BP 3160 module line failures [RE-wrenches]

[Sky Sims]

We've had 5 Bp 3160's go exactly as described out of about 2000
installed between 2001 and 2003. The first one that went I just assumed
was caused by some freak object hitting it but the burn marks directly
above the junction box made me suspicious. I ate the cost on the first
one and just swapped it out with one of the replacement modules I keep
in stock. When the second one went with the exact same marks I knew it
had to be a factory defect of some sort. BP has honored the warranty on
them but the turn around time is usually over a month and they expect
the customer to pay for shipping them back. BP burned a lot of bridges
with a lot of customers over the years. At least they are honoring the
modules with replacements. But it's a shame that it feels like pulling
teeth every time I deal with them. They seem to give Home Depot whatever
they want and just give their oldest customers the cold shoulder. Course
that mentality is what lost them the North American market. Wasn't too
long ago that they were america's first choice for solar projects but
they threw it away with poor customer support.   

Sky Sims
Ecological Systems
http://www.ecologicalsystems.biz
220 County Road 522
Manalapan, NJ 07726
732-462-3858  toll free)866-759-7652  fax)732-462-3962

-----Original Message-----
From: Greg Seelhorst [mailto:greg_s at sonic.net] 
Sent: Saturday, June 21, 2008 12:45 AM
To: RE-wrenches at topica.com
Subject: BP 3160 module line failures [RE-wrenches]


Re: BP failures for BP3160 line of modules
We have no experience with the BP75s, but we do with the BP3160 series.
As of June 20, 2008 we have the following statistics to report for
failed or
shattered BP panels for installations since Nov. 2001:

1.34% Percent of installed BP panels (BP3160s) have failed (or
shattered)
[41 BP Panels Failed out of 3057 BP Panels Installed].

13.7 % Percent of our customers with installed BP3160 Panels have had
failures ranging from 1 to 14 panels within 6 years of installation [13
Customers out of 95 Total Customers].

BP says the buss bars are failing on the module at the soldering joint
above
the junction box.  About half of the failed panels are actually
exploding
causing the glass to shatter in place in some cases.  If we can catch
the
buss bar starting to show burn marks before they fail BP will authorize
us
changing them out.  Since we have over 3,000 BP3160 panels out there we
have
to keep about 5 in stock, just to keep up with the failing panels.

Due to the nature of the failure, it is easier to tell because the
entire
string is taken out and shows at the inverter display.  The hard part is
getting the customer to relay this information to us close to the time
when
it happens so that they can get the lost string back online.

We no longer install BP panels since mid 2005.  


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