[RE-wrenches] Reliability Issues in PV Modules and Inverters

Peter Parrish peter.parrish at calsolareng.com
Sun Jan 2 15:53:23 PST 2011


I know each of us probably has their individual Xantrex GT warranty
replacement story but what I hope is to capture is the big picture. 

>From what I understand, essentially 100% of the Xantrex GT inverters
manufactured from a specific Chinese factory ultimately have failed by now.
It had to do with a bad PC board design that caused an input capacitor to
fail due to repeated thermal cycling stress. 

I believe that the first inverter of ours to fail, was a GT3.0-NA-DS-240,
FGA 8640002, S/N B10986120, mfg date 02/21/06; replacement date 11/08.

And the most recent inverter of ours to fail, was a GT4.0N-NA-240/208-POS
(240V) S/N B11774544, mfg. date ?; replacement date 9/10

Rather than get a bunch of individual stories, I was hoping that someone
might have the big picture?

How many total GT units failed?
Over what period of date of manufacture?
>From which factories?

I will also discus the Advanced Energy Inc. GC-1000 inverter, and one of the
better known PV module problems. However, right now I am trying to suss out
the GT problem.

I plan to give my students some idea of component reliability, and I will
use the Xantrex GT problem as one case in point. 

Please send your replies off-line, unless they have current relevance.
 
Peter T. Parrish, Ph.D., President
California Solar Engineering, Inc.
820 Cynthia Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90065
CA Lic. 854779, NABCEP Cert. 031806-26
peter.parrish at calsolareng.com  
Ph 323-258-8883, Mobile 323-839-6108, Fax 323-258-8885





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