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    <p>In the regulatory vacuum that ensued, we now have dozens of
      unregulated connectors, no way of knowing what might be on past
      jobs, confused installers, nervous customers, while the market
      they tried to control is flooded with "MC 4" crimpers on Amazon
      for $20.  <br>
    </p>
    <p>All of this for the main connector used millions of times in
      almost ALL Solar installations.  I don't blame just the specific
      manufacturers that might have benefited briefly from this lack of
      standards, but all of us for letting this happen literally right
      in front of our eyes, and to go on for over a decade.  <br>
    </p>
    <p>The high DC voltages being used by most GT installs these days
      warrant serious improvements in our safety standards process. <br>
    </p>
    <p>Arc fault detectors are not the first line of defense, good
      connections are.   <br>
    </p>
    <pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">Ray Walters
Remote Solar
303 505-8760</pre>
    <div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 9/19/19 5:48 PM, Bradley Bassett
      wrote:<br>
    </div>
    <blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:CAEpjgH2sjrT+HsTOxXsbcFqnCbnF6piyb8LVy_jt0gWc3weRvQ@mail.gmail.com">
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        <div>Someone previously at AEE tried to get NEMA involved in
          setting a standard, but it turned out that they were not
          getting cooperation from the mfg, so could not proceed.</div>
        <div><br>
        </div>
        <div>Brad<br>
        </div>
      </div>
      <br>
      <div class="gmail_quote">
        <div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Thu, Sep 19, 2019 at 1:28
          PM Bryan Norkunas &lt;<a href="mailto:bryan@pv-cables.com"
            moz-do-not-send="true">bryan@pv-cables.com</a>&gt; wrote:<br>
        </div>
        <blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px
          0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">
          <div lang="EN-US">
            <div class="gmail-m_8520164775017935946WordSection1">
              <p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:10pt;font-family:&quot;Calibri&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;">Yes,
                  I have seen and have copies of many of these 3<sup>rd</sup>
                  party \u201ccompatibility\u201d tests.</span></p>
              <p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:10pt;font-family:&quot;Calibri&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;"> </span></p>
              <p class="MsoNormal"><b><span
style="font-size:10pt;font-family:&quot;Tahoma&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;">From:</span></b><span
style="font-size:10pt;font-family:&quot;Tahoma&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;">
                  Brian Mehalic [mailto:<a
                    href="mailto:brian@solarenergy.org" target="_blank"
                    moz-do-not-send="true">brian@solarenergy.org</a>] <br>
                  <b>Sent:</b> Thursday, September 19, 2019 1:16 PM<br>
                  <b>To:</b> Bryan Norkunas<br>
                  <b>Cc:</b> RE-wrenches<br>
                  <b>Subject:</b> Re: [RE-wrenches] connector mismatch</span></p>
              <p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
              <div>
                <p class="MsoNormal">You say you've seen many of these
                  tests in the past; do you specifically mean the
                  intermatability test?</p>
                <div>
                  <p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
                </div>
                <div>
                  <p class="MsoNormal">Thanks for the info! (And you
                    also really helped me out identifying some
                    connectors on a problem-job a couple months
                    back...thanks again!).<br clear="all">
                  </p>
                  <div>
                    <div>
                      <div>
                        <div>
                          <div>
                            <div>
                              <div>
                                <div>
                                  <div>
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                                          <p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
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                                          <p class="MsoNormal">Brian
                                            Mehalic <br>
                                            NABCEP Certified Solar PV
                                            Installation
                                            Professional\u2122 R031508-59</p>
                                        </div>
                                        <div>
                                          <p class="MsoNormal">National
                                            Electrical CodeŽ CMP-4
                                            Member</p>
                                        </div>
                                        <div>
                                          <p class="MsoNormal">(520)
                                            204-6639</p>
                                          <div>
                                            <p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
                                          </div>
                                          <div>
                                            <div>
                                              <div>
                                                <p class="MsoNormal">Solar
                                                  Energy International<br>
                                                  <a
                                                    href="http://www.solarenergy.org"
                                                    target="_blank"
                                                    moz-do-not-send="true">http://www.solarenergy.org</a></p>
                                              </div>
                                            </div>
                                          </div>
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                                        <div>
                                          <p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
                                        </div>
                                        <div>
                                          <p class="MsoNormal">SEI
                                            Professional Services</p>
                                        </div>
                                        <div>
                                          <p class="MsoNormal"><a
                                              href="http://www.seisolarpros.com"
                                              target="_blank"
                                              moz-do-not-send="true"><span
                                                style="font-size:9.5pt">http://www.s</span>eisolarpros.com</a></p>
                                        </div>
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                                          <p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
                                        </div>
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                                    </div>
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                              </div>
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                  <p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
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              <p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
              <div>
                <div>
                  <p class="MsoNormal">On Thu, Sep 19, 2019 at 1:07 PM
                    Bryan Norkunas &lt;<a
                      href="mailto:bryan@pv-cables.com" target="_blank"
                      moz-do-not-send="true">bryan@pv-cables.com</a>&gt;
                    wrote:</p>
                </div>
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                    <div>
                      <p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:10pt;font-family:&quot;Calibri&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;">Also
                          note the Intertek testing, I have seen many of
                          these in the past \u2013 </span></p>
                      <p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:10pt;font-family:&quot;Calibri&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;">but
                          never one of them tested with 12AWG or 10AWG
                          connectors, it has always been 14AWG for some
                          reason.</span></p>
                      <p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:10pt;font-family:&quot;Calibri&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;"> </span></p>
                      <p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:10pt;font-family:&quot;Calibri&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;">And
                          as a company that specializes in this niche, I
                          can say in the last 10 years we have never had
                          the request to manufacture anything smaller
                          than 12AWG when it came to PV Connectors.</span></p>
                      <p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:10pt;font-family:&quot;Calibri&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;"> </span></p>
                      <p class="MsoNormal"><b><span
                            style="font-size:11pt;font-family:&quot;Californian
FB&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;;color:rgb(31,73,125)">Bryan Norkunas</span></b></p>
                      <p class="MsoNormal"><span
                          style="font-size:11pt;font-family:&quot;Californian
FB&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;;color:rgb(31,73,125)"><a
                            href="mailto:bryan@pv-cables.com"
                            target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">bryan@pv-cables.com</a></span></p>
                      <p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:11pt;font-family:&quot;Calibri&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;;color:rgb(31,73,125)"> </span></p>
                      <p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:11pt;font-family:&quot;Calibri&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;;color:rgb(31,73,125)"><img
id="gmail-m_8520164775017935946gmail-m_1280637830323093605_x005f_x0000_i1028"
src="cid:part7.3D92431A.FAE0B51C@solarray.com" alt="Description:
                            Description:
                            PV-Cables_Logo_Transparent_Bkgnd_140x140"
                            class="" width="140" height="140" border="0"></span></p>
                      <p class="MsoNormal"><b><span
                            style="font-size:16pt;font-family:&quot;Californian
FB&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;;color:rgb(31,73,125)">PV-Cables Inc.</span></b></p>
                      <p class="MsoNormal"><span
                          style="font-size:11pt;font-family:&quot;Californian
FB&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;;color:rgb(31,73,125)">1155 Redway Drive</span></p>
                      <p class="MsoNormal"><span
                          style="font-size:11pt;font-family:&quot;Californian
FB&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;;color:rgb(31,73,125)">PO Box 2562</span></p>
                      <p class="MsoNormal"><span
                          style="font-size:11pt;font-family:&quot;Californian
FB&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;;color:rgb(31,73,125)">Redway, CA 95560</span></p>
                      <p class="MsoNormal"><span
                          style="font-size:11pt;font-family:&quot;Californian
FB&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;;color:rgb(31,73,125)">(707) 923-3000 office</span></p>
                      <p class="MsoNormal"><span
                          style="font-size:11pt;font-family:&quot;Californian
FB&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;;color:rgb(31,73,125)"><a
                            href="http://www.pv-cables.com/"
                            target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">www.pv-cables.com</a></span></p>
                      <p class="MsoNormal"><span
                          style="font-size:11pt;font-family:&quot;Californian
FB&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;;color:rgb(31,73,125)"> </span></p>
                      <p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:10pt;font-family:&quot;Calibri&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;"> </span></p>
                      <p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:10pt;font-family:&quot;Calibri&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;"> </span></p>
                      <div>
                        <div style="border-color:rgb(181,196,223)
                          currentcolor currentcolor;border-style:solid
                          none none;border-width:1pt medium
                          medium;padding:3pt 0in 0in">
                          <p class="MsoNormal"><b><span
style="font-size:10pt;font-family:&quot;Tahoma&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;">From:</span></b><span
style="font-size:10pt;font-family:&quot;Tahoma&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;">
                              RE-wrenches [mailto:<a
                                href="mailto:re-wrenches-bounces@lists.re-wrenches.org"
                                target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">re-wrenches-bounces@lists.re-wrenches.org</a>]
                              <b>On Behalf Of </b>Bryan Norkunas<br>
                              <b>Sent:</b> Thursday, September 19, 2019
                              12:57 PM<br>
                              <b>To:</b> 'RE-wrenches'<br>
                              <b>Subject:</b> Re: [RE-wrenches]
                              connector m</span><span
                              style="font-size:10pt;font-family:&quot;Californian
FB&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;;color:rgb(0,73,126)"><img
id="gmail-m_8520164775017935946gmail-m_1280637830323093605_x005f_x0000_i1027"
src="cid:part10.75C0A6B5.4B018610@solarray.com" alt="Description:
                                Description:
                                cid:image002.jpg@01CD22E8.974B6470"
                                class="" width="25" height="23"
                                border="0"></span><span
style="font-size:10pt;font-family:&quot;Tahoma&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;">ismatch</span></p>
                        </div>
                      </div>
                      <p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
                      <p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:10pt;font-family:&quot;Calibri&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;">Ray,</span></p>
                      <p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:10pt;font-family:&quot;Calibri&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;"> </span></p>
                      <p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:10pt;font-family:&quot;Calibri&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;">Solarworld
                          went from using MC4 connectors, then to Kostal
                          KSK4 connectors, then Amphenol H4, and finally
                          Amphenol UTX connectors.</span></p>
                      <p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:10pt;font-family:&quot;Calibri&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;"> </span></p>
                      <p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:10pt;font-family:&quot;Calibri&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;">The
                          cross mating with the KSK4 connectors had the
                          most issues and we assembled a lot of adapters
                          for end users and installers.  </span></p>
                      <p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:10pt;font-family:&quot;Calibri&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;"> </span></p>
                      <p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:10pt;font-family:&quot;Calibri&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;">Back
                          in 2016, we were talking with Solarworld about
                          the Amphenol UTX/H4 to MC4 connections
                          failing.  (I attached the Compatibility letter
                          that Solarworld was providing their customers,
                          as well as the Amphenol Compatibility
                          documents )  </span></p>
                      <p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:10pt;font-family:&quot;Calibri&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;"> </span></p>
                      <p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:10pt;font-family:&quot;Calibri&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;">Back
                          then, I was mating connectors and grinding
                          away the plastic housings to determine the
                          terminal overlap of cross mated connectors.</span></p>
                      <p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:10pt;font-family:&quot;Calibri&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;">Here
                          are my notes from back then:</span></p>
                      <p class="MsoNormal"><span
                          style="color:rgb(31,73,125)">The overlap on an
                          MC4 to MC4 connection = 0.305\u201d</span></p>
                      <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12pt"><span
                          style="color:rgb(31,73,125)">The overlap on an
                          MC4 to UTX connection = 0.265\u201d</span></p>
                      <p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:10pt;font-family:&quot;Calibri&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;">A
                          lot of the older H4 to MC4 issues were end
                          users not fully seating MC4 female to the H4
                          male.  It takes some force to get them to fit
                          completely and a nightmare to disconnect if
                          needed.</span></p>
                      <p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:10pt;font-family:&quot;Calibri&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;">These
                          tended to fail in higher heat or higher
                          humidity environments.  The picture below is
                          one that wasn\u2019t fully seated.</span></p>
                      <p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:10pt;font-family:&quot;Calibri&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;"><img
id="gmail-m_8520164775017935946gmail-m_1280637830323093605Picture_x0020_1"
src="cid:part11.714E3C56.E1A408C2@solarray.com"
                            alt="cid:image003.jpg@01D18A5E.48835320"
                            class="" width="264" height="200" border="0"></span></p>
                      <p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:10pt;font-family:&quot;Calibri&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;"> </span></p>
                      <p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:10pt;font-family:&quot;Calibri&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;"> </span></p>
                      <p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:10pt;font-family:&quot;Calibri&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;">Hanwa
                          Q Cell have used many different connectors on
                          their modules over the years.  </span></p>
                      <p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:10pt;font-family:&quot;Calibri&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;"> </span></p>
                      <p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:10pt;font-family:&quot;Calibri&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;">Jinko
                          modules usually have Jinko connectors in my
                          small amount of experience with them.  Jinko
                          still does not offer a crimping tool for their
                          connectors, that I know of and still only UL
                          for 20A.  We do little work with these
                          connectors, so my input here might be
                          outdated.</span></p>
                      <p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:10pt;font-family:&quot;Calibri&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;"> </span></p>
                      <p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:10pt;font-family:&quot;Calibri&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;">Lastly,
                          I have seen a few larger distributing
                          customers of ours doing good work on obtaining
                          the connector/module info from module
                          manufactures, prior to placing their blanket
                          orders.  In turn, the module mfg.\u2019s are
                          typically supplying them (or sometimes us)
                          connectors for homerun cables, adapters, etc.
                             And finally the end customer is knowing
                          what connectors on the modules they are
                          purchasing, with the availability of getting
                          the correct connectors/homerun cables needed
                          to complete the install.</span></p>
                      <p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:10pt;font-family:&quot;Calibri&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;"> </span></p>
                      <p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:10pt;font-family:&quot;Calibri&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;"> </span></p>
                      <p class="MsoNormal"><b><span
                            style="font-size:11pt;font-family:&quot;Californian
FB&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;;color:rgb(31,73,125)">Bryan Norkunas</span></b></p>
                      <p class="MsoNormal"><span
                          style="font-size:11pt;font-family:&quot;Californian
FB&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;;color:rgb(31,73,125)"><a
                            href="mailto:bryan@pv-cables.com"
                            target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">bryan@pv-cables.com</a></span></p>
                      <p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:11pt;font-family:&quot;Calibri&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;;color:rgb(31,73,125)"> </span></p>
                      <p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:11pt;font-family:&quot;Calibri&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;;color:rgb(31,73,125)"><img
id="gmail-m_8520164775017935946gmail-m_1280637830323093605Picture_x0020_2"
src="cid:part7.3D92431A.FAE0B51C@solarray.com" alt="Description:
                            Description:
                            PV-Cables_Logo_Transparent_Bkgnd_140x140"
                            class="" width="140" height="140" border="0"></span></p>
                      <p class="MsoNormal"><b><span
                            style="font-size:16pt;font-family:&quot;Californian
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                            target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">www.pv-cables.com</a></span></p>
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                          style="font-size:11pt;font-family:&quot;Californian
FB&quot;,&quot;serif&quot;;color:rgb(31,73,125)"> </span></p>
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style="font-size:10pt;font-family:&quot;Calibri&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;"> </span></p>
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                      <p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:10pt;font-family:&quot;Calibri&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;"> </span></p>
                      <div>
                        <div style="border-color:rgb(181,196,223)
                          currentcolor currentcolor;border-style:solid
                          none none;border-width:1pt medium
                          medium;padding:3pt 0in 0in">
                          <p class="MsoNormal"><b><span
style="font-size:10pt;font-family:&quot;Tahoma&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;">From:</span></b><span
style="font-size:10pt;font-family:&quot;Tahoma&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;">
                              RE-wrenches [<a
                                href="mailto:re-wrenches-bounces@lists.re-wrenches.org"
                                target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">mailto:re-wrenches-bounces@lists.re-wrenches.org</a>]
                              <b>On Behalf Of </b>Ray<br>
                              <b>Sent:</b> Thursday, September 19, 2019
                              12:08 PM<br>
                              <b>To:</b> <a
                                href="mailto:re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org"
                                target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org</a><br>
                              <b>Subject:</b> Re: [RE-wrenches]
                              connector mismatch</span></p>
                        </div>
                      </div>
                      <p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
                      <p>I did some research on the modules we've used
                        over the past 15+ years to see if we had
                        potential mismatched connector issues. We've
                        used Amphenol H4 connects since the advent of
                        locking solar connectors.  We had assumed they
                        were compatible back then.</p>
                      <p>Solarworld switched from MC4 to H4 somewhere
                        back 2013 to 2015. I didn't even notice. SW 280s
                        through SW 300 looks like H4, while SW 270s and
                        back to the long, skinny SW 165s are MC 4, but
                        its not that clear, as I found a spec sheet for
                        an SW 260 with an H4.  </p>
                      <p><u>Conclusion: Basically we can't be sure.</u></p>
                      <p>Hanwa Q cell, looks like their 60 cell mods run
                        the MC 4 or MC 4 compatible (whatever that
                        means) while their 72 cell mods apparently use
                        the H4/ UTX  </p>
                      <p><u>Conclusion: Total confusion in the field.</u></p>
                      <p>Jinko?  They don't even list the connector type
                        on any of the spec sheets I have for the past
                        few years.</p>
                      <p><u>Conclusion: No way for a designer/ installer
                          to know beforehand what connector to use in
                          the field.</u></p>
                      <p>Basically this is a total break down of
                        responsibility for the solar industry; a
                        complete lack of standards. Why hasn't an
                        organization like NEMA stepped in to standardize
                        the connectors like all AC connectors have been,
                        going back for over a century?  </p>
                      <p>I made a very wrong assumption that when our
                        industry adopted the MC 4/ H4 locking type
                        connectors that they were standardized and
                        compatible.   I can only hope that my systems
                        running at relatively low voltage (&lt;150 vdc)
                        will not have issues.   </p>
                      <p> </p>
                      <pre>Ray Walters</pre>
                      <pre>Remote Solar</pre>
                      <pre>303 505-8760</pre>
                      <div>
                        <p class="MsoNormal">On 9/4/19 4:26 PM, Jerry
                          Shafer wrote:</p>
                      </div>
                      <blockquote
                        style="margin-top:5pt;margin-bottom:5pt">
                        <div>
                          <p class="MsoNormal">Just to add, l had a lab
                            and l did testing on connectors, we found
                            that most of the aec issues were under low
                            light. This appeared to be when iradiance
                            was low and once the irads went up the issue
                            was less likely, this was because the
                            Male-female contact was not tight enough and
                            under lower power it would arc instead of
                            heating up and expanding. I used a IR Camera
                            but could see little change due to the
                            plastic. </p>
                          <div>
                            <p class="MsoNormal">Then l used an IV curve
                              tester and shaded partially shaded the
                              module after several repeat testing the
                              connectors got warm. I would suggest
                              making your own connector pull out tool to
                              check the contact pressures. This is where
                              you may find your problem components. It
                              appears that early am testing had lower
                              volts and the inverter pushed the current
                              up and causes the loose connector to fail
                              due to the lower volts. </p>
                          </div>
                          <div>
                            <p class="MsoNormal">This testing was done
                              both in the field 1/2 meg and lab testing
                              results were very close.</p>
                          </div>
                          <div>
                            <p class="MsoNormal">The modules used for
                              testing were Trina and the field inverters
                              were ABB and Fronius</p>
                          </div>
                          <div>
                            <p class="MsoNormal">Sorry for the long note</p>
                          </div>
                          <div>
                            <p class="MsoNormal">Jerry</p>
                          </div>
                        </div>
                        <p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
                        <div>
                          <div>
                            <p class="MsoNormal">On Wed, Sep 4, 2019,
                              2:52 PM Steven Lawrence &lt;<a
                                href="mailto:lawrencesteven@gmail.com"
                                target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">lawrencesteven@gmail.com</a>&gt;
                              wrote:</p>
                          </div>
                          <blockquote style="border-color:currentcolor
                            currentcolor currentcolor
                            rgb(204,204,204);border-style:none none none
                            solid;border-width:medium medium medium
                            1pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 6pt;margin:5pt 0in
                            5pt 4.8pt">
                            <div>
                              <div>
                                <p class="MsoNormal">Everyone,</p>
                              </div>
                              <div>
                                <p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
                              </div>
                              <div>
                                <p class="MsoNormal">Just to add to
                                  this, I've seen multiple melted
                                  connectors that couldn't be traced to
                                  anything other than mixing
                                  manufacturers.  I've seen some
                                  connectors where you can clearly
                                  seeing arcing on the pin itself and
                                  nowhere else.  The crimps and the
                                  housing were fine.  I've postulated it
                                  had to do with slightly different
                                  metals expanding/contracting at
                                  different rates.  I've made it a very
                                  hard rule at my company to never mix
                                  manufacturers of connectors.  When we
                                  order modules, we specifically have
                                  the PO call out the manufacturer of
                                  the connector (can't just be "MC4
                                  compatible").  Typically we order that
                                  same brand of connectors, but
                                  sometimes we end up getting 6" jumpers
                                  made by a harness company (there are
                                  some connectors out there that can
                                  only work with #12 wire.  Can't use
                                  them on #10 homeruns).  It's
                                  drastically cut down on the number of
                                  melted connectors.  We've averaged
                                  maybe 1 or 2 on 6MW projects over a
                                  year with this hard requirement versus
                                  100+ we had on a 1MW rooftop project
                                  that mixed multiple manufacturers.</p>
                              </div>
                              <div>
                                <p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
                              </div>
                              <div>
                                <p class="MsoNormal">Steven Lawrence</p>
                              </div>
                            </div>
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