The life of a solar plant can be 25 years or more but how do we ensure it? We have seen many installations where usage of substandard materials has been quite prevalent. Though they may serve the purpose for the first few years, they will never last 25 years for which solar systems are designed for. Here we will discuss about the use of clamps for fixing electrical pipes and how using GI clamps is detrimental to the project. To ensure solar plant life of 25 years.
In the image above, clamps have been used by another system integrator for installing the plastic pipes and this is an outdoor installation which means that these clamps are exposed to the elements. These clamps/brackets are called as U or Strap clamps and are made using Mild Steel (MS), Galvanized Iron (GI) or Stainless Steel (SS) with MS being the cheapest and SS the costliest.
Mostly, installers use MS clamps to save on project cost and thus compromise the quality and life expectancy of the project. We hope that in the above project, the installer has used SS clamps. Otherwise, they would start to rust (as shown below) within a few years and compromise the project. Another point to note that these clamps require 2 holes to be drilled onto the wall for fixing the pipes.
At EcoSoch, we use Quick Clips from OBO for installing the electrical uPVC pipes. These are flame-resistant (upto 750 deg.C) and are made of Polypropylene. These clips require only one hole for fastening thus reducing the drilled holes by half. They also have an interlocking feature on its side allowing for multiple clips to be installed side by side thereby saving on space and increasing stability.
One such installation is shown below:
