Acceptance of Module Grounding Clips [RE-wrenches]

Joel Davidson joel.davidson at sbcglobal.net
Thu May 24 08:21:02 PDT 2007


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Bill,

Until there is a plug connector that includes the ground,

Do you mean a separate factory-installed lead with a plug connector for the 
ground?

Joel Davidson

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Bill Brooks" <bill at brooksolar.com>
To: "'Bill Brooks'" <bill at brooksolar.com>; <RE-wrenches at topica.com>
Sent: Wednesday, May 23, 2007 11:12 AM
Subject: RE: Acceptance of Module Grounding Clips [RE-wrenches]


>
> 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


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