[RE-wrenches] Inverter temperature (was Electrolytic Caps vs. Thin Film Caps)

[Steve Jefferson]

Morning Wrenches,

I will try to find the ticket. Maybe The installer built a small shelter to fully insulate the inverter, let me look into it.
It will be a couple of days though, as we are moving to a new office building.

SMA had special circumstances to bring the cold weather units to Canada. The FIT program there was starting and they needed the temp rating for our inverters.
Also, the UL/CSA certifications were much simpler and quicker to do for having them just be in Canada for the moment.
We will be bringing these units to the states, I believe it will be when we have the next round of FW listed. Not sure of an exact date though.

One thing to note for you Windy Boy users, these units have the polynomial curve programming in them, way more advanced than the current 3 point power curve.

Thanks

SMA America, LLC
Steve Jefferson
Sr. Technical Service Specialist, Sunny Family
6020 West Oaks Blvd, Suite 300
Rocklin, CA 95765 - 3714
U.S.A.
Tel:  +1 916 625 0870
Fax: +1 916 624-2445
Service Line +1 877 697 6283 (Toll Free)
Email: steve.jefferson at sma-america.com
www.SMA-America.com<http://www.sma-america.com/>

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From: re-wrenches-bounces at lists.re-wrenches.org [mailto:re-wrenches-bounces at lists.re-wrenches.org] On Behalf Of Allan Sindelar
Sent: Thursday, January 19, 2012 7:48 PM
To: RE-wrenches
Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] Inverter temperature (was Electrolytic Caps vs. Thin Film Caps)

Steve,
My understanding is that wind chill by definition only affects living things. From Wikipedia: "The rate of heat loss by a surface through convection depends on the wind speed above that surface: the faster the wind speed, the more readily the surface cools. For inanimate objects, the effect of wind chill is to reduce any warmer objects to the ambient temperature more quickly. It cannot, however, reduce the temperature of these objects below the ambient temperature, no matter how great the wind velocity."

So in a high wind an inverter will cool more quickly until it reaches ambient temperature, but it won't be any warmer inside a enclosure. If the inverter is producing enough internal heat through inefficiency, an enclosure could slow the rate of heat loss enough to warm surrounding internal components a bit more. But this wouldn't have any effect on the inverter in your New Jersey example, as the inverter can't produce heat until it's in operation.

Could there be another explanation?
Thanks,
Allan
Allan Sindelar
Allan at positiveenergysolar.com<mailto:Allan at positiveenergysolar.com>
NABCEP Certified Photovoltaic Installer
NABCEP Certified Technical Sales Professional
New Mexico EE98J Journeyman Electrician
Positive Energy, Inc.
3201 Calle Marie
Santa Fe, New Mexico 87507
505 424-1112
www.positiveenergysolar.com<http://www.positiveenergysolar.com/>



On 1/19/2012 4:01 PM, Steve Jefferson wrote:
Afternoon Wrenches,
All SMA models in the US are rated for -25C (-13F). Canadian models are rated for both -25C and -40C.

I highly recommend if installing in areas with any extreme temperatures, to build an enclosure around the units. Sometimes with the wind chill factor temps can be quite more than just the ambient temp. Installing in a conditioned building is always ideal though.

I talked with an installer in New Jersey who had a system that was not turning on until late morning. He went out with in early morning with and took the temperature from one of the caps and it was about -30 F. We figured out that this extreme cold was caused by the north to south wind hitting the inverter, mounted on the backside of the ground mount. He built a little wall to protect from the wind, and the problem was solved.

SMA America, LLC
Steve Jefferson
Sr. Technical Service Specialist, Sunny Family
6020 West Oaks Blvd, Suite 300
Rocklin, CA 95765 - 3714
U.S.A.
Tel:  +1 916 625 0870
Fax: +1 916 624-2445
Service Line +1 877 697 6283 (Toll Free)
Email: steve.jefferson at sma-america.com<mailto:steve.jefferson at sma-america.com>
www.SMA-America.com<http://www.sma-america.com/>
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