[RE-wrenches] Which commercial string inverters?

[August Goers]

Hi Stephen,



My most recent experience has been with SMA Tripower and Fronius Symo
inverters. Previously, we installed dozens of Power-One (ABB) PVI 10.0 and
12.0 inverters in the < 2015 time period. Although I’ve heard lots of bad
stories about those inverters, ours have been quite reliable overall. We
had a couple go down that we were replaced under warranty. They were all
208 volt services on those sites for mostly multifamily buildings.



We’ve installed the SMA Tripowers in both 1000 VDC and 600 VDC
configurations. The 1000 VDC project was hard but I think that’s because it
was our first time and we did it right when the inverters were new back in
2013. We have had ongoing problems with one of the 24k units on that site
mostly relating to tripping offline due to inductance or arc fault issues.
We have replaced the one problem unit and updated firmware several times
and now all is well. Other more recently installed sites with the SMA
Tripowers worked flawlessly. Tech support with SMA is mostly positive, but
sometimes it is hard to get a hold of someone when you need to.



We have not commissioned the Fronius Symo sites yet so I can’t comment on
how well they work.



This is outside of your system target size range, but we recently installed
a couple of SolarEdge 14.4 k units. In the 480 volt variant, I think they
are available up to 33.3 kW. Anyway, they are amazingly small for their
output size and bought us a lot of design flexibility. Only time will tell
how reliable the SE inverters and optimizers will be.



All in all, we always review all options for a given project and start
looking at cost compared to design constraints to select the best
inverter(s) for the project. I’m hopeful that Fronius’ new line will
perform well because their cost and feature set are appealing.



Cheers,



August

Luminalt



*From:* RE-wrenches [mailto:re-wrenches-bounces at lists.re-wrenches.org] *On
Behalf Of *Stephen K
*Sent:* Tuesday, August 16, 2016 3:26 PM
*To:* re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org
*Subject:* [RE-wrenches] Which commercial string inverters?



Hello RE-Wrenches,



I'm a long time recipient of great knowledge, experience and advice from
this list, but I've been an infrequent poster.



I'm curious about this list's opinion on the current status of the
Commercial sized string inverter product options (from ~10kW to 80kW, 600
and 1000VDC flavors).

What are your preferred inverters for ~250kW to ~2MW, US based
installations (any mounting type - ground-mount, rooftop, carport etc)?



How would you rank the most well-known brands considering any of the
following categories:



     a) quality and reliability / uptime

     b) long-term O&M issues

     c) Tech Support and RMA processes

     d) DAS (or SCADA) factors and challenges

     e) cost

     f) flexibility with design variables

     g) arc fault issues

     h) rapid shut down

     i) firmware/software glitches

     j) other



Some brand name suggestions we've become familiar with over the years
include - Fronius, SMA, Solectria, Chint, AE, ABB, Kaco, Refusol, Huawei,
SunGrow....and more....



Thanks for sharing your thoughts everyone,





*Stephen Kane*

*Namaste Solar*

*Co-Owner | Commercial Service and O&M*

*NABCEP Certified in Solar PV Installation*

*303.447.0300 x308 <303.447.0300%20x308>*

*stephen.kane at namastesolar.com <stephen.kane at namastesolar.com>*

4571 Broadway Street | Boulder, Colorado 80304

3330 Larimer Street, Suite 1A | Denver, Colorado 80205
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