Solar on your roof?? A timely warning!! - Even a "low" roof can bite!

[007 RED]

<Crossy> posts split from the Solar Doghouse thread as off-topic but posted here to serve as a timely warning.

 

 

A serious word of caution.  Those fabricated cement can be fragile. So extreme care is required when working on the panels, as I found out recently to my cost.

 

In my case it was 3 plus meters from roof to floor.  Gravity can take over in a split second and its not the fall that hurts, it’s the sudden stop at the bottom.  Concrete is very unforgiving.

 

Result was, 5 fractured ribs, collapsed lung, fractured ankle, 16 stitches in various cuts, 2 nights in ICU and a further 2 on a general ward and a massive hospital bill.  All good fun.  On a good note: the upgrade is working as anticipated and producing sufficient power to meet our needs during daylight hours.

 

Good luck with your project.

 

 

 

[Crossy]

@007 RED didn't realise you'd managed to damage your roof!

 

Is the new ventilation hole now fixed?

 

[007 RED]

32 minutes ago, Crossy said:

@007 RED 

Is the new ventilation hole now fixed?

 

Yes... Local handyman did the repair for a couple of beers.  No way could l do it with a cast on my leg.  Apart from that, my better half has banned me from going up there until l get a walkway put up there.

[BritManToo]

57 minutes ago, 007 RED said:

Result was, 5 fractured ribs, collapsed lung, fractured ankle, 16 stitches in various cuts, 2 nights in ICU and a further 2 on a general ward and a massive hospital bill.  All good fun.  On a good note: the upgrade is working as anticipated and producing sufficient power to meet our needs during daylight hours.

That's nasty, worse than my hit and run injuries. You could have died from the collapsed lung!

 

Be careful, get well soon!

[Crossy]

It could have been worse, you could have landed on the car and damaged it as well as the roof!

 

Although that might have reduced the damage to you.

 

[ThaiFig]

Yeah acouple years ago I saw a worker at my wife's store go through our roof while putting up a sign over her store , but thankfully the doghouse tiles are new and can support my weight ( I tested by suspending one on some spares setting on cement blocks on the ground and walking on them) .  But after seeing your inadvertant air conditioning vent, I will probably add a second layer of cement tiles loosely  on top of the first while sitting on the roof ( I have many extras).   Were your tiles new?  Do you know the thickness you used?

[Crossy]

Walkways are always a good investment. Ours is Shera plank floor boards same as the pool deck.

 

[007 RED]

3 hours ago, Crossy said:

It could have been worse, you could have landed on the car and damaged it as well as the roof!

 

Although that might have reduced the damage to you.

 

@ThaiFig... Sorry I didn't mean to side track your topic with my stupidity.

 

Looking at the photos taken by my neighbours after the accident, and before the ambulance arrived, I landed just behind the rear of the car.  However, something did hit the car.  I suspect part of the roof tile which shattered the rear n/s window, as seen below.  It cost 5,000 THB to have replaced.  Luckily no damage to the paint work.

 

[007 RED]

3 hours ago, ThaiFig said:

 Were your tiles new?  Do you know the thickness you used?

The tiles were new when we had the carport constructed in 2018, so 6 years old.  Not sure about thickness.  Sorry but I'm not able to get up there to measure them at the moment.  At a rough guess I would say about 1/4 inch thick.

[ThaiFig]

Sorry to hear about your injuries, fortunate you didn't hit your head as well.  My roof is not as high, but a fall would still be damaging to my 70 year old bones, so I will be doubly cautious.

[Wobblybob]

Any roof work and I use the local Burmese builders, when I ask them "how much" it's a case of "up to you", they know I will always pay them more than what they dare ask for.

The older you get the harder you fall. 🥴

[Lacessit]

A good argument for metal roofs, I've never heard of anyone falling through them.

 

Get well soon.

[Crossy]

Madam won't let me on our car-port (where the solar lives) even with our walkway, for that matter our 2.5m step-ladder is frowned upon.

 

This is despite the fact that she knows just how much $$$ she will get if I should die "accidentally".

[Lacessit]

19 minutes ago, Crossy said:

Madam won't let me on our car-port (where the solar lives) even with our walkway, for that matter our 2.5m step-ladder is frowned upon.

 

This is despite the fact that she knows just how much $$$ she will get if I should die "accidentally".

IMO the ladies like an ATM which is open all hours.

[007 RED]

On 3/7/2024 at 11:16 AM, Crossy said:

@007 RED didn't realise you'd managed to damage your roof!

 

Is the new ventilation hole now fixed?

 

 

On 3/7/2024 at 11:54 AM, 007 RED said:

Yes... Local handyman did the repair for a couple of beers.  No way could l do it with a cast on my leg.  Apart from that, my better half has banned me from going up there until l get a walkway put up there.

I've just discovered that the local handyman who repaired the 'ventilation hole' in the carport roof appears to have spilt some silicon sealant onto the glass of 2 of the solar panels.

 

I assume that he had to remove the mounting screws which hold the panel bridge mounts in order to fit the replacement cement tiles and was using the silicon under the 'feet' of the solar panel mounting bridges to prevent water ingress under the feet.

 

I've not been up onto the carport roof to take a closer look, as I'm currently banned from undertaking such exploits by my better half, but from what I can see from the 2nd floor balcony which overlooks the carport roof, there are an number of largish globules and smears on the panel's glass.

 

According to the system's monitoring facility the panels appear to be working OK with no noticeable degradation in power production. 

 

My question:  Once I'm allowed to get up onto the carport roof, is it safe to remove the silicon from the glass using a non-metallic scraper? 

 

[BritManToo]

2 minutes ago, 007 RED said:

My question:  Once I'm allowed to get up onto the carport roof, is it safe to remove the silicon from the glass using a non-metallic scraper? 

Just pick it off with your fingernail.

[Crossy]

6 minutes ago, 007 RED said:

My question:  Once I'm allowed to get up onto the carport roof, is it safe to remove the silicon from the glass using a non-metallic scraper? 

 

I reckon

 

In practice it will probably just roll off with your finger, particularly after the sun/heat/UV have cooked it for a while.

 

Also try IPA or WD-40 to help it along but avoid getting any on the seals of the panels.

[Crossy]

@007 RED how are you doing on the recovery front?

 

[007 RED]

1 hour ago, Crossy said:

@007 RED how are you doing on the recovery front?

 

I went to the hospital last week for a follow up check up.  Must have had about 20 x-rays on my ankle and chest.  God, its a wonder that I'm not glowing in the dark.  Saying that, maybe a new topic - Alternative Energy = Nuclear Power 

 

Thankfully the ankle is on the mend.  They've taken the cast off and given me a 'Beckham Boot' as shown below.  The joy is that I can take it off to have a shower, and also at night to sleep, but I must wear it whenever I need to put weight on that leg.   

 

The consultant said that I need to keep wearing the boot for at least another month until the ankle bones have fully knitted.  He advised that if they become displaced, I will likely need surgery to have metal plates and screws inserted to hold the bones in place.  More expense that I will definitely try and avoid. 

 

The collapsed lung appears to be functioning OK now and my blood oxygen saturation levels are almost back to normal levels.

 

The fractured ribs are still giving me a lot of grief.  The Doc said that given my age (77) they may well take several months to heal because they are continuously flexing every time I breath in/out.  In the mean time its a case of popping the meds to keep the 'discomfort' under control.

 

I'm still uncertain as to exactly what happened.  All I can recall was that having made sure all the cables were tucked well under the solar panels, I was making my way back to the ladder to come down when my foot slipped.  The next thing that I remember was laying on the carport floor, unable to move, feeling totally numb and having difficulty breathing.  My better half, who was in the house, heard the crash and ran out to the carport to see what had happened and phoned for the ambulance.  The next thing I remember was being strapped onto a backboard and transported to hospital.  The rest is history.

 

I just thank my lucky stars that I didn't land head first.  From that height the outcome would most likely have been fatal.  A sobering safety lesson learned and I'm extremely grateful to my wonderful wife for taking so much care of me. 

 

On 3/7/2024 at 5:22 PM, Lacessit said:

IMO the ladies like an ATM which is open all hours.

I like to think that my better half doesn't think of me as being a 24 x 7 ATM 

[Crossy]

9 minutes ago, 007 RED said:

Alternative Energy = Nuclear Power

 

Remember that our solar is already fusion-powered, we just keep the reactor at a safe distance (93,000,000 miles).

 

Great that things are healing, as we age everything slows down, just take care.

[moe666]

On 3/7/2024 at 4:39 PM, Lacessit said:

A good argument for metal roofs, I've never heard of anyone falling through them.

 

Get well soon.

No a good argument for hireing the local construction while you supervise from the ground. I have a home in New Mexico and use to do all the work myseld but have been in Thailand 13 years now and I no longer need to be climbing on roofs are ladders to fichange out a light bulb. I hope the op heals soon and has learned a good lesson he like many here no longer as young as we once were. I do not need a few days in a icu.