Pv system running watts

[ButchDeal]

Per Enphase the night time power consumption is 65mW max.....per their specs for the M250. If my calcs are right that is only 2.54W for all 39 micros together.

https://enphase.com/sites/default/fi...DS_EN_60Hz.pdf

They don't give the night time specs on the Q series but I doubt it is within that range.

[DanS26]

Maybe a neighbor has an extension cord up on the roof

But seriously, something is pulling power and I don't think it is a Power Factor adjustment.

[DanS26]

Per Enphase the night time power consumption is 65mW max.....per their specs for the M250. If my calcs are right that is only 2.54W for all 39 micros together.

https://enphase.com/sites/default/files/M250_DS_EN_60Hz.pdf

[bcroe]

3.14 amp total draw @ 117 volts 367 watts running. between the different measurements it is ceratin the pv system is drawing anywhere from 300 - 375 watts 24/7

An ammeter won't tell the Power Factor. A system might have a serious noise filter on the line. That filter
could conduct a lot of REACTIVE power anytime connected, but that costs you nothing at a PF of zero.
The resistive element (PF = one) could be quite small. Bruce Roe

[vino1982]

3.14 amp total draw @ 117 volts 367 watts running. between the different measurements it is ceratin the pv system is drawing anywhere from 300 - 375 watts 24/7

[vino1982]

i tested this morning before sun up... I used my ideal amp probe on the wire taps of the PV system in my electrical panel, with everything on in the pv white box im drawing 3.14 amps on each leg (pv sytsem tap).... shutting off the white breaker in the pv box did nothing, no change in amps drawn... when i shut off 1 of the orange tandem breakers it drops 1 amp, another tandem breaker drops another amp, the last tandem breaker i shut off now im drawing .04 amps from the envoy the only thing left on...

[ButchDeal]

Butch....you were right but please don't tell us that it cost $600 a year to power the Envoy. If so Enphase needs to go back to the drawing boards. hahaha

I am not an Enphase fan but that is not what I am saying. I think either the OP is measuring things incorrectly or something else is wrong.

the combiner is the place to check string by string but I would check at night as we do not know the layout of the strings

[DanS26]

Butch....you were right but please don't tell us that it cost $600 a year to power the Envoy. If so Enphase needs to go back to the drawing boards. hahaha

[ButchDeal]

inside the mysterious white box...

Yep it is the envoy and combiner of three strings.

measure the amp loaned on these four circuits. The top one is the envoy itself.

[vino1982]

inside the mysterious white box...

[ButchDeal]

I don't think the "white box" is a combiner box based on the OP's comments....I think he has three strings feeding his distribution panel. Three sets of tandem breakers.

possibly, could be the envoy.

If there is an aggregator it would normally be on the roof but we don't even know the inverter models.

Any chance we can get photos of the "white box" and feed in breaker(s)?

[DanS26]

i am going to install the eyedro clamps on each Pv system tap in my electrical panel overnight. record any current draw. It should be very minimal if each inverter is only to draw very little wattage. I certainly shouldn't be seeing .3kwh orso usage.

Use a clamp meter on each string......you do not have to wait overnight...it will tell you right now which string is pulling the load.

[DanS26]

...... You should have multiple strings with seperate breakers. I would guess that these breakers are in this white box you mentioned. You could turn off each string independently at night or early morning and see if there is a different amp draw.........

Butch...I recommended the same thing see post #19.

I don't think the "white box" is a combiner box based on the OP's comments....I think he has three strings feeding his distribution panel. Three sets of tandem breakers.

[ButchDeal]

i am going to install the eyedro clamps on each Pv system tap in my electrical panel overnight. record any current draw. It should be very minimal if each inverter is only to draw very little wattage. I certainly shouldn't be seeing .3kwh orso usage.

I doubt that will do much good as the eyedro is not accurate enough and doesn't correct for voltage.

You should see very little going to the inverters but you have another test option. You should have multiple strings with seperate breakers. I would guess that these breakers are in this white box you mentioned. You could turn off each string independently at night or early morning and see if there is a different amp draw.

Or you could use your clamp on amp meter at night on each string to see if there is much draw on any one of them, again at night or before sun up.

Check that your enphase monitoring online account is showing zero production before doing this.

[ButchDeal]

He said he isolated the circuit by turning everything else off except for the modem. Unless there is a load not controlled by a CB then the PV circuit is consuming the load.

so you are going back to his original post and not the :

i used my Ideal amp probe... with pv disco in off position i was reading 4.1 amps @ 117 volts 479 watts which corresponds roughly with eyedro (525 watts). immediately after turning on pv disco my amprobe jumps to 5.6 amps @ 117 volts 655 watts... a 176 watt difference... this is on one leg of power, the other is harder to get at...