Module grounding revisited [RE-wrenches]

[Bill Brooks]

William,

I apologize for not having a chance to answer your original question, but it
"sparked" a good discussion and I think that John Wiles summed up the
technical issue quite nicely.

One thing no one has mentioned is the fact that this issue is PRIMARILY the
fault of the module manufacturers. They know that a huge percentage of their
modules, and almost all of their 72-cell modules are going on rooftops and
yet they still have not adequately addressed how to readily ground each
module.

There is no doubt that the existing locations (back of module) is the last
place I would want to ground the module when putting it into a standoff
mounting system. Manufacturers are simply too lazy to figure out a better
way and the installer is stuck with extra work to ground it properly. Should
a racking system be acceptable for grounding---ABSOLUTELY--as long as it is
tested and approved to provide adequate grounding of the modules. Continuity
or resistance tests are irrelevant when it comes to frame grounding. The
grounding system must be able to carry full fault current for as long as
necessary to trip the overcurrent device. Many frames will have a very high
resistance to ground as soon as you try to pass any current through a racked
connection.

So talk with your module manufacturers and tell them what a pain they are
causing good installers in the field. They will only listen if numerous
people raise this issue. If it is too difficult to ground properly,
installers won't do it and now we have higher voltage systems proliferating
with inadequate grounding. Hope this adds to the discussion--and I hope some
module manufacturers are listening--are they allowed on this list???

Bill.


-----Original Message-----
From: Jay Peltz, Peltz Power [mailto:jay at asis.com]
Sent: Thursday, October 31, 2002 8:11 AM
To: RE-wrenches at topica.com
Subject: Re: Module grounding revisited [RE-wrenches]


Hi William,

In my experience, most inspectors agree that its just equipment
grounding.  All
parts are metal, and connected, so one "ground" per rack is just fine.
***snip****
p.s. inspectors accept all kinds of non-compliant installation practices.

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