Solar Booklets

www.siechem.com 12 1. Advantage of XLPO over PVC & XLPE ; Generally XLPO material is recommended for Solar cables because of enhanced operating temperature and hostile 0 0 weathering conditions. XLPO EBXL cable is rated for 120 C continuous operating temperature, whereas XLPE cable is rated for 90 C only. 2. Choice of Tin coated copper or Tinned annealed copper: Annealing is compulsory to get lower resistivity and better flexibility. Tinned copper is what specified in UL and VDE specification for EBXL Solar cables. 3. Short circuit temperature : PVC : 150°C, XLPE : 250°C and XLPO : 280°C 4. Bending radius of cables: Normally it is 3 to 4 times the cable OD in flexible cables for EBXL XLPO as against 9 times of XLPE / PVC. 5. Insulation material: PVC & XLPE insulations are common in Power Cables, whereas EBXL XLPO material is used in Solar and Special application cables to keep the Electrical and Mechanical properties of the cables in elevated environmental temp. 6. Insulation & Sheath color : Insulation is normally Red & Black and Sheath is Black or Black with Red strip. However, inner layer i.e. insulation color can be as per customer order. 0 7. Ampacity of cables; Please refer TUV Specification. It is about 30% more than 90 C rated XLPE and about 43% more than PVC. Please also refer point no.19. 8. Rated Voltage: 1.8 kV DC 9. Specify maximum no.of strands: In class 2 conductors for Cables of fixed installations, minimum no. of strands are specified whereas in flexible conductors maximum wire diameter of individual wire is specified, which falls in Class 5 Category. Both class 2 and 5 are permitted to be used, but that depends on how critical it is in certain areas while installing the cables, especially in cold climate areas. 10. Cable preferred for under ground use: Armoured power, control and communication cables. 11. Weight of cable preferred: Please refer our leaflets for Cable Dimensions and Weight. 12. Stranded or Solid conductor - which is preferred? : Solid copper conductors are specified upto 6 Sq.mm and stranded conductor is used for sizes greater than 6 Sq.mm. In case of Aluminium conductors, it is 10 Sq.mm. No change in conductor fabrication for Solar or XLPE cables. 13. Flexibility: More in flexible conductors, class 5 & class 6, and it is less in stranded class 2 conductors for fixed installations and least in Solid class 1 conductors for fixed installations. Flexibility is customer specific. 14. Halogen free: Special cables for commercial places, locomotives, marine applications, aircraft wiring, Solar Cables etc. It has no Toxic emissions. 15. Submersible in water or not: XLPO Solar cables are generally weather resistant and very good for out door applications. Hence, XLPO Solar Cables ideally meet Solar Cable needs at hostile site conditions. 16. Electron beam cross linked procedure or CV curing process preferred?: Electron Beam Cross Linked is the superior way of curing the material which gives uniform enhanced Electrical, Thermal and Mechanical properties across the cable built. No bye products are produced which are harmful to the insulation layer unlike in Chemical curing. EBXL is environment friendly and very reliable. 17. Various tests: a) conductor resistance, (b) voltage test on complete wire, (c) insulation continuity test, (d) Surface resistance sheath test, (e) Insulation resistance test: All test are carried out as per the relevant specifications. These are basic tests. But if you refer TUV or UL, you will find very interesting tests are specified for 25 years life under severe working conditions. The main condition for Solar system is 90% guaranteed wattage out put after 10 years of installation and 80% out put after 25 years of installation and commissioning of PV Solar plants. Only EBXL PV Solar cables passed these time tested requirements. Siechem has 100% in house testing facility which can be witnessed by customer. 0 18. Recommended ambient temperature to be considered for solar application: 55 C in India due to direct sun UV & radiation effects over the exposed cable under extreme 0 0 hot and humid outdoor conditions during peak hours and more so in summer. PVC cables can withstand 70 C and XLPE for 90 C. In PV Solar systems, when the ambient 0 st temperature itself is 55 C.,when cable is loaded during peak hours, cable it is the 1 candidate for premature ageing and failure thereafter. As the Cable is the main nerve system in solar installations, if proper cable is not installed, voltage drop, efficiency and system failure cannot be prevented. FAQ : Why Siechem EBXL XLPO Cables for Solar Application? Wires & Cables