<div dir="auto">SolArk tech support told us that the PV array ground shouldn’t land on the inverter ground bar. But instead should be run to its own local electrode. or if you're grid tied it can land on the ground bar at the Main AC</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Sun, Nov 10, 2024 at 6:27 AM Jason Szumlanski via RE-wrenches <<a href="mailto:re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org">re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left-width:1px;border-left-style:solid;padding-left:1ex;border-left-color:rgb(204,204,204)"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">This is very valuable information. The homeowner sourced these four inverters from someone else before I got involved. Three of the four inverters have a Savant sticker on the front of them. The one without the Savant sticker is NOT the one that is having the problem, but it is adjacent to it. The stickerless inverter is #2 (first slave), but the problem inverter is #3 (second slave). I am assuming the three with the stickers are the same (#1, #3, and #4), but perhaps the one without the sticker has different hardware. I will do a visual inspection the next time I am out there.</div><br clear="all"></div><div><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><br>Jason Szumlanski<div><span style="font-family:Roboto,RobotoDraft,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px;color:rgb(51,51,51)">Principal Solar Designer | Florida Solar Design Group</span><br style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Roboto,RobotoDraft,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><span style="font-family:Roboto,RobotoDraft,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px;color:rgb(51,51,51)">NABCEP Certified Solar Professional (PVIP)</span><br style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Roboto,RobotoDraft,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><span style="font-family:Roboto,RobotoDraft,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px;color:rgb(51,51,51)">Florida State Certified Solar Contractor CVC56956</span></div><div><font face="Roboto, RobotoDraft, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="font-family:Roboto,RobotoDraft,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(51,51,51)">Florida Certified Electrical Contractor EC13013208</font></div></div></div></div><br></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Sat, Nov 9, 2024 at 4:33 PM Tyrone Houck via RE-wrenches <<a href="mailto:re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org" target="_blank">re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left-width:1px;border-left-style:solid;padding-left:1ex;border-left-color:rgb(204,204,204)"><div dir="auto"><div dir="auto"><div>We've noticed a compatability issue with the limitless 15k units and the newest incarnation of the same(limitless 15k) inverter(additional circuitry in the wiring compartment associated with the pv inputs is the one way I'm aware of to tell the difference)..the older units and the newer units don't seem to play nice with each other though they work fine independently. The problem we had was one was throwing an arc fault error and the other parallel faulting in response. The ultimate fix was replacing the older one with a newer one to match. Not sure if that's what is happening at your site but after extensive troubleshooting our conclusion was one inverter was sensing something in the other inverter. May be worth checking to see if they are all the exact same hardware.</div><div dir="auto">Good luck.</div></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Sat, Nov 9, 2024, 8:46 AM Jason Szumlanski via RE-wrenches <<a href="mailto:re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org" rel="noreferrer noreferrer" target="_blank">re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left-width:1px;border-left-style:solid;padding-left:1ex;border-left-color:rgb(204,204,204)"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div><div style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">I agree with that diagnosis. I did a visual inspection of the boards and ribbon cables, and everything seems to be okay. It's strange that the inverter worked fine in standalone mode. That points to something in the paralleling circuitry or software. Getting past Tier 1 tech support can be agonizing, but at least I have an established case now. As a customer service gesture, I'm prepared to take a new unit off my shelf and fight with Sol-Ark later to get this system back up and running as the quad setup that my customer purchased. This should have been a clear cut RMA by Tier 1 support in my opinion.</div></div><div><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><br>Jason Szumlanski<div><span style="font-family:Roboto,RobotoDraft,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px;color:rgb(51,51,51)">Principal Solar Designer | Florida Solar Design Group</span><br style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Roboto,RobotoDraft,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><span style="font-family:Roboto,RobotoDraft,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px;color:rgb(51,51,51)">NABCEP Certified Solar Professional (PVIP)</span><br style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Roboto,RobotoDraft,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><span style="font-family:Roboto,RobotoDraft,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px;color:rgb(51,51,51)">Florida State Certified Solar Contractor CVC56956</span></div><div><font face="Roboto, RobotoDraft, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="font-family:Roboto,RobotoDraft,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(51,51,51)">Florida Certified Electrical Contractor EC13013208</font></div></div></div></div><br></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Sat, Nov 9, 2024 at 11:33 AM Jerry Shafer <<a href="mailto:jerrysgarage01@gmail.com" rel="noreferrer noreferrer noreferrer" target="_blank">jerrysgarage01@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left-width:1px;border-left-style:solid;padding-left:1ex;border-left-color:rgb(204,204,204)"><div dir="auto">Jason,<div dir="auto">Everything points to a internal issue maybe with a CT, ribbon connection or just a bad board, regardless a new inverter is the key and solark should really want to investigate the issue themselves anyway.</div><div dir="auto">Fun times</div></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Sat, Nov 9, 2024, 7:16 AM Jason Szumlanski via RE-wrenches <<a href="mailto:re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org" rel="noreferrer noreferrer noreferrer" target="_blank">re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left-width:1px;border-left-style:solid;padding-left:1ex;border-left-color:rgb(204,204,204)"><div dir="ltr"><div><div style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">I wrote in another thread about an off-grid quad Sol-Ark system that was shutting down due to parallel stop when one of the four inverters experienced a DC PV fault, and how that shutdown is far from ideal. The same system is down once again, this time due to an AC fault code.</div><div style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><br></div><div style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">The homeowner started getting repeated F18 and F34 AC overcurrent faults on one of the slave inverters. This, in turn, shut the entire system down due to parallel stop faults (F41). None of the other units had AC overcurrent faults, and the load is nowhere near requiring all four inverters for even the most demanding circumstances. It was designed this way for redundancy, which I am quickly finding out is not Sol-Ark's strong suit. </div><div style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><br></div><div style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">To diagnose the issue remotely, I had the owner turn off all four load breakers, all DC PV input, and the AC microinverter input on the GEN terminals. I had them restart everything (several times). Every time, the same inverter would have repeated AC overcurrent faults, and the others would have parallel system faults. Since there were no loads connected by virtue of the load breakers being open, I suspected this had to be an internal fault. </div><div style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><br></div><div style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">I went to the site, and Sol-Ark Tier 1 tech support had me shut off all inverters and take the suspect inverter out of parallel operation mode. As a standalone master it was able to power up and support the entire house load without issue. Then we reprogrammed it for parallel operation again and turned everything back on. We were unable to stay on the phone long enough to determine if this was successful, but ultimately, the fault returned. I was told to call and ask for Tier 2 next time if it happened again, which I intend to do on Monday. At this point, the issue can only be internal to the unit, and I intend to demand warranty replacement of suspect components or the whole unit.</div><div style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><br></div><div style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">I had to get the system running, so I wanted to take the bad inverter out of the parallel system. I was hoping that simply shutting it down would work. This is the third of 4 inverters in the Modbus chain. When turning it off completely (all AC and DC switches disconnected), the 4th inverter would fault, presumably because the Modbus signal was not being relayed, but inverters #1 and #2 worked fine. However, I wanted #4 to also continue working while taking #3 out of service. So then I turned on the battery disconnect for #3 but left it in the off mode by not pressing the on/off button, thinking that it would allow relay of the Modbus signal from #2 to #4. That allowed the system to work momentarily, but then everything faulted out due to parallel system stop. In other words, I was going to have to physically take #3 out of the Modbus daisy chain to make this work.</div><div style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><br></div><div style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">Of course, I didn't have a long enough Cat5 cable with me, nor a Cat5 splice connector. So I had to rig something, which I did successfully to jumper from #2 to #4. But when I turned everything back on, #4 still would not work. I eventually realized that you have to change the Modbus address from 04 to 03 in the settings. Apparently, the addresses need to be sequential for it to work. Once I did this, I was able to get the system up and running again as a triple-inverter parallel setup. No faults were observed. So the theory was proven that #3 has an issue internally.</div><div style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><br></div><div style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><br></div><div style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">Anyway, bottom line, I am disappointed at how one inverter fault takes down the whole paralleled system, and also how taking a faulted inverter out of the system requires physical and programming changes. Turning it off should be sufficient. This is a very poor way to implement a parallel system that should provide the peace of mind that redundancy implies. Now I have a customer who thought they were getting a system with failsafe redundancy that actually requires a service call every time one of the paralleled units decides it does not want to play nicely with others.</div></div><div><br></div><div><div style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">Jason Szumlanski</div><div style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">Florida Solar Design Group</div></div><div><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><b><div style="text-align:center"><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="font-weight:400;text-align:start;font-family:"helvetica neue",helvetica,arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(34,34,34)"><tbody style="font-family:"helvetica neue",helvetica,arial,sans-serif"><tr style="font-family:"helvetica neue",helvetica,arial,sans-serif"><td rowspan="2" style="font-family:"helvetica neue",helvetica,arial,sans-serif"></td><td rowspan="2" style="font-family:"helvetica neue",helvetica,arial,sans-serif"><br></td></tr></tbody></table></div></b></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>
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