Well, probably not, but we can hope
Solar Panels are Vanishing, Only to Reappear on Internet
Solar power, with its promise of emissions-free renewable energy, boasts a growing number of fans. Some of them, it turns out, are thieves.
Just ask Glenda Hoffman, whose fury has not abated since 16 solar panels vanished from her roof in this sun-baked town in three separate burglaries in May, sometimes as she slept. She is ready if the criminals turn up again.
“I have a shotgun right next to the bed and a .22 under my pillow,†Ms. Hoffman said.
Police departments in California — the biggest market for solar power, with more than 33,000 installations — are seeing a rash of such burglaries, though nobody compiles overall statistics.
Exactly who is using standard bolts to attach something as expensive as a solar array to the outside of a house?
Fools, that’s who.
This is the 21st Century. There are so many different fasteners one could use to bolt expensive items down, that it seems just plain stupid to use a 1/2in bolt or a Philips-head screw, or hell, even a Torx-head screw to do the job.
Mine will be two stories off the ground and aren’t even purchased yet and I’ve already picked my method of attachment. They’ll have to get up there with a air-powered tool grinder to get them off. Rivets will seem like Legos.
Seriously, has no one ever heard of carriage bolts? Attach the nut from inside the house and don’t worry about it.
I am under the impression from the installations that I’ve seen, that only the brackets are attached to the house. Something about a “heat gap” or some such that is needed between the back of the panel and the roof.
The thieves just unscrew/bolt them from the brackets and away they go.
Oh, I see, the mounting brackets stay put.
Still, the aircraft industry has tons of fasteners that can be put on with regular tools, but not removed the same way. Hell, even pop-rivets are better than nothing
Exactly and exactly.