Reports from third-party QA/QC organizations show a high number of safety and failure issues in large-scale solar. Many of these issues lead back to solar PV connectors in some way: damaged connectors, cross-mated connectors, inadequate crimping. Supply chain snags also played a big role in recent years, as noted in this “Shut it Down” article, contributed by HelioVolta:
“Many times, preferred products or modules are not available, and installers do not know what they will receive until it arrives on site or have to accept what is available. This forces the hand of installers to either wait for the preferred equipment or figure out alternative solutions to get the job completed on time. Typically, projects cannot wait.”
Amphenol Industrial Sustainable Technologies partnered with Melni Technologies to expand its RadCrimp series of solar splice connectors, to include connectors with current ratings of 50A for 8AWG and 65A for 6AWG cable.
Amphenol developed RadCrimp to improve crimp reliability in the field, while helping to reduce the amount of crimp related failures that are directly related to improper crimping, including eliminating the risk of cross mating connectors produced by different manufacturers. These crimpless butt splice solar connectors are assembled by stripping the PV wire/cable, inserting them into the connector and tightening the connector end caps to the specified torque.
RadCrimp is a single connector, so there is no risk of mating incompatible connectors from different manufacturers, the company says. Low resistance wire termination and sealing can be completed in one action.
RadCrimp connectors feature a simple termination, that the company says eliminates the need for crimping and the use of specialized crimp tools. Melni’s dual spiral termination technology is used to for connection strength.
RadCrimp is certified to UL 6703 for 1500V DC specifications. The connector has an IP68 rating, making it suitable for all outdoor power applications, including solar, telecom, ESS, lightning, back-up power generation, etc.
— Solar Builder magazine
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