Sorry to hear about the BP problems Andrew. For what it's worth you
can tell BP that your story just solidified another wrench's reason
to never sell any of their modules ever again.
Hope you get the customer service you deserve,
Nick A Lucchese
NABCEP Certified PV Installer
Planet Home
General Contractor # 808851
Sierra Solar Systems
563C Idaho Maryland Road
Grass Valley, CA 95945
tech info and foreign orders: (530) 273-6754
order line: (800) 51-SOLAR (US only) FAX: (530) 273-1760
[email protected]
http://www.sierrasolar.com
On Jun 15, 2009, at 9:22 AM, Andrew Truitt wrote:
Greetings wrenches! We recently did a small commercial system (17
kW) using BP-SX 3175 modules and the Unirac RapidRac ballasted
mounting system. The flat roof is ballasted with 2" of gravel that
we smoothed as much as possible but undulations are visible in the
array, though the changes are never more than 5 degrees from module
to module. After about 3 months the cusotmer noticed a problem
developing with 1/3 of the modules: the interior of the module
(backsheet, cells and glazing) were separating from the aluminum
frame! Remnants of the black, rubbery adhesive are clearly visible
on the inside of the frame and on the edge of the backsheet/cell/
glazing sandwich. It seems clear to us and that the adhesive
simply failed and should be covered under the 5 year workmanship
warranty, but BP does not agree. BP is saying that the modules are
supposed to be mounted with a solid member spaning the width of the
module and since the RapidRac supports the module on what amounts
to 4 individual stanchions, the workmanship warraty is null and
void. The mounting instructions, however, say nothing about
requiring a solid member spaning the module.
Has anyone else had this issue with BP or any other types of
modules? Does anyone buy that it could be the fault of the
RapidRac? We unbolted a few of the bad modules to see if the frame
was exerting any torque but the neither the module not the frame
moved - we set the module back on the frame and the mounting holes
lined up perfectly as before.
Thoughts or suggestions?
Gotta' love these long sunny days!
Andrew Truitt
Standard Solar Inc.
--
"Don't get me wrong: I love nuclear energy! It's just that I prefer
fusion to fission. And it just so happens that there's an enormous
fusion reactor safely banked a few million miles from us. It
delivers more than we could ever use in just about 8 minutes. And
it's wireless!"
~William McDonough
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