I understand that circuit breakers have already been invented…
Also I would expect this to be a quality instillation…
FYI, I am an electrical engineer and have designed solar panel installations and have attended seminars on the subject. The wiring connecting the solar panels to the inverters in the building do not have over-current protection (circuit breakers). You cannot turn off a solar panel from producing electricity except by blocking it from sunlight. My neighbour is a firefighter that has put out fires of solar panels on roofs and he says the only thing they can do is cover them with blankets to stop the solar panels from producing electricity. He said it was funny because they thought they had it under control by night time, but the next morning when the sun came up, the solar panel started producing electricity again and the short circuit and resulting fire continued. Most installations are quality installations and I'm sure this one will be doubly so. New codes now call for the wiring to be in conduit wherever possible so birds cannot disturb the wiring. But in an installation this size, the odds go up that something could go wrong. There will be thousands of electrical splices connecting these panels to the electrical system. An earthquake or a windstorm could disturb the wiring. I would say it's not likely that a short circuit would happen but it can happen. And if it happens on an installation this massive, it would be disastrous. Personally I think the building and the use of solar panels is very cool but I hope they have a system in place to block the solar panels from sunlight in an emergency situation.
Not everyday but it "can" happen. I know of a local recreational cottage with solar panels on the roof that shorted out. The short caused a fire which caused the other panels to short which resulted in rapid expansion of the fire. If it happened on a solar panel installation of this size, it would get out of control very quickly and cause massive damage. There is no switch or breaker on a solar panel to turn them off. If there is sunlight, they will keep producing electricity. I love the idea of the solar panels on the roof but on a building this big with thousands of people in it, they need a way to block sunlight to the panels in emergency situations. I did a little bit of searching and this may be the largest building mounted solar panel installation in the world by far. There are bigger ground mount installations but I can't find anything close to this size in a building mounted installation.
Example : a geek waits outside a movie theater for 4 hours waiting for the "Harry Potter" premiere; a nerd on the other hand goes to the premiere dressed as Harry Potter
Göbekli Tepe - 12,000yo. You won't beat that until archeologists dig up an earlier structure.
PS: Why are pointing out round structures that existed before Apple's new HQ (which still hasn't broken ground as far as I know)? Did Apple say it's the first circular structure?
Not everyday but it "can" happen. I know of a local recreational cottage with solar panels on the roof that shorted out. The short caused a fire which caused the other panels to short which resulted in rapid expansion of the fire. If it happened on a solar panel installation of this size, it would get out of control very quickly and cause massive damage. There is no switch or breaker on a solar panel to turn them off. If there is sunlight, they will keep producing electricity. I love the idea of the solar panels on the roof but on a building this big with thousands of people in it, they need a way to block sunlight to the panels in emergency situations. I did a little bit of searching and this may be the largest building mounted solar panel installation in the world by far. There are bigger ground mount installations but I can't find anything close to this size in a building mounted installation.
could you not just install a mechanical device that tips over the solar panels, so that that they turn "off" automatically via sensor .. or have a cover that falls onto the panel upon sensing a short?.
They would already have a power balancer for selecting the power source from the panels/on-site-generator/ city power. so, a circuit that triggers the covering of the panel when they aren't producing power might work too... a short circuit would mean lack of power...
could you not just install a mechanical device that tips over the solar panels, so that that they turn "off" automatically via sensor .. or have a cover that falls onto the panel upon sensing a short?.
They would already have a power balancer for selecting the power source from the panels/on-site-generator/ city power. so, a circuit that triggers the covering of the panel when they aren't producing power might work too... a short circuit would mean lack of power...
That's what I was thinking. If that isn't happening I have to assume it's not as big of an issue as it's being made out to be.
Does no one else see something incredibly wrong here?
That's the first thing I thought. I didn't verbalize it though because the comments section - especially lately - seems to exist solely for a select group of pompous power users to try to demonstrate their intellect.
I mean really, comments about the native plant species of Cupertino and the aesthetic value of different trees? The company is named "Apple." If you are going to plant tress at the headquarters of said company then a few apple trees somewhere on the property would make sense.
Oh, and here's a pic of some "hideous" looking apple trees:
Being the tallest doesn't mean as much as it used to mean to me. None of these new race-to-the-top skyscrapers have any differentiation to them anymore. They're all variations on the 'spike that slowly gets sections shaved down as it rises' theme. The Illinois did that in '56, for crying out loud.
The WTC was a revolution in skyscrapers. Taipei 101 had class. The Pentominium looks really interesting, if terrifying, but it's on hold.
Apple's new office building is regional practicality combined with simplicity in a unique form.
No one said skyscrapers. There are tons of other buildings more revolutionary and interesting than what Apple is proposing. Dubai (and most of the Gulf region in general) is an architects dream come true. Any design proposal will go through as long as the monarch or royalty approves of it. I have many friends from my prior life working in large architect firms over there.
They won't have any excess solar power. With a building this size, panels on the roof will not be sufficient to meet all their needs.
Their power plant will be providing the majority of their power needs with solar providing a modest percentage. That may allow them to stop using city power under normal conditions, but they'd be foolish to not use city power as a backup, so I doubt if they'll be off the grid.
The usual arrangement is for a "two-way street" connection so when the building's demand exceeds it's generation capacity it draws power from the commercial grid and when it's generation capacity exceeds it's own demands (when or if ever) then the meter runs "backwards" and the local power agency buys the power at something like market rates. For the prudence of an independent backup alone they'd have a connection to the commercial grid: stuff breaks after all.
Comments
You mean a copy of a circle but not quite as accurate as it should be?
Given we can only approximate a circle I don't suppose this building will be quite accurate either
"O" is for original.
Roman Colosseum
The Colosseum is elliptic, actually
I understand that circuit breakers have already been invented…
Also I would expect this to be a quality instillation…
FYI, I am an electrical engineer and have designed solar panel installations and have attended seminars on the subject. The wiring connecting the solar panels to the inverters in the building do not have over-current protection (circuit breakers). You cannot turn off a solar panel from producing electricity except by blocking it from sunlight. My neighbour is a firefighter that has put out fires of solar panels on roofs and he says the only thing they can do is cover them with blankets to stop the solar panels from producing electricity. He said it was funny because they thought they had it under control by night time, but the next morning when the sun came up, the solar panel started producing electricity again and the short circuit and resulting fire continued. Most installations are quality installations and I'm sure this one will be doubly so. New codes now call for the wiring to be in conduit wherever possible so birds cannot disturb the wiring. But in an installation this size, the odds go up that something could go wrong. There will be thousands of electrical splices connecting these panels to the electrical system. An earthquake or a windstorm could disturb the wiring. I would say it's not likely that a short circuit would happen but it can happen. And if it happens on an installation this massive, it would be disastrous. Personally I think the building and the use of solar panels is very cool but I hope they have a system in place to block the solar panels from sunlight in an emergency situation.
And this happens often, does it?
Not everyday but it "can" happen. I know of a local recreational cottage with solar panels on the roof that shorted out. The short caused a fire which caused the other panels to short which resulted in rapid expansion of the fire. If it happened on a solar panel installation of this size, it would get out of control very quickly and cause massive damage. There is no switch or breaker on a solar panel to turn them off. If there is sunlight, they will keep producing electricity. I love the idea of the solar panels on the roof but on a building this big with thousands of people in it, they need a way to block sunlight to the panels in emergency situations. I did a little bit of searching and this may be the largest building mounted solar panel installation in the world by far. There are bigger ground mount installations but I can't find anything close to this size in a building mounted installation.
"O" is for original.
Shakespeare Globe Theatre
You can get an entire work day in seconds.
"A [successful technology company] is going to be more advanced. That means efficiency functioning on multiple levels and in multiple dimensions."
*sniff* I love you guys, man... You speaketh my language. Geeky, but not nerdy. [Yes, there is a difference]
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_th...erd_and_a_geek
Example : a geek waits outside a movie theater for 4 hours waiting for the "Harry Potter" premiere; a nerd on the other hand goes to the premiere dressed as Harry Potter
Not everyday but it "can" happen. I know of a local recreational cottage with solar panels on the roof that shorted out. The short caused a fire which caused the other panels to short which resulted in rapid expansion of the fire. If it happened on a solar panel installation of this size, it would get out of control very quickly and cause massive damage. There is no switch or breaker on a solar panel to turn them off. If there is sunlight, they will keep producing electricity. I love the idea of the solar panels on the roof but on a building this big with thousands of people in it, they need a way to block sunlight to the panels in emergency situations. I did a little bit of searching and this may be the largest building mounted solar panel installation in the world by far. There are bigger ground mount installations but I can't find anything close to this size in a building mounted installation.
could you not just install a mechanical device that tips over the solar panels, so that that they turn "off" automatically via sensor .. or have a cover that falls onto the panel upon sensing a short?.
They would already have a power balancer for selecting the power source from the panels/on-site-generator/ city power. so, a circuit that triggers the covering of the panel when they aren't producing power might work too... a short circuit would mean lack of power...
could you not just install a mechanical device that tips over the solar panels, so that that they turn "off" automatically via sensor .. or have a cover that falls onto the panel upon sensing a short?.
They would already have a power balancer for selecting the power source from the panels/on-site-generator/ city power. so, a circuit that triggers the covering of the panel when they aren't producing power might work too... a short circuit would mean lack of power...
That's what I was thinking. If that isn't happening I have to assume it's not as big of an issue as it's being made out to be.
That's what I was thinking. If that isn't happening I have to assume it's not as big of an issue as it's being made out to be.
Apple isn't used to solving problems of a technical nature and their limited budget might prevent Apple from finding a workaround¡
Does no one else see something incredibly wrong here?
That's the first thing I thought. I didn't verbalize it though because the comments section - especially lately - seems to exist solely for a select group of pompous power users to try to demonstrate their intellect.
I mean really, comments about the native plant species of Cupertino and the aesthetic value of different trees? The company is named "Apple." If you are going to plant tress at the headquarters of said company then a few apple trees somewhere on the property would make sense.
Oh, and here's a pic of some "hideous" looking apple trees:
Being the tallest doesn't mean as much as it used to mean to me. None of these new race-to-the-top skyscrapers have any differentiation to them anymore. They're all variations on the 'spike that slowly gets sections shaved down as it rises' theme. The Illinois did that in '56, for crying out loud.
The WTC was a revolution in skyscrapers. Taipei 101 had class. The Pentominium looks really interesting, if terrifying, but it's on hold.
Apple's new office building is regional practicality combined with simplicity in a unique form.
No one said skyscrapers. There are tons of other buildings more revolutionary and interesting than what Apple is proposing. Dubai (and most of the Gulf region in general) is an architects dream come true. Any design proposal will go through as long as the monarch or royalty approves of it. I have many friends from my prior life working in large architect firms over there.
They won't have any excess solar power. With a building this size, panels on the roof will not be sufficient to meet all their needs.
Their power plant will be providing the majority of their power needs with solar providing a modest percentage. That may allow them to stop using city power under normal conditions, but they'd be foolish to not use city power as a backup, so I doubt if they'll be off the grid.
The usual arrangement is for a "two-way street" connection so when the building's demand exceeds it's generation capacity it draws power from the commercial grid and when it's generation capacity exceeds it's own demands (when or if ever) then the meter runs "backwards" and the local power agency buys the power at something like market rates. For the prudence of an independent backup alone they'd have a connection to the commercial grid: stuff breaks after all.
That "buy back" provision is written into law.
Apple isn't used to solving problems of a technical nature and their limited budget might prevent Apple from finding a workaround¡
That's right.They have really limited budget for prevent Apple from finding workaround. Aplle should solve this technical issue.