Sunny Boy Inverter

[sunrays]

Hello everyone. I have joined the forum to ask if anyone can help me please. I had a system fitted on 10 July 2012 after my neighbour had a system and he recommended the company. They did a good job getting the system in place before the FIT rate dropped and helped with all the paperwork.

On 23 July the inverter (Omnik) broke down and the co. came quickly and fixed it. It broke again on 27 July and the co. came out and changed the inverter for a Sunny Boy. My neighbour demanded they change his too which they did, even though he hadnt had any problems with his.

Recently I have noticed my geo Solo PV Display monitor showing the generation going down and I have looked at the Elster Generation Meter and the red light is lit which tells me I am not generating. This seems to be happening on and off and it isnt for too long then it rights itself. When it happened on one occasion I was able to look at the inverter in the loft and where it says "power" it was showing "zero". There was also a red light and a green light lit up on the inverter.

(My inverter is in the loft and my neighbour's inverter is in his hallway downstairs on the ground floor).

The co. have suggested I take photos of the inverter (in the loft/have to go up a ladder), the Elster Meter and the Solo PV Display and email them to the co. saying if they visit (they are a 90 minute drive away) the fault may well have righted itself by the time they get here.

My neighbour and I have realised in the past that he does generate slightly more than me - we think it is to do with the sun going round. In February he had 7kw more than me which is about right. In March 23kw more than me and April 18kw more than me. I know it isnt a huge amount but I have paid a lot of money for my system and I want it to be working correctly. Also because of the initial problems with the Omnik inverter, I am a bit anxious about things going wrong and I do keep an eye on things. Any suggestions as to the best thing for me to do would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks in advance.

[bcroe]

I had a system fitted on 10 July 2012 after my neighbour had a system

Recently I have noticed my geo Solo PV Display monitor showing the generation going down and I have looked at the Elster Generation Meter and the red light is lit which tells me I am not generating. This seems to be happening on and off and it isn't for too long then it rights itself. When it happened on one occasion I was able to look at the inverter in the loft and where it says "power" it was showing "zero". There was also a red light and a green light lit up on the inverter.

My neighbour and I have realised in the past that he does generate slightly more than me - we think it is to do with the sun going round. In February he had 7kw more than me which is about right. In March 23kw more than me and April 18kw more than me. I know it isnt a huge amount but I have paid a lot of money for my system and I want it to be working correctly.

Do you mean, "February 7 KW HOURs", etc? You say nothing about the details of the
2 arrays, so its pretty hard to make a judgment.

I have 2 identical systems next to each other, 7.5 KW. Due to just different shading and
wire length loses, they can vary 1 KW hour a day.

Sometimes inverters kick off due to a glitch on the power line. That is normal operation,
mine will recover in 5 minutes, but I lose that solar power interval. Sometimes recording
of energy is also affected at the inverters. Bruce Roe

[sunrays]

Thank you so much for your reply.

Sorry, in February I generated 128 kilowatts and my neighbour 135. In March I generated 245 kilowatts and my neighbour 268, April I generated 245 kilowatts, my neighbour 263.

I have 10 panels single string ZNShine ZX250(48)MS 250 Watt PV Solar Panels.

Hope the above info is of help, I am not very technical, sorry and thanks for your help.

[bcroe]

February I generated 128 kilowatts and my neighbour 135. In March I generated 245 kilowatts and my neighbour 268, April I generated 245 kilowatts, my neighbour 263.

I have 10 panels single string ZNShine ZX250(48)MS 250 Watt PV Solar Panels.

Hope the above info is of help, I am not very technical, sorry and thanks for your help.

With less than 10% difference, I wouldn't be concerned. The output seems to be in
the right ballpark, depending on clouds. If you really want to track down that last
5%, you are going to have to get really technical making measurements on the two
systems. First step is to understand power flowing at any instant is in KW, but energy
accumulated (for a month) is in KW HOURs. Bruce Roe

[sunrays]

With less than 10% difference, I wouldn't be concerned. The output seems to be in
the right ballpark, depending on clouds. If you really want to track down that last
5%, you are going to have to get really technical making measurements on the two
systems. First step is to understand power flowing at any instant is in KW, but energy
accumulated (for a month) is in KW HOURs. Bruce Roe

I have been clambering in the loft today taking photographs of the inverter which had "no power" and the code was 103. Do you know what that means please - thanks.

[silversaver]

101 to 103 Grid fault

The line voltage or grid impedance at the connection point of the inverter is too
high. The inverter has disconnected from the utility grid.
Corrective measures:

• Check whether the line voltage at the connection point of the inverter is
permanently in the permissible range.
If the line voltage is outside the permissible range due to local grid
conditions, contact the grid operator. The grid operator must agree with an
adjustment of the voltage at the feed-in point or with a change of the
monitored operating limits.
If the line voltage is permanently within the permissible range and this
message is still displayed, contact the SMA Service Line.


From Service Manual from SMA:

http://files.sma.de/dl/15330/SB3-5TL-21-SG-en-10.pdf

[sunrays]

101 to 103 Grid fault

The line voltage or grid impedance at the connection point of the inverter is too
high. The inverter has disconnected from the utility grid.
Corrective measures:

• Check whether the line voltage at the connection point of the inverter is
permanently in the permissible range.
If the line voltage is outside the permissible range due to local grid
conditions, contact the grid operator. The grid operator must agree with an
adjustment of the voltage at the feed-in point or with a change of the
monitored operating limits.
If the line voltage is permanently within the permissible range and this
message is still displayed, contact the SMA Service Line.


From Service Manual from SMA:

http://files.sma.de/dl/15330/SB3-5TL-21-SG-en-10.pdf

Thank you so much for your reply. I spoke to my installer and he started speaking about trees etc as if they made a difference. I read your info out to him and he contacted Western Power who are responsible for the volts etc. An Electrician came and tested something and 255 volts were coming in on the mains. He left and went to do something somewhere and came back and tested and now there are 246 volts coming in on the mains and .08 earth loop. So I am hoping the problem is sorted now. I have really appreciated the help on this forum - thank you so much and very best wishes.

[inetdog]

Thank you so much for your reply. I spoke to my installer and he started speaking about trees etc as if they made a difference. I read your info out to him and he contacted Western Power who are responsible for the volts etc. An Electrician came and tested something and 255 volts were coming in on the mains. He left and went to do something somewhere and came back and tested and now there are 246 volts coming in on the mains and .08 earth loop. So I am hoping the problem is sorted now. I have really appreciated the help on this forum - thank you so much and very best wishes.

This is a problem that happens in remote areas or larger GTI systems.
Typically POCO will supply more than the nominal line voltage (240 in US) so that when you add in voltage drop from your load(s) the result will still be within the allowed range (and maybe toward the high end of that range to allow POCO to do a selective brownout to reduce power consumption without damaging customer equipment.
But when you have a GTI system feeding power back into the grid, the "Voltage Drop" on the same wires and POCO equipment becomes a voltage rise.

So if he measured 255 with the GTIs turned off and no house loads, you can be assured that the voltage seen by the inverters when they were feeding back excess power was well above 255 volts.

Depending on how stiff and how stable the grid is, you may or may not have problems even with 246. If your own wiring between the GTIs and the service point is good enough, it should be a piece of cake though.

At some point the combination of POCO voltage and IR voltage drop put the voltage at the inverter terminals above whatever SMA has set by default as the acceptable limit. You (or your dealer) may be able to make small changes in that upper limit through the SMA software too if you continue to have problems.

[sunrays]

This is a problem that happens in remote areas or larger GTI systems.
Typically POCO will supply more than the nominal line voltage (240 in US) so that when you add in voltage drop from your load(s) the result will still be within the allowed range (and maybe toward the high end of that range to allow POCO to do a selective brownout to reduce power consumption without damaging customer equipment.
But when you have a GTI system feeding power back into the grid, the "Voltage Drop" on the same wires and POCO equipment becomes a voltage rise.

So if he measured 255 with the GTIs turned off and no house loads, you can be assured that the voltage seen by the inverters when they were feeding back excess power was well above 255 volts.

Depending on how stiff and how stable the grid is, you may or may not have problems even with 246. If your own wiring between the GTIs and the service point is good enough, it should be a piece of cake though.

At some point the combination of POCO voltage and IR voltage drop put the voltage at the inverter terminals above whatever SMA has set by default as the acceptable limit. You (or your dealer) may be able to make small changes in that upper limit through the SMA software too if you continue to have problems.

Thank you for your input but I must apologise as it all sounds rather technical. I am a lady in the East Midlands in the UK and I dont really understand how the installation all works.

I have been in contact with Sunny Boy and they are helping me and have asked for the Serial No. of the inverter, the length of cable that comes into the house to the Sunny Boy and the diameter of the cable. I have also got to go in the loft as they want the AC voltage reading. My neighbour has his inverter in his hallway and as he can turn his hand to anything, he will be able to build a cover if he so wishes. Whereas I cant do things like that so my inverter is in the loft. My neighbour is hinting that I am having problems because my inverter is in the loft but I havent explained to him about the 253 volts etc. Thanks again.

[inetdog]

Thank you for your input but I must apologise as it all sounds rather technical. I am a lady in the East Midlands in the UK and I dont really understand how the installation all works.

I have been in contact with Sunny Boy and they are helping me and have asked for the Serial No. of the inverter, the length of cable that comes into the house to the Sunny Boy and the diameter of the cable. I have also got to go in the loft as they want the AC voltage reading. My neighbour has his inverter in his hallway and as he can turn his hand to anything, he will be able to build a cover if he so wishes. Whereas I cant do things like that so my inverter is in the loft. My neighbour is hinting that I am having problems because my inverter is in the loft but I havent explained to him about the 253 volts etc. Thanks again.

You are entirely welcome!
The wire length and size information your installer is asking for will let them figure out whether there is also problem with the voltage drop in your wiring, as distinct from a problem with the incoming mains power.
Tell your installer about the 253 volts, etc. and you may also want to pass my discussion above along to your neighbor, as he will probably understand it and may find it interesting if he does not know that already.

[sunrays]

You are entirely welcome!
The wire length and size information your installer is asking for will let them figure out whether there is also problem with the voltage drop in your wiring, as distinct from a problem with the incoming mains power.
Tell your installer about the 253 volts, etc. and you may also want to pass my discussion above along to your neighbor, as he will probably understand it and may find it interesting if he does not know that already.

I hope you dont mind but I just wanted to say that despite the voltage being lowered, my system is still dropping down to 0.00kw then back up and back down etc. Sunny Boy have recommended my installer:-

"I am fairly confident this issue isn’t being caused by the inverter its self as being faulty (if it were, it would always be not working), so its an external influence, such as wrong grid settings, high impedance, high AC etc..
Can you ask your installer to check this please, they will need Sunny Explorer software, which is a free download from our website, along with a Bluetooth dongle and they can then download the events".

The installer is a 90 minute drive away and isnt keen on coming out but surely they have a duty of after sales service. I am going to write to them tomorrow and quote this info above and ask them to make an appointment to come out. Any thoughts would be appreciated - best wishes.