Grounding Methods [RE-wrenches]

August Goers august at luminalt.com
Tue Jun 12 10:08:07 PDT 2007


Don - I know that you wanted us to respond off list, but I figure I'd share
my experiences with all Wrenches...

We have not used the WEEB clips but we have used the Unirac ground clips on
about 50 kW of installs. We work mainly in San Francisco which has very
strict grounding policies. When obtaining the permit for our first job with
the Unirac clips we brought in a sample Unirac rail, ground clip, and module
clamp for the head inspector to see. He had two comments which I agree with.
First, the quality of the bond between the module and rack is dependent on
the quality of installation ie. torque, exact placement, etc. Second, he
thought that it might be wise to use some sort of protective grease to
assure that the bond would not corrode over time. Other than that, he
approved our use of the product and we haven't had any problems with
inspectors. On the flip side, I feel that installing the old fashioned tin
coated copper lugs on each module also presents a problem if not installed
correctly. I've often seen times where the technicians had over tightened
the thread forming screw and stripped the threads. This requires drilling a
new hole and starting again and also requires well trained installers to get
right. Some of the modules on the market use very thin aluminum frames which
make it hard to get a good bite with the ground screw. Installing these lugs
onto the rails (each rail section needs to be individually grounded) is more
reliable because they can be installed with stainless bolts inserted into
the top channel of the rail. See
http://www.unirac.com/solarmount/sm_pdf/ii225.pdf for details. 

The clips drastically reduce install time and cost because we can complete
the entire racking ground system before placing the modules. It also reduces
the amount of tin coated copper lugs used.

-August 

-----Original Message-----
From: Don Loweberg [mailto:I2P at aol.com] 
Sent: Sunday, June 10, 2007 9:25 AM
To: RE-wrenches at topica.com
Subject: Grounding Methods [RE-wrenches]



Any wrenches using the WEEB or UniRac grounding washers and system please 
contact me offline with your experience with this product and include your 
experience with local jurisdiction approval and inspection. I am putting
together an 
article and want all points of view.
 
Don Loweburg
 
i2p at aol.com



************************************** See what's free at
http://www.aol.com.

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