[RE-wrenches] Off-Grid AFCI Update...

[Alex Jahp]

Hi Kienan,

Great question. I have explored it a bit myself, but didn't find any great
solutions. As far as the Schneider RS goes, I concluded that it was not a
viable solution based upon the highlighted portion of the specifications
sheet below, but have never tested it or researched any further.

[image: xanbusafci.png]

Take care!

On Thu, Jun 15, 2023 at 11:33 AM Maxfield Solar via RE-wrenches <
re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org> wrote:

> Hello all,
>
> I'm trying to find information on how to comply with AFCI with DC-coupled
> off-grid systems in 2023... Obviously, there are a couple of charge
> controllers that have AFCI built in such as the MidNite charge controllers
> and I know about Outback's unreliable AFCI in the FM100 ... but I'm trying
> to figure out if there is a way to do this now with other brands or
> retrofit systems...
>
> There used to be a lot of equipment available that you could use... but
> Bentek discontinued their AFCI combiner box, Ouback's ICS is discontinued,
> Sensata's PVAF-T is discontinued, SolarBOS seems to have discontinued their
> AFCI combiner box... There's an interesting Sandia report
> <https://energy.sandia.gov/wp-content/gallery/uploads/SAND2013-5916-SeriesAndParallelArc-FaultCircuitInterrupterTests1.pdf> where
> there were testing an AFCI combiner that MidNite made, but it doesn't seem
> to be available anywhere... The only non-integrated AFCI option I seem to
> have found that might not be discontinued is ZJ Beny brand... Their website
> seems okay... very Chinese... and I can't find it for sale anywhere except
> maybe Alibaba.
>
> And now that Multi MPPT charge controllers are becoming more common (like
> Victron's 450V 200A charge controller with 4 MPPT inputs), it would be nice
> to have some kind of AFCI that was totally stand alone, so you could have
> one on each MPPT... one or two strings into each AFCI.
>
> Is anyone addressing this? Someone at a conference this year told me that
> MidNite solar was working on producing something that would work, but I
> don't know if that's a true rumor or false... I can't seem to find anything
> online. Does anyone know of anything I've missed?
>
> Last question... is it possible to use schneider's MPPT disconnect RS with
> other brand charge controllers? It has AFCI. I've read the manual and it's
> not clear if it can function without the Xanbus connection. Of course, I
> don't think Schneider wants you to use it with other products... but I'm
> thinking the AFCI might functionally work... I figured one of you guys
> might know...
>
>
> I've spent the last number of years with my head in the sand as far as
> compliant equipment availability because I've been working in locations
> that aren't inspected, and I mount my arrays on tall poles, so there's no
> risk of starting a fire. Now that I'm in Off-Grid Focused wholesale
> distribution and installer consulting, I need to figure out what options
> are available to satisfy the AHJs...
>
> Thanks so much!
>
> Kienan Maxfield
> Technical sales, Technical Support
>
> *Green-Go Solar Distribution*
> *kienan at dist.solar* <https://kienan@dist.solar>
> *maxfieldsolar at hotmail.com <maxfieldsolar at hotmail.com>*
> *(801) 631-5584 (Cell)*
> *www.distribution.solar* <https://www.distribution.solar>
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