Featured in High time for a masterplan – 06-2023

Making rooftop solar safe

Commercial and industrial (C&I) solar rooftops are becoming widespread as businesses strive to reduce carbon footprints and electricity bills. The industry has suffered fires and faces other safety risks, however. Clean Energy Associates (CEA) has performed safety audits on more than 600 commercial PV rooftops and has found safety issues in 97% of them, report Ankil Sanghvi and Chris Chappell.

By

pv magazine

09 Jun 2023

Common rooftop problems include the mistreatment of modules, incorrect cable installation, and mismatched connectors. | Photos: Clean Energy Associates

The good news is that many problems detected by CEA in C&I rooftops are related to installation and the balance-of-plant components: grounding, connectors, wiring, and terminations. Fixing these problems is typically more labor- than capital intensive. And safety risks are easily avoidable in the first place. A comprehensive specification covering equipment selection, design, and installation, …

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