[RE-wrenches] AFCI trip on metal roof

[Dave Tedeyan]

Recently we have had the AFCI trip in a couple SB-TL-22 inverters.
Restarted the inverter, the fault was not still present. It has not tripped
in the month since at either site. Maybe an issue with the inverter? Only
time will tell.

Cheers,
Dave


*--*


*Dave Tedeyan*
*Project Engineer*

*Taitem Engineering, PC*
109 S. Albany Street, Ithaca, NY 14850
Voice: (607) 277-1118 x121
www.taitem.com

On Wed, Mar 23, 2016 at 6:24 PM, AE Solar <autonomousenergies at gmail.com>
wrote:

> We had that issue once. It was after a night of heavy rainfall and the
> error only read for the first few early hours of the day. SMA told us it
> was a poor connection in an MC4 connector that most likely got some
> dampness in it...
>
> Adam Katzman
> Autonomous Energies
> PO Box 1245
> Kingston, NY 12402
> www.autonomousenergies.com
> (518) 567-1468
>
>
> On Wed, Mar 23, 2016 at 5:16 PM, August Goers <august at luminalt.com> wrote:
>
>> Hi Drake,
>>
>>
>>
>> What model SMA inverter(s) and modules do you have? We had one case where
>> a MC4 connector under the array was not making good contact. It was not
>> seated properly when the installer made up the connector and the arc fault
>> sensor in the inverter did its job. We had another site where some
>> electrical noise on the AC side, presumably a sump pump, caused the issue
>> and we could not solve it so had to switch to another inverter
>> manufacturer. There were other cases where the impedance or other
>> electrical characteristics of the solar modules where the likely culprit.
>>
>>
>>
>> Is your roof and array totally equipment grounded?
>>
>>
>>
>> Best,
>>
>>
>>
>> August
>>
>>
>>
>> *From:* RE-wrenches [mailto:re-wrenches-bounces at lists.re-wrenches.org] *On
>> Behalf Of *Drake
>> *Sent:* Wednesday, March 23, 2016 2:08 PM
>> *To:* RE-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org
>> *Subject:* [RE-wrenches] AFCI trip on metal roof
>>
>>
>>
>> Hello Wrenches,
>>
>> We have a project with an array on a large metal roof. The AFCI has been
>> tripping. Investigating the system, there is no evidence of any arcing: the
>> wiring and connections are all very tight.
>>
>> SMA tech support says it is likely that the nuisance tripping comes from
>> electrical noise getting picked up by the large metal roof.
>>
>> What has been your overall experience with nuisance tripping of arc fault
>> protection? What were the suspected causes? What was the solution?
>>
>> Thanks,
>>
>> Drake
>>
>> Drake Chamberlin
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> *Athens Electric LLCOH License 44810CO License 3773NABCEP Certified Solar
>> PV 740-448-7328 <740-448-7328>*http://athens-electric.com/
>>
>>
>> <https://www.avast.com/sig-email?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campaign=sig-email&utm_content=emailclient&utm_term=oa-2115-v2-c>
>>
>> No threats detected. www.avast.com
>> <https://www.avast.com/sig-email?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campaign=sig-email&utm_content=emailclient&utm_term=oa-2115-v2-c>
>>
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> List sponsored by Redwood Alliance
>>
>> List Address: RE-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org
>>
>> Change listserver email address & settings:
>> http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org
>>
>> List-Archive:
>> http://www.mail-archive.com/re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org/maillist.html
>>
>> List rules & etiquette:
>> www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm
>>
>> Check out or update participant bios:
>> www.members.re-wrenches.org
>>
>>
>>
>
> _______________________________________________
> List sponsored by Redwood Alliance
>
> List Address: RE-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org
>
> Change listserver email address & settings:
> http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org
>
> List-Archive:
> http://www.mail-archive.com/re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org/maillist.html
>
> List rules & etiquette:
> www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm
>
> Check out or update participant bios:
> www.members.re-wrenches.org
>
>
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org/attachments/20160324/eafcc9f9/attachment-0002.html>