<p dir="ltr">Although i cant vouch for 20 year old siemens, my siemens modules (14 yr old sp-150s) had an intermittent connection develop between the stainless ribbon that exits the back sheet and the terminal where the blocking diodes connect (3 diodes). They used a spot welder to join the materials. This had opened up - the small spot welds broke. Like I said, yours may be different, but might be worth a shot scoping out the integrity of these connections. This would be on the posts that feed the blocking diodes, so before the diodes. <br></p>
<p dir="ltr">Roy Rakobitsch<br>
NABCEP Certified Small Wind Installer®<br>
NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer®<br>
Certified Advanced Tower Climbing, Safety & Rescue<br>
Wind/PV Design Engineer<br>
Windsine LLC<br>
631-514-4166<br>
<a href="http://www.windsine.org">www.windsine.org</a></p>
<div class="gmail_quote">On Sep 16, 2015 7:47 AM, "Roy Rakobitsch" <<a href="mailto:windsine@gmail.com">windsine@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<br type="attribution"><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><p dir="ltr">Ron, I replied a few days ago, ill fwd if you want.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Roy Rakobitsch<br>
NABCEP Certified Small Wind Installer®<br>
NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer®<br>
Certified Advanced Tower Climbing, Safety & Rescue<br>
Wind/PV Design Engineer<br>
Windsine LLC<br>
<a href="tel:631-514-4166" value="+16315144166" target="_blank">631-514-4166</a><br>
<a href="http://www.windsine.org" target="_blank">www.windsine.org</a></p>
<div class="gmail_quote">On Sep 16, 2015 1:57 AM, "Brian Teitelbaum" <<a href="mailto:bteitelbaum@aeesolar.com" target="_blank">bteitelbaum@aeesolar.com</a>> wrote:<br type="attribution"><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">Ron,<br>
<br>
I'll pipe in here. If the module "works" when he bypasses the diodes, then<br>
the diodes, or the solder connections on the ribbons or the diodes, must be<br>
at fault.<br>
<br>
I put "works" in quotes because we don't have the details on the meter<br>
readings.<br>
<br>
Brian<br>
AEE Solar<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
-----Original Message-----<br>
From: RE-wrenches [mailto:<a href="mailto:re-wrenches-bounces@lists.re-wrenches.org" target="_blank">re-wrenches-bounces@lists.re-wrenches.org</a>] On<br>
Behalf Of Ron Young<br>
Sent: Tuesday, September 15, 2015 11:45 PM<br>
To: RE-wrenches<br>
Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] panel failure<br>
<br>
Thanks Allan, I was wondering about the lack of response as this group is<br>
always very helpful. One begins to suspect the phantom cause, i.e. the rest<br>
of the story that wasn’t told to us by the customer. It happens from time to<br>
time ;-)<br>
<br>
Ron<br>
<br>
> On Sep 15, 2015, at 9:07 PM, Allan Sindelar <<a href="mailto:allan@sindelarsolar.com" target="_blank">allan@sindelarsolar.com</a>><br>
> wrote:<br>
><br>
> Ron,<br>
> The lack of response may indeed be your answer. I didn't reply because it<br>
> hasn't happened on my watch and I have no idea what would cause what you<br>
> describe.<br>
> Allan<br>
><br>
>> On Sep 15, 2015, at 8:30 PM, RM You <<a href="mailto:solareagle@solareagle.com" target="_blank">solareagle@solareagle.com</a>> wrote:<br>
>><br>
>> Just wondering if any esteemed wrenches have an idea what could cause<br>
>> this problem? Customer says nothing unusual happened that he is aware of<br>
>> and the panels had been working fine for many years but now 4 of 6 panels<br>
>> just quit. Doesn’t appear to be a diode failure.<br>
>><br>
>> Ron<br>
>><br>
>>> On Sep 11, 2015, at 4:58 PM, RM You <<a href="mailto:solareagle@solareagle.com" target="_blank">solareagle@solareagle.com</a>> wrote:<br>
>>><br>
>>> I have a customer who has 6 siemens 48w panels that are 20 years old<br>
>>> (hooked in parallel to a 12v battery). He says that 4 of them have<br>
>>> failed in that there is no output unless he bypasses the diodes. However<br>
>>> he pulled the diodes and checked them on a diode check and separately on<br>
>>> a battery with a light bulb and they appear to be functioning correctly.<br>
>>> Any ideas what could be causing this anomaly?<br>
>>><br>
>>> Ron Young<br>
>>><br>
>><br>
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