[RE-wrenches] Side-by-side microinverter, maximizer, and conventional inverter comparisons

Bill Loesch solar1online at charter.net
Mon May 9 07:10:10 PDT 2011


Joel,

As I remember Trace rebranded the (nominal 100 watt) OK4U units as MicroSine
about 2000 AD. Didn't SMA (or someone else) recently take over the OK4U
product line?

Do I understand you were not impressed with the MPPT OK4U microinverters
performance (vs. the non-MPPT SMA?) under full sun?

Do I understand correctly that you compared some 2,000 (OK4U?) microinverter
units
with 74 transformerless (?) SMA machines?

The "as much as", "up to", etc. wording is why "caveat emptor" and "Your
Mileage May Vary" should accompany each one of those comments. Kudos
marketing mavens.

Bill Loesch
Solar 1 - Saint Louis Solar
314 631 1094



----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Joel Davidson" <joel.davidson at sbcglobal.net>
To: "RE-wrenches" <re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org>
Sent: Wednesday, May 04, 2011 8:54 AM
Subject: [RE-wrenches] Side-by-side microinverter, maximizer,and
conventional inverter comparisons


> Wrenches,
>
> A few years ago, we compared conventional and MPPT charge controllers and
> found power production improvement in only in unique conditions and rarely
> over 15%. Now Microinverter and DC maximizer companies are claiming "as
much
> as 25%" increased electricity production and a booming market. See
>
http://www.interpv.net/market/market_view.asp?idx=401&code=401&part_code=01
>
> I've been comparing grid-connected microinverters since 1994 when Henk
came
> out with his OK4U and am not impressed in full-sun (no shade) comparisons.
> In 2005, I compared a side-by-side 200 kW system with two 100 kW Xantrex
> inverters with a 200 kW system with 74 SMA inverters and saw no difference
> in kW or kWh.
>
> Have any wrenches made side-by-side comparisons? Are the claimed
> improvements hype or real?
>
> Joel Davidson
>
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