[RE-wrenches] AC coupling and Outback inverters

[David Katz]

You customer might consider using two Sunnyislands instead of a transformer.
I used the Sunnyislands without 485 and it still backed of the grid tie inverters. 485 let's the SI put the grid tie inverters in off grid mode, making them less sensative to the UL parameters.
David

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


----- Reply message -----
From: "Kirk Herander" <kirk at vtsolar.com>
To: "'RE-wrenches'" <re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org>
Subject: [RE-wrenches] AC coupling and Outback inverters
Date: Fri, Oct 5, 2012 5:08 am



I am leaning towards the SunnyIsland. I assume it backs off the SunnyBoy via RS485 communications and the factory 240 xformer is a plus. The Outback setup might be a little less expensive, but as you say a bit of a kludge. I guess I still need the charge controller for the new PV, as the SunnyIsland doesn’t regulate that.

Kirk Herander
VT Solar, LLC
dba Vermont Solar Engineering
NABCEPTM Certified installer Charter Member
NYSERDA-eligible Installer
VT RE Incentive Program Partner
802.863.1202

From: re-wrenches-bounces at lists.re-wrenches.org [mailto:re-wrenches-bounces at lists.re-wrenches.org] On Behalf Of David Katz
Sent: Friday, October 05, 2012 2:11 AM
To: RE-wrenches
Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] AC coupling and Outback inverters

Hi Kirk,
All of the Outback inverters will work AC coupled (GT and FX) as will any bi-directional H-bridge type inverter.  I have used old Trace SW’s, SunnyIsland, Apollo TSW, Magnum AE and now I am using an Outback Radian to do exactly what you are talking about.  I have 6 kW of grid tie inverter and an additional 4kw of modules running through a Xantrex 600 volt charge controller to the batteries that the Radian runs on. It all works flawless as long as you have a provision for protecting the batteries when the gid is down and the grid-tie PV system is making more power than the loads are using.
If the customer has SMA inverters, I would recommend using a SunnyIsland because the battery control when the grid goes down is so elegant.  Everything else is a bit of a kludge.

David Katz
CTO & Founder
AEE Solar Inc
P: 707 825-1200
F: 707 825-1202
dkatz at aeesolar.com<mailto:dkatz at aeesolar.com>
www.aeesolar.com<http://www.aeesolar.com>


From: re-wrenches-bounces at lists.re-wrenches.org<mailto:re-wrenches-bounces at lists.re-wrenches.org> [mailto:re-wrenches-bounces at lists.re-wrenches.org]<mailto:[mailto:re-wrenches-bounces at lists.re-wrenches.org]> On Behalf Of Kirk Herander
Sent: Thursday, October 04, 2012 2:11 PM
To: RE-wrenches
Subject: [RE-wrenches] AC coupling and Outback inverters

I have AC-coupled an Outback quad-stack with multiple SunnyBoy 6000US inverters and it’s been running fine for 4 years. I used the off-grid version of Outbacks.
Now I have an application where a customer wants to add battery backup to an existing SunnyBoy 5000US system. And expand his array by a couple KW. So I’m thinking of using a GT Outback w/ batteries to handle the critical loads and feed the extra 2kw of PV (charging the batteries through an MX60) to the grid. And I’d like to AC-couple the SunnyBoy so the original 5 kw array can also charge the batteries, BUT I remember, at least I think so, that the GT inverter cannot be AC-coupled, only the off-grid version. Is this correct? Thanks.

Kirk Herander
VT Solar, LLC
dba Vermont Solar Engineering
NABCEPTM Certified installer Charter Member
NYSERDA-eligible Installer
VT RE Incentive Program Partner
802.863.1202

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