Nick, It was several years ago (2006-08) but I've installed these, and had to deal with a ground fault issue as well. In my case the fault was discovered while testing string voltages prior to turning the system on.
The roofer had already completed installing all the concrete tiles, so there was no access to the wiring. I was able to roughly determine which end of the string the fault was closer to, which is helpful in a 37 mod string. The string was spread out over about 6 dormers, so I started at the closest end of the string and had to remove the necessary tiles to access the modules, then started removing modules, checking all the wiring along the way. I found the fault on the second dormer, about 8 modules into the string. (whew) Despite repeatedly being made aware of the of the clearly marked and visible conductors (visible at the time of roofing), the roofer had put a tile nail (holding a tile in place) right thru one of the conductors which also came in contact with the module bonding conductor, thus creating the ground fault. I used a watertight butt-splice to repair the wire, re-installed the removed modules, re-tested string voltages and all was good, so I replaced the removed tiles and completed the system start-up. I guess my advice would be to isolate the string that has the fault, then hopefully you have a wiring diagram of the module placement in each string so that you know where to start. Begin removing modules one at a time carefully inspecting all conductors along the way. Watch out for roofing nails!!! Hope this helps. Benn DayStar Renewable Energy Inc. www.daystarsolar.ca * Ph: 780-906-7807 Construction Electrician Solar Photovoltaic Systems Certified Certificate # 0007S HAVE A SUNNY DAY On 27/09/12 10:58 AM, "Nick Vida" <[email protected]> wrote: Hello wrenches, I am hoping some of you might have some experience with the GE flat tile bipv modules from around 2006. We are dealing with a ground fault issue and would like to figure out what to expect. Thanks in advance for your comments. Nick Vida _______________________________________________ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: [email protected] Options & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org
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