[RE-wrenches] FW: Panel Fire (Allan Sindelar)

[William Korthof]

Wow, that panel fire situation looks terrible.

With all the review and inspections we now have to go through for LA  
and LADWP solar installation,
I'm a little surprised this one even got through just based on the  
shoddy roof mounting.

The terrible build quality (wandering interconnect traces...) and  
plexiglass top surface make me think
that these these modules were fabricated in someone's garage...  
possibly the installer/seller.

The seller may have represented them as a listed product that is  
available in 250 watt size, such as
ET Solar Industry #ET-P672250 or a Schott product, or a Solon AG  
product. Looking online, none
of those real products resembled the modules on that customer's roof.

Back in the solar hot water era, there were numerous cons that got  
into the business. I've heard
stories of some who fabricated their own sub-standard "solar hot water  
panels" basically a metal
box with plexiglass and a pipe going though... it's a little harder to  
do with PV, but looks like
someone got the same idea.


I can almost hear the responses now "Oh, when solar panels  
malfunction, they can catch fire and
cause homes to burn down"... I hope the authorities take this  
situation for what it is---fraud---and
respond accordingly rather than fan the flames of the california fire  
marshall and their suggested
setback procedures (should already be called "Solar roof top exclusion  
program").

/wk


On Feb 12, 2009, at 6:24 A

> Date: Thu, 12 Feb 2009 06:13:42 -0700
> From: "Allan Sindelar" <allan at positiveenergysolar.com>
> Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] FW:  Panel Fire
> To: "'David Brearley'" <david.brearley at solarprofessional.com>
> Cc: 'RE-wrenches' <re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org>
> Message-ID: <349D57CD55FC40F7AD67838BD66DA4D4 at AllanLaptop>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
>
> David,
> OK, you're right. Each row is two panels, not four, and one two-panel
> subarray burned. My mistake, sorry.
>
> I have a strong defensive radar about substandard work in our  
> industry, and
> this is an extreme example of what can happen. This can hurt us all  
> in terms
> of public perceptions about PV. I have been a bulldog about shoddy or
> unlicensed work in our area, and have helped to "discourage" a  
> couple of
> unlicensed companies from becoming established here. It's my shadow  
> side of
> trying to build a strong industry, and of trying to protect our own
> company's reputation for quality.
>
> Allan
>