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--></style></head><body lang="EN-US" link="blue" vlink="purple"><div class="WordSection1"><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#44546a">Hi Bill –</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#44546a"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#44546a">If there is a short circuit between two conductors or to ground under the DC array won’t the fire issue still remain? I understand the arc fault will stop load from the inverter side but it seems like it does not entirely solve the problem. Or maybe I’m not fully understanding how AFCI works. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#44546a"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#44546a">I was on the roof the other day inspecting a 10 year old system installed right on the coast. The inverter was dead and probably had been dead for several years. On the roof the DC combiner box had rusted out (NEMA-3 installed at 5:12 pitch!) and there had been a pretty serious fire in the box. Luckily it didn’t spread to the roof – it was still arcing away when I busted open the rusted lid. That seems like a workmanship the materials selection issue to me.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#44546a"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#44546a">Best,</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#44546a"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#44546a">August</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#44546a"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#44546a"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#44546a">August Goers</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#44546a">Luminalt Energy Corporation</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#44546a">o: 415.641.4000</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#44546a">m: 415.559.1525</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#44546a"><a href="http://www.luminalt.com">www.luminalt.com</a></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#44546a"> </span></p><div><div style="border:none;border-top:solid #b5c4df 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in"><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"">From:</span></b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif""> <a href="mailto:re-wrenches-bounces@lists.re-wrenches.org">re-wrenches-bounces@lists.re-wrenches.org</a> [mailto:<a href="mailto:re-wrenches-bounces@lists.re-wrenches.org">re-wrenches-bounces@lists.re-wrenches.org</a>] <b>On Behalf Of </b>Bill Brooks<br>
<b>Sent:</b> Monday, November 11, 2013 3:38 PM<br><b>To:</b> 'RE-wrenches'<br><b>Subject:</b> Re: [RE-wrenches] RE-wrenches Digest, Vol 6, Issue 423</span></p></div></div><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color:#1f497d">William and David,</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1f497d"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1f497d">This particular problem goes away with arc fault detection. The longer we wait to introduce arc fault detection into our systems, the more we will have opportunities for news reports such as the one William brings forward. Wire ties are not the problem. Could a wire tie cause a problem-sure, just like anything improperly installed.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1f497d"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1f497d">At the end of the day, you can a have a perfectly installed system, but if it does not have arc fault detection and high resolution ground fault detection, it can still catch on fire. You have no control over product failures other than buying from large companies that can actually insure their products in a failure.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1f497d"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1f497d">Fires are not that common, but it didn’t take much to get all the viewers of this news report up in arms did it?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1f497d"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1f497d">Bill.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1f497d"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1f497d"> </span></p>
<div><div style="border:none;border-top:solid #e1e1e1 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in"><p class="MsoNormal"><b>From:</b> <a href="mailto:re-wrenches-bounces@lists.re-wrenches.org">re-wrenches-bounces@lists.re-wrenches.org</a> [<a href="mailto:re-wrenches-bounces@lists.re-wrenches.org">mailto:re-wrenches-bounces@lists.re-wrenches.org</a>] <b>On Behalf Of </b>David Brearley<br>
<b>Sent:</b> Monday, November 11, 2013 11:37 AM<br><b>To:</b> RE-wrenches<br><b>Subject:</b> Re: [RE-wrenches] RE-wrenches Digest, Vol 6, Issue 423</p></div></div><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal">William,<span style="font-size:12.0pt"></span></p>
<div><p class="MsoNormal"> </p></div><div><p class="MsoNormal">Thanks for posting a link to that story.</p><div><p class="MsoNormal"> </p></div><div><p class="MsoNormal">Here's more background on the tile roof integrated PV system recall and warranty fiasco:</p>
</div><div><p class="MsoNormal"> </p></div><div><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://runonsun.com/~runons5/blogs/blog1.php/solworks/safety/suntech-recalls-solar-roofing-tiles">http://runonsun.com/~runons5/blogs/blog1.php/solworks/safety/suntech-recalls-solar-roofing-tiles</a></p>
</div><div><p class="MsoNormal"> </p></div><div><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://runonsun.com/~runons5/blogs/blog1.php/ranting/centex-clouds-solar-tile-repairs">http://runonsun.com/~runons5/blogs/blog1.php/ranting/centex-clouds-solar-tile-repairs</a></p>
</div><div><p class="MsoNormal"> </p></div><div><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://runonsun.com/~runons5/blogs/blog1.php/solworks/safety/centex-suspends-solar-repairs">http://runonsun.com/~runons5/blogs/blog1.php/solworks/safety/centex-suspends-solar-repairs</a></p>
</div><div><p class="MsoNormal"> </p></div><div><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://runonsun.com/~runons5/blogs/blog1.php/solnews/centex-steps-up-will-replace">http://runonsun.com/~runons5/blogs/blog1.php/solnews/centex-steps-up-will-replace</a></p>
</div><div><p class="MsoNormal"> </p></div><div><p class="MsoNormal">It sounds like this could be a product design failure rather than a wire management issue. But wire management is certainly suspect until proven innocent. Regardless of the cause, since these are roof integrated systems, Centex basically needs to replace all of the TIPV systems with conventional rack-mounted PV systems—provided they can get the homeowners to sign the liability releases. </p>
</div><div><p class="MsoNormal"> </p></div><div><p class="MsoNormal">Even though these are relatively unique installations, the general lessons would seem to apply broadly. Qualify your vendors carefully. Make sure your installers are properly trained. Put QC systems in place to catch problems. A small investment in quality wire management practices is cheap compared to the alternative.</p>
</div><div><p class="MsoNormal"> </p></div><div><p class="MsoNormal">Best regards,</p></div><div><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><div><div><div><div><p class="MsoNormal">David Brearley</p></div><div><p class="MsoNormal">Senior Technical Editor,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>SolarPro</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>magazine</p>
</div><div><p class="MsoNormal"> </p></div></div></div></div><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><div><div><p class="MsoNormal">On Nov 11, 2013, at 1:02 PM, <a href="mailto:re-wrenches-request@lists.re-wrenches.org">re-wrenches-request@lists.re-wrenches.org</a> wrote:</p>
</div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt"> </p><blockquote style="margin-top:5.0pt;margin-bottom:5.0pt"><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><div><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif"">From: </span></b><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif"">"William Miller" <<a href="mailto:william@millersolar.com">william@millersolar.com</a>></span></p>
</div><div><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif"">Subject: [RE-wrenches] House fire news</span></b></p></div><div><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif"">Date: </span></b><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif"">November 11, 2013 12:09:08 PM CST</span></p>
</div><div><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif"">To: </span></b><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif"">"RE-wrenches" <<a href="mailto:re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org">re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org</a>></span></p>
</div><div><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif"">Reply-To: </span></b><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif"">RE-wrenches <<a href="mailto:re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org">re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org</a>></span></p>
</div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt"><br><br><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""></span></p><div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Friends:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">This was brought to my attention: </span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black"><a href="http://on.aol.com/video/are-solar-panels-a-fire-hazard--518000682?hp=1&playlist=127173&icid=maing-grid7%7Cmain5%7Cdl12%7Csec1_lnk3%26pLid%3D403848">http://on.aol.com/video/are-solar-panels-a-fire-hazard--518000682?hp=1&playlist=127173&icid=maing-grid7%7Cmain5%7Cdl12%7Csec1_lnk3%26pLid%3D403848</a></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">I know this is an isolated scenario, but bad PR can spread like umm, wildfire. We should all be aware of bad press so we can respond to questions about safety hazards.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">I think this story is relevant in that as the number of PV installations continues to grow, the chance of an accident naturally increases. I believe we all need to do the best work possible to minimize this risk. Even though some of the Code requirements seem illogical, I favor strict adherence to the code, including the more subjective judgments on good workmanship. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">I look forward to the day when plastic wire ties of any type are not accepted for wire management – I think they are sub-standard practice and increase the likelihood of fire or shock hazards.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">William Miller</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><image003.jpg></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">17395 Oak Rd. Atascadero, CA 93422</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""><a href="http://www.millersolar.com/">www.millersolar.com</a></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">805-438-5600 voice</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p></div></blockquote></div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></p></div></div></div></body></html>