I did some research on the modules we've used over the past 15+ years to
see if we had potential mismatched connector issues. We've used Amphenol
H4 connects since the advent of locking solar connectors. We had
assumed they were compatible back then.
Solarworld switched from MC4 to H4 somewhere back 2013 to 2015. I didn't
even notice. SW 280s through SW 300 looks like H4, while SW 270s and
back to the long, skinny SW 165s are MC 4, but its not that clear, as I
found a spec sheet for an SW 260 with an H4.
_Conclusion: Basically we can't be sure._
Hanwa Q cell, looks like their 60 cell mods run the MC 4 or MC 4
compatible (whatever that means) while their 72 cell mods apparently use
the H4/ UTX
_Conclusion: Total confusion in the field._
Jinko? They don't even list the connector type on any of the spec
sheets I have for the past few years.
_Conclusion: No way for a designer/ installer to know beforehand what
connector to use in the field._
Basically this is a total break down of responsibility for the solar
industry; a complete lack of standards. Why hasn't an organization like
NEMA stepped in to standardize the connectors like all AC connectors
have been, going back for over a century?
I made a very wrong assumption that when our industry adopted the MC 4/
H4 locking type connectors that they were standardized and compatible.
I can only hope that my systems running at relatively low voltage (<150
vdc) will not have issues.
Ray Walters
Remote Solar
303 505-8760
On 9/4/19 4:26 PM, Jerry Shafer wrote:
Just to add, l had a lab and l did testing on connectors, we found
that most of the aec issues were under low light. This appeared to be
when iradiance was low and once the irads went up the issue was less
likely, this was because the Male-female contact was not tight enough
and under lower power it would arc instead of heating up and
expanding. I used a IR Camera but could see little change due to the
plastic.
Then l used an IV curve tester and shaded partially shaded the module
after several repeat testing the connectors got warm. I would suggest
making your own connector pull out tool to check the contact
pressures. This is where you may find your problem components. It
appears that early am testing had lower volts and the inverter pushed
the current up and causes the loose connector to fail due to the lower
volts.
This testing was done both in the field 1/2 meg and lab testing
results were very close.
The modules used for testing were Trina and the field inverters were
ABB and Fronius
Sorry for the long note
Jerry
On Wed, Sep 4, 2019, 2:52 PM Steven Lawrence <lawrenceste...@gmail.com
<mailto:lawrenceste...@gmail.com>> wrote:
Everyone,
Just to add to this, I've seen multiple melted connectors that
couldn't be traced to anything other than mixing manufacturers.
I've seen some connectors where you can clearly seeing arcing on
the pin itself and nowhere else. The crimps and the housing were
fine. I've postulated it had to do with slightly different metals
expanding/contracting at different rates. I've made it a very
hard rule at my company to never mix manufacturers of connectors.
When we order modules, we specifically have the PO call out the
manufacturer of the connector (can't just be "MC4 compatible").
Typically we order that same brand of connectors, but sometimes we
end up getting 6" jumpers made by a harness company (there are
some connectors out there that can only work with #12 wire. Can't
use them on #10 homeruns). It's drastically cut down on the
number of melted connectors. We've averaged maybe 1 or 2 on 6MW
projects over a year with this hard requirement versus 100+ we had
on a 1MW rooftop project that mixed multiple manufacturers.
Steven Lawrence
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