The reason for less white PV wire I believe is due to less UV resistance
capability. Time showed that it was inferior to black. Using black in
lieu of white, and color coding at the terminal connections is an
allowed practice and that is why less white PV wire is used I believe.
Chris
On 6/5/2024 4:22 PM, Bryan Norkunas via RE-wrenches wrote:
White PV wire was something we used to sell often, but that demand has
dropped off in the last 5 years or so and always wondered why.
Thanks for sharing William
Sunny Regards,
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*Bryan Norkunas *
*PV-Cables Inc. *
*989 Milton Ave Ste 1D*
*Ferndale CA 95536***
(707) 923-3000 office
www.pv-cables.com <http://www.pv-cables.com/>
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*From:* RE-wrenches <re-wrenches-boun...@lists.re-wrenches.org> on
behalf of William Miller via RE-wrenches
<re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org>
*Sent:* Wednesday, June 5, 2024 12:53:52 PM
*To:* RE-wrenches <re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org>
*Cc:* William Miller <will...@millersolar.com>
*Subject:* Re: [RE-wrenches] Sol-Ark 15k solar panel frame grounding
Friends:
On a related subject, I was researching the question: What color
should my grounded PV conductor be?
History:
In the beginning, negative leads were always black.
When it became apparent that negative PV leads were indeed grounded,
the requirement to have them white or grey became enforced per
200.6(A)(3).
When transformerless inverters were implemented it was assumed the
negative was floating, so white/grey was no longer acceptable.
Then the NEC recognized that some leads were kind of grounded, not
solidly, but through some components, either OCPD, resistors, sensor
or a combination. A new term was created, functionally grounded.
This grounding was most often done to implement ground fault detection
and interruption, or GFDI. I always assumed that if PV equipment had
GFDI it had to feature a grounded polarity, most often indirectly, or
functionally.
Grounded conductors need to be white or grey. Therefore we are back
to needing grey/white, most often for the negative lead.
I wanted to verify if the Sol-Arc PV inputs established a grounded
lead. They have GFDI so I assumed it likely they did. In order to
verify, I called Sol-Arc. Their tech support had no idea what I was
talking about. They did not know the term functionally grounded and
could not verify if their equipment established a ground connection,
solid or otherwise, to either polarity.
This distinction applies here because it may help determine what is
causing the GFDI fault. I can’t tell you for sure if one side of the
PV circuit is functionally grounded, but if it is, grounding it
elsewhere will defeat the GFDI and may cause nuisance tripping.
Does anyone know if Sol-Arc PV inputs have a functional ground bond?
Side note: I called my local Greentech distributor, who sells plenty
of Sol-Arc inverters and asked if they carried white PV wire. They
said none of their customers are asking for white PV wire. I suspect
they should be using white for negative leads. I can’t confirm that
because Sol-Arc can’t tell me it the PV circuits are functionally
grounded or not. Frustrating!
Fortunately the manual for Outback charge controllers specifically
says the negative lead is functionally grounded. So if you are
installing Outback CCs you must use white or grey. PV-Cables sells
white PV wire.
Confusing? Yeah, a bit. But as my local roofing companies say:
“Solar? It can’t be that complicated!”
William Miller
Miller Solar
17395 Oak Road, Atascadero, CA 93422
805-438-5600
www.millersolar.com <http://www.millersolar.com/>
CA Lic. 773985
*From:*RE-wrenches [mailto:re-wrenches-boun...@lists.re-wrenches.org]
*On Behalf Of *Jason Szumlanski via RE-wrenches
*Sent:* Wednesday, June 5, 2024 6:02 AM
*To:* RE-wrenches
*Cc:* Jason Szumlanski
*Subject:* [RE-wrenches] Sol-Ark 15k solar panel frame grounding
Can anybody clarify the following instruction from the manual?
"GND the panel MOUNTS/FRAMES to any GND outside the circuit via 12AWG
wire"
Does this mean do not connect the array equipment grounding conductor
to the grounding terminal in the inverter? Where would be the
suggested place to connect the equipment grounding conductor, and why
does it make a difference? It would still be electrically bonded to
the grounding terminal in the inverter.
I'm asking because I do, in fact, have an equipment grounding
conductor from the array connected to the ground terminal in the
inverter at a home. I am getting an F08 GFDI fault. The manual doesn't
say anything about the DC side with respect to this error. It suggests
it is an AC current leakage to ground. But Sol-Ark tech support
suggested that I disconnect the PV to rule it out as a source of the
fault.
Jason Szumlanski
Florida Solar Design Group
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