inverter shoot-out at high noon [RE-wrenches]

[Bill Brooks]

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Marco,

Although that sounds wonderful. I don't see anyone doing it in the near
term. What would really be far more helpful is if each inverter manufacturer
subjected their inverter to the new Sandia PV Inverter Performance Test
Procedure.

All of you wrenches need to read through this to get an appreciation for
what it takes to properly characterize a PV inverter. You can get a copy of
this test procedure by going to the following URL
http://www.endecon.com/html/file_frm.html and typing in your name and email
address.

Although side-by-side testing is nice. We need to know how the inverter
operates throughout every aspect of its operating range before we begin
specifying with a PV array that has never been matched with that inverter.
Array matching to inverters is often done in far too haphazard a manner to
gain any real good operational data. Also, most people are not paying
attention enough to see operational problems that can cause 10-30% annual
reductions in energy production. We get so focused on the peak efficiency,
that we forget that an inverter has to max power track (most people think
all inverters do it well) has a limited operating voltage range on both the
dc and ac sides and has very real temperature constraints that can cause
huge impacts on system performance.

Maybe SMA and Xantrex will lead the way by showing how well their inverters
perform under this test procedure and shame all the new inverters to follow
suit.

Bill.

p.s. I want one of these desk toys...

-----Original Message-----
From: Marco Mangelsdorf [mailto:marco at pvthawaii.com]
Sent: Thursday, March 25, 2004 5:40 PM
To: RE-wrenches at topica.com
Subject: inverter shoot-out at high noon [RE-wrenches]


With all them thar new inverters on the market, I propose that HomePower or
some other enterprising, deep-pocketed RE proponent do side-by-side
grid-tied testing of the following inverters:

Group 1--Sunny Boy 2500, Sharp SunVista 3500, Connect Energy 4000, Fronius
IG3000 and PV Powered 2800.  Say, set up five identical 3 kW arrays, one per
inverter.

Group 2--Xantrex SW4048 w/GTI, Beacon M5 and OutBack GTFX3048 all with
identical 3 kW arrays.

I'll gladly take out the winner in each group for a nice dinner here in
beautiful Hilo.  Yum, yum....

aloha,
marco

Marco Mangelsdorf
President
ProVision Technologies, Inc.
69 Railroad Avenue, Suite A-7
Hilo, Hawaii 96720 USA
(808) 969-3281, fax 934-7462
www.provisiontechnologies.com

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