Solar Panel on Azek Deck

pedro12

I want to install a solar panel system at my home but the only available space where i can place this and that is my deck made of Azek, Would it be a good idea or should i placed it some where else?

BB.

Panels are (generally) single weight tempered glass. If you place it where it can be kicked/stuff dropped on the panel(s), etc., they are pretty easy to shatter (tempered glass will break into a handful of glass pieces). One a panel is damaged, it is not longer good for the long term (water, oxygen, etc. to the cells themselves).

Are you planning on buying NRTL (UL, etc.) Listed panels, or something else (or even making your own panels). There is always a chance of fire with anything electrical, but non-Listed panels carry a much higher risk. Installing it on a PVC deck is something I would avoid.

http://forum.solar-electric.com/discussion/comment/59862

And lastly, solar electric panels do not work if there is any shade on the panels, If you have railings that will throw shade on the panels, then that would not be a goo location to install them.

-Bill

Lumisol

I don't think a listing makes something safer. It's possible a non listed panel could be safer or less safe than a listed one. It's an unknown quantity.
It's silly to think a listing means safer or less safe either one. It just means it was tested to conform to stated specifications.

BB.

Well, Listing does mean more. Validation of the design, testing of new design by third party, ongoing verification pout factory safety testing, traceability of materials (insulation, fire rated plastics, etc.).

While Listed devices can, and do, still fail, in general a company that paid over $50,000 on fees plus yearly ongoing inspections, they probably are going to make better product than a company the buys fake UL holograms and prints up forged Listing labeled.

Look at the London estate high rise fire. Last I read, they saved $3 off a $30 cladding panel with non - fire rated plastic. Plus a mix of green energy rules and subsidies plus make a building more modern but added chimneys behind the cladding. All added together and we got a "Towering Inferno".

An ongoing decades long international problem, and fraught against by safety people who new better..

- Bill

Lumisol

Validation of the design as what? As the stated specifications of the manufacturer are met.
That is the same thing I said.
The idea that the company that lists products will probably make better broducts is a crap shoot at best. Of the companies making listed products, some will be better and some will be gatbage, even though all are listed.
A listed product does not mean a better one any more than a more expensive one means it's better than a less expensive one. You can find the exact same product made in the same factory with different labels for sale by different companies at a range of prices. The most expensive is exactly the same as the cheapest.

It would be nice if price or listing indicated a superior product but the truth is it just doesn't work that way in the real world.

Estragon

Listing means it could be crap, but it's supposed to be safe crap, and has been tested by an independant lab to make sure it is. The lab doesn't typically care if it works, just that when it fails, it does it safely when installed and used as directed.

A listed and unlisted product may both come out of the same NumberOneBestChargeController factory, or maybe not, or maybe the unlisted ones are seconds, or maybe the ones the newbies get trained on and don't make it through QC. With the unlisted ones, you roll the dice.