Wayne,

Never had an entire array fried. My experience consists of a total of less than
10 modules out of a total of maybe 50 at two different sites. One site had the
much more common (these days) modules with leads and diodes potted in an
epoxy-like material. We use a Dremel tool with a burr bit to access the diodes.
Pretty labor intensive, but modules of the right size were no longer available.

If the junction boxes have removeable covers, that's half the battle won. You
can test the individual diodes and cell strings. Diodes are inexpensive and not
too hard to replace. I think we got them through Mouser.

Dick Ratico
Solarwind Electric





--- You wrote:
Hi Wayne,

Several years back I had all sixteen SolarWorld modules on a tracker get
zapped.  The two other trackers adjacent to this one had no damaged
modules.  The same strike blew out the phone box at the end of the road
(some distance away).

The SolarWorld jboxes were all sealed with no way to get to the diodes.
The homeowners insurance covered the loss and I replaced the modules with
something similar (SW had since stopped manufacturing 175s).  It would have
been nice to have had access to the diodes.


-- 
Matt Sherald
PIMBY Energy, LLC
NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer^AE
304-704-5943

www.getpimby.blogspot.com
www.getpimby.com


On Thu, May 21, 2015 at 7:28 PM, Wayne Irwin <wayne@pureenergysolar.com>
wrote:

> Hello Wrenches,
>
> Today we visited a 10KW residential ground mounted system where there was
> a recent lightning strike that fried phones, irrigation system, cable and
> apparently the array.
>
> There was no external visible damage but also no voltage at the combiner.
> We pulled 10-15 module junction box covers off and only saw clear evidence
> of damage to one diode. There was no Voc on any of the modules.
> While I recognize that Florida is arguably the lightning capital of N
> America, I have never seen an entire array fried.
>
> Has anyone on the list ever seen an entire array fried?
>
> The modules are Schuco 230's.
> Obviously not covered by warranty and Schuco has pretty much bailed out of
> the US market.
>
> Does anyone have experience repairing these modules?
>
> Any similar experience and/or advice would be appreciated.
>
>
> Wayne Irwin,
--- end of quote ---

