Solar Panel Warning

[pet-els]

Faulty solar panels: Statewide recall over part linked to 40 fires
Updated Sun 11 May 2014, 8:09pm AEST


The Queensland Government has announced a recall of a faulty solar panel part which has sparked about 40 fires.

The Government's Electrical Safety Office has banned the sale or installation of Avanco and PV Power-branded DC isolators.

Master Electricians Australia chief executive Malcolm Richards says the recalled isolator may overheat or catch fire.

He says he knows of about 40 to 50 fires which have been started by the faulty isolators.

Mr Richards says if solar panel owners see their DC isolators are made by either brand, they should disable it immediately.

"We're warning home owners to carefully check the brand of isolator that is connected to your solar panels," he said.

"If it carries one of these two brands ... undertake the isolation procedure until your electrician can come around and fix that up to eliminate or replace it."

But Mr Richards says solar panel owners should not put themselves at risk.

PeterH

[BruceS]

Good warning Peter but might need to stress that it isn't the solar panels at fault but is the isolating switch.
Suggest it's most likely on house installs & not RV vehicles??
Bernie? You got one of those brand ones ???

[BernieQ2]

No Bruce, I have a Growatt solar converter.
Bernie.
just realized the pv switch but still all good.

[pet-els]

Yeah I know Bruce but some RV's have house panels on them [bought cheap].

PeterH

[Wilbor]

Yeah I know Bruce but some RV's have house panels on them [bought cheap].

PeterH

Peter, as the boss stated, this is NOT the panels and nothing specific to house panels, it is the isolator switch. I have an isolator switch on Wilbor but not this brand. Thanks for the heads up, I will check my house isolators when I get home

[oldtrack123]

HI
The domestic grid tie panels operate at around 500V Dc
Nasty stuff at the best of times ,from an arcing point of view .
The switches mentioned are for isolating the 500V DC supply from the panels to the inverter.

It is the 2nd recall for such types of switches the other was about 6m ago .



PeterQ

[T1 Terry]

I noticed the new trend is to string the panels in much lower voltage arrays and run them in parallel. What is the max. DC voltage before a licence is required to do any of the wiring involved/ I'm guessing this is the reason, along with arcing issues and insulation issues with the high DC voltages used before.

[oldtrack123]

I noticed the new trend is to string the panels in much lower voltage arrays and run them in parallel. What is the max. DC voltage before a licence is required to do any of the wiring involved/ I'm guessing this is the reason, along with arcing issues and insulation issues with the high DC voltages used before.

HI Terry
120V DC [ripple free],above that, not only do you need an electricians licence but a solar panel system installer's endorsement too[ for OFF grid systems ]
For Grid tie systems both electrian & endosement are required no matter what the panel output voltage.



PeterQ

[T1 Terry]

The new tech trend appears to be mini MPPT controllers at each panel producing the grid required AC voltage, thus eliminating the high voltage DC switching and minimising shade effect that seriously effects string connect to the single inverter technology of old. Off grid, a rapidly growing market I might add, they are going for mini buck/boost controllers on each panel centrally controlled to produce what ever voltage is required, generally between 56vdc for a 48v nom. LiFeP04 battery bank and 65vdc for a LiPo type battery bank. This is then within the voltage range the DIY fitter can handle, cheap cells from evilbay and real $$ can be saved if you have your head screwed on right and you can fit it all up yourself.