[Dave Willis]

Chatting to some panel installers today I asked them if you could get a shock carrying a solar panel - they just laughed.
They showed me the connections underneath. The connectors are recessed into the insulated ends. I explained that sometimes I clean them with carbon poles and water and was concerned I might electrocute myself. "No way" they said - you'd have to strip the insulation back first then catch hold of both wires to do it and besides all the wiring is under the panels well away from anything. They did mention that they can get hot but that was about it.

I asked if they thought an apprenticeship was needed to clean one. They thought that was the best joke they'd heard all day!

[Window Lickers]

lol

We all know who you need to be speaking to about this.

[dannymack]

So Dave what's the shocking discovery ?

[JSMC]

what are the costs of cleaning approx?

[Dave Willis]

So Dave what's the shocking discovery ?

That you're extremely unlikely to get a shock cleaning them 

[paulben]

I was told by a sparky that works for an installer that it is unlikely to get a shock but best to get custy to turn off at inverter just to be on safe side

[telfordwindowclnr]

Fascinating. I suppose it would be very rude of me not to reply to this, especially as it seems Dave has got to all the effort of writing it specifically for me. 

I have no idea who your installers were so I can't comment on their ability, knowledge or skill in their field.

What I DO know is that we work for some of the largest installers in the UK, blue chip companies, not Mr Sparks the panel fitter from Trumpton. Electrical engineers and health and safety consultants who work for these companies are often head hunted and are leaders in their field in the UK. They all come back with exactly the same message. SOLAR CAN KILL. It is not to be underestimated. Get a bolt from an array of any decent size, you won't be around to tell the story.

Believe who you will. I know who I feel more comfortable believing....

[dazmond]

Fascinating. I suppose it would be very rude of me not to reply to this, especially as it seems Dave has got to all the effort of writing it specifically for me. 

I have no idea who your installers were so I can't comment on their ability, knowledge or skill in their field.

What I DO know is that we work for some of the largest installers in the UK, blue chip companies, not Mr Sparks the panel fitter from Trumpton. Electrical engineers and health and safety consultants who work for these companies are often head hunted and are leaders in their field in the UK. They all come back with exactly the same message. SOLAR CAN KILL. It is not to be underestimated. Get a bolt from an array of any decent size, you won't be around to tell the story.

Believe who you will. I know who I feel more comfortable believing....

you and your staff are the ones cleaning em on a large scale mate!!

ive cleaned a fair few on domestic properties.i just clean them,get paid and then move on to my next job as if they were velux windows.

[Dave Willis]

Steve, perhaps you would be so kind to explain exactly what you'd need to do to kill yourself on a panel array. Probably falling off one would be the easiest. You could disconnect the wires at the inverter, strip them back and hold them I suppose but I'm interested to know how you do it cleaning them when all the wiring is underneath and insulated.
Do you think I should tell MrSparks of Trumpton he's got it wrong?

Also how can you subby out your panel cleaning work to to morons like myself who don't have the superior knowledge of mixing with the top health and safety representatives in the country?

[deeege]

Steve, perhaps you would be so kind to explain exactly what you'd need to do to kill yourself on a panel array. Probably falling off one would be the easiest. You could disconnect the wires at the inverter, strip them back and hold them I suppose but I'm interested to know how you do it cleaning them when all the wiring is underneath and insulated.
Do you think I should tell MrSparks of Trumpton he's got it wrong?

Also how can you subby out your panel cleaning work to to morons like myself who don't have the superior knowledge of mixing with the top health and safety representatives in the country?

He can't do that. He's spent years researching so can't let you have the 'industry secret' for free.

Different rules for 'rush jobs'. Elf 'n' safety don't apply.

[Window Lickers]

I believe you can get  shock from a faulty panel, i.e. cracked or where the seal is blown. In just the same way as you can get a shock from a customers dodgy wiring in their back garden.


A fault from the engineered installed wiring would simply leave the panel vulnerable to the elements, which would already have got into the system and done any damage that was going to be done. Id imagine by then it would have gone up in flames. Like this one 200 yards from home. It was put down to faulty wiring.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQplg8CEyx0

[Dave Willis]

Anyone else know? The installers don't see a problem including my son who's fitted them. Yes, you could probably get a very big shock fiddling about with the wiring especially around an inverter but we're only talking about cleaning panels here with water and a brush.

[andyM]

Anyone else know? The installers don't see a problem including my son who's fitted them. Yes, you could probably get a very big shock fiddling about with the wiring especially around an inverter but we're only talking about cleaning panels here with water and a brush.

Coupled with the fact that pure water is supposed to be a poor conductor and if using a decent carbon pole it will have an insulated base section.

[8weekly]

Fascinating. I suppose it would be very rude of me not to reply to this, especially as it seems Dave has got to all the effort of writing it specifically for me. 

I have no idea who your installers were so I can't comment on their ability, knowledge or skill in their field.

What I DO know is that we work for some of the largest installers in the UK, blue chip companies, not Mr Sparks the panel fitter from Trumpton. Electrical engineers and health and safety consultants who work for these companies are often head hunted and are leaders in their field in the UK. They all come back with exactly the same message. SOLAR CAN KILL. It is not to be underestimated. Get a bolt from an array of any decent size, you won't be around to tell the story.

Believe who you will. I know who I feel more comfortable believing....

Presumably it was some of the largest installers that told you that trainers & t shirts without gloves and carbon poles were perfectly adequate safety equipment. 

[tonyoliver]

solar steve............
don't even bother to take the bait..............
what they don't know wont harm um till its too late
health and safety has a purpose not just to fill the spare pages in the daily mail and to confirm to middle England what's wrong with Britain today.
Britain is now the safest country to work in
work related deaths are at an all time low educate yourself and stay alive long enough to  enjoy your grandkids getting wed.

[keyser soze]

interested to know how many people die a year from solar panels cleaning or installation. i bet its none 

[Dave Willis]

Bait or not I'm only repeating what I was told. If anyone knows any different then I'm all ears. If cleaning panels the way we do is a dangerous practice then I'm off thanks - I'll stick to windows. I have no plans to scrub massive arrays day in day out but I have been asked to clean several domestic properties.

[Soupy]

If you Google "killed by solar panel" you get lots of results about dead birds (not killed by electrocution as it happens).

Also if you search "solar panels" on the HSE website all you get is working at height regulations and a report issued by the HSE about the global health implications i.e. much safer than oil and coal production.

[PoleKing]

I looked a year or so ago.
I found one person had died from electrocution from a solar panel.
No-one, that I could find, has ever died, from electrocution, cleaning one.

[telfordwindowclnr]

I'm not arguing or defending my position again on this one.

Watch this space though.  I will have some info in a few weeks time which will clarify my position a little bit.