ICE
Oh Well
Solar contractors can be difficult to work with. The company will have a C-10 or B license so they will install a new service along with the solar equipment. I wish that they wouldn't.
DC disconnects have a particular way to configure the wires. I takes a diagram and if the installer doesn't have one it can be found on-line. I heard from a manufacture today and was told that the diagram will be inside every disconnect in the near future.pyrguy said:Is that insulation under the screws?!?!?!?!?!We had one solar contractor install the DC Disconnect with one of the two DC supply wires running through the box right next to the disconnect with the other going into one side of the disconnect at the top, coming out of the bottom then back into the disconnect on the other side and out the top.
They fixed it.ICE said:Solar panels are more efficient in a cold condition.
ICE said:They fixed it.
11:45 AM
The shaded panel is dead and has been dead since sunrise. The panel next to it may have been dead for the first half of the morning. After lunch, the same will happen to the panels on the other side of the vent. The system has two strings so the inverter might ignore the string that is shaded.
This is a customer owned system so the company doesn't care if it operates at 50%.
There isn't a code violation so apparently I don't care either.
I don't think that flue is throwing enough shade to disable the panel.
Very informative and illuminating. I had no idea that there were such large effects with small amounts of shading. Thanks Ice,ICE said:
I'm sure there is good reason but why can't they connect them in parrallel instead of series?ICE said:Shade and Power: The Multiplier Effect Why does shading cause such dramatic power loss? The answer lies in the way cells are connected within solar panels and the performance optimization, done by the inverter. Solar panels are made of cells connected in series. Most panels have 60 or 72 cells built in. Each panel connects in series, creating an array. Arrays connect in parallel strings, feeding DC current into the inverter, which then converts DC to grid-quality AC, optimizing the PV arrays’ power generation through maximum power point tracking (MPPT).
This Solar array is most likely does not generate any power at this time.
To prevent the string failing when one cell underperforms — like Christmas tree lights connected in series — PV panels equipped with bypass diodes. The diodes re-route the current around the underperforming cells. The catch is that rerouting the current not only loses the potential energy from these cells, but also lowers the entire string’s voltage. This leaves the inverter with a dilemma: optimize the voltage for the underperforming string or maximize the energy harvest from the unaffected strings. Usually, the inverter chooses the former, causing the energy harvest of the impaired string to drop to near zero.