ST XR series, anyone tried on yet? [RE-wrenches]

[Matt Lafferty]

William wrote:

> Matt:
>
> I assumed since you had ordered 30 of them, you were recommending these to
> clients.  Are these all for personal use?
>
> William

William / Wrenches:

LOL.  No personal use allowed by SMUD personnel!

I didn't order them.  My signature isn't worth that much around here anyway
(Don't tell anybody, OK?).  I find it interesting that you left off the very
next sentence of what I wrote earlier today......"I am personally a
High-Volt DC guy for a lot of reasons."  I had a newspaper do that to me
before....At least when I was on Oprah they got all the words included.
(Not the most favorable of camera angles...but I guess I don't have any
favorable angles, come to think of it.)

We will use the XR's in a variety of ways.  Some will undoubtedly be used in
new applications.  Some will probably be used as replacements / upgrades for
some of our more disenchanted customers.  This is especially important since
we have production data from those customers and will be able to compare the
improvement (hopeful) and reach a more comprehensive conclusion.  The
initial 30 are being regarded as a test.  If we determine that the XR is a
worthy inverter for our applications, we will order more.

We also have identical arrays with each type of glass using Sunny-Boys.
This is a further data point for comparison.

In our program, 30 inverters is a tiny number.  They leave the warehouse
quite quickly around here.  It is a larger task just tracking performance,
follow-up inspections, product comparisons, ordering & acquisition, managing
the process, etc. than it is to actually install the whole system.  When
working within a bereaucracy, these aspects are magnified.

There are many days that I wish I was out there just putting them in again.
But then I think, there wouldn't be a "me" inside fighting like hell to try
to make what happens out there on the roofs, well, happen.

There is another aspect (very positive in my opinion) to what we have to
offer.  We are large enough and committed enough to PV to stand behind our
products.  We aren't leaving town.  We aren't going bankrupt.  We will
answer our phones.  We will be here.  That provides us with the opportunity
to evaluate various products.  Our experience with them and our response to
the manufacturers helps improve the products and the industry as a whole.
All of your responses and experiences with manufacturers' products only
supports the effort to improve the industry, as well.

What many of you may not realize is what we do behind the scenes.  I,
personally, was the first one SCREAMING BLOODY MURDER about the first
production model ST's.  From the moment I started it up.  Literally.
(Ironically it was on Sunny Lane.  August 2000.  His inverter has been
replaced and upgraded through the various ST's.  It will most likely be the
first ST to XR swap we do out of the 30 incoming.)

We took a patient but hard-line posture in this matter.  After 50+
deployments, we had to stop installing them.  (I have to believe that there
is a SMUD logo pasted to a dartboard in the breakroom in Arlington.  Hell,
it may even be a picture of me.)   We didn't wish to see Xantrex get a black
eye.  Our position was "This is a problem.  What can be done to fix it?"  We
didn't wish to make a publicity issue out of it.  We felt that the
manufacturer could and should make good.  It looks like, at this point, they
have made a substantial improvement in their product line (I haven't seen
the flaky display reported here, yet.).

We haven't had "perfect luck" with any product to date.  We do our best to
relate our experience and input to each manufacturer individually.  Some are
more responsive than others.  SMA and Uni-Rac, for example, have been
extremely responsive, in a positive manner.  Their responsiveness is greatly
appreciated and, I believe, an example of a standard of Customer Service
that should be recognized and patronized.  (My only issue with Uni-Rac has
been with the trucking companies' tearing up the pallets in transit.)

My take from the posts here is that those of you who have had "less than
perfect" experiences with SMA have ultimately been pleased as well.  To me
that is reassurance of my experience.  Thank you for sharing.

That, to me, should be our focus.  Isn't that what we are here for?  To
provide feedback within ourselves....For the betterment of all?

Happy Summer to All!

-Matt Lafferty
pvpro at attbi.com

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