so I should get notified asap and be able do something.

Surely a big solar park has cameras, sensors, and alarms on voltage to be able to act quickly!?
At the risk.of bringing the lighting, two panels are unlikely to be a target. The moneys not there. I'd.mark them up with white paint marker ID to make them even less attractive?
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AlBargey
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Re: Panel theft

#9

Post by AlBargey »

Joeboy wrote: Sat Aug 26, 2023 1:53 pm
At the risk.of bringing the lighting, two panels are unlikely to be a target. The moneys not there....
Well, in the Orchard we've had 5 of 15 apple tree saplings pulled up and stolen, and another one snapped in half..

Last weekend I caught two youths on a moped seconds after they'd cut through our 2 x D locks and another two locks on my electric bike and partners mountain bike. (4 in total!) This was outside a bar with a crowd watching! Luckily I'd had a few already and steamed over to them with a primal "F########K YOUUUUUU" they dropped my bike and backed off, but threatened me with the angle grinder, luckily a few in the crowd were behind me, and helped us get the bikes in the bar, moments later apparently, as the kids on the moped were driving around the block threateningly swerving at people, someone who saw what was happening drove past them and and clipped them with his mirror, they slid across the road.. Karma! :D all before police arrived.

Did I say I live in East London.. ;)
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Joeboy
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Re: Panel theft

#10

Post by Joeboy »

AlBargey wrote: Sat Aug 26, 2023 2:10 pm
Joeboy wrote: Sat Aug 26, 2023 1:53 pm
At the risk.of bringing the lighting, two panels are unlikely to be a target. The moneys not there....
Well, in the Orchard we've had 5 of 15 apple tree saplings pulled up and stolen, and another one snapped in half..

Last weekend I caught two youths on a moped seconds after they'd cut through our 2 x D locks and another two locks on my electric bike and partners mountain bike. (4 in total!) This was outside a bar with a crowd watching! Luckily I'd had a few already and steamed over to them with a primal "F########K YOUUUUUU" they dropped my bike and backed off, but threatened me with the angle grinder, luckily a few in the crowd were behind me, and helped us get the bikes in the bar, moments later apparently, as the kids on the moped were driving around the block threateningly swerving at people, someone who saw what was happening drove past them and and clipped them with his mirror, they slid across the road.. Karma! :D all before police arrived.

Did I say I live in East London.. ;)
Oh well! Violence it is then. Happy days. :D

Bad craick on the apple trees.. :(
19.7kW PV SE, VI, HM, EN & DW
Ripple 7kW WT & Gen to date 19MWh
42kWh LFPO4 storage
95kWh Heater storage
12kWh 210ltr HWT.
73kWh HI5
Deep insulation, air leak ct'd home
Zoned GCH & Hive 2
WBSx2
Low energy bulbs
Veg patches & fruit trees
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