[RE-wrenches] [EXT] Re: Positive grounded inverters for SunPower modules

[Isaac Opalinsky]

Don,

Have you contacted SunPower Technical Support yet? If you can’t find what you need from third parties, some SMA inverter options might be available directly from SunPower. I’m assuming the original inverters are long out of warranty, but we may have a compatible SMA inverter available for sale. The disconnects and original mounting plates tend to be harder to come by, however.

The most important thing to ensure expected performance is that you maintain the positively grounded configuration of the array. Galvanically isolated SMA inverters have proven to be the simplest – reconfigure the jumper and fuse position and then check the voltage and polarity of the array before you recommission.

If you have any difficulty finding what you need, please feel free to contact me directly.

Best Regards,
Isaac Opalinsky | Director, Training & Field Enablement
mobile 443-277-6286 | isaac.opalinsky at sunpower.com<mailto:isaac.opalinsky at sunpower.com>
[sp_2014_logo_black_orange_CMYK-01]

From: RE-wrenches <re-wrenches-bounces at lists.re-wrenches.org> On Behalf Of Dave Tedeyan
Sent: Friday, March 19, 2021 11:55 AM
To: RE-wrenches <re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org>
Subject: [EXT] Re: [RE-wrenches] Positive grounded inverters for SunPower modules

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Hi Don,
The Sunny Boy US models are able to be configured for positive ground. I have found some of them here before for replacements:
https://you-love-solar.myshopify.com/search?type=product&q=love+solar<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__you-2Dlove-2Dsolar.myshopify.com_search-3Ftype-3Dproduct-26q-3Dlove-2Bsolar&d=DwMFaQ&c=Kv2S0ZicsIm17HTFqYG_Og&r=RD0lHHgQqAl7xvyDm5AiPkLCedjBloPiZPB0MsAPMCE&m=YZa1_JcJnr5w9ukcZ-_jjEjuZfKlNmZoR4SnN-PPlgc&s=3ImlKgJqEu2zowuE_29WWnBMBqRy2vWJy1zCjY6YpAo&e=>

Looks like they even have an old Sunpower one on their front page.
Cheers,
Dave

On Fri, Mar 19, 2021 at 11:41 AM <don at energysolarnow.com<mailto:don at energysolarnow.com>> wrote:
We have several older-than-10-year installs with SunPower positively grounded modules and inverters that have failed.  The inverters were branded by SunPower but made by various vendors like PVPowered and Xantrex that aren't around any more.
We know if a negative grounded inverter is used with these SunPower modules they gather some parasitic charge that inhibits normal current flow.
I have a few used inverters with negative ground that look like they can be modified to positive ground, with the risk there is some internal software that cannot be adjusted.
It looks like a Fronius IG can be changed over with a software adjustment that is actually in the manual.
What I'm wondering is whether a new ungrounded inverter can be used with these SunPower modules and keep them operating normally.
Does anyone have some pertinent experience with this?
Thanks
Don Barch


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--
Dave Tedeyan, PE
[Sungineer Solar]
1653 Slaterville Road, Ithaca, NY 14850
Cell: 607-288-2898
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