Hi all,
I just had a local installer finish installing a ground mount solar setup at my rural residence in Northern California and I am not sure if I am being inverter limited, or if my system's design is correct.
My installer (who is a great guy and very easy to work with) insists it is not being limited in any way but is not able to explain it very well and I am still left with some questions.
My setup:
75x 325w Canadian Solar Panels
3x Sunny Boy 7.7 KW Inverters (model # SB7.7-1SP-US-40)
Panels are pointed 215 degrees, with 22 degree tilt, and zero obstructions or shading.
Having 75 * 325w panels, puts the system at 24.375 KW maximum production.
The three inverters which are rated at 7.7 KW each, come out to 3 * 7.7 = 23.1 KW total.
My installer says that even though the panels are rated at 24.375 KW, and the inverters are rated at 23.1 KW, the system is not undersized at all, and in fact could have at least 5 more 325 watt panels added without any issue. I am left confused as to how this is possible and he is not able to offer an in-depth explanation as to why but does state that his experience has taught him that these inverters can handle much more than their rating and that the 7.7 KW rating on the inverters is not the "real rating".
He has said that the inverters can do up to 10 KW but the company's technical data sheet shows 7680 watts as being the "AC nominal output power" and 32 Amps as the "max output current". How can the inverters go past their 7.7 KW rating if the max output current can't go beyond 32 amps? 7700w / 240v = 32 amps. Going higher than 7700w would push us past the 32 amps max right away.
On a recently bright and sunny day, I saw all three inverters showing that they were producing close to 7700w (inverter 1: 7702, inverter 2: 7708, inverter 3: 7704).
So is my 24.375 KW system limited to 23.1 KW because of the inverters or is my understanding flawed and my system is setup ok?
THANK YOU FOR READING!
Attached the spec-sheet for the inverters below.
SunnyBoy Specs.png
I just had a local installer finish installing a ground mount solar setup at my rural residence in Northern California and I am not sure if I am being inverter limited, or if my system's design is correct.
My installer (who is a great guy and very easy to work with) insists it is not being limited in any way but is not able to explain it very well and I am still left with some questions.
My setup:
75x 325w Canadian Solar Panels
3x Sunny Boy 7.7 KW Inverters (model # SB7.7-1SP-US-40)
Panels are pointed 215 degrees, with 22 degree tilt, and zero obstructions or shading.
Having 75 * 325w panels, puts the system at 24.375 KW maximum production.
The three inverters which are rated at 7.7 KW each, come out to 3 * 7.7 = 23.1 KW total.
My installer says that even though the panels are rated at 24.375 KW, and the inverters are rated at 23.1 KW, the system is not undersized at all, and in fact could have at least 5 more 325 watt panels added without any issue. I am left confused as to how this is possible and he is not able to offer an in-depth explanation as to why but does state that his experience has taught him that these inverters can handle much more than their rating and that the 7.7 KW rating on the inverters is not the "real rating".
He has said that the inverters can do up to 10 KW but the company's technical data sheet shows 7680 watts as being the "AC nominal output power" and 32 Amps as the "max output current". How can the inverters go past their 7.7 KW rating if the max output current can't go beyond 32 amps? 7700w / 240v = 32 amps. Going higher than 7700w would push us past the 32 amps max right away.
On a recently bright and sunny day, I saw all three inverters showing that they were producing close to 7700w (inverter 1: 7702, inverter 2: 7708, inverter 3: 7704).
So is my 24.375 KW system limited to 23.1 KW because of the inverters or is my understanding flawed and my system is setup ok?
THANK YOU FOR READING!
Attached the spec-sheet for the inverters below.
SunnyBoy Specs.png
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