Custom Solar Cable Solutions - Tailoring to Project Requirements

As PV installations expand, designers need to balance performance and cost. This includes ensuring proper cable sizes and types.

CAB’s Solar Cable solutions help reduce engineering costs by allowing contractors to install wire management ahead of racking. This saves time and labor during installation and prevents costly mistakes down the line.

CAB Solar’s Cabling System

Solar cables play a crucial role in solar photovoltaic systems, carrying DC current from the solar panels to the inverter, which converts the DC energy into AC for use in homes and businesses. Solar cables must be properly installed to ensure that the electrical current is carried safely and effectively. Poor quality and incorrectly installed cables can result in power loss, overheating, or fires.

To mitigate these risks, CAB Solar has developed a system of cable management with integrated grounding to optimize electrical current flow and reduce the risk of overheating or fires. The patented system uses PVC-coated steel cable hangers—to prevent potentially sharp edges from touching the cables—that are strung along a copper-clad messenger wire that acts as the electrical grounding conductor. This innovative solution offers significant labor, material and engineering cost savings over popular alternatives like trenching and cable tray.

The system is quick and easy to install, requiring no cutting or grinding of sharp edges. It can support up to 36 properly separated cables above ground, allowing the heat of electrical friction to dissipate naturally into the surrounding air. The design also allows engineers to utilize lower ampacity DC cables without sacrificing performance or limiting the project’s ROI.

Moreover, CAB Solar’s Integrated Grounding eliminates the need to run separate equipment grounding conductors and grounding electrode conductors at each mid pier. The system uses a custom engineered messenger wire, clamps and mid pier brackets, and is ETL Safety Listed by Intertek to UL 2703.

The system’s multi-carrier hangers are available in a variety of styles to efficiently organize large bundles of string wires, DC feeders, or AC and data cabling. The innovative design of these hangers enables them to hold the cables securely in place, even during high wind or seismic events. The use of these purpose-built products also saves time during installation, reduces labor costs and simplify upgrades, maintenance and troubleshooting. These advantages are especially useful in bifacial panel projects, which can require more cables than traditional single-panel installations.

CAB’s Torque Tube Hangers

CAB’s patented cable management system uses PVC-coated steel hangers strung along a copper-clad messenger wire that also serves as the electrical grounding conductor. The system offers significant cost reductions in labor, materials and engineering compared to alternatives such as trenching or using cable trays. It also helps eliminate the need to install multiple electrical conduits and simplifies upgrades, maintenance, and troubleshooting.

Each hanger’s thick plastisol coating provides a strong, tight grip of the messenger wire to prevent slippage. This design, coupled with a slender carrier that allows for easy cable loading, also ensures that the cables remain safely separated to meet NEC requirements. Additionally, each hanger can be installed quickly and easily without any tools on either tracker or ballasted projects.

CAB offers a wide variety of multi-carrier hanger designs that can safely separate large bundles of string wires, DC feeders, as well as AC, data or other cabling. These products are manufactured from class 3 galvanized, high tensile strength spring steel to provide the strength and corrosion resistance necessary for any project. Custom configurations are easily manufactured to meet specific project needs.

Standardized Cable Management with CAB Hangers can dramatically reduce engineering costs across a developer’s portfolio of projects and provide a more predictable installation cost for customers. Moreover, the simple and intuitive installer interface of the CAB system can help improve productivity on the jobsite and streamline the overall process.

In a typical installation, the weight of all the wires being carried in a CAB run is determined by adding up the total cable weight and multiplying it by the spacing between pile supports to determine the dead load on each support. This is followed by determining the ice load by subtracting the dead load from the total cable weight and multiplying that by the acceleration of the wind and temperature of the day.

After determining the combined wire and ice loads for each pile, a specific number of hangers can be installed to handle this load. These hangers are then secured to the piles with a steel cable clip that is welded over each bracket. The cable clips are available in two different sizes based on panel thickness to manage bare wires or conduit, tubing, and sleeving as well.

CAB’s Multi-Carrier Hangers

CAB Solar’s patented cabling system features a series of PVC-coated steel cable hangers -- designed so that no potentially sharp edges come in contact with PV cables -- strung along a copper-clad messenger wire that acts as the electrical grounding conductor. This unique system offers significant cost savings in both labor and materials compared to popular alternatives like trenching or using cable trays. It also allows for standardization of cable management across multiple projects, further reducing engineering costs.

In addition to their utility in underground coal mines, the company’s versatile hangers are used worldwide for solar power generation; at wind farms; for power transmission and substations; and at salt, potash and nickel mining operations. CAB makes 10-14 million hangers annually and ships to 25 countries. Their largest markets are Canada and Australia where they provide cable management solutions for coal mines, potash and gold mining operations.

Heyco’s HEYClip Stainless Steel SunRunner 4-2 and 4-2U cable clips are rolled/tumbled, so their edges are dull and they minimize the potential for abrasion to the PV cables. They can be installed on the back of modules to manage bare cables, or on the module support structure to route conduit, tubing and sleeving. These clips are easily installed on racking systems using a simple crimp and do not require a secondary installation step after the power cables are installed. Typical spacing is 1 clip per 3 feet in the United States, and they can be used with all round PV cables including microinverters.

All of CAB’s products are made in the USA by persons with disabilities at the Cambria County Association for the Blind and Handicapped (CCABH). They produce all of their own components, from bending metal to cutting abrasion resistant plastics. All of their work supports the mission of CCABH, which provides vocational and employment training, independence services and a supportive environment for people with physical or mental challenges.

RPCS is proud to offer CAB’s Multi-Carrier Hangers, which can be ordered on a custom basis in different colors, lengths and configurations. They are available for order on our website and will be delivered with the rest of your racking equipment.

Custom Cable Solutions

Cables are a vital component of every electrical system and must be tailored to meet the specific needs of your project. There are several different types of cables that can be used, each with its own unique set of characteristics. A good cable designer will be able to guide you through the selection process. A custom cable solution will help you avoid costly mistakes and ensure that your cabling is installed correctly.

Whether your application requires high-power, medium-power, or low-voltage, we can provide a custom-made solution that is engineered to meet your specifications. Our team of experts will work closely with you to ensure that your cable assembly meets all requirements, including temperature and environmental conditions. They can also create a prototype for you and test it to make sure that it will perform well in your environment.

Injection molded polyurethane is a critical design element of many of our custom products. This process creates a tough, impervious barrier that will protect the conductors from harsh environments and extreme weather conditions. These materials can withstand up to 150 million flex cycles and will not crack or deform. They can even be fabricated with custom colors and branding to suit your unique project.

Our company is committed to providing the best quality and service in the industry. Our staff is comprised of highly trained assembly technicians, mechanical and electrical engineers, quality and testing professionals, and interconnect industry veterans who have a strong customer focus. They are capable of supporting all build-to-print programs, whether it’s for a single prototype or a large volume production run.

We have a wide range of standard cable assemblies in stock that can be purchased directly from our online catalog. In addition, we offer a number of configurators for sensor-actuator interfaces and Industrial Ethernet solutions. These tools allow you to customize your cable assembly by selecting the materials, wire gauge, and connectors. This allows you to save time on your planning, procurement, and installation processes while ensuring that the assembly meets your exact specifications.

Working at TCS is an exciting opportunity for any professional who loves a challenge and wants to be part of a fast-paced team. The company’s dedication to innovation and its customer-oriented approach allows employees to grow professionally and personally in the workplace.