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Solar

Hey Tiger, you better start checking the labels on the solar panels, in Texas a company has been caught using Chinese Crap panels and putting their "Made in USA" label on them, they are a fire hazard:

\ said:
A Texas solar company must pay $8.5 million for importing unsafe panels from China and falsely labeling the items as U.S. made.

The Texas Attorney General’s Office on Monday announced the penalties and permanent injunction against 1 SolTech Inc. The filed for bankruptcy last year amid the 2013 lawsuit.

The company and three executives agreed to stop misrepresentations on origin and certification of solar panels labeled “Made in the USA.”

Investigators determined the China-made panels, including some installed at American military bases and airports, represent a fire hazard for not conforming to U.S. safety standards. American-made materials were required to be used for the taxpayer-funded projects.

The AG’s office says 1 SolTech will pay $5.8 million in penalties and legal fees, plus $2.7 million to customers.¹
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If a house burns down and someone dies because of defective Chinese panels should the inspector be liable? How is an inspector going to know if the manufacturer fraudulently installs labels?

¹ http://www.dallasnews.com/business/energy/20151124-farmers-branch-solar-panel-company-to-pay-8.5-million-in-fraud-case.ece
 
Post #271,

Looks like at one time the shingles were a red color? And like TheCommish stated, they look like abestos shingles or fibercement wall shingles.

Those type shingles had a small hole for the nail that was blind nailed to the wall.

It would be interesting to see what a power washer would reveal!
 
England too:

\ said:
A large fire occurred yesterday at Hove Town Hall caused by a faulty solar panel on the roof of the building. No-one was hurt. Locals have been quick to take aim at the Green party with jibes over their record in office at Brighton and Hove city council, which owns the building.

O’Leary said that solar panels present numerous additional challenges to firefighters, with the result that buildings fitted with solar panels are sometimes left to simply burn out rather than be tackled in the event of a fire.

“Firefighters need to consider the additional roof loading of the array, especially when the purlins/rafters etc. are fire-damaged or water-laden. They also need to consider the fact that DC string cables may be running down through the property from a system that, during daylight hours, is producing voltages anywhere between 400VDC to 1000VDC, and currents between 1A and 10A, depending on the nature of the installation and the irradiance present.

“Furthermore, solar PV modules are manufactured to include a number of potentially hazardous chemicals and materials which may be released as a side-effect of the fire damage. All of these considerations, and more, can lead to the fire service deciding that the level of risk and uncertainty is too high to justify dealing with the property fire at all – resulting in some instances where properties have been literally left to burn out.”

Meanwhile in Brighton, locals mocked the irony of the Green party’s only town hall being set alight by a solar panel just weeks before the next council elections.

Argus reader Martha Gunn commented “Didn’t think the Green Party would take scorched earth policy quite that far! Or did they leave the microwave on again?”

Benny Duncan-Jarrs said “Just typical of the greens. Probably created the most pollution over their tenure than any other party anywhere. Added to the fumes from congested traffic this makes for a perfect swansong for them as they exit Brighton once and for all – Roll on May.”

An anonymous reader joked “A Green party spokesman said ‘it was the wrong sort of sun’ today.”

While another mused “Greens burning the accounts before the next council takes over and alerts the fraud squad?”¹
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¹ http://www.breitbart.com/london/2015/04/21/bonfire-of-insanity-solar-panels-start-fire-at-green-party-run-hove-town-hall/
 
Way too many solar contractors have no clue about what they are doing.





If I can pull it off with my bare hands.......
 
I'll hand it to ya, your on top of that solar stuff, ICE!

(UL) approved

ICE approved, NOT!
 
Looks like they aren't using micro inverters. They should have used a wire nut instead. That would have been much easier.
 
Five9 said:
Looks like they aren't using micro inverters. They should have used a wire nut instead. That would have been much easier.
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If there are micro-inverters, the wire becomes a GEC and splices shall be irreversible.
 
Five9 said:
Enphase has micro inverters with an integrated ground that according to them only requires a egc and no gec. http://youtu.be/B50lZ5y-HBQ

What do you think Ice?
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That is correct. They have taken the next step and obtained UL2703 Listing for the purpose of providing the EGC for the entire rack system. I have not seen the Listing Report. I do not know which rack systems have been included other than Unirac. There are several mounting systems that do not have a rail and the micro-inverter mounts directly to the module. I am not aware of UL2703 Listing for that application.
 
\ said:
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) — Two firefighters were shocked, apparently by a rooftop solar panel, while trying to extinguish a one-alarm fire at a home in San Francisco’s Bayview District Wednesday afternoon, a fire department spokeswoman said.The firefighters were battling the blaze from an adjacent roof and said they did not touch the solar panel, but still got shocked somehow.

“It’s possible that the solar panels, we had water up on the roof, there could have been electrical coming off the solar panels into the water which is a great conduit and the firefighter was standing in water,” Batallion Chief Michael Thompson said.

Residents of the home had started a fire in the fireplace at the home and the flames apparently spread somehow from the chimney to the roof and attic, Talmadge said.¹
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Wonder if those panels were installed without a permit?

Interesting that we have had "No Burn Days" every Christmas and New Years' Eve for the last several years, but not this year, they do recommend against burning though.

\ said:
In the wintertime, when the weather remains cold and stagnant for several days, wood smoke can build up to unhealthy levels. When this weather pattern is in place and pollution levels are rising, the Air District will ask Bay Area residents to not burn wood.When wood burning is discouraged, the Air District will notify local news media and advisories will be posted on www.sparetheair.org.

Although burning wood is not illegal on recommended no-burn days, Bay Area residents can help keep wood smoke from becoming a neighborhood health problem by choosing not to use their fireplaces and woodstoves when the Air District announces a recommended no-burn day.²
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¹ http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2015/12/23/sf-firefighters-shocked-by-rooftop-solar-panels-while-fighting-house-fire/

² http://www.sparetheair.org/stay-informed/particulate-matter/wood-smoke/recommended-no-burn-days
 
I asked where the water pipe is bonded and was shown the water heater. There is a jumper from the hot to cold to T&P drain pipe, which is a first for me.



The water heater is insulated, there is a T&P drain pipe, they even screwed the vent connector to the draft hood......but they didn't install the seismic straps.

 


I can see the AC disconnect from the inverter but I can't see the inverter from the AC disconnect.
 
The company guy that met me said, "Well they wouldn't pull a vent out and just leave it laying on the roof". He wouldn't take a $10 bet on that.





That's not going to be easy to fix.
 
Is that a copper water pipe or painted conduit?

Paul,
Your right I haven't seen that valley install either, but if it has felt or a its a second roofing install, it would most likely work don't you think? Manufacture probably not going to stand behind their warranty I suspect.
pc1
 
This is a UL Listed ground lug. The listing states that it is to be used with #12 to #6 AWG wire. The picture shows how well it doesn't work with #6.



 
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