[RE-wrenches] Target fire

Andrew Truitt atruitt at gmail.com
Mon Oct 18 13:50:22 PDT 2010


Thanks Matt!  Just what I was looking for.

I have a friend who does PV commissioning for a major government agency and
he has caught numerous major installation errors that posed serious safety
concerns.  It seems to me that a comprehesive 3rd party inspection of all
commercial/utility scale systems should be the norm throughout the industry,
not just for governmental systems.


- Andrew



On Mon, Oct 18, 2010 at 2:12 PM, Matt Lafferty <gilligan06 at gmail.com> wrote:

>  Andrew,
>
> The General/Prime Contractor on the job was SunPower vis a vis
> Powerlight. As per standard operating procedures there, the actual
> installation was subbed out. I don't recall which subs they used on this
> job, but there was more than one. Per their normal routine, one sub installs
> the racking, modules, and wiring from the modules to the combiners. This sub
> can have any one of several different license classifications. They use an
> electrical sub to install the combiners, homeruns, inverters,
> interconnection. The electrical sub is responsible for terminations.
>
> Although I wasn't onsite to inspect the charcoal, I believe there were
> multiple shorts, not just the separated coupling in the homerun. I suspect
> there was at least one ground-fault in the array prior to whatever happened
> at the coupling. If this was the case, then BOTH SUBCONTRACTORS FAILED. They
> are both at least partially responsible for what happened there.
>
> I have seen the racking system that was used on the Bakersfield project.
> The vintage used there had SEVERE problems with wire management. Absolute
> crap! Ground faults are common with that racking system. I have
> personally witnessed a system running with 8 amps of current on the ground
> using the same racking system. This was NOT on the Bakersfield
> site. Although I wasn't permitted to troubleshoot the problem, I was told
> that they had been chasing the ghost for several months. Ever since the
> initial installation. I have it from reliable sources that this condition is
> common and a known flaw in the design. At that time, their philosophy was
> that a ground fault is acceptable as long as there isn't enough current to
> trip the inverter offline. Central inverters commonly have up to a 10 amp
> GFP, so you can have one or more strings directly shorted and keep running.
>
> The concept that they kept installing systems with a known flaw like
> this is beyond acceptable. SunPower ultimately bears the greatest share of
> responsibility here. I do not know whether they have corrected the crappy
> wire management in that racking system since then or not. I certainly hope
> they have either corrected it or stopped using the system altogether.
>
> A comprehensive commissioning process would identify these problems and
> prevent the system from being placed into service. A visual inspection is
> the beginning of any commissioning process. As I said, I have seen these
> systems and they ain't pretty. Any schmuck can easily see numerous wires
> pulled across sharp-edges of sheet metal at various points throughout the
> array. Fail #1. Megger output jumpers... Fail #2.
>
> The concept that any building department has signed one of these systems
> off at all is mind-boggling. Another thing I find interesting... There was
> no mention of this condition in the fire investigation report. Only a
> recommendation to megger the remaining wires. What's up with that? How is it
> that so many of these systems have been installed and passed inspection? How
> many have caught fire that we haven't heard about? You know... Just a little
> fire.
>
> I would LOVE to know how much downtime has been logged because of this
> dangerous problem. And how much money has been spent troubleshooting and
> "fixing" faults caused by this problem. And how many "technicians" have been
> shocked during installation or service? One thing I can guarantee you...
> Unless you work inside the bowels of SunPower or this information comes out
> in a lawsuit somewhere, we will never know. Maybe WikiLeaks will have
> something on this someday. But I'm not holding my breath.
>
> For the record, I'm not a SunPower hater. I do hate crappy workmanship. I
> hate the practice of covering up crappy workmanship even more. You see, when
> you cover it up, it's just gonna keep happening. At least until somebody
> calls you on it.
>
> $0.02001
>
> Solar Janitor
>
>  ------------------------------
> *From:* re-wrenches-bounces at lists.re-wrenches.org [mailto:
> re-wrenches-bounces at lists.re-wrenches.org] *On Behalf Of *Andrew Truitt
> *Sent:* Monday, October 18, 2010 12:04 PM
> *To:* RE-wrenches
>
> *Subject:* Re: [RE-wrenches] Target fire
>
> Thanks William.  That is the first place I looked but I didn't see it in
> there.  But I love all the resources on your website!
>
>
> - Andrew
>  On Mon, Oct 18, 2010 at 12:47 PM, William Miller <william at millersolar.com
> > wrote:
>
>>  Andrew:
>>
>> It may be in the report:
>> http://mpandc.com/practices/Safety/safety_data.html
>>
>> William
>>
>>
>> At 11:30 AM 10/18/2010, you wrote:
>>
>>   Does anyone know who installed the infamous Bakersfield Target job?
>>
>>
>>
>> Andrew Truitt
>> NABCEP Certified PV Installer™ (ID# 032407-66)
>> Truitt Renewable Energy Consulting
>> (202) 486-7507
>> http://www.linkedin.com/pub/andrew-truitt/8/622/713
>>
>>
>>
>> "Don't get me wrong: I love nuclear energy! It's just that I prefer fusion
>> to fission. And it just so happens that there's an enormous fusion reactor
>> safely banked a few million miles from us. It delivers more than we could
>> ever use in just about 8 minutes. And it's wireless!"
>>
>> ~William McDonough
>>
>> No virus found in this incoming message.
>> Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
>> Version: 8.5.448 / Virus Database: 271.1.1/3204 - Release Date: 10/18/10
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>>
>>  *Please note new e-mail address and domain:
>>
>> *William Miller
>> Miller Solar
>> Voice :805-438-5600
>> email: william at millersolar.com
>> http://millersolar.com
>> License No. C-10-773985
>> ____________________________________
>>
>> Andrew Truitt
>> NABCEP Certified PV Installer™ (ID# 032407-66)
>> Truitt Renewable Energy Consulting
>> (202) 486-7507
>> http://www.linkedin.com/pub/andrew-truitt/8/622/713
>>
>> "Don't get me wrong: I love nuclear energy! It's just that I prefer fusion
>> to fission. And it just so happens that there's an enormous fusion reactor
>> safely banked a few million miles from us. It delivers more than we could
>> ever use in just about 8 minutes. And it's wireless!"
>>
>> ~William McDonough
>>
>>
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-- 


Andrew Truitt
NABCEP Certified PV Installer™ (ID# 032407-66)
Truitt Renewable Energy Consulting
(202) 486-7507
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/andrew-truitt/8/622/713



"Don't get me wrong: I love nuclear energy! It's just that I prefer fusion
to fission. And it just so happens that there's an enormous fusion reactor
safely banked a few million miles from us. It delivers more than we could
ever use in just about 8 minutes. And it's wireless!"

~William McDonough
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