En-Gauge

2011 was a special year for us here at Kris-Tech, marking 10 years of service in the Southern California region.  Since 2001, our Los Angeles hub has developed into a warehousing and distribution arm, providing among other things, Caltrans-spec THW (& THW-2), XHHW-2, RHW-2/USE-2, and SIS throughout the western states. The warehouse also provides a convenient will-call facility for local customers and shipping point for other regional business.

Electrical News featured us in their year-end issue if you’d like to learn more about our activity.

If we’ve done business you in the region, we look forward to continuing to doing so.  If we haven’t done business with you, we look forward to starting soon!

We’re delighted to be able to highlight our wire right here in our home town of Rome, NY, on City Hall.  A few thousand feet of  Kris-Tech’s USE-2 for Solar Wire was installed a few weeks ago on a project led by Solar Liberty that will finalize in late August, creating a renewable source of energy for the building, a trend that’s slowly creeping across Central and Western NY. Solar Liberty will be taking part in several projects across the region to increase the number of solar installations and opportunities for solar energy use.

We’ll give you a few more updates when the project is finished, but below are several photos:

Solar Panel Field

Kris-Tech USE-2 for Solar Wire

Because there are two different types of wires used for solar application – Photovoltaic (PV) Wire and USE-2 for Solar Wire – you should make sure you know the differences between the two before ordering and installing.

Looking for our solar products?  Visit our USE-2 Solar Wire page and our Photovoltaic (PV) Wire page.

Photo Credit: Wayne National Forest

The Underwriters Laboratories (UL) recently put out a brief overview of the solar panel market and the copper wire requirements needed to serve that industry.

We took some time to brush up on the current standards for our own PV wire products, and the distinction between PV wire and USE-2 wire in photovoltaic modules.  We thought you might be interested.

In summary, UL says “PV wire has superior sunlight resistance and low-temperature flexibility in addition to a thicker insulation or jacket and a proven level of flame resistance.”

Overall, only wires or cables highlighted in the National Electric Code (NEC) can be installed in modules that will be sold in the US.

Requirements for North American PV module interconnecting wires

• Single-conductor Type USE-2 cable and photovoltaic (PV) wire are both ok to use in exposed outdoor installations.
• Because these installations are usually found in more extreme environmental conditions, the insulation for these conductors must be sunlight resistant and rated for wet conditions, and must be able to handle temperatures of up to 90°C.

The main differences between PV wire and USE-2 wire

• USAGE
  • PV wire is solely used for interconnecting PV modules, and was developed to be able to handle 90°C in wet conditions and 150°C in dry conditions.
  • USE-2 wire is usually used for connecting terminals of service equipment, and is mostly found underground, and is therefore only rated to handle 90°C in wet or dry conditions.
  • Both can be UL rated at 600V.  However, PV wire can also be rated 1000V or 2000V if needed.
  • Both wires can be used in grounded PV arrays, but only PV wire can be used in ungrounded ones.

• CONSTRUCTION
  • PV wires have thicker insulation for added protection.
  • USE-2 is often used in places that don’t require a high level of movement out of the wire, and can therefore be made out of either stranded or solid conductors.
  • However, since PV wire is used only in solar panels, it needs to be flexible, so is only made from stranded wires.
  • The smallest size available for USE-2 wire is 14 AWG, however PV can get as small as 18 AWG.

• TESTING
  • PV wires must go through a flame test, USE-2 does not (since it isn’t usually installed in places where flames would be found). On the other hand, USE-2 must go through various abuse tests that PV wires aren’t subject to.
  • PV wire must go through more strict sunlight resistant tests.
  • Both of these tests are part of the UL 4703 specification requirements.

You can find out more about the solar market on the first page of the report, “Designing UL Compliant Photovoltaic Wire” (.pdf format).

Are you looking for Direct Burial Wire? Take a look at our Tracer Wire or USE-2 for more information.

Direct Burial rated wire is approved to be run in the earth in accordance with the National Electric Code (NEC), usually without the use of conduit to surround it. The combination of the insulation material and its thickness keeps out moisture and other harsh factors to protect the wires inside.

As long as it’s got the right insulation, it’ll be just fine in the ground by itself.

The most commonly referred to types of Direct Burial wire are USE (Underground Service Entrance) – with a thermoset insulation – Tracer Wire and UF, or “Underground Feeder” – both with thermoplastic insulations.  (Note: you might remember some of these terms from our post on wire abbreviations and wire insulation types).

Examples of use for Direct Burial wire use are running electricity to your home (USE-2),  connecting post lights, locating buried pipes with tracer wire, laying the sprinklers along golf courses (next time you’re playing a game, remember there are sometimes 1,000,000’ of wire running underneath you!), and, if you get fancy in the back yard, hooking up your propane grill to a propane tank in the garage!

Usually, Direct Burial wire should be buried at least 18′ underground, but check with the local enforcement officer (usually the electrical inspector) before laying anything down. Oh, and as always, make sure the power is shut off to anything electrical before working with electrical equipment , devices, or wiring!

If you need Direct Burial wire, you can call us or send in a quote on the form to the right!