Acceptance of Module Grounding Clips [RE-wrenches]

[Bill Brooks]

Wrenches,

I guess the Topica site in filtering my post, because I have tried to post
this 3 times and it will not work. The black helicopters a circling outside,
so I need to go...

Bill Brooks, PE
Brooks Engineering
873 Kells Circle
Vacaville, CA 95688
office and mobile phone: 707-332-0761
fax:707-451-7739
email: billbrooks7 at yahoo.com
web: www.brooksolar.com

Ecclesiastes 11:7 Light is sweet, and it pleases the eyes to see the sun.


> -----Original Message-----
> From: Bill Brooks [mailto:bill at brooksolar.com]
> Sent: Sunday, May 20, 2007 7:53 PM
> To: 'RE-wrenches at topica.com'
> Subject: RE: Acceptance of Module Grounding Clips [RE-wrenches]
> 
> Allan,
> 
> This is a generally well written article and I think he goes a long way to
> proving that PV grounding clips are acceptable. He makes a very far
> reaching comment however--postulating that there "may" be a corrosion
> problem with PV grounding clips. He has no experience to back up this
> assertion other than seeing lots of corrosion on an indoor-rated lug. He
> claims the lug corroded because of galvanic corrosion, but this is highly
> unlikely. This is a copper-aluminum lug, so the cad-plated screw corroded
> due to environmental conditions--since he lives in Detroit, not galvanic
> corrosion.
> 
> Remove his unsubstantiated assertion that a PV grounding clip "might"
> corrode, and you have a pretty strong argument than PV grounding clips are
> appropriate.
> 
> The whole issue of breaking the ground after the circuit conductors have
> been removed is an important fact. However, simply making the ground a
> real pain to disconnect does not necessarily solve the problem. I have
> seen many situations where the back-connected ground wire had to be
> removed before it was possible to get to the wiring. Until there is a plug
> connector that includes the ground, there is absolutely no way to guaranty
> when an installer disconnects the ground. With that in mind, manufacturers
> must supply explicit detail on the appropriate procedure on how to remove
> a bad PV module, otherwise the likelihood of a fatality while removing a
> module is a huge likelihood.
> 
> Bottom line is that grounding techniques for PV modules were developed 30
> years ago to facilitate connecting a ground wire to a module on an open
> rack. Rooftop PV with framed modules was tried and over-with in the late
> 1970s. It was essentially dismissed as a method that would never be done
> on the large scale. All PV systems were going to be integral mounted into
> the roof. That never panned out and yet the PV industry never changed
> their equipment grounding provisions even with 20,000+ installations in
> California alone--go figure. Their lack of responsiveness suggests that
> the issue will not go away.
> 
> It would be nice if the PV manufacturers would focus on this issue, but I
> don't see many manufacturers willing to focus on practical installation
> issues.
> 
> ****end rant****
> 
> Bill.
> 
> Bill Brooks, PE
> Brooks Engineering
> 873 Kells Circle
> Vacaville, CA 95688
> office and mobile phone: 707-332-0761
> fax:707-451-7739
> email: billbrooks7 at yahoo.com
> web: www.brooksolar.com
> 
> 
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Allan Sindelar [mailto:allan at positiveenergysolar.com]
> > Sent: Thursday, May 17, 2007 9:04 PM
> > To: palvinc at we-llc.com
> > Cc: New wrenches posting
> > Subject: Fw: Acceptance of Module Grounding Clips [RE-wrenches]
> >
> >
> > Palvin,
> > If you would respond to the referenced article I will gladly post your
> > response to this listserv.
> > Thank you,
> > Allan Sindelar
> > Positive Energy
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Mark Frye" <markf at berkeleysolar.com>
> > To: "RE-wrenches" <RE-wrenches at topica.com>
> > Sent: Thursday, May 17, 2007 11:14 AM
> > Subject: Acceptance of Module Grounding Clips [RE-wrenches]
> >
> >
> > >
> > > Being an installer who believes that the Wiley (s.i.c. UniRac)
> grounding
> > > clips are the best thing since sliced bread and a huge step forward
> for
> > the
> > > industry, I would be interested in anyones feedback on the this
> article
> > >
> > >
> > http://www.nmsu.edu/~tdi/pdf-
> > resources/A%20Critical%20Look%20at%20PV%20Module%20Grounding2.pdf
> > > which is prominently presented on the NMSU website
> > >
> > > http://www.nmsu.edu/~tdi/Photovoltaics/Codes-Stds/Codes-Stds.html
> > >
> > > Mark Frye
> > > Berkeley Solar Electric Systems
> > > 2504 Webster St
> > > Berkeley CA 94705-2504
> > > (510) 685-3042
> > > markf at berkeleysolar.com
> > > www.berkeleysolar.com
> >


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