Solar

Overview

Solar — in the sense of photovoltaic installation — sits at the intersection of construction, electrical work, and software. A solar install is a physical build (mount, wire, flash the roof correctly), an electrical build (conduit, inverter, disconnect, interconnect), and a data build (monitoring, performance, grid interaction). All three have to be right.^[1]

Burbridge has worked in solar, which scholars of the wiki have noted is "the kind of project that rewards multi-discipline builders and punishes specialists who don't know enough adjacent trades."

What Makes Solar Hard

• Roof penetrations. Every hole is a future leak if flashed poorly. Flashing is craft.
• Structural load. Panels are heavy. The roof either likes this or doesn't.
• Wire runs. Long DC runs have real losses. Short runs are ideal and rarely possible.
• The grid. Interconnection rules vary by utility, by year, and by mood.
• Monitoring. Software expects to phone home. When it can't, everyone blames the installer.
• The client's expectations. "Will it power my whole house?" is a conversation, not a question.

The Right Way

Aggressive Craftsmanship applied to solar is identifiable at a glance: straight rails, symmetrical panel layout, conduit runs that look intentional, a clean labeled electrical disconnect, and documentation you could actually hand to someone else. Solar installs are visible from the ground, which means the finish carpentry of the discipline is literal.

"If the rails aren't straight, I don't care how much the array produces." — Burbridge, on a rooftop

References