Solectria Inverters [RE-wrenches]

[Mick Abraham]

I put in an 1,800 watt Solectria unit with integrated panel in May 2006. 
No failures & good inverter performance so far. Here are the warts I 
found:
The built in kWh meter tracks power slightly differently from the 
revenue grade kWh meter on the panel. I suspect this happens with other 
brands, as well. 
The glass kWh meter was wired up backwards from the factory. Solectria 
caught this about the same time as I did. James called to explain and 
offered a small discount on my next purchase as compensation.
The built in LCD meter is unreadable when the inverter is installed 
outdoors--even in the shade the backlight isn't bright enough. Close 
shading with the hand is necessary to read the meter. I discussed this 
with James, but there's no easy fix. SolRen wanted to use a low power 
backlight for energy efficiency reasons, but may revisit the issue and 
switch to a brighter backlight someday.

Mick Abraham

Mike Kocsmiersky wrote:
> 
> I really like the unit, and have used about 8 of the 2500W or 1800W 
> units.
> The LCD display is very readable and intuitive to scroll about.
> Nice rugged frame, and you never have to or are permitted to open the 
> unit
> up. (It comes with wire pigtails).
> It also comes premounted on a nice backpanel if you so desire.
> I have not had one fail, but I did have one with a ground fault problem
> (inverter glitch) right out of the box.  Solectria sent me one the next 
> day
> no hassles and great service.
> 
> The draw backs are that it has a limited DC input range, and it is not 
> so
> accommodating to random module configurations.
> There is a tiny software glitch that will not allow you to set the time 
> to
> 12:xx something PM.  (Must set the clock at any other time, it goes from
> 11AM to 12AM to 1PM and from 11PM to 12AM to 1AM.  So just don't set the
> clock during noon to 1PM)
> Hope this helps.
> 
> 
> Mike Kocsmiersky
> President
> Kosmo Solar
> (413) 734-1456
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Max Balchowsky [mailto:max at seesolar.com] 
> Sent: Tuesday, September 19, 2006 8:59 PM
> To: RE-wrenches at topica.com
> Subject: Solectria Inverters [RE-wrenches]
> 
> 
>  
> What kind of experience have people had with Solectra Inverters?? 
> 
> Max Balchowsky
> SEE Systems
> 100 S. Sunrise wy # 285
> Palm Springs, Ca. 92262
> 760-403-6810
>  
> "Creating a Better Future For The Next Generation"
> 
> 
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> 



Abraham Solar Equipment
Pagosa Springs, CO
www.abrahamsolar.com


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