ROBERT BERTRAND

Pond aeration solar failures happen at 4 AM in July when the algae bloom is heaviest and the overnight aerator has been pulling the LFP bank down for 10 hours straight. I was asked to review the power system at a brook trout nursery operated by the Nipissing-Mattawa Conservation Authority on the South River near

Highway signage solar installations on heavy truck corridors do not fail suddenly. They fade progressively over weeks, unnoticed until the Variable Message Sign goes dark in a January whiteout. I was asked to review such an installation on northbound Highway 400 at the Innisfil Creek Road overpass in Simcoe County, Ontario. The sign, part of

Radio repeater solar power failures are not always blackouts. Sometimes the system keeps running, the repeater goes deaf, and nobody knows why for months. I was called to troubleshoot a receiver desensitization problem at a VHF search and rescue repeater operated by the Huronia Amateur Radio Club on a hilltop site near Midland on Georgian

Weather station solar power failures happen during the storms that matter most. I was called to Cape Scott on the northern tip of Vancouver Island in British Columbia to review the power system for an Environment and Climate Change Canada automated weather station at 280 metres elevation. The station had been operating for 3 years

Construction site solar power failures are not caused by bad panels or undersized batteries. They are caused by loose terminals that nobody notices because the pile driver has been running 40 metres away for months. I was asked to review the power system for a job trailer on a 14-storey residential tower project on the

Disaster relief solar power failures cost lives in the first 90 minutes and the cause is always the same inverter that nobody tested before it went into the shipping container. I was asked to review the power system for a mobile clinic deployment by a Canadian NGO operating near Port-au-Prince, Haiti following a 7.2 magnitude

Border security solar power failures are not random. They are predictable, they happen on the hottest days of the year, and they create a breach window that a patient adversary can exploit. I was asked to review the power and thermal management system for a remote perimeter monitoring station on a pipeline right-of-way in the

Alpine hut solar power failures in the Rockies happen in seconds and are not recoverable until the following summer. I was asked to review the power system at a backcountry warden cabin near the Icefield Parkway in Banff National Park at 2,340 metres elevation that Parks Canada used for search and rescue operations in the

Cave exploration solar power failures happen in complete darkness 200 metres from the nearest sunlight. I was asked to review the power system for a speleological survey team from McMaster University mapping the Eramosa Karst Conservation Area near Guelph in Wellington County, Ontario. The team was running a FARO Focus laser scanner and four LED

Archaeological dig solar power failures are invisible in the data until the excavation team follows a false anomaly. I was asked to review the power system at a late Woodland period village site near Rice Lake in Northumberland County, Ontario. The University of Toronto archaeology field school was excavating under a permit from the Ontario