Inverter/module Testing [RE-wrenches]

[Brad Bassett]

The question is if you would pay more for that module. Did you know that 
ASE Americas makes modules with a +- 4% rating on their peak power 
output, instead of +-10% like everyone else?  I've always found their 
ratings to be much closer to their advertised ratings than anyone else's 
too. Their nameplate wattage is at STC, however I think it's a more 
conservative STC. If you calculate all of the derates expected as Bill 
explained then you will probably get that amount of power or more. I'm 
surprised that I have not heard more reports from the field about these 
module's performance. 

Due to a number of factors like price and marketing, they have not 
particularly caught on in the residential market, especially their 
smaller modules didn't. They no longer make 50 or 100 watt modules. 
They're so busy trying to keep up with the German market, that they 
dropped less profitable modules to concentrate on 300 watt modules, most 
of which now go to Germany. The lack of 50 or 100 watt modules makes 
their entry into the small system market even less likely now. I'm not 
sure how applicable 300 watt modules are in residential installations, 
especially with a price premium. Also, if you break one it's an 
expensive mistake. At this point they are a bit hard to get because of 
the strength of the German market. 

This points out that there are two ratings question that need to be 
addressed. One is an equal STC rating between mfg's instead of just 
their own internal rating. The other is a rating that indicates real 
world performance of a system so customers have a better idea what they 
are buying. I support Bill and Endecon in getting ratings systems in 
action. Do wrenches have the ability to do these ratings? I do think 
that reports from the field on reliability are very valuable, and I 
don't think you really get that from a test facility, but I have not 
seen too much side by side comparison. Home Power has done some, and I'd 
like to see more. 

One more note, it's important that testing be done on off the shelf 
units, not gifts or known deliveries from the manufacturer, which will 
always be at the top of the 10% rating window. Also, a large enough 
sample needs to be tested so that anomalies are spotted.

Thanks

Allan Sindelar wrote:
> If one module manufacturer were to rate their modules honestly, I would
> support the effort by using their modules where I can. I would soon be
> reporting here and elsewhere that "hey, this thing puts out more than 
> Brand
> S's equally rated module!" I would like to believe that the combined
> publicity would shame the other manufacturers to follow suit. But I have
> always been a little naive that way...
> Allan
> 


Brad Bassett
Schott Applied Power 
Tumwater, WA office
bsbassett at earthlink.net

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