A solar contractor....gosh I hate calling them contractors....I think I'll change it up and call them Solar Entrepreneurs. This SE has a C-10 license so they are allowed to install electric service upgrades. That happened on this job.
I found this at the first inspection:
I wrote a correction that stated that the SE can't add any power to this arrangement and Edison will be be told that they can't continue to supply power either. That resulted in a permit to upgrade the service panel. Edison spotted the meter about 50' from the original and that required a meter main with a sub-panel at the original location.
I have been there six times for inspection as the SE stumbled through the forest of codes getting to the last set of corrections. There is a spacious attic and you can see a cable that is a feeder from the main to the sub-panel.
The next picture shows where the cable enters a conduit. It pokes through the wall and drops four feet to a panel cabinet. The sheath was removed before it entered the enclosure.
The cable disappears beyond duct work and the same violation is repeated at the other end.
On the way it put a load on a duct.
This sixth visit was the first time that I had access to the inside of the dwelling. The house is vacant and now I met the new owner. The water heater from post 3048 was also found here. I could tell that she was feeling betrayed by the realtors and previous owners....even the inspector that she hired.
The attic is accessed by a pull down stair. She pulled it down. It made an awful noise as the mechanism malfunctioned. Long steel parts bent and twisted. She assumed that this was how it was supposed to operate and forced it to the floor. I was not in the hallway when she did it so I didn't mention the incident. There will be no closing that stair.
This being trip six I was somewhat dismayed with the SE's "chief electrical employee". I have explained all of the defects in detail at five inspections to five not the chief electrical employees.. This time the correction says "NMC is not allowed in a wet location". The SE's CEE asked me what NMC means. I just shook my head and said that the clue is in the wet location part of the correction.
The thing that any of the uninformed public should take away from seeing this is not that it happened. No....the thing to realize is that this happens on a regular basis. This type of work is typical. Did you get that Maam....I said typical and worse. Spend some time in this thread. Look at the dates. It is almost daily. That's because I find this stuff every day that I work. Now ask yourself, what are the odds that the work done on my solar was any different?
Scary huh! O
hhhh! the horror of shoddy work. Fear not hapless homeowner, for the systems aren't failing and
burning down the house. Thousands of these outcomes go unnoticed by inspectors but there seems to be no consequence. By the time that the physical degradation of solar components could become dangerous, the panels will be weakened such that they won’t produce enough electricity to matter.
The elephants in the room are the solar manufacturers. From panels to the racking, the least amount of everything has been sought out.
The metal is aluminum. It is exposed to the elements and the Sun. Take a close look at a twenty year old Winnebago that spent it's existence in the desert.
Aluminum expands and contracts and all of the parts rely on an intimate connection to achieve an electrical bond. The installation instructions point out that fact with specific torque values for each bit of hardware. Every nut, bolt and screw. Nobody pays attention to that......they never use a torque wrench or driver. They do not have any.
C-taps are used everywhere they can. C-taps should be banned. I pull them off with one hand.
Numbers 8 and 6 bare copper wire is used to bond panels and racking here and there. The bare copper is in direct contact with aluminum components such as panel frames. It will take a few years for the copper to melt it's way into the panel but it will happen. When it does there may not be enough current flow due to poor bonding to trip a breaker. It might wait for a person to complete a circuit.
In twenty years there will be a new genera of Solar Entrepeneur They will be in the business of removing PV and safe disposal. They will be busy.
