solar wire Archives - Sun Pull Wire

PV wire doesn’t seem like a big deal, but moving generated power from solar panels to the electrical grid would be impossible without it.

To the untrained eye, installing thousands of feet of wire seems like a pretty straightforward process. But maximizing its performance depends on several factors, including:

Environmental Conditions
Cost Considerations
Ease of Installation
Project Size

Depending on the situation, solar EPCs have a few installation options, including direct burial, conduit, and hangers.

Direct Burial Installation

When solar developers directly bury PV wires, they install them in trenches underneath the panel rows.

Direct burial wire is designed for underground installation without a conduit. To ensure the wire is up to the task, it undergoes rigorous testing to earn a specific UL mark. In this case, the mark signifies the wire can withstand abrasions, crushing, moisture, chemicals, and other hazards.

Solar companies like direct burial wire because it’s a low-cost and easy way to install electrical wiring. Workers only need to dig a trench along the panel aisle near the racking, place the wire, and cover it back up. But as easy as it is, direct burial wire isn’t appropriate for every application.

The Good and the Bad of Direct Burial Wire

Soft soil compositions with relatively few rocks are the best conditions for direct burial wire. Sandy soil is also a good option because it drains quickly. Drainage is vital for underground wire installations because moisture can damage wire insulation and jacketing over time.

Direct burial wires also run the risk of damage from environmental hazards. Sharp rocks could nick wire insulation, allowing moisture to get in. Large rocks can crush the wire and its insulation, hurting performance. Even damage caused by rodents chewing on the wire can potentially create faults.

Damage could lead to less electricity generated and create unsafe conditions. It also costs crews time, money, and long-term production since they must visit the site, dig up damaged wires, and repair or replace them.

Underground Conduit Installation

Conduit installation is similar to direct burial, but instead of putting the wires in the ground, they’re fished through metal or PVC tubes.

The tubing provides an additional layer of protection on top of the wire’s standard thick insulation and works well in rocky, moist, or corrosive environments. Typically, conduit is used when crushing, abrasion, or other threats are an issue. Beyond soil, conduit protects the wire from rodents, temperature fluctuations, and accidental damage from digging.

Unlike direct burial situations, workers can easily replace or repair wires if something goes wrong – without digging. Crews only need to pull the wire out, replace it, and fish it through the conduit pathway.

Like any other electrical project, local regulations may dictate conduit use. Requirements could change from one municipality to the next. The National Electrical Code (NEC) also has specific standards, so keep them in mind.

More Protection, Higher Costs

Encasing wires in conduit offers better protection than insulation alone, but makes solar projects more expensive.

Not only do you have to buy enough for the entire site, you need people to install it. This means digging trenches, burying the conduit, then pulling wires through the tubing to connect everything. And as utility- or community-scale solar sites get bigger, so do the associated costs and timelines.

Conduit is also not as flexible as direct burial wire, making it harder to use on slopes and curves. Shovels or excavators could also accidentally puncture metal or PVC conduit, damaging the contained wire.

Cable Hangers

Hangers come in many shapes and sizes, using galvanized steel coated with thick PVC to safely hold PV wires in place from the solar panel to the combiner box.

Unlike conduit, workers can easily bend hangers to fit whatever shape they need. And unlike direct burial and conduit solutions, hangers don’t require any digging. They connect directly to the racking underneath the solar panels and provide a cost-effective way to string PV wire quickly across difficult terrain. This makes them useful in areas where the ground isn’t suitable for digging, like brownfields.

Depending on the number of wires carried along the pathway, messenger wires might be necessary. Unlike PV wire, messenger wires don’t carry any current – they provide strength and support to keep wires in position.

Maintenance and repair work is also easier for operators because the wires live in the open air. Workers can find damaged wires, remove them from the hanger system, and replace them without additional equipment.

PV Wire Hanger Considerations

As with any electrical job, PV wire hangers fall under NEC guidelines.

According to NEC Article 690.31 (C) (1) (b), “Exposed cables sized 8 AWG or smaller shall be supported and secured at intervals not to exceed 600 mm (24 inches) by cable ties, straps, hangers or similar fittings.”

The rules are slightly different for wires bigger than 8 AWG, allowing hangers up to every 54 inches. For added support, messenger wires can help carry some of the weight.

Depending on the location of the solar array, code enforcement could apply other rules. Contact your local codes department to avoid any potential issues.

Above-ground wires also face several potential issues, including contact with people and vehicles and severe weather. Buried wires are typically hidden, but hanging wires don’t have the same type of protection. This leaves them open to damage from sun, wind, rain, snow, vandalism, and accidental contact.

What Impacts Solar Wire Installation?

No two installations are alike, but knowing what you’re getting into before putting shovels in the ground can make mistakes avoidable.

Environment

Soft soil without much moisture is well-suited for direct burial projects. If the soil is rocky, struggles with drainage, or risks contact with chemicals, conduit makes sense. If the land is rocky, too wet, or at a brownfield site, hangers are a safe, cost-effective choice.

Cost

Direct burial is a low-cost option but requires laborers to dig trenches. Hangers are also cost-effective but leave wire out in the elements and exposed to other dangers.

Conduit is pricier and requires labor, time, and equipment. However, it offers solar systems the best protection from damage and exposure.

Project Size

Bigger sites mean more work and longer timelines. Worse yet, delays can occur if crews run into unexpected issues.

Smaller community-scale solar energy projects take less time to wire compared to utility-scale solar projects. However, smaller sites may benefit from the added protection conduit offers without a massive hit to the bottom line. As sites become larger, costs increase dramatically, forcing project developers to limit expenses.

Code Regulations

Although the NEC is an excellent guidebook, follow local and state codes to avoid mistakes.

Failing to do so could result in violations, leading to work delays, fines, or other problems.

Know Your Surroundings

As solar sites spring up across the United States in brownfields, farmland, and even on water, teams should carefully determine how to set up their arrays.

Whether it’s a utility company with a small solar farm in the rolling hills or a large-scale developer repurposing brownfields, having the right manufacturing partner makes a huge difference.

Good partners understand community, industrial, and utility-scale installations and act as a guide. They can also field questions and offer insight throughout the blueprinting, development, and troubleshooting processes.

Most importantly, companies can keep every solar job on time and within budget.

Driving past a solar installation sometimes feels daunting. Arrays can have dozens of rows of panels, stretching on for what feels like miles.

Not only are some solar energy projects massive, but they’re also complex. Companies have hundreds of variables to consider, and the process takes years from initial planning to completion. They also cost millions of dollars between installing solar panels, securing permits, doing tests, and paying employees.

Solar EPCs always try to manage costs, reduce installation times, and produce better results. While hard costs like solar panels and PV wire have fallen over the years, soft costs like permitting, taxes, and labor haven’t shown the same decline.

How can companies save money on soft costs? The answer may be found in the wire holding everything together.

Small Cost, Massive Impact

When we look at the total cost of a utility-scale solar energy system, PV wire is low on the list.

However, choosing the right solar wire can save time and money on your solar project installation. For example, prefabricated wires have a higher upfront cost but slash installation times.

So, how do bundled, prefabricated solutions make the most of their engineering to save time and money? It all comes down to ease of use, consistency, and automation.

When combined, teams can shave hours and dollars off their projects without additional effort.

Why Do Installers Choose Pre-Fab Solutions?

Despite all the planning and effort, sometimes you get what you pay for.

Using single PV cables for a rooftop solar system is fine, but they can slow a utility-scale project to a crawl. Bundled pre-fab cables remove constant trips up and down each row, replacing them with one pass.

For the average project, not making multiple trips shaves hours off each row and days off a project. But beyond faster installations, why are solar companies choosing pre-fab wire products?

Wires are Pre-Cut and Factory Assembled

What is the difference between a pair of jeans purchased off the rack and a custom-tailored pair?

Jeans from the store come in many sizes, but they only offer a general fit. Meanwhile, custom-tailored jeans are specifically manufactured to fit you and only you. The same concept applies to buying single wire reels versus pre-fab bundled wire.

Manufacturers cut pre-fab bundled cable to specific lengths matching the project’s layout, preventing wasted wire. The manufacturer also properly installs connectors, performs quality control testing, adds labels, and mounts the cable to reels.

Not only are the manufactured cables ready to install as soon as they reach the job site, but workers don’t have to cut, crimp, or install connectors themselves.

Less Room for Mistakes

Employees on the job site often have varying skill levels and experience.

Small mistakes, like a loose connection, can have dangerous implications. Fires, arcs, and shorts may cause severe damage and cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to repair or replace.

Factory testing eliminates many issues before installation occurs. The manufacturer is also much more consistent than multiple workers on the job site.

The other thing installers like about pre-fab wire solutions is the exact measurements used to cut each wire to length. Single wire reels often create waste during installation. Despite the higher cost, pre-fab solutions limit scrap and speed up installs because workers can immediately use them.

Building on Labor Savings

Pre-fab solar power cables help workers make fewer mistakes, but do they make installers faster?

Instead of walking cables one at a time down the row to each solar panel, installers make one trip with all the cables. Once they reach the end of the row, they walk back down and connect each wire in the bundle to its corresponding panel. Customers can have cables marked as well, further reducing accidents and miscommunication.

Pre-fab solutions, including bundled wire, limit opportunities for mistakes. The faster speeds also reduce labor costs dramatically, sometimes by as much as 80%.

Besides allowing works to move more swiftly on the worksite, pre-fab solutions also make solar installation teams more efficient. In many states, including those across the Northeast, solar projects ramp up in the spring and slow down toward the end of fall for the winter season. The ebb and flow of project seasonality, which is a challenge for many solar companies.

When teams are using pre-fab bundled wire, projects are completed more quickly with fewer people. In turn, crews can work on more jobs during the busy season, and companies benefit from better labor allocation and shorter ramp-up and ramp-down times.

Safer Installs

Prefabricated PV wires are easier to work with, simplifying the job.

Think about field-made connectors for a second. Depending on the workers’ experience, they could make mistakes as they strip, crimp, and attach connectors to the wires. While issues may not appear immediately, they could develop over the long term, limiting power generation.

Bundled solutions remove the guesswork from the installation process. Workers only attach the connectors to the panels and the combiner box to power the system.

Beyond being easy to use, prefabricated bundled wire is also cleaner, as there’s only one bundle of wires to worry about. The result is an organized installation with fewer mix-ups and nicer-looking outcomes free of tangled wire.

Short- and Long-Term Savings

Pre-fab wire solutions like bundled cable cost more than single cable options but save time and money on labor.

Single wire reels work for small residential solar panel systems but bog down larger projects, like utility and community solar. Running single-wire reels is inefficient, more error-prone, and opens the door for waste.

Combining the wires for a row together shortens installation times and gets workers on and off the site faster. Best yet, potential savings increase as the projects get bigger.

Bundled Wire Leads to Better Installs

The United States relies on clean energy more than ever, so investing in solar improvements is critical.

Solar array technology has improved dramatically, from bifacial panels and tracking systems to more effective connectors and accessories. The same can be said for PV wire, too.

Bundled PV wire solutions allow employees to do better work faster. Solar installations can then produce energy sooner, leading to lower electric bills for communities and businesses.

That’s good news for everyone.

Tag: solar wire

Installing PV Wire: Direct Burial, Hangers, or Conduit?