Hi Matt - A couple of years ago, I worked extensively with an inverter manufacturer (sorry I can't name) who was seeing a lot of arc-fault nuisance tripping on systems with Tigo. They had some fancy test equipment and did a bunch of analysis and found that Tigo was creating a lot of noise on the DC circuits, and that noise would look like DC arc fault noise in many situations. I don't know whether Tigo has made improvements or not, but I wouldn't be surprised if the -40 is sensitive to the Tigo noise. If you can talk to the right person at SMA (I don't know who that would be these days), you might ask them about whether they have evaluated the -40 arc detection for compatibility with Tigo; if not, maybe they could. I suspect it's partially a matter of an evolving and imperfect set of standards. Probably both the inverter and the maximizer meet their respective noise standards, but there is still a problem when you put them together.
Best, Blake On Tue, May 8, 2018 at 9:42 AM, Matt Partymiller < m...@solar-energy-solutions.com> wrote: > Wrenches, > > I recall seeing some past threads about SMA arc fault issues but am > curious if others are using SMA -40 inverters extensively and NOT seeing > intermittent arc faults? If so, I would be curious what your DC > installation practices look like? Are you ensuring that homerun ends use > connectors identical to your module manufacturer? Are you crimping any DC > transitions? Perhaps using insulated lugs for DC transitions? What type of > conduit are you using for DC wiring? Are you using ferrules where you > terminate in the inverter? Any other tips or suggestions are also > welcome. > > At the moment arc faults for the SMA -40 inverters seem to be our main > service ticket at this time (surpassing Enphase replacements and > surpassing prior-model SMA arc fault issues). The arc fault errors are > particularly prevalent on systems with Tigo optimizers installed though we > have occurrences on pretty much every -40 unit. System meantime between > failure seems to be unpredictable but somewhere between 2-180 days. There > does seem to be some correlation between systems with shading and Tigos > and prevalence of arc faults. Shutting off arc fault seems to be the only > true solution which is obviously undesirable. > > SMA has us update firmware and has had us shutoff Optitrac neither of > which resolve the issue. They also ask us to check wiring connections > which almost never yields results (though we have found a squirrel or two > which makes one grateful that the arc fault function exists). > > Thanks for any advice, > > Matt > > > > > Matthew Partymiller > Solar Energy Solutions LLC > (877) 312-7456 > m...@solar-energy-solutions.com > > > _______________________________________________ > List sponsored by Redwood Alliance > > List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org > > Change listserver email address & settings: > http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org > > List-Archive: http://www.mail-archive.com/re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches. > org/maillist.html > > List rules & etiquette: > www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm > > Check out or update participant bios: > www.members.re-wrenches.org > > -- <http://www.sunlightandpower.com/> <https://www.bcorporation.net/what-are-b-corps/why-b-corps-matter> <http://www.greenbiz.ca.gov/AboutUsAC.html> <https://www.yelp.com/biz/sunlight-and-power-berkeley> <https://www.facebook.com/SunLightandpower/> <https://plus.google.com/+SunLightPowerBerkeley> <https://www.linkedin.com/company/sunlightandpower> <https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCT9wyMAwre0RW8QnR-Hx3Mw> * Blake Gleason* - PE, LEED AP *Director of Innovation & Technical Excellence* *P:* 510.845.2997 x128 *E:* bl...@sunlightandpower.com *W:* sunlightandpower.com <http://www.sunlightandpower.com> See how universities are using business as a force for good with solar! <http://smart.sunlightandpower.com/vsig/blake/slpbanner.html>
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