From time to time we all find that we repeat ourselves, but on this occasion I am making no apology, as yet again, a PV fire has hit the national news headlines.
This time at council offices with no reported injuries, but next time it could be at a school or other public buildings or homes putting lives in danger, and we cannot as an industry ignore the ticking time bomb of substandard products in our supply chain.
The need to fit quality panels is well documented, but far less regard is given to other parts of the system, and we need to be just as vigilant in sourcing quality cabling and connectors which can fail through their own inferior manufacture or the lack of protection they give in prevention of modification by inexperienced or less than reputable installers.
You may have seen the recent press release from Solar-Fabrik, the German module manufacturer that identified an issue with some of their panels that could cause the junction boxes to catch fire. Any installer that has fitted the specified serial-numbered products should be taking their share of responsibility by tracing their customers and arranging a disconnection immediately.