[RE-wrenches] Fronius IG vs IG Plus inverters

Tue Jun 28 12:40:42 PDT 2011

Hi Howe,

Why are you still interested in the original IG? We've had a fairly high
failure rate with the original IG and I wouldn't recommend going back to
them unless you're getting some sort of amazing inventory clearance price...
We have over 100 IG+s in the field with only two failures to date. Both just
wouldn't turn on at all.

-August

*From:* re-wrenches-bounces at lists.re-wrenches.org [mailto:
re-wrenches-bounces at lists.re-wrenches.org] *On Behalf Of *Philip Boutelle
*Sent:* Tuesday, June 28, 2011 11:44 AM
*To:* RE-wrenches
*Subject:* Re: [RE-wrenches] Fronius IG vs IG Plus inverters

I replaced the IG at my house 5 times under warranty (the circuit board
failure that William described, no fires just some internal melting) before
finally getting them to give me an IG+, which has been working flawlessly
now for almost 2 years.

As a company we replaced all of the IGs we installed--a dozen or so--many
repeatedly. We never got an IG+ upgrade for our customers.

-Phil

On Tue, Jun 28, 2011 at 10:45 AM, Jimmy Thompson <jimmy at southern-energy.com>
wrote:

All

I have had good experiences with the IG Plus. It is easy to work with and
the different power stages make for a more efficient inverter. The IG
however is not very good in my opinion. The groundfault cards tend to go bad
due to poor ventilation. Dust and dirt tends to get trapped inside the
inverter. With that being said, Fronius always sent a replacement and was
very helpful anytime I called.

On Tue, Jun 28, 2011 at 1:35 PM, Howie Michaelson <howie at suncatchervt.com>
wrote:

William,
Thanks for the clarification on the disconnect - I vaguely remember this
issue with Fronius we used in the distant past.  As I remember, several
manufacturers' early integrated disconnects were this way.

All,
Anyone else have a particularly poor track record with Fronius?  Worse
with the IG vs. the Plus?

Howie
--
Howie Michaelson
NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer™

Catamount Solar, LLC
Renewable Energy Systems Sales and Service
VT Solar & Wind Incentive Program Partner
http://www.CatamountSolar.com
802-272-0004

On Tue, June 28, 2011 1:21 pm, William Miller wrote:
> Howie:
>
> The IG has an integrated disconnect section, but it the electronics are
> not
> removable from the disconnect.  Therefore it is not safe to replace an IG
> unless it is dark or you can tarp the modules.
>
> The Plus series has two chassis that mate.  You can turn of the DC and
> remove the electronics for repair, which we have had to do all too often.
>
> We had an IG burst into flames and scared the heck out of the widow who
> was
> home alone.  She called the fire department and then called us.  Sure we
> get replacement inverters for the asking, but we get tired of asking.
>
> Wm
>
>
>
> At 10:14 AM 6/28/2011, you wrote:
>>Thanks for the feedback Kistopher.  1 question:  I thought that the IG
>>also came with the integrated AC/DC disco as well as the IG Plus.  I know
>>the IG doesn't come with the string fusing.  Am I missing something here?
>>
>>Thanks,
>>Howie
>>--
>>Howie Michaelson
>>NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer™
>>
>>Catamount Solar, LLC
>>Renewable Energy Systems Sales and Service
>>VT Solar & Wind Incentive Program Partner
>>http://www.CatamountSolar.com
>>802-272-0004
>>
>>
>>
>>On Tue, June 28, 2011 1:00 pm, Kristopher Schmid wrote:
>> > I have used both recently.  The IG Plus is nice for two reasons: the
>> > integrated DC disconnect and the onboard string fusing/combining
>> > capability.  Their tech support has been easy to work with and have
>> > reimbursed me for labor when needed with no questions asked.
>> >
>> > On Tue, Jun 28, 2011 at 11:24 AM, Howie Michaelson
>> > <howie at suncatchervt.com>wrote:
>> >
>> >> Hi All,
>> >>
>> >> Anyone care to relate the differences (pros/cons) of the Fronius IG
>> vs.
>> >> IG
>> >> Plus inverters?  Haven't used either and haven't dealt with Fronius
>> in 5
>> >> or 6 years.
>> >>
>> >> Thanks,
>> >> Howie
>> >> --
>> >> Howie Michaelson
>> >> NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer™
>> >>
>> >> Catamount Solar, LLC
>> >> Renewable Energy Systems Sales and Service
>> >> VT Solar & Wind Incentive Program Partner
>> >> http://www.CatamountSolar.com
>> >> 802-272-0004
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
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>> >
>> >
>> > --
>> > Thanks,
>> > Kris Schmid
>> >
>> > Legacy Solar, LLC
>> > 864 Clam Falls Trail
>> > Frederic, WI 54837
>> > 715-653-4295
>> > www.legacysolar.com
>> > solman at legacysolar.com
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>>
>>
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> William Miller
> Miller Solar
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> email: william at millersolar.com
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-- 
Jimmy Thompson, Design Support

NABCEP PV Certified Installer
Southern Energy Management
(O) 919.836.0330
(F) 919.836.0305

(C) 919.795.6649
101 Kitty Hawk Drive
Morrisville, NC 27560
www.southern-energy.com

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