CEA finds 97% of rooftop solar installations had major safety concerns

Clean Energy Associates has recently completed a global audit of solar PV installations, where it found 97% of the installations it audited had major safety concerns. 

More than 600 sites were audited by Clean Energy Associates, with sites located in the US, UK, Italy, Spain, India, Japan, United Arab Emirates, Australia, Canada, Mexico, Czech Republic, Germany and Poland. It found issues in all the countries audited, noting that hazardous solar installations were a global problem. 

The issues cited by Clean Energy Associates in its audit ranged from grounding issues (49% of sites), damaged modules (47%) and cross-mated connectors (41%). The impact that these improperly installed systems can have on the end-user are varied, with some dealing with increased maintenance and system down time, while others had to contend with a more serious fire risk. 

All of the issues cited by Clean Energy Associates are as follows: 

• 49% of sites had grounding issues
• 47% of sites had damaged modules
• 41% of sites had cross-mated connectors
• 40% of sites had poor terminations
• 40% of sites had improperly assembled connectors
• 31% of sites had module hotspots
• 27% of sites had cables on sharp edges
• 26% of sites had broken/damaged connectors
• 26% of sites had water ingress
• 19% of sites had enclosure hotspots

There is a growing need for competent professionals within the electrical industry both in the UK and globally to ensure we can meet our net zero ambitions. It’s important that poor installation practices become a thing of the past going forward, given the role solar is likely to play in our future global energy mix. 

Clean Energy Associates found that the reasoning for many of the safety hazards were down to undertrained or inattentive installation technicians using the wrong techniques, although it did also note that some of the issues could be as a result of extreme weather conditions – especially in the case of damaged modules.