Hello readers! This week in your solar news update, we look at the recent Rhode Island solar installation inspections and what we can learn from them. Here’s the deal: National Grid’s Renewable Energy Growth program contracted with the Cadmus Group to inspect 100 solar installations in the state of Rhode Island. The group found that 45% of the projects inspected exhibited major or critical installation deficiencies. The most frequently found issues involved the array (190 instances) and the supply side connection (187 instances). Interestingly enough, 86% of customers reported overall satisfaction with their installations.
What this means for Rhode Island solar (and beyond):
Many of the issues reported were minor, including missing or incorrect hardware, issues with wiring or splicing, and connections that were improperly installed or lacking. This would suggest that more stringent quality control by the installation companies themselves could remedy most of these issues. I’m not a solar developer, but I think a simple checklist in the hands of a skilled manager or inspector could do the trick. Hopefully, those of you readers who are installing solar systems can study and learn from the Rhode Island solar inspection findings and prevent similar issues in your own work. You can find a detailed breakdown of the common issues found in the full article.
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As always, if you have questions about anything you read here, contact the Commercial Solar Guy. He loves talking all things solar, trust me! And if you missed last week’s brief, you can read how solar operations and maintenance are becoming more affordable here. See you next week, and thanks for reading!