[RE-wrenches] Shattered Evergreen ES-160-SL Module, DPW TOP rack

[Dan Fink]

I'd bet on a mower, other vehicle, etc. But if livestock is a possible
scenario like Ray mentioned, look for hair on the ground or stuck on
scratchable points on the array and frame. We see it frequently.  Cows and
horses love to scratch on tower guy wires too, small wind, MET and
communications. Wire mesh cattle panel around the tower base and every guy
wire anchor seems to be the usual solution and leaves much to be desired
aesthetically, but if it's outstanding in a field, not an issue.

Dan Fink,
Executive Director;
Otherpower
Buckville Energy Consulting
Buckville Publications LLC
NABCEP / IREC accredited Continuing Education Providers
970.672.4342




On Sat, Jun 21, 2014 at 4:53 PM, Ray Walters <ray at solarray.com> wrote:

> As noted in the previous case,  the shattered module is on the bottom
> corner.  Those are the most vulnerable to damage from animals, kids,
> vehicles, etc.  The tempered glass always shatters as you described, when
> enough force is applied.  Look very closely for some slight bending of the
> frame which would indicate that it was hit by something.  Grazing animals
> like to scratch their sides on things, and the array might have been just
> the right height for a scratching post.  1000 lb animal leans on module,
> and boom, the module shatters completely.
> We've had pole mount systems in place for decades, so its very unlikely
> that its an issue with the frame itself.
>
> R.Ray Walters
> CTO, Solarray, Inc
> Nabcep Certified PV Installer,
> Licensed Master Electrician
> Solar Design Engineer
> 303 505-8760
>
>
> On 6/21/2014 1:24 PM, Richard L Ratico wrote:
>
>> A client of mine suffered a mysterious shattered module on a DPW TOP
>> rack. The
>> rack holds eight of these in landscape orientation. The one that broke
>> was in
>> the lower, west corner of the array. The glass appears to be uniformly
>> shattered, with pieces approximately 1/4" in size. The glass has not
>> started to
>> fall out of the frame, but it seems that is only a matter of time. The
>> module is
>> still producing power. The install, by others, was done about 9 years
>> ago. There
>> is no apparent cause of the failure. It happened here, in Vermont,
>> towards the
>> end of an unusually severe winter when the snow was already gone, but
>> mowing had
>> not yet commenced.
>>
>> There was a discussion here just a while ago that involved a broken
>> SolarWorld
>> module on a similar rack. Has anyone seen this since then?
>>
>> Would anyone have one of these or an Evergreen of the same size? Please
>> respond
>> off list.
>>
>> Dick Ratico
>> Solarwind Electric
>> 802-222-9028
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