[RE-wrenches] AC Modules ready for primetime?

Wed Oct 31 08:39:00 PDT 2012

Dan Lapinski,
Does Exeltech make a microinverter that can be site-installed?
David Katz

Sent from my HTC smartphone on the Now Network from Sprint!

----- Reply message -----
From: "Exeltech" <exeltech at yahoo.com>
To: "RE-wrenches" <re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org>
Subject: [RE-wrenches] AC Modules ready for primetime?
Date: Wed, Oct 31, 2012 7:26 am

I'd like to correct an error in Jim's statement below related to how we
at Exeltech handle warranty.

If an AC Module inverter should fail, the entire module does not need to
be sent back for warranty -- just the inverter itself.  In our case, this
involves removing four small screws to separate the inverter from the
base.  The "lid" (or top of the enclosure) is the heat sink of the inverter.
The base stays attached to the PV.  There's no wiring involved.  It's all
internal, and you don't have to do anything except remove the old
inverter from the base and plug in the new one.

Once you access the back of the PV, total time to effect the swap
is typically about 1 minute.

Dan Lepinski, Senior Engineer
Exeltech Solar

--- On Wed, 10/31/12, Solarguy <ntrei at 1scom.net> wrote:

From: Solarguy <ntrei at 1scom.net>
Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] AC Modules ready for primetime?
To: "'RE-wrenches'" <re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org>
Date: Wednesday, October 31, 2012, 9:05 AM

Another question to consider when it comes to ACPV warranty replacement is, do you have to send the entire module back for repair if there’s a warranty claim on the inverter. Solar Bridge & Exeltech both say yes. All things equal, Solar Bridge still has DC apparatus exposed but not Exeltech. It would be nice to just be able to drill out the pop rivets and unplug the SB unit & return for repair.

And yes, I’m kinda biased toward Exeltech but they have been building inverters for 20+ years.

Jim Duncan

North Texas Renewable Energy Inc

www.ntrei.com<http://www.ntrei.com/>

NABCEP PV 031310-57

TECL-27398

ntrei at 1scom.net</mc/compose?to=ntrei at 1scom.net>

817.917.0527

From: re-wrenches-bounces at lists.re-wrenches.org [mailto:re-wrenches-bounces at lists.re-wrenches.org] On Behalf Of William Dorsett
Sent: Wednesday, October 31, 2012 12:14 AM
To: 'RE-wrenches'
Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] AC Modules ready for primetime?

Kirk, the BenQ modules use SolarBridge inverters. One of the questions to ask with ACPV is who backs the warranty on the inverter. According to SolarBridge’s website, the module manufacturer warranty’s the combination. This is fine as long as the mfg stays afloat but in this time with such major players as Sharp and BP backing out, who do you turn to if your inverter has a problem? As Bill said Exeltech is in this too, and warranty’s their own, so is one step less removed.

One of the things we’ve gathered is that Enphase, with an installed base of something over a million, is having some problems with its first version, 190. Is that a problem inherent in the components chosen in its design or something as simple as insufficient potting? It is fairly low percentage,  but it also hasn’t been 25 years. And how does that balance with the installed base of any of the other microinverter/ACPV manufacturers?

It seems that the temperature at which micros are required to live is the main advantage of remote string inverters. They can be down in the shade with free air moving around them.  On the other end of that trend are the ACPV which might have very little room between them and the module backing. There might be several practical actions like mounting the modules with the inverter on the down side so the air flow is cooler (a little like putting the pump or fan on the cool input side of a thermal collector), or spacing the array higher off the roof to allow more air flow.

I do agree with Bill that this is the direction the industry is heading and very quickly.

Bill Dorsett

Sunwrights

Manhattan, KS

From: re-wrenches-bounces at lists.re-wrenches.org</mc/compose?to=re-wrenches-bounces at lists.re-wrenches.org> [mailto:re-wrenches-bounces at lists.re-wrenches.org</mc/compose?to=re-wrenches-bounces at lists.re-wrenches.org>] On Behalf Of Bill Loesch
Sent: Tuesday, October 30, 2012 11:43 AM
To: RE-wrenches
Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] AC Modules ready for primetime?

Hi Nik,

As of SPI 2012, Solar Bridge advertized seven module manufacturers using their product.

Remember Exeltech, manufacturer of exemplary sine wave inverters, is also a player in this ACPV market, undoubtedly other players, too.

IMHO, ACPV is the route that the industry will _eventually_ follow.

Bill Loesch

Solar 1 - Saint Louis Solar

314 631 1094

On 30-Oct-12 10:13 AM, Nik Ponzio wrote:

I have a prospective customer requesting AC modules for a commercial job. What is currently available?

Thanks in advance.
Nik

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