[RE-wrenches] Bypassing a broken PV module

[Jason Szumlanski]

That's what the customer wanted, but even if I cut the leads short and
terminated them, there would still be a risk of a ground fault to the
module frame from water intrusion. In the end I was able to convince the
customer to remove it. We moved a module from the end to the middle where
this broken one was and cut off the excess rails. It looked just fine and
they were happy.

I don't think I was very clear in my original post. The owner wanted to
leave it physically in place but bypass it electrically.


On Sat, Jul 23, 2016 at 4:14 PM, Chris Mason <cometenergysystems at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Why don't you bypass it but leave it in place?
>
> On Fri, Jul 22, 2016 at 7:26 AM, Jason Szumlanski <
> jason at floridasolardesigngroup.com> wrote:
>
>> I came across shattered glass on an Evergreen PV module while doing a new
>> homeowner system evaluation. My inclination is to remove the panel and
>> bypass it, which would still leave the array well within the operating
>> parameters for the inverter. However, the owner wants to just leave the
>> panel physically in the array because it actually looks better that way,
>> which I agree it does. You can hardly tell it's broken from ground level.
>>
>> I explained that there is a risk of a ground fault if the module is left
>> physically in the array, but the owner who is pretty astute, mentioned that
>> the fault voltage if a ground fault were to occur from that module would
>> only be at 22.5V potential (he didn't mention the actual voltage, but he
>> did correctly state that the maximum fault would be limited to the single
>> module, which in this case is 22.5V @ 12A). While it may trip an inverter,
>> it would probably not pose a safety risk.
>>
>> While he may be technically right, for now I have reused to do the work,
>> but I told him I would think about it.
>>
>> Anyone been through this scenario?
>>
>> ​Jason Szumlanski
>> ​
>>
>>
>>
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>
>
> --
> Chris Mason
> NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer™
> Solar Design Engineer
> Generac Generators Industrial technician
>
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