All of the "PV" Series inverters we installed from Trace/Xantrex required external isolation transformers. That is, most smaller string inverters of that era had built-in iso transformers, but the PV series did not. Remember that the DC negative is grounded.
I suppose it's also possible that the gas station service is 480V, in which case the iso transformer would also (in addition to isolation) serve the purpose of converting from 208 to 480V. It's possible everything was still working, but probably won't be for long! Blake Gleason, PE Director of Innovation & Technical Excellence Sun Light & Power On Sun, Jun 6, 2021, 7:38 AM <pgir...@mindspring.com> wrote: > Good morning fellow wrenchers, need some help from those of you that > have a bit more tenure than I do. Was called to look at a site yesterday > that is down due to renovations. It is a gas station that has 20 KW worth > of solar on the canopy, two Trace PV-10208’s and two transformers, one on > the output of each inverter. The system was shut down during a large > renovation, wires cut and sort of lost under the pavement during the work. > We have a good idea where we can dig to locate the conduit for AC but my > dilemma is the equipment on the canopy. The owner has no idea how old the > system is and if it was actually working prior to the reno. > > > > Getting AC back up and running to the canopy may be the easy part, I > need to understand why there is a transformer along with the Trace inverter > and how have these inverters held up for 20 + years and based on layout if > needed can I replace inverter with current tech without rewiring the whole > canopy ( 264 BP 85 watt panels, wired to combiner box then out to inverters > ). Power supply at gas station is 208. So, please and thank you in advance, > any and all help, guidance and ideas greatly appreciated. > > > > Thank you > > Peter Giroux > > American Solar & Alternative Energy Solutions inc > > Roswell Ga > > 678 525 0468 > _______________________________________________ > List sponsored by Redwood Alliance > > Pay optional member dues here: http://re-wrenches.org > > 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 > > There are two list archives for searching. When one doesn't work, try the > other: > https://www.mail-archive.com/re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org/ > http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org > > List rules & etiquette: > http://www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm > > Check out or update participant bios: > http://www.members.re-wrenches.org > >
_______________________________________________ List sponsored by Redwood Alliance Pay optional member dues here: http://re-wrenches.org 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 There are two list archives for searching. When one doesn't work, try the other: https://www.mail-archive.com/re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org/ http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: http://www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out or update participant bios: http://www.members.re-wrenches.org
