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  • Inverter sizing

    Just sent final paper work to electric company for meter replacement to turn on solar panel system. I noticed that the inverter is a Solaredge SE11400 and I had ordered a SE10000. I bought the components and had a solar company install. The system is 9750w and the pvwatts estimates it will produce 10,647w. Will the larger inverter not be as efficient and do you think it will not produce as well as the smaller inverter. Any guess to how much energy will be lost if any. Thanks.
    Last edited by laserlite; 12-27-2016, 04:27 PM.

  • #2
    Originally posted by laserlite View Post
    Just sent final paper work to electric company for meter replacement to turn on solar panel system. I noticed that the inverter is a Solaredge SE11400 and I had ordered a SE10000. I bought the components and had a solar company install. The system is 9750kw and the pvwatts estimates it will produce 10,647kw. Will the larger inverter not be as efficient and do you think it will not produce as well as the smaller inverter. Any guess to how much energy will be lost if any.
    Use the smaller inverter. You will effectively never see more than 10kW.

    (BTW your system is almost certainly not 9750 kilowatts - it is likely 9750 watts. I have a 9880 watt STC DC system and 8700 watts of inverter and I have never seen clipping.)

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    • #3
      My bad. I meant watts. The larger inverter is already installed and ready to go online.

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      • #4
        Originally posted by laserlite View Post
        Just sent final paper work to electric company for meter replacement to turn on solar panel system. I noticed that the inverter is a Solaredge SE11400 and I had ordered a SE10000. I bought the components and had a solar company install. The system is 9750w and the pvwatts estimates it will produce 10,647w. Will the larger inverter not be as efficient and do you think it will not produce as well as the smaller inverter. Any guess to how much energy will be lost if any. Thanks.
        There will be zero lose with the larger inverter. Did you actually order the inverter or was it just quoted on the installer contract? We have stopped using the SE10000 for the basic reason that the SE11400 is basically the same price for us and no real difference in the connection amperage ( slight but effectively none). Production is the same up to the limit of the 10kw inverter.
        OutBack FP1 w/ CS6P-250P http://bit.ly/1Sg5VNH

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        • #5
          Something that will confuse most people is how Solaredge names their inverters.

          The wattage rating (ie. SE11400) is for the maximum AC wattage output not the DC panel wattage input. That unit can actually accept up to 15350 DC panel wattage.

          So with a 9750 total panel wattage you could have even used the SE7600A inverter which can accept up to 10250 DC panel wattage.

          All of their inverters are rated at 98% efficient so even though yours is bigger than you need for the panel wattage it shouldn't be an issue.

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          • #6
            Thanks.

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            • #7
              Originally posted by SunEagle View Post

              All of their inverters are rated at 98% efficient so even though yours is bigger than you need for the panel wattage it shouldn't be an issue.
              Peak efficencie is generally around 70-80% load mark dropping slightly at peak wattage range. So the SE11400 should do ever so slightly better than the SE10000

              BTW they have the HD wave units out now ( in smaller sizes) which are 99% efficient.
              OutBack FP1 w/ CS6P-250P http://bit.ly/1Sg5VNH

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              • #8
                Originally posted by ButchDeal View Post

                Peak efficencie is generally around 70-80% load mark dropping slightly at peak wattage range. So the SE11400 should do ever so slightly better than the SE10000

                BTW they have the HD wave units out now ( in smaller sizes) which are 99% efficient.
                Ok. I was going by the technical data page for the single phase units.

                Nice to see they keep improving their hardware.

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                • #9
                  Originally posted by SunEagle View Post

                  Ok. I was going by the technical data page for the single phase units.

                  Nice to see they keep improving their hardware.
                  It is here on the menu .
                  http://solaredge.com/us/products/pv-inverter/hd-wave

                  spec sheet here http://solaredge.com/sites/default/f...tasheet-na.pdf
                  Last edited by ButchDeal; 12-27-2016, 05:41 PM.
                  OutBack FP1 w/ CS6P-250P http://bit.ly/1Sg5VNH

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                  • #10
                    Originally posted by ButchDeal View Post
                    Hmm; 99% efficiency is impressive, what is CEC weighted efficiency? The explanation is vague; I'm going to guess it is a
                    switched capacitor system working near line frequency, with magnetics to smooth it to a sinewave. The lower frequency would
                    certainly help efficiency, but there are other problems to solve. I played a bit with these; nothing practical. Elimination of
                    electrolytic caps is good, if a worse risk isn't traded in. Inverters are tough on caps. Bruce Roe

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                    • #11
                      Originally posted by bcroe View Post
                      Hmm; 99% efficiency is impressive, what is CEC weighted efficiency?
                      Manufacturers want to give you the highest possible efficiency number so you will buy their inverter. So they choose the ideal operating point for the inverter (usually near full power) that minimizes tare losses as a percentage. So let's say your 10kW inverter is most efficient (as a percentage, power in to power out) at 9800 watts. That's where they test it, and that's the number the manufacturer gives you.

                      That's not reality though; no one's inverter runs at its most efficient point all the time. Sometimes the sun is at a poor angle, sometimes it's cloudy, sometimes the panels are dirty and sometimes they are hot. So your 10kW inverter is really running at 5000 watts for some of the time, at 8000 watts for some of the time, and at 3000 watts for some of the time. That's what the CEC measures - efficiency over a wider range of powers. It is always lower than the peak efficiency.

                      To put it another way, CEC efficiency is what you are more likely to see in your system.

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