[RE-wrenches] half cut PV modules

[Zeke Yewdall]

I'm generally doing a mixture of off grid and grid tie battery backup.
Generally I do a disconnect (usually a MNPV6-disco with the two pole 600
volt breakers, because I can break both the positive and negative lines
from three 600 volt strings with one disconnect) on the back of the
groundmount, with a PVC or LNFC snorkel coming out of it that goes up the
back of the groundmount, then turns down along the back of the modules till
right next to the rail that wires are run in.  So there's at most an inch
or so of exposed wire between the end of the conduit and the c-channel
rail.  Two of those snorkels when there's two rows of modules.  Most of my
groundmounts I try for two rows in portrait.  In landscape the wiring gets
much uglier, and all the horizontal joints catch snow much more.   It does
require a little more racking to do portrait vs the landscape designs that
most companies have stock.   I've also done SMA or Fronius inverters hung
on the back of the groundmount, with a snorkel coming out of the inverter
for the PV circuits.

Zeke

On Thu, Sep 4, 2025 at 7:54 PM William Miller <william at millersolar.com>
wrote:

> Zeke:
>
> Are you doing off-grid or grid-connected?  Where are your PV circuits
> terminated?
>
>
> William Miller
> Miller Solar.com
> 805-438-5600
> www.millersolar.com
>
>
> On Thu, Sep 4, 2025 at 7:21 PM Zeke Yewdall via RE-wrenches <
> re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org> wrote:
>
>> Wow.  Reading through your document, I guess I've missed out on a lot of
>> wire management issues by doing mostly ground mounts with my halfcut
>> modules -- no MLPE, and just running the wires in the third rail.
>>
>> I actually like the half cut modules a lot better for production in the
>> winter because when I get snow covering just the bottom edge of an array,
>> the top part still works at half amperage -- much better than the old 60
>> cell modules where I'd often have a few inches of snow hanging on the
>> bottom cell line, blocking all three of the bypass sections.   Usually I
>> find myself on the other end... where equipment is designed with everything
>> except winter off grid systems.  Interesting that in this case, it's
>> actually good for my situation, by chance.
>>
>> Zeke
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> List sponsored by Redwood Alliance
>>
>> Pay optional member dues here: http://re-wrenches.org
>>
>> List Address: RE-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org
>>
>> Change listserver email address & settings:
>> http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org
>>
>> There are two list archives for searching. When one doesn't work, try the
>> other:
>> https://www.mail-archive.com/re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org/
>> http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org
>>
>> List rules & etiquette:
>> http://www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm
>>
>> Check out or update participant bios:
>> http://www.members.re-wrenches.org
>>
>>

-- 
Zeke Yewdall
PV Engineer
NABCEP #031508-89
zeke at darkforestsolar.com
303-523-3592
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org/attachments/20250904/fa667935/attachment.htm>