Hello William,
A separable DC disconnect is very important to me, and certainly
should be standard equipment.
On the issue of flammable materials, I had the same question on an
installation. A tech support person claimed that flammable referred
to easily ignitable materials where as combustible referred to
materials like wood. He told me it was ok to mount their inverter on
a wood surface, as it was combustible, but not flammable. I've heard
no more about the subject since. I hope it is true. Looking up the
words in the dictionary, I don't seem that distinction.
Drake
Athens Electric LLC
OH License 44810
CO License 3773
NABCEP Certified Solar PV
740-448-7328
<http://athens-electric.com/>http://athens-electric.com/
At 11:11 PM 8/6/2015, you wrote:
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Dear Friends:
I have been pursuing some answers from Solectria on what appear to
be significant defects in the design of their residential PVI series
inverters. I have finally received some final answers from them on
a few issues and I am waiting on final answers on
others. Unfortunately the answers are not good.
1. Apparently the electronics portion of the PVI series inverter
cannot be separated from the DC disconnect. If you want to replace
that inverter, you need to remove the entire chassis. This of
course exposes the lone service worker to high voltage DC. The unit
looks like it can be separated but they tell me it cannot be. This
reminds me of the Fronius IG series inverter. I argued with Fronius
for an entire day about how idiotic it was to propose tarping panels
to protect service workers. I submit that an inverter without a
separatable disconnect requires an outboard DC disconnect or it is
not viable. The DC disconnect adds cost and clutter to any install.
Solectria has an outboard, remotely activated disconnect. I was
hoping to get my hands on one at a recent local sales seminar
Solectria held, but the goofball presenting the seminar did not
bother bringing one ( I can call him a goof ball because he has
since left Solectria. I would not otherwise call anyone at a
manufacturer a name, they are all good people doing the best job
they can with the products they are hired to represent). Anyway,
before I bid another Solectria I will price compare with the cost of
the remote disconnect included. I won't install one until I have
touched the device to verify it is suitable.
I am taking a poll: Which GT inverters have included, separatable
DC disconnects? How easy are they to replace? How important is it
to you that the DC disconnect be separatable?
2. The Solectria PVI installation manual indicates the inverter
is not to be mounted to "flammable surfaces." You cannot mount
these inverter on a wood surface, indoors or out. The bracket is
not wide enough to span two studs in most cases, so if you are
mounting it inside, you cannot mount it on a plywood backboard and
you cannot mount it on the exterior of a wood-sheeted structure. It
is not unlikely that if any trees are near your inverter, a few
leaves will likely become lodged behind the inverter over time and
they then could burst into flames. To me this inverter heating
seems very limiting. It makes me think: do I want to install a
fire-starter on or in my customers homes?
Do any of you know of any other inverters that get hot enough to
ignite the surface onto which they are mounted?
Thanks for the input.
William Miller
Gradient Cap_mini
Lic 773985
<http://www.millersolar.com/>millersolar.com
805-438-5600
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