Will inverter operate at -5F?

[reader2580]

I plan to put my grid-tie inverter in an unheated detached garage. It can easily get to -5F in the winter. Will the inverter still operate at those temps?

I have a Prosine 3.0 inverter in a motor home and it shuts down with errors at very low temps.

[ButchDeal]

it depends on the operating temperature of the specific inverter you plan to install.

[bcroe]

I have a couple Fronius grid tied, rated -4 F. They ran for a couple months working pretty long and hard
when we got that awful -20 F winter a couple years ago. I suppose it wasn't quite as cold, in the unheated shed.

Electronics are bothered more by heat than cold. Bruce Roe

[jflorey2]

I plan to put my grid-tie inverter in an unheated detached garage. It can easily get to -5F in the winter. Will the inverter still operate at those temps?

What does the datasheet say?

In most cases it will still operate. The most common failure mode at low temps is failure to meet EMI standards due to loss of capacitance (many types of capacitors have significant temperature coefficients.)

[reader2580]

Datasheet for Solaredge says nothing about operating temperature range that I can find. I finally found it in the installation manual. It is supposed to operate down to -13 F with a special low temperature version available.

I looked up the Prosine 3.0 datasheet and it is supposed to be good down to 32F so I guess that is why it errors out below 0F.,

[adoublee]

Some equipment with temperature sensing will shut itself down so it is not operated beyond rated temps. Other equipment can be considered guaranteed to certain temps but will operate beyond them. My guess is that an outdoor rated device is going to work fine for you (will warm itself up a bit when operating), but YMMV.

[J.P.M.]

I plan to put my grid-tie inverter in an unheated detached garage. It can easily get to -5F in the winter. Will the inverter still operate at those temps?

I have a Prosine 3.0 inverter in a motor home and it shuts down with errors at very low temps.

I'd begin by going to the horse's mouth and looking in the manual that probably came with the inverter, followed by a call to the installer or mfg. if the info wasn't in the manual.

[PNPmacnab]

Many commercial IC's do not work at low temperatures or are out of spec. They have military grade ones that will. The biggest offenders are those which use a crystal for frequency, they often can't start. I have seen many designs that epoxy on a resistor to the top of the chip to heat it for outdoor use. They have a much higher upper end temperature than low end. The extra heat added to the chip isn't a problem on hot days.

[reader2580]

I'd begin by going to the horse's mouth and looking in the manual that probably came with the inverter, followed by a call to the installer or mfg. if the info wasn't in the manual.

I have not yet purchased an inverter, but Solaredge is in the lead. I found the information in the installation manual on their website,