August, Thanks for your feedback.The racking model is EcoFoot2+ <https://ecolibriumsolar.com/ecofoot2plus/> by Ecolibrium Solar (now part of Unirac). These module clamps are also self-grounding with teeth to bite into the module frame. I reached out to the manufacturer, who confirmed that the clamp material is aluminum extrusion and the hardware is stainless steel.
The modules were installed about 2 weeks ago, so not very much time has elapsed to be able to observe potential resultant damage. We haven't seen any problems so far. -- Corey On Fri, Sep 3, 2021 at 6:35 AM August Goers <aug...@luminalt.com> wrote: > > Hi Corey - > > For many years we used Pro Solar racking and Unirac Solarmount and > tightened the clamps with impact drivers. At some point maybe roughly 8 > years ago, Unirac switched its mid clamps to stainless steel self grounding > clamps with teeth to bite into the module frame. We continued to use > impacts with no issue. Then, starting around 4 years ago, we started to > have module glass failures with our SunPower commercial systems and these > Unirac clamps. We immediately switched to torque wrenches for tightening > the clamps. However, the failures continued. My guess is that the poor > design of the Unirac mid clamps in conjunction with thinner “weaker” module > frames exasperated the issue. We now have stopped using those mid clamps > and continue to hand tighten all clamps. We primarily install SunPower, and > their residential module frames have a lip so all the pressure from the > clamp doesn’t go to the glass. > > Getting to your question - what kind of mid clamps do you have? If they > are aluminum, there may be less risk than the stainless clamps. I would be > worried that the process of loosening and then re-tightening might cause > more damage than good if there aren’t any problems that have occurred to > date. It’s a good question. > > August > Luminalt >
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