Mounting inverter in Phoenix: Garage or Outside?

[HX_Guy]

Trying to do some research on the best location to install the inverter (Fronius 11.4). The garage gets hot, just checked now and it's 115º in there while outside it's 102º in the shade. The wall that the inverter would go on is on the north side of the house, but still gets some direct sun in the summer in the late afternoon, say after 4:30-ish. From what I found online, the Fronius starts to derate once it gets to 104º and up.

This is a pictures taken today at 5:00pm of the north facing wall the inverter would go on.


I'm thinking outside is still better because most of the day it will be cooler than inside. Was even thinking I could put some sort of shade on the west of the inverter to shade it from the sun, since it's really coming from the side and not the top at this hour. What do you guys think?

[silversaver]

You place the inverter/inverters close as possible to your power panel. From there you decide inside or outside of the wall.

[HX_Guy]

Inside the garage would be a little closer, probably 5 ft from the power panel and outside would be about 15 ft away.

[Ian S]

By late afternoon, a little derating will probably have no effect as your production will be way down by then anyway. If you're concerned, maybe they can use an inverter with higher temperature capability. 40C (104F) is a bit on the low side.

Good luck with the install and I hope it goes well. It does sound like the installer has turned over a new leaf so the risk may be far less than the BBB rating suggests.

[HX_Guy]

Thanks Ian. I think the installer uses Fronius exclusively, I saw it in all their installs.
On the spec sheet, it actually says "Admissible ambient operating temperature: -4º - 122º". Could be that it derates at 104º and then shuts off at 122º?

[prhamilton]

I mounted inside my garage and if I had to do it over again probably would go outside. I think my garage is warmer than it was before installing. My thinking was to keep the inverter out of sight and shielded from the elements. I didn't really consider the heat build-up inside. It could be the weather turned warmer and I am imagining the heat build-up.

[Ian S]

Thanks Ian. I think the installer uses Fronius exclusively, I saw it in all their installs.
On the spec sheet, it actually says "Admissible ambient operating temperature: -4º - 122º". Could be that it derates at 104º and then shuts off at 122º?

Possibly. I'd ask the installer and mention the temps you've observed inside and outside. With that sun on the outside wall, that would really heat an inverter up I would think. If it goes outside then you might want some shade over the inverter. FWIW, my inverter is mounted in a small room (off the garage) which also houses the water softener and the water heater. That room has north and west outside walls but being block construction maybe it takes longer to heat up. Last June 28, I said this in a post:

At 3:15 PM, my shaded outdoor weather station was indicating 118.2F. My inverter as well as the service panel is mounted in a small room off the garage. That room has two outside block walls, one facing north and one facing west. The one facing north is where the inverter is mounted. The service panel is mounted on the west facing wall. At this time of day the west wall is in full sun. A digital thermometer a couple of feet from the inverter was reading 104F. This fact coupled with the maximum power output so far today being about 5.3 kW suggests I'm in no danger even on the hottest days here of having any inverter derate effects. Although some have wondered about the advisability of having an inverter in the garage, I think my experience today should alleviate most fears.

I've never seen the system shut down and it's never derated to a point when it couldn't handle the PV power. YMMV.

[HX_Guy]

I talked to the installer and they are ok with mounting the inverter outside. It would need to be mounted to the left of the garage side door because of the gas meter being where it is, otherwise we could have mounted it right next to the service panel. Maybe it's better that it's behind the gate anyway. And like you said, I can probably make some sort of shade cover so it never gets any direct sunlight.



BTW Ian I sent you a PM.

[+3 Golfer]

My inverters on my previous system and new system are in the garage. Both garage doors are insulated. I've monitored my garage temperatures on my previous and current system on extreme days and the garage temperature never exceeded the outdoor peak temperature. It's always been lower. Yes, in the night, mornings, and late evenings, the garage stays above ambient.

Right now my garage is 89F, outdoor weather station is 92F, and inverter temperature is 49.2C (120.6F) although output is around 50% of a clear day due to clouds. My inverter is rated 60C with no derating.

[Johann]

Trying to do some research on the best location to install the inverter (Fronius 11.4). The garage gets hot, just checked now and it's 115º in there while outside it's 102º in the shade. The wall that the inverter would go on is on the north side of the house, but still gets some direct sun in the summer in the late afternoon, say after 4:30-ish. From what I found online, the Fronius starts to derate once it gets to 104º and up.

This is a pictures taken today at 5:00pm of the north facing wall the inverter would go on.


I'm thinking outside is still better because most of the day it will be cooler than inside. Was even thinking I could put some sort of shade on the west of the inverter to shade it from the sun, since it's really coming from the side and not the top at this hour. What do you guys think?

You do not have much room there.
You could put something like this on the outside wall just smaller with insulation and vents and paint everything white outside including the roof. That could give you some more protection against the environment ( sun,rain etc ) and would keep it cooler and may give you more room to house other things or more equipment and a possibility to lock it up if you would incorporate a door.

[HX_Guy]

Was that the correct link there? Because it looked like instructions on how to build a roof.

[fuzzelogic]

Trying to do some research on the best location to install the inverter (Fronius 11.4). The garage gets hot, just checked now and it's 115º in there while outside it's 102º in the shade. The wall that the inverter would go on is on the north side of the house, but still gets some direct sun in the summer in the late afternoon, say after 4:30-ish. From what I found online, the Fronius starts to derate once it gets to 104º and up.

Does it HAVE to be a fronius inverter???

Not sure if they have a west cost distribution center, but they used to ship replacements from michigan to the east cost, so how long would it take the replacement to get to your home?

I would highly recommend staying away from fronius as I have seen multiple systems using multiple inverters all go bad!!

My one friend has a sunny boy from 2006 still running strong and has only been down due to system maintenance

The other person I know who has a sunny boy has 2 different systems installed at their house. 1 roof mount running sunny boy from 2011 and 1 fronius for a pole mount from 2009.

The fronius pole mount has been replaced by fronius 2x since being installed.

Both Sunny Boy installations are still running on their original inverters.

[HighLander51]

I put mine in the inside, out of the west face, and keeps them alot cleaner.
SoCal desert


image36725.jpg

Outside Panel, 200 amp main, 100 amp sub to house, 60 amp direct to the air conditioner, and two 30 amp inverter breakers.

image36726.jpg

[silversaver]

Does it HAVE to be a fronius inverter???

Not sure if they have a west cost distribution center, but they used to ship replacements from michigan to the east cost, so how long would it take the replacement to get to your home?

I would highly recommend staying away from fronius as I have seen multiple systems using multiple inverters all go bad!!

My one friend has a sunny boy from 2006 still running strong and has only been down due to system maintenance

The other person I know who has a sunny boy has 2 different systems installed at their house. 1 roof mount running sunny boy from 2011 and 1 fronius for a pole mount from 2009.

The fronius pole mount has been replaced by fronius 2x since being installed.

Both Sunny Boy installations are still running on their original inverters.

Yes, I have to agree on this one. My friend has his 20kW system install back in 2010 with 3 Fronius inverters. 2 have been replaced and they took few weeks....

[HX_Guy]

I could probably go with a different inverter but I don't know how much extra it would cost.
Plus, just because Fronius inverters were bad in 2010/2011 doesn't mean they haven't improved on their products since there.