Solar PV cable, bought in Tennessee
Solar work in Tennessee comes in waves, and a project that shrinks or stops leaves wire behind. We buy PV wire and collector cable from those sites, whether the reel was opened or never was.
Send us your reel list
Six details are enough for a first review: what the cable is, the metal, the size, the footage or reel count, the condition and where it sits. Photographs can follow by text or email. There is no fee and no obligation, and nothing moves until written terms are agreed.
PV wire is a specific article: single conductor, XLPE insulated, rated for sunlight exposure and marked for the voltage class it serves, usually 1 kV or 2 kV. It is bought in large quantity for a project and consumed in small quantity per string, which leaves partial reels at nearly every site that reaches completion.
Commercial rooftop and utility scale ground mount work both generate leftovers, and the utility side also involves medium voltage collector cable between inverter stations and the substation. We buy both in Tennessee, and we are used to the paperwork that accompanies a project which changed direction partway through construction, or stopped before the array was finished.
If the project shrank after the wire arrived, the reels are probably still banded and still worth a call.
Lot basics
- PV wire rating
- 1 kV and 2 kV
- Insulation
- XLPE, sunlight resistant
- Sizes
- 10 AWG and larger
- Also bought
- MV collector cable
Single conductor PV wire, 1 kV and 2 kV
We buy PV wire in 10, 8, 6 and larger sizes, in both the 1 kV and 2 kV ratings, with the sunlight resistant marking legible on the jacket. The 2 kV product serves larger string configurations and is a narrower market once it becomes a remnant. Color matters less than the print, though black and red are what most sites use.
Rooftop work leaves shorter lengths than ground mount work, because the runs are shorter and the reels are handled more. What we look for is the same either way: an unbroken jacket, a readable legend, and a length that can be established rather than assumed. Coils without a tag need measuring before anyone can put a firm number on them.
Medium voltage collector runs and their remnants
Between the inverter stations and the substation, a solar project uses shielded medium voltage cable, often 15 kV or 35 kV class, in three conductor or single conductor form. These pulls are long and the reels are large, so a design change late in the job can strand a substantial length of cable that was ordered to a route that no longer exists.
Collector cable comes with terminations and splices that were bought alongside it, and those accessories are part of the lot as far as we are concerned. A reel of 35 kV cable with the correct termination kits in the same crate is easier to place than the cable alone, and easier to describe to whoever ends up using the material.
Cancelled, downsized, and re-phased solar work
Solar schedules move. An array is reduced, a block is deferred, a site is re-engineered for a different module, and the wire bought against the original layout no longer matches. Because procurement runs ahead of installation, the surplus is often new material with the packing list still in the sleeve rather than used cable pulled out of racks and trays.
We buy those lots whole where we can, including the mixed pallets of connectors, jumpers and short cuts that accumulate at the laydown yard. The useful question is not what the project was going to build but what is physically on the ground, documented, and free of any lien or retention claim. That is the question we always start with.
What sunlight exposure does to stored PV wire
PV wire is rated for sunlight, but the rating assumes installation rather than years on a pallet in the open. Jackets chalk and harden, and a reel that has sat outdoors through several summers is not the same article as one that stayed inside. We ask where it was stored and we read the jacket for the damage that shows.
A reel stored under cover with the wrap intact is straightforward. One left on the ground with the outer layer exposed needs the outer wrap stripped and inspected before it can be quoted honestly. Where the damage is confined to the first layer, the loss is a few feet; where it runs deeper, the reel changes category and the quote changes with it.
- Storage location and cover
- Outer wrap intact or opened
- Jacket chalked or hardened
- Voltage rating printed clearly
Related pages
- Cancelled project cableStaged reels from solar work that stopped
- Medium voltage cableCollector runs in 15 kV and 35 kV class
- USE-2 cableDirect burial conductor used in ground mount work
- Warehouse overstock wireUnopened reels left from over-procured projects
- Reading a reel tagFinding the rating and the footage
- Utility surplus conductorSubstation and interconnect material from the same sites
Questions sellers ask
Do you buy PV wire below a full reel?
Yes, provided the length can be established. A partial reel of 10 AWG PV wire with the tag and a clean cut end is quoted by the foot. Short coils without a tag are handled differently, because measuring them costs more than the wire is worth at that length, and we would rather say so than guess.
Is 2 kV PV wire bought the same as 1 kV?
It is quoted separately. The 2 kV rating serves larger string designs and fewer buyers keep it in stock, so a remnant may sit longer. That is reflected in the offer rather than in any reluctance to buy. The print on the jacket is what establishes which rating you have.
What about the connector and jumper leftovers?
Those usually travel with the cable lot and we will look at them together. Loose connectors, jumper assemblies and short harnesses are hard to value on their own, but in a close-out lot they add to what the material is worth as a package rather than as separate items on their own.
Can you take a collector cable reel with no terminations?
We can. Terminations make a reel easier to place, but the cable is bought on its own construction and length. What we need is the voltage class, the conductor size, the shield type and the footage. Photographs of the tag and both ends will usually supply all four without anyone visiting the site.
Send us your reel list
Six details are enough for a first review: what the cable is, the metal, the size, the footage or reel count, the condition and where it sits. Photographs can follow by text or email. There is no fee and no obligation, and nothing moves until written terms are agreed.
Solar reels left after a design change?
Tell us the rating, the size and the footage. Send a tag photo and we will quote the lot as it sits.
Tennessee only · statewide pickup planning