Affordable Wire Management (AWM) announced the company has achieved a 630 A rating from the Renewable Energy Test Center (RETC), a Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratory (NRTL). AWM’s CMS is the first in the industry to achieve this rating, qualifying their offerings to support Sungrow’s recently released 4.4-MW SG4400UD-MV modular inverter in North America.
“Sungrow’s 4.4-MW inverter shepherds in a new frontier for more efficient and cost-effective utility-scale solar design. By installing our inverters, developers can decrease the overall LCOE as fewer inverters per megawatt are required. Thanks to AWM’s innovations, the increased requirements are managed safely since their all-metal CMS are bonded and rated up to 630amps. It’s exciting to see that AWM is already producing offerings for the North American market that are ready to support Sungrow’s latest step in inverter technology,” said Mikhail (Naveed) Hasan, Sungrow’s VP of strategy and marketing.
AWM’s solutions meet the IEEE and NEC requirements for bonding excessive bare metal that is likely to be energized. They are also rated to comply with UL2703, the Standard for Mounting Systems, Mounting Devices, Clamping/Retention Devices and Ground Lugs for Use with Flat-Plate Photovoltaic Modules and Panels.
Other alternatives, including polymetric (plastic) hangers, sidestep this important standard because they lack a bonded metal-on-metal connection.
The RETC evaluated AWM’s CMS, including the hangers, beyond the maximum 200-A current rating defined by UL2703, to achieve a bonding rating of 630 A. This meets the overcurrent capacity of Sungrow’s latest inverters for utility-scale solar projects, with the increased fuse capacity of 630 A.
“Utility-scale wire management carry and route dozens of electrical cables for up to 40 years, so selecting the right eBOS components is crucial to long-term power plant reliability. O+M teams, owners and operators are already learning the hard way that plastic will degrade over the 40+ year lifespan of a project. Plant owners are inevitably forced to invest time and money replacing them – an unfortunate, inefficient and costly outcome of using plastic,” said Scott Rand, co-founder and CEO at AWM. “By providing all-metal solutions, AWM’s offerings support the most cutting-edge technological advances and designs in the utility-scale solar industry. The developers, EPCs and EORs we work with, as well as the owner/operators, all experience the very real benefits of reduced construction costs, enhanced safety, consistent power plant performance and increased longevity.”
Designed for utility-scale solar projects, AWM’s comprehensive CMS includes the Arden Messenger Cable Hanger, the Bonsai Module Cable Hanger, and the Solar LOTO lock-out solution. AWM’s expanded hardware offerings, announced in early 2024, include the HELIOS Beam Rod and the PHOTON Toolkit.
News item from Affordable Wire Management
