{"id":99927,"date":"2022-09-16T08:00:22","date_gmt":"2022-09-16T12:00:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.solarpowerworldonline.com\/?p=99927"},"modified":"2022-09-23T09:17:05","modified_gmt":"2022-09-23T13:17:05","slug":"solar-spotlight-racking-that-makes-modules-mlpe-free","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.solarpowerworldonline.com\/2022\/09\/solar-spotlight-racking-that-makes-modules-mlpe-free\/","title":{"rendered":"Solar Spotlight: Racking that makes modules MLPE-free"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In this episode of Solar Spotlight, we\u2019re joined by Elie Rothschild, sales manager of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sollega.com\/\">Sollega<\/a>, a racking manufacturer producing polymer-based supports for commercial rooftop and ground-mount solar projects. We\u2019re discussing the latest developments at the company, including how Sollega\u2019s racking can be used on projects without requiring module-level power electronics. Sollega will be exhibiting at RE+ this year at booth #3847.<\/p>\n<p>Below is a portion of Sollega\u2019s Solar Spotlight podcast with Solar Power World, but be sure to listen to the full episode on your favorite podcast app.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/w.soundcloud.com\/player\/?url=https%3A\/\/api.soundcloud.com\/tracks\/1343740855%3Fsecret_token%3Ds-7KHM8gi1jny&amp;color=%23ff5500&amp;auto_play=false&amp;hide_related=true&amp;show_comments=false&amp;show_user=true&amp;show_reposts=false&amp;show_teaser=false\" width=\"100%\" height=\"166\" frameborder=\"no\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<div style=\"font-size: 10px; color: #cccccc; line-break: anywhere; word-break: normal; overflow: hidden; white-space: nowrap; text-overflow: ellipsis; font-family: Interstate,Lucida Grande,Lucida Sans Unicode,Lucida Sans,Garuda,Verdana,Tahoma,sans-serif; font-weight: 100;\"><a style=\"color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;\" title=\"Contractor's Corner by Solar Power World\" href=\"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/solarpowerworld\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Contractor&#8217;s Corner by Solar Power World<\/a> \u00b7 <a style=\"color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;\" title=\"Solar Spotlight: Racking that makes modules MLPE free\" href=\"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/solarpowerworld\/solar-spotlight-racking-that-makes-modules-mlpe-free\/s-7KHM8gi1jny\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Solar Spotlight: Racking that makes modules MLPE free<\/a><\/div>\n<h3><\/h3>\n<h3>What makes Sollega different from your competition in terms of installation and adaptability to flat roofs?<\/h3>\n<p>We\u2019ve always approached mounting panels a little differently than our competitors. We were really the first to use polymer for mounting solar panels in the U.S. We started back in 2010, and we always thought that polymer was the right material for mounting solar panels for a number of reasons. If you look at commercial roofs \u2014 TPO, PVC \u2014 those are all polymer membranes. There\u2019s a reason they use that. It\u2019s very durable and it last a long time.<\/p>\n<p>We injection mold our racking here in the U.S., in California, actually, and it\u2019s a one-piece unit. The benefit of injection molding is you can design and engineer in all the features. With our racking, there is no assembly. They literally unstack the buckets, put them down on the roof and start installing solar panels. It\u2019s very quick, very efficient and that also enables our clients to install as you go rather than laying out and assembling all the racking first on the roof. There are little placement tabs on the buckets that allow you to install the panels and it provides the spacing, and they build it out as you go sort of assembly line process.<\/p>\n<h3>Sollega recently partnered with SMA to be the first flat roof racking manufacturer to achieve UL3741 for PV Hazard Control. Can you talk about that process and what the implications are for installers and the industry?<\/h3>\n<p>We\u2019re very excited to have the opportunity to work with SMA. As you know, they\u2019re one of the leading inverter manufacturers in the world. UL 3741 has been something that\u2019s been in the code, and we took advantage of a section of that called \u201cPV Hazard Control.\u201d There\u2019s really three ways of obtaining rapid shutdown in the code. One is the use of MLPEs (module-level power electronics), which is pretty much what the industry has been doing. Two is to have no metal in the system at all \u2014 nothing that\u2019s conductive, like a BIPV (building-integrated photovoltaic) system. And three is what\u2019s called PV Hazard Control.<\/p>\n<p>So, we tested all of that with SMA\u2019s [Sunny Tripower] Core 1 Inverter, our racking and a number of modules and we passed. There are a few different reasons we pass. Number one, our racking being polymer, it\u2019s non-conductive, it\u2019s safer. If an installer is touching our racking, there\u2019s no potential for them to be energized. Two, and this is something we didn\u2019t necessarily anticipate, but our racking in its inherent design actually works like a shock absorber. The impact was reduced and the breakage on the module was reduced because our racking actually absorbs some of that impact. That combination was really what enabled us to pass.<\/p>\n<h3>With the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, what do you expect in terms of product demand, what is Sollega doing to meet those demand needs?<\/h3>\n<p>I think it\u2019s been a really great boon for the industry. We\u2019re definitely seeing increased interest in demand. We anticipated more demand a while back. We actually just added a second injection tool to our factory, so we doubled our manufacturing capacity and we\u2019re expecting to see more and more C&amp;I. It\u2019s really one of the most untapped opportunities for PV in the U.S. currently. It\u2019s a lot of available real estate out there. We\u2019ve been shipping to all 50 states. We do projects in Hawaii, we do projects in the Caribbean, Puerto Rico, the Northeast.<\/p>\n<p>Being that our racking is polymer, it\u2019s glass-reinforced nylon, it\u2019s very well suited for any type of high-corrosion environments. We do a number of projects in Hawaii, ground mounts and roof mounts, and projects down in any areas that are close to the ocean where you\u2019re getting high salt spray, we\u2019re very well-suited for. The hardware that we use on our racking is stainless 304 or stainless 316. We have those two options available.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>This podcast is sponsored by Sollega<\/em><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-81412 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.solarpowerworldonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Sollega-featured-770-500x325.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"325\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.solarpowerworldonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Sollega-featured-770-500x325.png 500w, https:\/\/www.solarpowerworldonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Sollega-featured-770-368x238.png 368w, https:\/\/www.solarpowerworldonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Sollega-featured-770.png 770w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In this episode of Solar Spotlight, we\u2019re joined by Elie Rothschild, sales manager of Sollega, a racking manufacturer producing polymer-based supports for commercial rooftop and ground-mount solar projects. We\u2019re discussing the latest developments at the company, including how Sollega\u2019s racking can be used on projects without requiring module-level power electronics. Sollega will be exhibiting at&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19854,"featured_media":98812,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":""},"categories":[3004,1713,1690,5025],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Solar Spotlight: Racking that makes modules MLPE-free<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In this episode of Solar Spotlight, we\u2019re joined by Elie Rothschild, sales manager of Sollega, a racking manufacturer producing polymer-based supports for\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link 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