Ground mount panels grounding questions.

[Travis55]

IronRidge XR-LUG-03-A1 Grounding Lugs, Low Profile

Shop now for IronRidge XR-LUG-03-A1 Grounding Lugs Low Profile.

www.stellavolta.com

The ridges on the lug surface cut into the anodized aluminum panel frame to complete the bond.

Here is another one:

Aluminum Lay-In Grounding Lug – Solacity

Aluminum lay-in lug, tin-plated, 14 - 4 AWG, stainless set-screw & mounting hardware, cUL listed #aluminumlug #groundlug #layinlug

www.solacity.com

Thank you, good to know, I can see how the ridges would complete the bond. Would one be sufficient on the frame of each panel, or would you need to add them on both the top and bottom of the panel?

 

[zanydroid]

And this is the one Unirac recommends for random bonding. These look painful to use so hopefully someone comes along with an easier one for this application.

Would one be sufficient on the frame of each panel, or would you need to add them on both the top and bottom of the panel?

You only need one per metallic object bonded.

I've used two per rail when I go:
- Copper EGC
- 20 feet of rail
- Another copper EGC

That let me save 20 feet of copper.

 

[zanydroid]

BTW that IronRidge XR-LUG-03-A1 Grounding Lugs, Low Profile

is a IronRidge specific lug for bonding the rail.

Why can't you just follow the BrightMount manual? It suggests the (also somewhat painful to use) grounding clip style, which is a plate with oxide penetration teeth in it, that gets compressed after clamp goes down.

 

[Travis55]

BTW that IronRidge XR-LUG-03-A1 Grounding Lugs, Low Profile

is a IronRidge specific lug for bonding the rail.

Why can't you just follow the BrightMount manual? It suggests the (also somewhat painful to use) grounding clip style, which is a plate with oxide penetration teeth in it, that gets compressed after clamp goes down.

View attachment 225933

Good catch, I'm taking it a piece at a time, I haven't installed the panels yet, I just finished pouring the concrete pads and assembling the first mount right now.

So the premise of these clips are that it bonds the panel frame to the mount itself, therefore you only need to ground the mount itself after installing these clips? I don't see anywhere wire would attach to on the clips.

 

[zanydroid]

So the premise of these clips are that it bonds the panel frame to the mount itself, therefore you only need to ground the mount itself after installing these clips? I don't see anywhere wire would attach to on the clips.

Yes, bonding through mounting hardware usually obviates the need for adding grounding wires. A good mental model is that these things are for labor and cost savings for installers.

This clip style is probably a little older. There is another style where the oxide penetration is done with special spikes and ridges on the mid clamp and end clamp themselves, which is faster and fewer moving parts.

One thing also to watch out for is that these oxide penetration things (the one linked above and on some of the WEEB) have a rated number of install/remove cycles. Some brands say you can only use it once and replace with a new one if you take it off. Others like IronRidge support 10-20 cycles. The reason is that the spikes and such wear out or get flattened each time, and some are already really shredded after the first time.