System down!

[MikeNovack]

Immediately upon looking at our electric bill (statement, normally nothing to pay) I knew something was wrong. I'd have spotted this in a few more days in any case when I went to take down the production since last reading (I report that to the state for SRECs monthly).

Normally display lights on when working. Quick check, no breakers thrown..

So call into the Solar Store outfit who installed our system and a techie/sparky will be out tomorrow to look. On newer installations than ours, they could do some checking remotely, but when ours went in, no cell service and just dial-up internet. We have cable internet now (still no cell service) but the person coming out tomorrow would be able to troubleshoot using our LAN to connect to the controller maker.

[Moxi]

Hope it’s an easy and inexpensive fix for you Mike.

Moxi

[dan_b]

Argh, good luck - do you know how much generation you've lost? Wonder how long it's been down for?

[MikeNovack]

Probably been down most/all of April. It's not like I look at it every day. So I was last in there taking a reading near the end of March. Like I said before, the system went in before broadband here (and still no cell service) so not reporting automatically.

Estimate how much lost? Say 700 KWh

Person not here yet. No idea what it will cost. But on the books, the solar system has a few thousand in its "repair and replacement fund". Of course holding that fund in our bank account so still an "out of pocket" cost.

[dan_b]

Keep us updated - fingers crossed it’s an easy fix

[MikeNovack]

Bad news and good news.

The bad news first. The inverter is toast. This is a "grid tied" inverter, has surge protector on both the DC and AC sides, but apparently weren't enough. Or it was something else.

The good news is that will be replaced under warranty. And probably they will send the now current version (they DO take back the toasted units for refurbishing but the techie said she didn't know what they did with them as in her experience the company has been sending out the newer type when replacing.

So ... in 1-3 weeks should be back in production. Depends on how fast they ship the replacement. I'll probably be paying something for the labor, but that's nothing compared to the cost of the unit. Also don't know, now that we have a LAN (and it DID reach into the barn OK) they will hook up so they can monitor it remotely.

PS --- about the "smart meters" coming. Yes, the electric company is allowing for the no cell service out here. They intentionally are starting out here because will be hardest, letting them test their proposed approach of mounting "repeaters" on their utility poles. And they expect SOME customers will be left on the older type meters (say a stray house or two that would require multiple repeaters to reach the end of a winding road)

[Stinsy]

Bad news and good news.

The bad news first. The inverter is toast. This is a "grid tied" inverter, has surge protector on both the DC and AC sides, but apparently weren't enough. Or it was something else.

The good news is that will be replaced under warranty. And probably they will send the now current version (they DO take back the toasted units for refurbishing but the techie said she didn't know what they did with them as in her experience the company has been sending out the newer type when replacing.

So ... in 1-3 weeks should be back in production. Depends on how fast they ship the replacement. I'll probably be paying something for the labor, but that's nothing compared to the cost of the unit. Also don't know, now that we have a LAN (and it DID reach into the barn OK) they will hook up so they can monitor it remotely.

PS --- about the "smart meters" coming. Yes, the electric company is allowing for the no cell service out here. They intentionally are starting out here because will be hardest, letting them test their proposed approach of mounting "repeaters" on their utility poles. And they expect SOME customers will be left on the older type meters (say a stray house or two that would require multiple repeaters to reach the end of a winding road)

A "toasted" surge protector can be one that has worked as designed. It isn't necessarily an indication of a faulty surge protector. However it is an indication of a fault somewhere else. Usually the fault is external to the device, but it is interesting that both the AC and DC surge protectors have failed simultaneously. Find what caused the surge protectors to fail as a first step!

[Fintray]

Bad news and good news.

The bad news first. The inverter is toast. This is a "grid tied" inverter, has surge protector on both the DC and AC sides, but apparently weren't enough. Or it was something else.

The good news is that will be replaced under warranty. And probably they will send the now current version (they DO take back the toasted units for refurbishing but the techie said she didn't know what they did with them as in her experience the company has been sending out the newer type when replacing.

So ... in 1-3 weeks should be back in production. Depends on how fast they ship the replacement. I'll probably be paying something for the labor, but that's nothing compared to the cost of the unit. Also don't know, now that we have a LAN (and it DID reach into the barn OK) they will hook up so they can monitor it remotely.

PS --- about the "smart meters" coming. Yes, the electric company is allowing for the no cell service out here. They intentionally are starting out here because will be hardest, letting them test their proposed approach of mounting "repeaters" on their utility poles. And they expect SOME customers will be left on the older type meters (say a stray house or two that would require multiple repeaters to reach the end of a winding road)

A "toasted" surge protector can be one that has worked as designed. It isn't necessarily an indication of a faulty surge protector. However it is an indication of a fault somewhere else. Usually the fault is external to the device, but it is interesting that both the AC and DC surge protectors have failed simultaneously. Find what caused the surge protectors to fail as a first step!

Where in Mikes post does it say that any surge protector has failed? Surge protectors are for surge protection they won't stop any component from failing for another reason.

[MikeNovack]

i did not say the either surge protectors had failed (visibly failed/burned out) but electronics beyond them toasted. Could be some other fault/short caused the problem. But apparently these grid tied inverters are at risk from transients that get past the surge protectors. Or over voltage on the AC coming in (this last not likely in MY case, transformer on a pole just feet away -- but my solar installer has experience with rural locations where might be a long run and the electric company is trying to compensate for the voltage drop).

Makes no practical difference as the unit is being replaced under warranty. Presumably that is one reason the maker wants the failed units back, so their electrical engineers can try to figure out exactly what caused the unit. This was "Model A", their first model, failure rate low. They since came out with a "mode B" that was NOT successful and currently selling "Model C", which according to my solar installer, is doing well. Also according to the solar installer, they will probably be sending one of those as the replacement <<I'm only the third failure among the many my installer has installed; that's what happened in the other two cases >>

Look,I'll report back in a couple of weeks when backup running.

Meanwhile ---- Are grid tied inverters common/uncommon in the UK? Mine lasting 8+ years not terribly bad, considered normal MTBF 10-15 years. The are particularly suited to the "net billing" situation where the grid acts as a giant, essentially unlimited capacity battery. But like I said,the accounting is in money, not KWh.

[Fintray]

Meanwhile ---- Are grid tied inverters common/uncommon in the UK? Mine lasting 8+ years not terribly bad, considered normal MTBF 10-15 years. The are particularly suited to the "net billing" situation where the grid acts as a giant, essentially unlimited capacity battery. But like I said,the accounting is in money, not KWh.

In the UK grid tied inverters would be the most common, my SMA Sunny Boy is now 15 years old and hoping it goes on for a while yet.