Solar installation fails from 100 inspections in Rhode Island

[DavidH]

I thought some might find this article interesting. https://pv-magazine-usa.com/2019/09/...is-w-pictures/

Solar installation inspection results of 100 sites in Rhode Island found 50% of large-scale projects had issues, while 83% of small projects had them - with 30% and 26% of those systems having "critical" issues, respectively.

A third of them with critical issues... cringe.

[bcroe]

Interesting, not very surprising. With 509 faults, the article could have been
far longer. Bruce Roe

[DavidH]

Is it because the installers don't have sufficient training or is it carelessness?

The pdf http://www.ripuc.org/eventsactions/d...-Nov5-2018.pdf that the article is based on is much longer and probably more interesting. Interestingly, out of the 86 major deficiencies observed with small scale installations, 67 were to do with the array. The tally below is the total number of issues found with arrays.

1. Racking System Mechanical Connections Incorrectly Made. (25 observations)
2. PV Modules Improperly Secured and Fastened in Place. (28 observations)
3. Array Conductors Improperly Secured and Protected. (19 observations)
4. No Means of Grounding Module Frames. (10 observations)

[neweclipse]

Lack of training for sure, but lowest price will most often win the job...When you pay peanuts you get monkeys!