Enphase Micoinverters Posting "AC Voltage Out Of Range" events

[HBJoe3]

Hello,

Is anyone else seeing these AC Voltage Out Of Range events? The error says "The microinverter reports that the AC voltage coming from the utility is either too low or too high as specified by applicable regional standards."

When this happens the panels are diconnected to the house. I have seen this error on one microinverter, several microinvertors, or on all 17.

I've called SCE and the company I purchased the system from and am waiting for a call back.

Thanks,
Joe

[jimqpublic]

Air conditioner startup shuts down Enphase microinverters.

We have a newly installed system with 22 Solarworld SW280 Mono panels with Enphase M250 inverters. They are set up on two 15 amp circuits which feed a quadplex breaker at the bottom of our main panel. Our utility is Southern California Edison and we have an approved NEM agreement.

We have a 4 ton central air conditioner which is fed by a 30(?) amp breaker just above the solar inputs.

The past two days we turned the air conditioner on in the afternoon and of course voltage dipped when the compressor started. According to the Enlighten software, 9 of the 10 microinverters on the circuit closest to the panel shut down on Tuesday. They showed that voltage prior to the event had been about 237, then dipped to 214. Yesterday 21 of our 22 inverters shut down showing a dip to 213 volts. After they reset (with the air conditioner still running), voltage showed about 228.

Event log shows (for each micro that shut down)
AC Voltage Out Of Range - Phase 2: Set
Grid Instability: Set
Then about 5 minutes later:
AC Voltage Out Of Range - Phase 2: Clear
Grid Instability: Clear

On both days the AC voltage out of range error was for phase 2 on all the inverters.
No other major loads were running at the time- it's possible that the fridge compressor was on. Our house is wired with a pretty good balance between the two 120 volt legs.

Data points:
-With the air conditioner running we were at a net power use from the grid of about 800 watts- the combined solar output was around 4500 watts.

-The Enlighten reports typical afternoon voltage of roughly 237 for the microinverters in the array closest to the electrical panel and about 2 volts higher in the other array.

-I'm going to have the AC serviced- my cousin the HVAC guy says a worn "contactor" or failing "start capacitor" can cause an excessively high startup load.

-The neighbor across the alley has a large window AC which is fed by the same transformer, I'm guessing it is 120 volt.

-When I tried to replicate the issue this morning (solar panels were producing, but just barely) there was no noticeable voltage dip on startup or with the air conditioner running.

Do others see such big voltage drops when their AC is running? I'm not too surprised at the dip when the compressor starts, but the fact that when it's running the voltage is down so much seems odd.

Is this the sort of thing that I should ask our electrical utility about? Do SCE smartmeters track voltage?

[jimqpublic]

Upon further consideration I suspect a n imbalance in the air conditioner compressor's amperage draw. I'm Definitely going to have a HVAC pro look at the air conditioner before anything else.

[DanS26]

Put a soft start on that big AC.....no more problems.

Proven technology which works well. Do NOT confuse with hard start stuff, completely different tech.