So, on June 19th, my husband and I returned home from a trip to find one of our solar panels completely shattered. We reviewed our security camera footage but didn't see anything unusual. We have an older neighbor across the street who is generally friendly but keeps to himself, and we've never really interacted with other neighbors that live a couple of streets down. We've been in this rural area for about four months but are still working on getting our privacy fence and securely mounting our panels.
We left home early in the morning and got back around 6:30 PM only to find that not only was one panel shattered, but now another one was as well, and the first one had additional damage. It was quite strange since the batteries showed very little charge. We did a thorough check of the area but couldn't find any footprints or signs of disturbance.
Interestingly, our security cameras only recorded us leaving and returning, and usually, they capture our neighbor's movements. I'm starting to wonder if something might be off with the system. We're curious if the damage could be due to something like extreme heat, although it was cloudy all day. We're hoping it's just a freak accident and not something involving our neighbors. Any insights or thoughts would really help us out. Thanks!
2 Answers
It definitely sounds like a weird situation! Many folks are quick to say it might be someone vandalizing your panels, maybe with a BB gun or something. But has anyone considered natural causes? If you have lots of birds around, they might be contributing to the damage by pecking at them or dropping things from above. You might want to check if your area has any birds that like to hang out on roofs. Also, if you've had any heavy winds or storms, flying debris could be a possibility too. Just throwing some ideas out there! Hope it gets sorted soon!
Honestly, it seems really odd with those cameras not capturing any action. I would check if they’re working properly. Sometimes heat or extreme weather can crack panels, but since it was cloudy, that's pretty unlikely. If you can borrow or access a thermal camera, you might spot something unusual like hotspots that indicate potential issues. Definitely worth investigating further to see what's going on!
Yeah, that’s a solid idea! Just keep an eye out, and maybe try contacting someone who deals with solar panels, they might have seen similar cases.
I agree! It could also just be a freak accident. Maybe a tree branch fell or something hot got too close? Can't hurt to check for anything around that might seem out of place.