Solaredge 7600 inverter mounting location help please!!

[mihzyd777]

Hello all,

Need your expertise and help again please. As you all know I just recently signed to install a 8.55kw system with 30 Solarworld 285 and P300 Optimizers with a Solaredge 7600 inverter 240v.

I live in the central valley of California (Manteca, CA ) to be exact where outside temps can reach 105-110 degrees in the summer...Today is suppose to be 106. I was asked by the installer where I would like to install inverter and my first thought is in the garage instead of outside on the west wall.

Can anyone recommend the garage as a good place also should I connect a small fan that blows over the fins to help it cool to be more efficient? Any pros/cons being in the garage beside taking up space?

Thanks!

Mike

[J.P.M.]

Hello all,

Need your expertise and help again please. As you all know I just recently signed to install a 8.55kw system with 30 Solarworld 285 and P300 Optimizers with a Solaredge 7600 inverter 240v.

I live in the central valley of California (Manteca, CA ) to be exact where outside temps can reach 105-110 degrees in the summer...Today is suppose to be 106. I was asked by the installer where I would like to install inverter and my first thought is in the garage instead of outside on the west wall.

Can anyone recommend the garage as a good place also should I connect a small fan that blows over the fins to help it cool to be more efficient? Any pros/cons being in the garage beside taking up space?

Thanks!

Mike

Garages can be warmer but more secure, and usually pretty dry. Cooling fans can help. Depending on your situation, they can be simple or complicated. My inverter is in the garage. Without a cooling fan and when the inverter is operating, the heat sink temp. runs about 20 to 30 deg. C. warmer than the ambient garage temp., depending mostly on inverter production level. Because my needs and tastes are somewhat simple, and I tend to try to not make things more complicated than necessary, I use a super high tech solution: A window fan located under the array, blowing air in an upward direction. I also have a sophisticated, equally high tech switching system: an index finger applied to a switch after the same finger is used as a temp. sensor on the inverter cover/fins. (Quite versatile if I do say so myself).

All in all, that system reduces the temp. difference between the ambient air temp. and the inverter heat sink by about half or a bit more. More air flow would reduce the inverter heat sink temp. more. The aux. cooling system is probably not short term cost effective, as I can discern no change in inverter output with a quasi step change in heat sink temp. when the cooling system is switched on, but may well help the inverter last a bit longer, heat being one of the banes of electronics. The fan draws about 40 Watts per the Kill-a-Watt meter. I do not think it increases inverter output by 40 Watts.

[mihzyd777]

That's a great idea and genius...only question I have and I'm not having much luck on searches is the same type of window fan but with a small 12v solar panel.

Any ideas or directions on where to get a solar powered version where I can run the wire through wall and onto the roof.

Thanks,

Mike

[solarix]

Outside is not necessarily bad, but outside in direct sunlight is a no-no in my book. Some manufacturers even exclude sunlight damage from warranty service. That clear plastic display lens and the plastic disconnect cover in particular do not last in our Arizona sunshine - I can tell you that. Inside is really preferable - I like to locate an inverter where the owner will be able to conveniently check it (say upon getting out of the car each evening). The other consideration is that the inspection process is often hampered by an indoor inverter. Many AHJ's will not allow their inspectors to enter an occupied home without an escort, meaning someone will have to be home on inspection days or the installer will have to park some one there until the inspector comes.

[skipro3]

I'd have to say that in the garage is best. While garages CAN get hotter than outside, that is just air temperature. On an outside West wall, you will have solar radiation heating as well and at the worst possible time of the day. Being from Northern California myself, Placerville, I'd say the majority of the wet weather comes from the South West and will hammer the inverter sitting on the outside West wall. Sure, it's made for that, but there is a reason there is only a 12 year warranty with these things and anything done to improve where it resides is going to help it last longer.

Then there is security. People will steal anything and an expensive looking electronic box mounted to the outside of the house is going to look attractive to a tweeker. If he only gets 10 bucks for it, he'll gladly steal it.

My guess is there must be some sort of fan controller in every Solaredge inverter since they all are housed in the same box and from what I can see, all have the same basic circuit board. I'm interested in a fan on mine as well and I'll be opening my inverter to explore and see if there's a port, plug, terminal strip or other means that is for attaching a fan. If not, a thermal switch, like this one on Amazon;

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0026RSBUQ?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_search_detailpage

Look for a thermal switch in the operating range you wish to use. The one I listed here, I bought to control a fan that blows across a propane RV refrigerator compressor. They are made in all sorts of sizes and attach with the spade lugs standard to automotive wiring. A 12 volt fan with this switch in series with either hot or ground, should do the job.

Not that J.P.M.'s finger isn't a solution, just that a switch frees you to use your finger for other tasks. What that might be, I'll leave to your own imagination....

[skipro3]

OH HEY!!!!

The Solaredge SE7600A comes with fans;

The SE7800A-US inverter is part of SolarEdge’s larger fan-cooled single-phase inverter series. These are designed to provide higher-power systems at a lower cost than multiple small convection cooled inverters.

From here;

http://www.solarelectricsupply.com/solaredge-single-phase-inverter-se7600a-us

[foo1bar]

The larger ones do have a fan.
I do not know what temp it kicks in.

But that *could* also be a factor in your choice of location, since the fan will generate some amount of noise.

So if you're working night shift, you probably don't want it mounted on the other side of the wall from your bed.

[mihzyd777]

Thanks for the info, but question for you. It shows the se7600 inverter but towards the bottom it say the se7800 has a fan??? Are the 7600 and 7800 the same model? This has me confused...if they are different should I pay for the upgrade to get a 7800 or is it not worth it?

Thanks again!

Mike

[skipro3]

There is no 7800 series. At least not on any of the spec sheets for USA. Perhaps it's a European product, but I can't find anything. Most likely a typo.

However, checking with several spec sheets, some say the 7600 has convection cooling and an internal fan and some say it's got a cooling fan just as the other higher output inverters have.

Ask your installer to show you one, open it up and look. And no, it's not out of line to ask to see the product before you make a decision to buy one. They should be happy to oblige.

If I knew then what I know now, I'd have insisted the contract included the verbiage specifying that an external cooling fan kit be included and that it was thermally controlled. I've requested a lot stranger things than that. I made them provide in writing from the manufacturer that it would not void warranty if I painted the inverter to blend in with my house better. Then to sweeten the pot, I told them to include the 25 year warranty after the final price was agreed on before I would sign. The way that went down, the sales staff told me that the system came with a 25 year parts and 10 year labor warranty. I told 'em I wanted that in writing. They said it was the factory warranty on parts. I told 'em fine; then get me the manufacturers warranty that says what you are promising; 25 years parts.

[J.P.M.]

The larger ones do have a fan.
I do not know what temp it kicks in.

But that *could* also be a factor in your choice of location, since the fan will generate some amount of noise.

So if you're working night shift, you probably don't want it mounted on the other side of the wall from your bed.

FWIW, my fan noise is about 60 Dba @ 1 m. running on med. setting.

[sensij]

Also, see this thread, FWIW.

[skipro3]

The SE7300A and larger are rated at <50dBA and the smaller inverters are rated at <25dBA

I have a Honda 2000 watt inverter generator rated at 53dBA at 1/4 load. I imagine it's less than that at zero load. Maybe <50dBA. I can tell you for sure, I would not want that running in any room I was trying to sleep in due to the noise.

[bcroe]

My guess is there must be some sort of fan controller in every Solaredge inverter since they all are housed in the same box and from what I can see, all have the same basic circuit board. I'm interested in a fan on mine as well and I'll be opening my inverter to explore and see if there's a port, plug, terminal strip or other means that is for attaching a fan. If not, a thermal switch, like this one on Amazon;

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0026RSBUQ?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_search_detailpage

Look for a thermal switch in the operating range you wish to use. The one I listed here, I bought to control a fan that blows across a propane RV refrigerator compressor. They are made in all sorts of sizes and attach with the spade lugs standard to automotive wiring. A 12 volt fan with this switch in series with either hot or ground, should do the job.

Besides switches with different set points, I have used an adjustable version. Bruce Roe