Scott Carman of Paragon Solar routinely sees burned out solar module connectors. Previously a solar installer, Carman has shifted to solely doing O&M work, which usually means replacing broken panels (they get a lot of hail in Colorado). Many of these jobs involve stranded systems installed by companies now outRead More

The IMO FireRaptor’s latest UL PVRSS listing is with the SMA Sunny Boy range of solar inverters from 3 kW to 7.7 kW and also the SMA TRIPOWER range of solar inverters from 33 kW to 62 kW under UL1741 guidelines. The FireRaptor also meets UL’s new AFCI compatibility requirementsRead More

IMO Automation tells us its FireRaptor received UL PVRSS (Photovoltaic Rapid Shutdown System) listing on the Fronius Primo family of solar inverters under UL1741 guidelines. IMO Automation worked closely with Fronius in achieving this listing as it required the development of an additional capacitance bleed circuit to dispel stored currentRead More

Solar PV system-caused fires are rare, but they are on the rise in the United States. The numbers here are hard to track down, but Lawrence Shaw, owner of Higher Powered LLC, a residential solar preventive maintenance company in Arizona, reached out to the U.S. Fire Administration (USFA), dug throughRead More

Product choice has been an issue with rapid shutdown requirements since the NEC 2017 update, but that tide is starting to turn. Six additional members within the SunSpec Alliance ranks have announced products and services supporting the SunSpec Communication Signal for Rapid Shutdown standard, bringing the size of the SunSpecRead More

Now that California – the largest solar market in the U.S. – has adopted the 2017 National Electrical Code (NEC), many solar installers wonder what a good solution for the Module Level Shutdown (Art. 690.12) requirement looks like. With safety being paramount, this article identifies the major criteria for assessingRead More

OutBack Power and its FLEXmax charge controllers are now compatible with Tigo Energy Inc.’s Fire Safety solution device to meet NEC 2017 module-level rapid shutdown. The tested compatibility includes Tigo’s Fire Safety – TS4-F integrated for smart modules and TS4-A-F add-on for existing PV systems – with OutBack’s FLEXmax 100 and FLEXmax 100Read More

With the provisions of National Electrical Code (NEC) 2017 article 690.12 now being applied in over 30 states and growing (and which we re-examined this week), many suppliers and contractors are struggling to determine which Rapid Shutdown Devices (RSD) on the market are compliant and compatible with the modules andRead More

The Solar+ Decade is starting off as the module-level power electronics (MLPE) decade. In its most recent U.S. PV Leaderboard, Wood Mackenzie reports SolarEdge inverters and optimizers were used on 60.5 percent of U.S. residential installations through the first three quarters of 2019, with Enphase a distant second at 19.2Read More

  SolarEdge Technologies is ready for the implementation of both NEC 2017’s revision to the PV Rapid Shutdown System (PVRSS) requirements for 2019 and is prepared for the roll out of Phase 3 of Rule 21. The company offers solutions that comply with these regulations. “By preparing our product lineupRead More