UL approval

russ
russ Solar Expert Posts: 593 ✭✭
in PV Installers Forum - NEC, Wiring, Installation #1
From the Silicon Valley mercurynews.com

High-powered lamps expose panels to the intensity of "One Sun—" the universally accepted standard for simulating the most extreme amount of sun exposure a solar product might ever endure.
In the "wet room," solar panels are constantly soaked by spray nozzles, as if from a hard, pelting rain. In another part of the 20,000-square-foot facility, panels are subjected to several days of extreme shifts in temperature and humidity. Then there's the "hail impact" test: ice balls are shot at solar panels with a gun, to see how the panels would weather a serious hailstorm.

The U.S. national electric code requires that all solar modules sold in the United States be certified to the UL standards

For the rest of the story please see http://www.mercurynews.com/top-stori...nclick_check=1
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Comments

  • BB.
    BB. Super Moderators, Administrators Posts: 33,637 admin
    #2
    Re: UL approval

    Nice Article... (new URL--Don't know if it will change again):

    http://www.mercurynews.com/top-stories/ci_14419424#top

    $50,000 and 6 months of testing to pass a panel.
    Chris Paxton, who manages much of the solar testing at the lab, says the majority of "failures" occur with the "humidity freeze" test. The panels go through a 10-day testing cycle where they are exposed to 85 percent humidity — much like the environment in the tropics. Wet modules are then brought down to frigid temperatures of negative 40 degrees Celsius, where the moisture freezes and expands. UL technicians then scour the panels for any defects or inconsistencies in construction.

    That sounds like a very difficult test to pass.

    -Bill
    Near San Francisco California: 3.5kWatt Grid Tied Solar power system+small backup genset
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