I have three SB 700 for my solar class. When we get the “waiting” on our LCD we are always well above the required VOC. A call to SMA years ago lead me to finding that there is a “wattage In”rating I need to meet to get the inverters to grid tie. I never saw this in the manual. These inverters have a narrow V and I window so finding modules for the lab was tricky. I had used 75V/1.4A modules for the stings to meet the 115-150Vdc range and a 2A max input rating. Connecting two of these in series never would take the inverter out of “waiting” mode unless it was blue bird skies and we tilted to array right at the sun. I finally put three or four in series on a (500w/m squared) cloudy day and the inverter immediately tied to the grid. Going back to 2 in series left it in waiting. That’s when I called and asked about a min current input rating and was told about the not listed wattage (I was told power) In rating.
Not sure if this applies to you but it was a great lesson for the students. Jesse Dahl NABCEP PV Installation Professional IBEW Local 292 - Electrician Electrical/Solar PV Instructor - HCC Sent from my iPhone > On Apr 23, 2019, at 2:21 PM, Harry Mahon <[email protected]> > wrote: > > William - yes, waiting is usually waiting for grid to come back within spec > or for DC voltage to get to start. 260 should be plenty. 208V with neutral > should be fine without adjusting the jumpers. Have you measured the AC > voltage at the inverter terminals? > > May want to contact service for this one. 1-877-697-6283. > > Best regards – > Mike > > From: William Miller <[email protected]> > Sent: Tuesday, April 23, 2019 12:40 PM > To: Harry Mahon <[email protected]> > Cc: RE-wrenches <[email protected]> > Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] SMA Micro-grid > > Mike: > > Thanks for the reply. Good information. > > The AC system is 208. The data sheet indicates that for 208 the PV startup is > 220. Today we have 260 VDC. That should be enough!? > > I checked EMT he AC frequency in case it was on shift mode. It is right at > 60.00. > > Still in waiting mode. I had always thought “waiting” was for grid reconnect > timeout... > > William > > On Apr 23, 2019, at 8:47 AM, Harry Mahon <[email protected]> > wrote: > > William – > Waiting mode means the DC voltage is below the inverter start. For SB > 4000-12, that would be 285 VDC (and will work to 250VDC once that is hit). > > If you knock on the inverter lid, the display will cycle and you will see the > DC voltage displayed. > > If the yellow LED is not on, this should not be an AC side issue. > > I do not think the “Backup Mode” parameter would be the cause, but if the > voltage check shows well above PVstart, it would be worth a call to service. > If the inverter was left in on grid mode, then it will work when the SI is > creating a micro-grid with frequency within UL1741 limits. If the system is > off-grid, I would think the SB would have been set to off-grid mode rather > than enabling Backup Mode to “on all” that allows switching from on-grid to > off-grid parameter sets by RS485 command. > > Best- > Mike > > From: RE-wrenches <[email protected]> On Behalf Of > William Miller > Sent: Monday, April 22, 2019 6:54 PM > To: RE-wrenches <[email protected]> > Subject: [RE-wrenches] SMA Micro-grid > > Friends: > > I am working on an AC coupled SMA system in an off-grid setting. We have an > SB4000-12 that was disconnected for a number of years and we reconnected it. > The inverter is stuck in the waiting mode and will not generate power. The > Sunny Islands and Sunny Boys are connected via an RS485 communication system. > > I suspect there is a programming step I have not yet accomplished. I recall > some years ago I programmed the other Sunny Boys for off-grid operation. I > can’t find anything in any of the manuals about how to check the programming. > I also suspect SAM tech support talked me through this and the information > may not be published. > > Does this ring a bell with any of you? Any advice? > > Thanks in advance. > > William Miller > > Miller Solar > 17395 Oak Road, Atascadero, CA 93422 > 805-438-5600 > www.millersolar.com > CA Lic. 773985 > > Quote of the day: “If there is a job you hate, get really, > really good at it. Maybe you will hate it less.“ W. Miller > > _______________________________________________ > List sponsored by Redwood Alliance > > List Address: [email protected] > > Change listserver email address & settings: > http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org > > List-Archive: > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html > > List rules & etiquette: > www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm > > Check out or update participant bios: > www.members.re-wrenches.org >
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