is the market flooded with fake dangerous solar cable?

[Boron]

I have taken delivery of samples of TUV solar cables 6mm2 from EB. I was curious to know if these conformed to the specs. Correct me if I am wrong but we should have tinned Cu wire 0.3mm dia x 84 strands annealed. This gives 5.94mm2 thats ok for 70A. The samples I got
a) looked genuine printed on the outside "6 sqmm DUCAB C BICC PV cable 1.5kV" but it had 84 x 0.25 dia core = 4.124mm2
b) unmarked plain black pvc with inner white sheath 83 x 0.22mm dia core = 3.193mm2

Grossly under rated 40-50% - fire risk, insurance issue? the strands seemed springy - not annealed - fragile at crimp joints if flapping around in the wind. Is it proper UV resistant sheath or will it crack up in the direct sun (like cheap domestic cable does)

Clearly some very important discrepancies - fertile ground for the Cheap Charlie to profit?

Before I go Nuclear with the suppliers, has anyone else noticed this issue as I took one look at the cable construction and immediately thought that its an obvious area for cheating.

 

[Korishan]

That's definitely a serious issue. If they are that underrated they a for sure a fire risk. And for insurance purposes, if they found out that that kind of wire was used, they'd most likely toss out the whole case and jack your rates up thru the roof. Or go ahead and pay and jack rates thru the roof.

I've actually wondered about this myself. I never got any of the cables because I don't have any panels atm.

I would definitely complain to the seller about the issue. Record a video of the process showing their branding on the cable and clearly showing the testing process to show it's out of spec. You could also do the flame test. Tinned Copper wires won't melt easily under a lighter flame, but aluminum will.

Not sure how you'd do the UV testing, though. Perhaps there's a quick way to do a test with a UV A/B lamp in an enclosure to give concentrated amounts in a short period of time.

 

[Boron]

Thanx K, Im glad someone sees the importance of this issue. There have been several reports of roof fires caused by solar panels (mc4/anderson connectors, loose joints, falling object impact on panels etc). Once panels are on your roof it may not be a simple (or safe) means of access for maintenance/faults etc. AFAIK panels are not a "fit and forget" item but such installations are hyped by corps knowing they will eventually be called in for $$$$ assistance. If I had the space I would always go for a ground bank (assuming we dont flood given our weather).

I see that in some states, property insurers are questioning owners whether they have solar panels or powerwalls and jacking rates to match. Would a DIY roof panel system be accepted for insurance? I believe that a registered NEC inspection is needed and if you are not to code!!!!!

Solar energy harvesting should be such a noble "green" thing to do but it seems overshadowed by massive hype and fraudulent sellers/suppliers. The DIY amateur needs to do a lot of homework (and listen to gurus on here). Reminds me of all the massive hype over Wind Turbines twenty years ago.

 

[Korishan]

panels are not a "fit and forget" item but such installations are hyped by corps knowing they will eventually be called in for $$$$ assistance. If I had the space I would always go for a ground bank (assuming we dont flood given our weather).

Same, I don't like the idea of putting panels on my roof. For one main reason, beyond the aforementioned, is that the panels add a lot of extra weight to the roof, which it was not initially designed to hold up. And then with the added wind down force and turbulence, I feel that it could cause problems later on.
Obviously with new construction builds, this is probably already taken into consideration and added supports are installed. But with existing homes >10yrs old probably not so much.

Would a DIY roof panel system be accepted for insurance? I believe that a registered NEC inspection is needed and if you are not to code!!!!!

Yes, the local EE needs to inspect the installation to sign off on it as being valid. This is true for many different countries. EE's can also put the stamp of UL on some devices as well, even if they weren't initially stamped by the manufacturer.

Solar energy harvesting should be such a noble "green" thing to do but it seems overshadowed by massive hype and fraudulent sellers/suppliers

Yeah, this is the part that really stinks about Solar installations. It's these fraudsters that have actually helped to contribute to the increase in prices for insurance, too.
This is starting to change, tho. More regulations are coming into play at the gov't level for companies to be able to be allowed to install panels. So this should help decrease insurance and installation costs. We'll see over time what happens.

 

[Boron]

Hallelujah, someone singing on the same page. Dont ask about UK - Im too embarrassed about our total school playground ripe with piracy. The Aussies seem to have a firm hand on their regs and are a subset of our own IET regs. Its all a bit of a dog's breakfast. Our Gov some 10 years back did have a populist agenda offering some grants to have panels fitted to our roofs. It was quickly shown up as a ruthless scam, feeding surplus to the grid yadayada. It took 20 years to repay the capital investment. We got the same crap about installing heat pumps (above ground to air exchangers btw) - another huge populist scam. You need a buried exchanger (deep pit excavation) or running water stream and live up north to make it worthwhile.