OK, I guess that it had to happen someday. I call Uni-Solar in Michigan for
some basic product info only to be told that their sales dept. does not take
any phone calls, that any inquiries have to be done on-line. Being in the
customer service myself, like pretty much all of us, it is beyond
We sold tons of the 62 and 64 watt framed modules. If any were available, I
would have bought them years ago after they canceled production.
Larry Crutcher
Starlight Solar Power Systems
On Jul 27, 2011, at 10:51 AM, Marco Mangelsdorf wrote:
OK, I guess that it had to happen someday. I
I've not personally seen any pole mount pipes
that were bent or broken. Has anyone seen
this? How common is it? What sort of damage to pole mount arrays is common?
At 05:25 PM 7/26/2011, you wrote:
I can confirm that quite a bit of water builds up inside the pipe.
A few times on rewiring
Drake,
I have never seen significant damage due to rust, but ours is a dry
climate. But we had a real scary pole issue a few years ago.
In 1997, just starting out and before I was licensed, we hired
another PV pro to install a SW4024 GTWB system for us. He used a
We have more than 70 pole mounted systems, including one of my own that is
16 years old, and I have not seen any problems. Our oldest pole mount
installation is 20 years old and at least visibly, is not showing any
signs of wear and tear.I inspected it last time I was there, less than a
year ago.
I had a customer ram a vehicle into a pole mounted tracker at about 10
mph. It bent the tilt actuator pretty good, but the 6 pole and footing
were unscathed. Once I found a pole mount listing at a 10 degree angle,
turns out the DIYers hadn't set it in concrete.
Another situation we had 6 poles
Hi Marco;
Regular modules are designed to take quite an impact. I recall one
manufacturer that fired 1" ice balls with an air cannon at their
modules, and then let visitors throw baseballs at them. It seems the
foul balls would be at a lower velocity than a person
Here's the ASTM standard for impact testing of modules, but it costs $34
to download: http://www.astm.org/Standards/E1038.htm
Ray
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I have run into several 6” sched-40 poles that were “adapted” to 8” for a
tracker install.
One had bent in the wind. This one got replaced.
Another was TRI-braced and custom field engineered modified [can you spell
monkey rigged] with the equivalent of a 30 gallon barrel of concrete below
We did a repair on a DIY tracker install that had broken in high wind. Turned
out he had used steel tubing instead of schedule 40 steel. The tubing buckled
just where it came out of the concrete. One module on the corner of the tracker
was shattered and the rack itself was both bent and knocked
Marco,
We have a 60kW a few blocks from the shop which was installed in 2009. It
sets on the left and center of the field. In conversation with the
facilities manager earlier this year he said they have replaced 4 modules in
the past two seasons, and don't let anyone tell you that PV modules
Todd,
Of course putting concrete inside a pipe will make it stronger, but not
by as much as you might think. Concrete is strong in compression and
has very little strength in tension. The pole is subjected to bending
stress and thus has tension on one side and compression on the other.
Even
Hi Guys,
The discontinued Unisolar US64 did not have any glass on the face.
A great product, a shame they stopped manufacture.
Carl Emerson
Free Power Co.
Web www.freepower.co.nz
Hi Marco;
Regular modules are designed to take quite an impact. I recall one
manufacturer that
My mistake, I just found a spec sheet on the Unisolar 64, and it
specifically advertises "No glass" and "unbreakable". I worked on
systems with them before, but never sold them, so I assumed the
textured top surface was tempered glass all these years.
Many pardons,
SIlicon energy modules
has glass front and back. VERY Durable.
http://www.silicon-energy.com/pdf/SiE-Cascade-Spec-Sheet-V8.2-Rev070111.pdf
almost bullet proof.
On Wed, Jul 27, 2011 at 9:26 PM, Ray Walters r...@solarray.com wrote:
My mistake, I just found a spec sheet on the Unisolar 64,
Colleagues:
See photos at http://millersolar.com/case_studies/Wind_damage/wind_damage.html
William Miller
At 02:40 PM 7/27/2011, you wrote:
I've not personally seen any pole mount pipes that were bent or
broken. Has anyone seen this? How common is it? What sort of damage to
pole mount
Have you installed these Alex? I have specified them for a upcoming, local,
grid-tied system here in heavy snow country because there is no frame to peel
off from ice dams. The mounting system looks highly complicated/confusing. Can
you (or any other list members who have worked with these)
Yes I have installed these modules. Yes they do have a proprietary racking
system. To buy these modules I believe the manufacture wants you to do
some onsite training to show you the ins and outs. Basically, its four foot
on center attachments to the racking put up loose until you add the
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