[RE-wrenches] Canadian Solar / MC4 connectors in a marine environment

[Kirk Herander]

Hi,

For clarity, corrosion was found on various module interconnects between panels, not where a string end mates to a field installed home-run connector. So I would hope Canadian Solar would use identical connectors on all their modules. They all certainly looked like MC4 connectors to me.

 

Kirk Herander

Owner|Principal, VT Solar, LLC 

Celebrating our 25th Anniversary 1991-2016

www.vermontsolarnow.com

dba Vermont Solar Engineering

NABCEPTM  2003 Inaugural Certificant

VT RE Incentive Program Partner

802.863.1202

 

 

 

From: RE-wrenches [mailto:re-wrenches-bounces at lists.re-wrenches.org] On Behalf Of jay
Sent: Monday, June 06, 2016 11:15 PM
To: RE-wrenches
Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] Canadian Solar / MC4 connectors in a marine environment

 

Hi Kirk,

the connectors if done correctly are water tight.  

There are few thoughts as to issues.

 

wrong sized gland nut

incorrectly tightened

if double jacketed wire, the outer layer could have come lose allowing water in.

are they real MC-4?

 

debris during installation allowing damaged O rings

 

Can’t think of much else. but way to many of them out there for it to be a OEM problem.

 

jay

peltz power

On Jun 6, 2016, at 2:28 PM, Kirk Herander <vtsolar at icloud.com> wrote:

 

Hello,

 

I am debugging a Florida ocean-side 35 kw array using 4 year old Canadian Solar panels, which I’ve never had a high opinion of, installed by others.

I’ve discovered several not-so-good problems, such as low insulation resistance through the panels, ONLY when raining, early to mid-morning condensation, or by using the last resort of spraying the panels with a garden house and watching the SMA inverters shut down due to failing their self “Riso” (that’s the IRT) test creating a ground fault error.

That aside, what’s just as interesting is that about 8 or 9 of the module interconnections were basically oozing the aqua-blue copper tarnish. I’ve never seen this in any installation before. Either the MC4s weren’t crimped and tightened at the factory well, or the connectors were seated poorly, although that doesn’t seem to be the case. BTW, I replaced all these dubious MC4 connectors and the ground faults still occur when the panels are wet.

The bigger issue is the panel warranty, but is there anything on the market which could seal these connections, perhaps a type of “clamshell” to provide an extra layer of protection, which is removable if need be? There’s always glue-filled heat shrink, but ideally I don’t want anything permanent surrounding the connectors.

Has anyone ever seen what I’m describing in a marine environment?

 

Kirk Herander

Owner|Principal, VT Solar, LLC 

Celebrating our 25th Anniversary 1991-2016

www.vermontsolarnow.com <x-msg://361/www.vermontsolarnow.com> 

dba Vermont Solar Engineering

NABCEPTM  2003 Inaugural Certificant

VT RE Incentive Program Partner

802.863.1202

 

 

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