Where to place inverter?

[iamadoorknob]

My installer is giving me the option of where to put my inverter. It can either go:

1. Outside the house next to the electric meter. It would be on the west side of my house covered slightly by the eve of my roof. My neighbor's 1 story house is about 15 feet away, so it wouldn't get sun all day.

2. In my garage, about 25 feet away from the electric meter. The garage is dark but not insulated and it can get around 110 degrees in there (on the hottest days), and no air movement.

Suggestions?

[bridaus]

By your description, outside seems a winner to me. I just made a similar decision. They are made for outside (I assume yours is, might help to tell us what it is), and while the temps outside tend to be more variable, they are less hot especially considering air movement. I like short electrical wiring, less exposure all around to me. I suspect there will be other thoughts on this matter, I don't think either is "wrong".

[iamadoorknob]

It is a Solaredge 5000a

[Quinten]

I'm in Las Vegas, it's quite hot here (been well over 100 degrees for a month now)... I have a SE11400 mounted in the garage, I was initially concerned about the heat, but can safely say, that hasn't been an issue. I'll check the temps tomorrow (they are on one of the screens) and post back. They are made to withstand pretty high heat as they get quite warm. After seeing some installations with the inverters mounted outside, I prefer that it's inside... (also no pranksters can turn if off), but that's just my preference. No noticeable heat detected from having it in the garage, there is a little fan noise, but I don't hear it unless I'm in the garage.


I did have an issue with fan2, when first installed, that was in Sept. They replaced the fan and all has been fine. Even with one fan down, the system never ran close to the max temp

Update... At 1:50 pm, the Inverter is at 151 degrees, currently making 8.72 kw from a 11kw system... There are a lot of thin high clouds today so temps may be a little higher when panels are under full sun. They are a split array, the high output has been ~ 9.1 kw so I'm not too far off of that regarding inverter load and temps.

se.jpg

[Willaby]

I've definitely picked inside. Electronics subject to rain, humidity & temp variation, insects, kids(?), etc for many years, just makes sense to protect it inside. I'm in process with an SE5000 which does not have a fan, but I'll likely add a small computer fan just to knock off a couple degrees.

[solarix]

Put it inside. Indoor temp is nothing compared to direct sunlight on the hot west wall. Also nice to locate it next to your garage door going into the house where is convenient to check everyday as you come in... SE is still using a plastic cover on the disconnect, if I'm not mistaken - which will not like the sunlight long term. Bigger wire on the AC side is not a bad idea either. As more neighbors get solar, and the grid voltage rises, low voltage drop will be helpful.

[thejq]

I'd put it inside the garage (and I did). It's easier to install a fan on a timer inside, in case it gets too hot. Also if you run LAN cable or Zigbee through the bottom of the inverter, there's always some small holes where little critters can get into, unless you seal it with caulking.

[sensij]

Also if you run LAN cable or Zigbee through the bottom of the inverter, there's always some small holes where little critters can get into, unless you seal it with caulking.

That is true only if the installer is careless and loses the spacers that come with the inverter to seal the unused grommets. Solaredge actually put some thought in the design and each passthrough is sized correctly to seal around the cables that might be used.

[sensij]

Put it inside. Indoor temp is nothing compared to direct sunlight on the hot west wall.

I wonder about this. I have my inverter outside on a south wall, with a little bit of morning and evening shade from the eve but otherwise exposed. Now that PVOutput logs the inverter temp, it is easier to see the temp rise relative to ambient.

Over the past couple days, I'm seeing 12-13 deg F rise, relative to a weather station not too far away, maxing out at around 102 deg (38.9 C) inverter temp with 90 deg F (32.2) ambient. My system is 3.1 kW. My friend's system is 4.8 kW, and is only hitting 104 deg F, although his inverter is outdoors on a NW wall, in shade.

Given that the 7600A and below have the same dimensions, and presumably the same heatsink surface area, I guess that systems with more panel power will get hotter, although the 7600A has fans to help. When deciding whether to put the inverter inside or out, though, the air circulation indoors could be substantially less than even the minimally breeze-assisted circulation outside, and if inverter temp is the deciding factor, outdoors may be the way to go, especially for models that are convection cooled only.

I would agree with Willaby's suggestion that temp/humidity cycling could be more damaging than absolute temp (don't shoot me if that isn't exactly what was meant), so if indoor = conditioned space, then the benefits are clearer (assuming you don't mind the extra load on the conditioning system to remove that heat). I'm just not sure I see how the garage would make sense, especially if it means longer wire runs, unless inverter theft if left outside is a real risk.

[J.P.M.]

FWIW, my inverter (a 5 kW rebadged PowerOne) is in the garage w/ very sophisticated custom engineered forced cooling system designed by a retired M.E. consisting of a window fan and the very same a retired engineer's finger on the on/off switch. The finger also is very cleverly used as a backup temp. sensor for the inverter heat sink temp. display. Works great.

Mid day w/the array running under full sun, the heat sink temp. runs about 15 deg. C. higher than garage ambient air temp. The hi tech fan reduces that to about 5-8 deg. C. The fan is operated during the warmer 4 months or so of the year when the garage is often 10+ or so deg. C.warmer than outside amb. air temp.

But seriously folks, if an inverter is outside, and has a light color surface, is shaded from direct sunlight while still sheltered from the elements, including guano and bird nests (which an overhang may attract/allow), bugs and other critters, and in a fairly open area which allows some forced convection cooling provided intermittently by wind, that would seem a be a preferable location if possible. However, That may even be preferable from a heat dissatation standpoint. Security, vandalism appearance or other things may be other trumping considerations.

My $0.02.

[SunEagle]

FWIW, my inverter (a 5 kW rebadged PowerOne) is in the garage w/ very sophisticated custom engineered forced cooling system designed by a retired M.E. consisting of a window fan and the very same a retired engineer's finger on the on/off switch. The finger also is very cleverly used as a backup temp. sensor for the inverter heat sink temp. display. Works great.

Mid day w/the array running under full sun, the heat sink temp. runs about 15 deg. C. higher than garage ambient air temp. The hi tech fan reduces that to about 5-8 deg. C. The fan is operated during the warmer 4 months or so of the year when the garage is often 10+ or so deg. C.warmer than outside amb. air temp.

But seriously folks, if an inverter is outside, and has a light color surface, is shaded from direct sunlight while still sheltered from the elements, including guano and bird nests (which an overhang may attract/allow), bugs and other critters, and in a fairly open area which allows some forced convection cooling provided intermittently by wind, that would seem a be a preferable location if possible. However, That may even be preferable from a heat dissatation standpoint. Security, vandalism appearance or other things may be other trumping considerations.

My $0.02.

Just don't use that finger as a live voltage tester.

[J.P.M.]

Just don't use that finger as a live voltage tester.

Only when the corresponding finger on the other hand is in a place where the sun don't shine. What a ride !

[lucychen]

ZigBee Wireless Solar Power

ZigBee devices are meant to go up to 700 meters. Smart placement of ZigBee slaves will give you optimal signal. You can go with cluster, linear, mesh, or star topology.

If distances are greater, it is recommended to get a repeater or signal conditioner. Many solar installation companies get the I-7561 high speed repeater to extend the signal:


I-7510 RS-485 Isolated High Speed Repeater. Supports operating temperatures between -25 to 75°C.




Recently, ICP DAS did a webinar training on how to analyze data with ZigBee sniffer: http://www.icpdas-usa.com/training-video-analyzing-data-zigbee-sniffer.html