When working with solar panels, you may need to use a solar unlocking tool. Statistics show that over 3% of all U.S. electricity comes from solar panels. Whether monocrystalline or polycrystalline, you can install them on the roof of your home to tap into the power of the sun. As they receive direct sunlight, they’ll generate electricity.
Even if you’re able to install solar panels without any problems, though, you may have trouble disconnecting them. Fortunately, there are solar unlocking tools available. What is a solar unlocking tool exactly, and why should you invest in one?
The Basics of a Solar Unlocking Tool
A solar unlocking tool is a handheld spanner-like tool that’s designed to unlock solar panel connectors. Solar panels require special connectors. When installing them, you’ll need to run photovoltaic (PV) wire between the solar panels. Solar connectors will accommodate the PV wire so that you can connect your solar panels together.
Depending on the specific type of solar connectors you use, though, you may a tool to disconnect them. You can typically connect them by pushing them into your solar panels. But MC4 solar connectors — the most common type of solar connectors — require a special tool to disconnect.
Why MC4 Solar Connectors Require an Unlocking Tool
Being that earlier solar connectors didn’t require a solar unlocking tool, you might be wondering why MC4 solar connectors require them. After all, it would certainly be easier to disconnect solar connectors simply by pulling them. The reason Mc4 solar connectors require a solar unlocking tool, though, is for safety.
Solar connectors pose a safety hazard when disconnected under load. If there’s electricity flowing through the PV wire, you shouldn’t attempt to disconnect those solar connectors. Doing so may result in an electric arc that causes property damage or bodily injury.
By requiring a solar unlocking tool, MC4 solar connectors are protected against accidental disconnection. They won’t accidentally disconnect. To disconnect MC4 solar connectors, you’ll have to use a solar unlocking tool.
How a Solar Unlocking Tool Works
Solar unlocking tools work by disengaging the locking mechanism of the solar connectors for which they are designed. MC4 solar connectors use a plug-and-socket design. There are male MC4 solar connectors, and there are female MC4 solar connectors.
Female MC4 solar connectors feature tab-like notches inside of a socket. When connecting them to male MC4 solar connectors, the notches will slide into the corresponding groove, thus locking the two types of MC4 solar connectors together. Solar unlocking tools work by releasing these notches. When using a solar unlocking tool, you’ll feel the notches slide out of the holes, at which point you can disconnect the two types of MC4 solar connectors.
