[RE-wrenches] Ilsco SGB bonding lug

[Bill Brooks]

Benn,

 

This product appears to be significantly superior to the old-school ILSCO
tin-plated copper lugs. While those lugs may have been the best thing going
10 years ago, there have been many improvements. This looks like one of
them. I would argue with the statement that tin-plated copper is industry
"best practice". This tin-plated aluminum product is more likely to hold up
in direct contact to a PV module. We have seen the old ILSCO tin-copper lug
deteriorate over time in more corrosive environments. Also, if you use bare
aluminum equipment grounding conductors, all dissimilar metal issues would
be resolved -even though this lug is clearly listed for copper or aluminum
conductors.

 

UL467 is the Grounding and Bonding equipment standard and does not have much
in the way of environmental tests for outdoor use. That is why ILSCO is
marketing that they have passed the additional ASTM B117-09 salt fog test
since UL467 does not test outdoor conditions all that well. We are
incorporating similar test requirements into the UL1703 (PV module) and
UL2703 (PV mounting systems) standards. 

 

The only catch with this product is that if an AHJ insists that the PV
module be listed with this device, very few, if any module manufacturers
will have evaluated this device with their modules. As we change the UL1703
standard, it will be much simpler and cheaper for products like this to be
evaluated for application on PV modules. If an AHJ accepts this product, I
would definitely use it in place of the old ILSCO lay-in tin-copper lug.

 

Bill.

 

From: re-wrenches-bounces at lists.re-wrenches.org
[mailto:re-wrenches-bounces at lists.re-wrenches.org] On Behalf Of William
Miller
Sent: Monday, August 27, 2012 1:20 PM
To: RE-wrenches
Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] Ilsco SGB bonding lug

 

Benn:

Good looking lug, looks very useful.  It won't do any good on the Solar
World Plus series unless they have the version 2.5 frame.  The standard
frame has no flange!

William Miller


At 12:49 PM 8/27/2012, you wrote:



Wrenches,

What is your take on this product from Ilsco?  It appears to be a good
option for bonding module frames and has been suggested by a distributor for
bonding rails as well..  But industry best practice has steered us away from
using aluminum lugs in favour of tin-plated copper lugs.

SGB SOLAR GRND BND
<http://ilsco.com/ProductsDetail.aspx?kfjkff=0kMVXKLlROO4l5EwarhvPw%3d%3d&fj
jfhjhj=nFBt62Axh6IhPmrswva0nAkQKTu46vPAzpM1xJdnS3Y%3d> 
SGB-4 <http://ilsco.com/TechnicalDrawing/G1040.pdf> 

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