[RE-wrenches] Tigo and SMA AFCI - Was: AC coupled, grid-tied Sunny Island - contactor & bypass

Wed Jun 12 12:30:46 PDT 2013

Afternoon Wrenches,

Sorry been out of the office for a week or so.

Not sure where/who/how anyone commenting on this is getting their information but, there is no compatibility issue with SMA inverters and Tigo equipment.

There is a FW patch that some of the Tigo need (older units) to be compatible with the AFCI function.
Past that no issues.
No inverters blowing up or anything dramatic like that, just a FW update, that's all.

Please contact me offline if you have further questions.

SMA America, LLC
Steve Jefferson
Supervisor, Service Line
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
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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 Ryan
Sent: Wednesday, June 05, 2013 5:36 PM
To: re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org
Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] Tigo and SMA AFCI - Was: AC coupled, grid-tied Sunny Island - contactor & bypass

>From Robin

It has been pointed out that the Tigo modules can and do blow up some charge controllers and inverters. When a charge controller or inverter has fairly fast tracking, the two units fight each other. We have found Classics using the fast tracking mode will blow up with Tigo's in the system. We also found that putting the Classic in the slower tracking mode, Legacy, solves the issue. We are aware that at least one major inverter model must defeat the tracking in order not to blow up. We have not yet tested our arc fault detectors with Tigo modules, but plan on doing this in the near future. It might be possible that the Tigo modules present a signature that looks like an arc. That must be what is happening with the SMA inverter.
Robin

On 6/5/2013 3:33 PM, SunHarvest wrote:
Just an FYI for anyone wanting to use Tigo optimizers with SMA inverters incorporating AFCI -

According to SMA the Tigo optimizers will not operate with the SMA inverters. They didn't go into detail. They just said the AFCI feature of the Sunny Boy is not compatible with Tigo. After further discussion they acknowledged that disabling the AFCI feature in the Sunny Boy would allow compatibility with the Tigo optimizer. Awesome.

After talking this over with Tigo they came to the same conclusion but neither company seemed too happy or confident in the marriage. Awesome.

Eric Stikes
SunHarvest
----- Original Message -----

Wrenches,

Here's an update on this configuration (20kW Enphase, AC coupled to

Sunny Islands) you should know about:

Enphase will not support and warranty the use of their micro inverters

in an AC-coupled installation with battery-based inverters. Enphase

approved this verbally with us in design, but balked when we asked

them to back it up in writing. Their issue/point is that AC-coupling

violates the UL1741 listing.

Thus, we're revising the design to use Sunny Boy string inverters. Our

customer would still like the module-level monitoring and optimization

offered by the micro-inverters (there is some shading issue), so we're

considering using string optimizers. We have not used string-

optimization, yet. It looks like the leading options are Solar Magic

and Tigo.

Any preferences, cautions, or advice with choosing and using

optimizers would be appreciated.

Thanks,

-Kelly

Kelly Keilwitz, P.E.

Principal

Whidbey Sun & Wind

Renewable Energy Systems

NABCEP Certified PV Installer

WA Electrical Administrator

987 Wanamaker Rd.

Coupeville, WA 98239

kelly at whidbeysunwind.com

PH & FAX: 360.678.7131

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