Fronius inverters - Reliability? [RE-wrenches]

[Kirpal Khalsa]

Peter.....Hello.....I used to work at Energy Outfitters....we sold a
bunch of different types of inverters minus SMA and every single brand
I would get inquires back regarding the discrepancies between the
"revenue grade meter" and the internal inverter meter......After
talking to Xantrex, Fronius, and PV Powered they all admitted that
they did not have a high grade meters in their internals.
Consistently I got complaints from customers whose customers pointed
out the difference between revenue grade and inverter meters....very
frustrating for an installer to try to explain after they just talked
about all the good stuff on the inverter they are selling....I can't
remember even one instance where the inverter was more conservative
than the revenue grade meter.  10% was a common discrepancy.  I still
haven't heard of any inverter companies addressing this........
There are many jurisdictions that do not require a seperate revenue
grade meter and the customer relies on the inverter to self report its
production........the higher the number the better the inverter
manufacturer looks.......not exactly a neutral party.....

Revenue grade meter included in the inverter would be a good marketing
tool......

-- 
Sunny Regards,
Kirpal Khalsa
NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer TM
Renewable Energy Systems

On Tue, May 27, 2008 at 5:10 PM, Peter Parrish
<peter.parrish at calsolareng.com> wrote:
>
> I have a question about the accuracy of the "energy supplied (kWh) total"
> for Fronius inverters. Does anyone know how it is spec'd and what are the
> numbers?
>
> In the Los Angeles DWP territory, we are required to install a "production
> meter" in series with the inverter and we regularly use the GE I70S
> "odometer" style meter. We buy these from Austin International and they spec
> the accuracy of these meters at +/- 0.3%.
>
> I have been regularly seeing discrepancies of up to 10% difference between
> inverters and production meters. Usually, the GE meters read low compared
> with the inverter.
>
> For example, we have an IG-5100 which now reads 7,250 kWH and a GE meter
> that reads 6,560 kWh. The Fronius came reading 6 kWh, presumably due to
> bench burn-in testing. The GE unit came reading 9,999.
>
> Information on the accuracy of the Fronius would be great (because in this
> case I have a very puzzled customer); and if anyone is accumulating
> statistics on inverters vs. production meters in general I would be
> interested in what people are finding out.
>
> - Peter
>
> Peter T. Parrish, Ph.D., President
> California Solar Engineering, Inc.
> CA Lic. 854779, NABCEP Cert. 031806-26
> peter.parrish at calsolareng.com
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Darryl Thayer [mailto:daryl_solar at yahoo.com]
> Sent: Tuesday, May 27, 2008 4:17 PM
> To: RE-wrenches at topica.com
> Subject: [Norton AntiSpam] Re: Fronius inverters - Reliability?
> [RE-wrenches]
>
>
> Hi Bob
> Also look at the PV Powered 1100  if you can go that
> small.  I am looking forward to using my first one
> later in June.
>
> I have only a few Fronius and had no problems that I
> can remember other than one did not wait to grid
> reconnect.
>
> Darryl
>
>
> --- Bob Clark <bclark at solar-wind.us> wrote:
>
>>
>> Wrenches;
>>
>> Sorry if this topic has been discussed before, but
>> the search function would not work on Topica.
>>
>> Fronius IG 2000 (or other Fronius inverters, for
>> that matter) - are they reliable? We have heretofore
>> used the SMA SB1800U (120V output), but have been
>> told by our distributor that it is no longer
>> available. Hence the need to consider the Fronius IG
>> 2000.
>>
>>
>>
>> [Non-text portions of this message have been
>> removed]
>>
>>
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