[RE-wrenches] Sol-Ark 15K AC Coupling

Sat Aug 24 16:26:13 PDT 2024

Jason...
We had a similar situation with a dual SolArk 15K system. After
approximately an hour of turning system on we would get the F41 error on
the master ‐ the slave inverter would show an error and then the master
would shut down with the paralleling error F41 because the slave inverter
had shown an error related to a neutral ground bond in more than one place
detected.. we confirmed there was not more than one neutral/ground bond in
the system.  It didn't seem to matter which loads or total power levels it
kept shutting down with the same pattern.
They had us revert both firmwares back to the 925 version instead of 926.
Same problem still with either firmware version.
Finally we disconnected the slave and ran the master on its own- like magic
- Problem solved.
Upon close inspection we noticed that  the slave unit had different color
PV input terminals than the master. There were different capacitors up
above the AC in/out terminals and some adittional circuitry we guessed
related to a rapid shutdown heartbeat signal for the solar circuits.
Turns out the inverters were different vintages of the same model of 15K-2P
inverter but the boxes they shipped in were the same part numbers- but
there were obvious differences in the physical build and circuitry.
We pointed this out and they agreed to send us a replacement inverter of
the same vintage as the master...
This solved the f41 paralleling issue we were having.  They also said the
925 firmware was better for all the inverters to be on in multi inverter
systems versus the more sensitive (and newer) 926 firmware. We havent had
an issue since matching vintages of inverter build were used.
Look carefully at all three inverters and make sure they are physically the
same build version.
It was a frustrating detective experience and we bore the costs associated
with replacing the inverter.
If that is a facet of your system I would ask them to replace your
inverter(s) to be the same build vintage. It solved the problem for us but
was a long battle with tech support to seluth out the problem and to get
them to agree to swap inverters.
Good luck and keep us posted on your resolution.
Thanks.
Kirpal
Oregon Solarworks

On Sat, Aug 24, 2024, 11:32 AM Jason Szumlanski via RE-wrenches <
re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org> wrote:

> Hi all,
>
> Over the last three days I have had one of this infuriating and
> frustrating experiences with Sol-Ark where you talk to 3 people and get 10
> different answers. At least I think I finally got the right one today. Here
> is the scenario and problem I was experiencing:
>
> At a (very) remote location that is a boat ride away, I have three 15K
> inverters paralleled in a 120/240V system, off-grid, generator connected to
> the grid input (but not being used). The PV array connected to the DC
> inputs totals 40kW split across the three inverters. There is a 9.7kW
> Enphase system (8.4kW AC inverter rating) connected on the load side of the
> inverter outputs. Massive battery - 110kWh. Everything has been working
> well for a couple of weeks since we got it set up.
>
> Then, over the last three days, we began experiencing unexpected shutdowns
> where the inverter would repeatedly stop inverting and PV would stop
> charging. There was usually no indication of errors on the screen.
> Everything was just stopped, but the inverters remained on. Sometimes they
> would restart once, only to shut down again relatively quickly. We had to
> manually restart the inverters with the ON/OFF buttons. Then we started
> getting various errors, with F50 being the strange one that is not
> documented. I reached Sol-Ark, and they said the F50 points to an AC input
> issue, but the generator was not on, so that didn't make sense. I was on my
> own to double-check all of the wiring.
>
> But there was also an F41 Parallel System Stop error, which pointed me to
> that suggested cause. I realized that one of the inverters had a -1725 COMM
> firmware, whereas the others had -1726. I don't know how that happened
> because I'm certain that I had them all on the same firmware at one time.
> Anyway, I spent all day yesterday trying to reach Sol-Ark and getting the
> firmware to match. I thought we had the issue resolved by the time I
> left, as I was able to run the system for an hour without a shutdown.
>
> Then I got a call at noon today from the owner. Same problem. System shut
> down.
>
> I was able to reach Sol-Ark immediately this time and the agent gave me a
> more plausible answer. He said the F50 error points to something wrong with
> the AC coupling. We started to put our heads together and I realized that
> this issue first popped up around mid-day on Thursday, and then repeated
> itself mid-day on Friday. Here we are again today, and I get the call at
> noon. It seems like the issue happens as soon as the batteries reach 100%
> capacity. It's like the Sol-Ark is not commanding the IQ8A microinverters
> to shut down. I had the owner shut off the AC coupling input breaker and I
> remotely unchecked the box for AC coupling on the load side. That seems to
> have resolved the issue.
>
> Ok, fine, but how do we resolve this (I asked Sol-Ark)? The "solution" I
> was offered is to move the AC coupled input to the GEN terminals. The
> problem is that I need to reserve the GEN terminals for an upcoming Smart
> Load subpanel. That's why I installed the AC coupling on the load side,
> which is a documented and accepted practice.
>
> I do have AC coupling working without issue on a grid-tied system at
> another location with dual Sol-Arks, but that is connected to the GEN
> terminals. This is the first time I have AC coupled on the load side. Has
> anyone successfully AC coupled on the load side, particularly with
> microinverters?
>
> I'm probably going to have to climb the customer service ladder at Sol-Ark
> to get a resolution for this, but I wanted to get some feedback in case
> someone has already been down this road.
>
> Thanks in advance,
>
> Jason Szumlanski
> Florida Solar Design Group
>
>
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> List sponsored by Redwood Alliance
>
> Pay optional member dues here: http://re-wrenches.org
>
> 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
>
> There are two list archives for searching. When one doesn't work, try the
> other:
> https://www.mail-archive.com/re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org/
> http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org
>
> List rules & etiquette:
> http://www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm
>
> Check out or update participant bios:
> http://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/20240824/27ff4eaf/attachment.htm>