[RE-wrenches] Unshaded micro-inverter performance
Is anyone aware of a third-party report or study on the performance of unshaded string inverter systems vs. unshaded micro-inverter systems? Enphase claims a 5-25% increase, and uses a small-commercial SunEd installhttp://www.solarindustrymag.com/e107_plugins/content/content_lt.php?content.4376as evidence, but I'd like to see something beyond a single performance ratio. It would be great to see something that incorporates multiple module types and their tolerances for voltage and current. Could make a good SolarPro article... Andrew Truitt Standard Solar Inc. -- Don't get me wrong: I love nuclear energy! It's just that I prefer fusion to fission. And it just so happens that there's an enormous fusion reactor safely banked a few million miles from us. It delivers more than we could ever use in just about 8 minutes. And it's wireless! ~William McDonough ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org
Re: [RE-wrenches] Unshaded micro-inverter performance
Hi I have such a set up but the monitoring would be the problem. I think I would want a thing like a TED that works. Darryl --- On Mon, 6/7/10, Andrew Truitt atru...@gmail.com wrote: From: Andrew Truitt atru...@gmail.com Subject: [RE-wrenches] Unshaded micro-inverter performance To: RE-wrenches re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Date: Monday, June 7, 2010, 9:29 AM Is anyone aware of a third-party report or study on the performance of unshaded string inverter systems vs. unshaded micro-inverter systems? Enphase claims a 5-25% increase, and uses a small-commercial SunEd install as evidence, but I'd like to see something beyond a single performance ratio. It would be great to see something that incorporates multiple module types and their tolerances for voltage and current. Could make a good SolarPro article... Andrew Truitt Standard Solar Inc. -- Don't get me wrong: I love nuclear energy! It's just that I prefer fusion to fission. And it just so happens that there's an enormous fusion reactor safely banked a few million miles from us. It delivers more than we could ever use in just about 8 minutes. And it's wireless! ~William McDonough -Inline Attachment Follows- ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org
[RE-wrenches] XANTREX GT 3.0 FAILURES
On Jun 7, 2010, at 7:40:28 AM, Darryl Thayer daryl_so...@yahoo.com wrote: From: Darryl Thayer daryl_so...@yahoo.com Subject:Re: [RE-wrenches] Unshaded micro-inverter performance Date: June 7, 2010 7:40:28 AM PDT To: RE-wrenches re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Hi I have such a set up but the monitoring would be the problem. I think I would want a thing like a TED that works. Darryl --- On Mon, 6/7/10, Andrew Truitt atru...@gmail.com wrote: From: Andrew Truitt atru...@gmail.com Subject: [RE-wrenches] Unshaded micro-inverter performance To: RE-wrenches re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Date: Monday, June 7, 2010, 9:29 AM Is anyone aware of a third-party report or study on the performance of unshaded string inverter systems vs. unshaded micro-inverter systems? Enphase claims a 5-25% increase, and uses a small-commercial SunEd install as evidence, but I'd like to see something beyond a single performance ratio. It would be great to see something that incorporates multiple module types and their tolerances for voltage and current. Could make a good SolarPro article... Andrew Truitt Standard Solar Inc. -- Don't get me wrong: I love nuclear energy! It's just that I prefer fusion to fission. And it just so happens that there's an enormous fusion reactor safely banked a few million miles from us. It delivers more than we could ever use in just about 8 minutes. And it's wireless! ~William McDonough -Inline Attachment Follows- ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: re-wrenc...@lists.re-wrenches.org Options settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org
[RE-wrenches] GT 3.0 FAILURES
SORRY FOR THE BLANK, I am replacing some GT 3.0 multiple times. Though Xantrex pays the labor, this is still a crummy deal. My customers really loose confidence the 2nd and 3rd time , Bad for industry and my company. Question, how many other installers are experiencing multiple failures with the GT series. I have a bad feeling that they are not addressing the engineering problems and just replacing parts and shipping the same old problem back to the field. Don Offline Solar ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org
Re: [RE-wrenches] GT 3.0 FAILURES
I installed several a couple years ago and had an average of one failure per installed inverter. Tech support wasn't particularly helpful and a couple of the replacements took months to be shipped. Customers aren't very understanding of systems being down for 4-5 months. We no longer use any Xantrex GT. Dana Dana Brandt Ecotech Energy Systems, LLC www.ecotechenergy.com d...@ecotechenergy.com 360.510.0433 On Mon, Jun 7, 2010 at 11:22 AM, i2p i...@aol.com wrote: SORRY FOR THE BLANK, I am replacing some GT 3.0 multiple times. Though Xantrex pays the labor, this is still a crummy deal. My customers really loose confidence the 2nd and 3rd time , Bad for industry and my company. Question, how many other installers are experiencing multiple failures with the GT series. I have a bad feeling that they are not addressing the engineering problems and just replacing parts and shipping the same old problem back to the field. Don Offline Solar ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org
Re: [RE-wrenches] GT 3.0 FAILURES
Don,We had 3 consecutive failures on one job (at 2 weeks, 2 months, and 1.5 years after installation). Customer rightfully said "I don't want another one of those", so we replaced it with a SWR2500 at our expense. Xantrex ultimately reimbursed us. Another job had 2 failures. Haven't used a Xantrex product since. (except the venerable C-40).Sorry for your troubles. You might see if they are open to reimbursing you for switching to another make, especially after multiple failures at one site. Bruce EricksonMendocino Solar Service707-937-1701707-937-1741 faxPO Box 1252Mendocino, CA 95460"Serving the Solar System" On Jun 7, 2010, at 11:22 AM, i2p wrote:SORRY FOR THE BLANK,I am replacing some GT 3.0 multiple times. Though Xantrex pays the labor, this is still a crummy deal. My customers really loose confidence the 2nd and 3rd time , Bad for industry and my company.Question, how many other installers are experiencing multiple failures with the GT series. I have a bad feeling that they are not addressing the engineering problems and just replacing parts and shipping the same old problem back to the field.DonOffline Solar ___List sponsored by Home Power magazineList Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.orgOptions settings:http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.orgList-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.orgList rules etiquette:www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htmCheck out participant bios:www.members.re-wrenches.org___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org
Re: [RE-wrenches] Unshaded micro-inverter performance
Darryl - We use Locus Energy as our third-party, production + demand monitoring and we've been pretty happy with them. Not always the easiest thing to install and make look good but it does work! A little pricier than TED though. - Andrew On Mon, Jun 7, 2010 at 10:40 AM, Darryl Thayer daryl_so...@yahoo.comwrote: Hi I have such a set up but the monitoring would be the problem. I think I would want a thing like a TED that works. Darryl --- On *Mon, 6/7/10, Andrew Truitt atru...@gmail.com* wrote: From: Andrew Truitt atru...@gmail.com Subject: [RE-wrenches] Unshaded micro-inverter performance To: RE-wrenches re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Date: Monday, June 7, 2010, 9:29 AM Is anyone aware of a third-party report or study on the performance of unshaded string inverter systems vs. unshaded micro-inverter systems? Enphase claims a 5-25% increase, and uses a small-commercial SunEd installhttp://www.solarindustrymag.com/e107_plugins/content/content_lt.php?content.4376as evidence, but I'd like to see something beyond a single performance ratio. It would be great to see something that incorporates multiple module types and their tolerances for voltage and current. Could make a good SolarPro article... Andrew Truitt Standard Solar Inc. -- Don't get me wrong: I love nuclear energy! It's just that I prefer fusion to fission. And it just so happens that there's an enormous fusion reactor safely banked a few million miles from us. It delivers more than we could ever use in just about 8 minutes. And it's wireless! ~William McDonough -Inline Attachment Follows- ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.orghttp://mc/compose?to=re-wrenc...@lists.re-wrenches.org Options settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org -- Don't get me wrong: I love nuclear energy! It's just that I prefer fusion to fission. And it just so happens that there's an enormous fusion reactor safely banked a few million miles from us. It delivers more than we could ever use in just about 8 minutes. And it's wireless! ~William McDonough ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org
Re: [RE-wrenches] Unshaded micro-inverter performance
Has anyone tried the EGauge ? at www.eGauge.net It has more channels up to 12 current taps and 3 voltages? and they said it has a lot more communication power than the TED and it appears they have some one answer the phone that knows something and can answer questions? DArryl --- On Mon, 6/7/10, Andrew Truitt atru...@gmail.com wrote: From: Andrew Truitt atru...@gmail.com Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] Unshaded micro-inverter performance To: RE-wrenches re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Date: Monday, June 7, 2010, 4:09 PM Darryl - We use Locus Energy as our third-party, production + demand monitoring and we've been pretty happy with them. Not always the easiest thing to install and make look good but it does work! A little pricier than TED though. - Andrew On Mon, Jun 7, 2010 at 10:40 AM, Darryl Thayer daryl_so...@yahoo.com wrote: Hi I have such a set up but the monitoring would be the problem. I think I would want a thing like a TED that works. Darryl --- On Mon, 6/7/10, Andrew Truitt atru...@gmail.com wrote: From: Andrew Truitt atru...@gmail.com Subject: [RE-wrenches] Unshaded micro-inverter performance To: RE-wrenches re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Date: Monday, June 7, 2010, 9:29 AM Is anyone aware of a third-party report or study on the performance of unshaded string inverter systems vs. unshaded micro-inverter systems? Enphase claims a 5-25% increase, and uses a small-commercial SunEd install as evidence, but I'd like to see something beyond a single performance ratio. It would be great to see something that incorporates multiple module types and their tolerances for voltage and current. Could make a good SolarPro article... Andrew Truitt Standard Solar Inc. -- Don't get me wrong: I love nuclear energy! It's just that I prefer fusion to fission. And it just so happens that there's an enormous fusion reactor safely banked a few million miles from us. It delivers more than we could ever use in just about 8 minutes. And it's wireless! ~William McDonough -Inline Attachment Follows- ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org -- Don't get me wrong: I love nuclear energy! It's just that I prefer fusion to fission. And it just so happens that there's an enormous fusion reactor safely banked a few million miles from us. It delivers more than we could ever use in just about 8 minutes. And it's wireless! ~William McDonough -Inline Attachment Follows- ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org
Re: [RE-wrenches] Unshaded micro-inverter performance
All, We've used a number of the Dent Instruments dataloggers. http://www.dentinstruments.com/ Good performance, great support. A little pricey, and the interface is a bit clunky, but an overall good value. DEFINITELY a huge step above the TED. See ya! Marv 707 763-4784 x7016 Darryl Thayer wrote: Has anyone tried the EGauge ? at www.eGauge.net It has more channels up to 12 current taps and 3 voltages? and they said it has a lot more communication power than the TED and it appears they have some one answer the phone that knows something and can answer questions? DArryl --- On Mon, 6/7/10, Andrew Truitt atru...@gmail.com wrote: From: Andrew Truitt atru...@gmail.com Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] Unshaded micro-inverter performance To: "RE-wrenches" re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Date: Monday, June 7, 2010, 4:09 PM Darryl - We use Locus Energy as our third-party, production + demand monitoring and we've been pretty happy with them. Not always the easiest thing to install and make look good but it does work! A little pricier than TED though. - Andrew On Mon, Jun 7, 2010 at 10:40 AM, Darryl Thayer daryl_so...@yahoo.com wrote: Hi I have such a set up but the monitoring would be the problem. I think I would want a thing like a TED that works. Darryl --- On Mon, 6/7/10, Andrew Truitt atru...@gmail.com wrote: From: Andrew Truitt atru...@gmail.com Subject: [RE-wrenches] Unshaded micro-inverter performance To: "RE-wrenches" re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Date: Monday, June 7, 2010, 9:29 AM Is anyone aware of a third-party report or study on the performance of unshaded string inverter systems vs. unshaded micro-inverter systems? Enphase claims a 5-25% increase, and uses a small-commercial SunEd install as evidence, but I'd like to see something beyond a single performance ratio. It would be great to see something that incorporates multiple module types and their tolerances for voltage and current. Could make a good SolarPro article... Andrew Truitt Standard Solar Inc. -- "Don't get me wrong: I love nuclear energy! It's just that I prefer fusion to fission. And it just so happens that there's an enormous fusion reactor safely banked a few million miles from us. It delivers more than we could ever use in just about 8 minutes. And it's wireless!" ~William McDonough -Inline Attachment Follows- ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org -- "Don't get me wrong: I love nuclear energy! It's just that I prefer fusion to fission. And it just so happens that there's an enormous fusion reactor safely banked a few million miles from us. It delivers more than we could ever use in just about 8 minutes. And it's wireless!" ~William McDonough -Inline Attachment Follows- ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive:
Re: [RE-wrenches] GT 3.0 FAILURES
On Jun 7, 2010, at 11:36:18 AM, Marco Mangelsdorf ma...@pvthawaii.com wrote: one site having three failed buggers until I had had enough and switched to a comparable SMA product. This happened to me , after the third time I could not take the loss of customer confidence and installed another product. My fear is I'll need to do this for multiple customers (yes I installed lots of them). Because the customer already bought their inverter, they are not happy about buying another so I generally I help them out (ie-- it costs me money). Thanks all, Don ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org
Re: [RE-wrenches] Unshaded micro-inverter performance
On Jun 7, 2010, at 2:17:08 PM, Darryl Thayer daryl_so...@yahoo.com wrote: has a lot more communication power than the TED Two out of 2 attempts with the TED 5000 was enough for me. Crummy, the same story over and over, you have noise. Try another position, like bend over! I still dream of affordable monitoring. Don ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org
Re: [RE-wrenches] GT 3.0 FAILURES
Yes, I have commonly found issues with the GT series. I have installed hundreds of Xantrex inverters through the BP/Home Depot solar program. Unfortunately, I have replaced 4 in the last 2 weeks. With so many in the field, I am forced to spend a large amount of time troubleshooting and replacing GTs. On the other hand, I have also replaced 1 SB-6000U (almost out of warranty) in the same time frame and have recently seen SMA inverters failing out of warranty. All in all, the Xantrex perform less reliably, but are much easier to handle and replace, and the technical support is good. In my experience, it is not a big difference. I trust the newer GTs more. Most of my 3.0's have been upgraded by Xantrex to 3.3s, upon failure. Nick Soleil Project Manager Advanced Alternative Energy Solutions, LLC PO Box 657 Petaluma, CA 94953 Cell: 707-321-2937 Office: 707-789-9537 Fax:707-769-9037 From: Marco Mangelsdorf ma...@pvthawaii.com To: RE-wrenches re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Sent: Mon, June 7, 2010 11:36:18 AM Subject: [RE-wrenches] GT 3.0 FAILURES In my experience as well the Xantrex GT line of inverters has been fraught with failures with one site having three failed buggers until I had had enough and switched to a comparable SMA product. marco I am replacing some GT 3.0 multiple times. Though Xantrex pays the labor, this is still a crummy deal. My customers really loose confidence the 2nd and 3rd time , Bad for industry and my company. Question, how many other installers are experiencing multiple failures with the GT series. I have a bad feeling that they are not addressing the engineering problems and just replacing parts and shipping the same old problem back to the field. Don Offline Solar ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org
Re: [RE-wrenches] Unshaded micro-inverter performance
Has anybody had any experience with TIGO yet? I placed an order with DC Power months ago (February) and am still waiting... would just give up but the product seems so promising and module/monitoring is one clear benefit. Pat Redgate Ameco Solar In a message dated 6/7/2010 4:21:56 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time, i...@aol.com writes: On Jun 7, 2010, at 2:17:08 PM, Darryl Thayer daryl_so...@yahoo.com wrote: has a lot more communication power than the TED Two out of 2 attempts with the TED 5000 was enough for me. Crummy, the same story over and over, you have noise. Try another position, like bend over! I still dream of affordable monitoring. Don ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org
Re: [RE-wrenches] GT 3.0 FAILURES
I haven't read the other precursor emails in the thread (but it doesn't make any difference if I am to relate my personal experience). I was a SWR2500 fan for the first two years in business 2002-2004. I am a loyal customer as long as the quality, price, availability and tech support stayed true. I got pretty upset when SMA upped their prices in response to capturing the US market. The GT line looked great, with a more manageable form factor and better pricing. So I switched horses. My initial experience with the GTs was fine. As an aside, I had a horrible time with my first two XW, in every way imaginable. So the GTs seemed to be solid citizens until the Chinese manufacturing debacle set in. I think I will end up replacing 100% of the GTs we installed over that 9 month (?) period -- I'm thinking 15 total. Another GT failed two weeks ago. The customer relayed the LCD display readout to us (Inverter Offline), the date of mfgr (Feb. 24, 2006) the FGA (8640002) and the S/N (1098-6063). All fit the MO exactly. Schneider Tech Support (which is who we are dealing with, to be precise) still insisted on having us roll a truck to make DC and AC voltage measurements before processing the warranty claim. Very poor move on their part. They know the GT unit in question was going to fail and it has - ship us a replacement, dummies. The difference between one and two truck rolls is covering our costs and not. I haven't had replacement units fail, though. I wonder why. In addition, they are taking something close to eight weeks to cut checks; eight weeks after getting the defective unit back. So Xantrex is on my Do Not Buy list, not for any of their inverters or any thing else I might think of. For the duration. - Peter Peter T. Parrish, Ph.D., President California Solar Engineering, Inc. 820 Cynthia Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90065 CA Lic. 854779, NABCEP Cert. 031806-26 mailto:peter.parr...@calsolareng.com peter.parr...@calsolareng.com Ph 323-258-8883, Mobile 323-839-6108, Fax 323-258-8885 _ From: re-wrenches-boun...@lists.re-wrenches.org [mailto:re-wrenches-boun...@lists.re-wrenches.org] On Behalf Of Nick Soleil Sent: Monday, June 07, 2010 4:55 PM To: RE-wrenches Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] GT 3.0 FAILURES Yes, I have commonly found issues with the GT series. I have installed hundreds of Xantrex inverters through the BP/Home Depot solar program. Unfortunately, I have replaced 4 in the last 2 weeks. With so many in the field, I am forced to spend a large amount of time troubleshooting and replacing GTs. On the other hand, I have also replaced 1 SB-6000U (almost out of warranty) in the same time frame and have recently seen SMA inverters failing out of warranty. All in all, the Xantrex perform less reliably, but are much easier to handle and replace, and the technical support is good. In my experience, it is not a big difference. I trust the newer GTs more. Most of my 3.0's have been upgraded by Xantrex to 3.3s, upon failure. Nick Soleil Project Manager Advanced Alternative Energy Solutions, LLC PO Box 657 Petaluma, CA 94953 Cell: 707-321-2937 Office: 707-789-9537 Fax: 707-769-9037 _ From: Marco Mangelsdorf ma...@pvthawaii.com To: RE-wrenches re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Sent: Mon, June 7, 2010 11:36:18 AM Subject: [RE-wrenches] GT 3.0 FAILURES In my experience as well the Xantrex GT line of inverters has been fraught with failures with one site having three failed buggers until I had had enough and switched to a comparable SMA product. marco I am replacing some GT 3.0 multiple times. Though Xantrex pays the labor, this is still a crummy deal. My customers really loose confidence the 2nd and 3rd time , Bad for industry and my company. Question, how many other installers are experiencing multiple failures with the GT series. I have a bad feeling that they are not addressing the engineering problems and just replacing parts and shipping the same old problem back to the field. Don Offline Solar ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org
Re: [RE-wrenches] Unshaded micro-inverter performance
Darryl, I have a handful of eGauges installed in the field, including one at my house (eGauge68 http://egauge68.d.egauge.net/). I can't speak on comparison to TED, I haven't used it. Today I learned that you can use eGauge with Google Power Meter, where Google imports the data and acts as the interface, which would expand functionality/3rd party interaction even more (although also significantly reduce the resolution from the native interface). You can also daisy chain eGauge units together to have nearly endless channel logging, in case 12 isn't enough. There are 3 voltage inputs, so if you have three phases you use all three, but if you have a split-phase system you could independently monitor a third voltage. I really like the eGauge user interface, which is accessible either over the web or via the local network (the eGauge unit itself is it's own data logger and web server, it just needs a DHCP internet connection, or something like that). I find their interface to be one of the most intuitive and easy to follow, short of Enphase Enlighten. My customers all like it too, and some use it religiously to track their energy usage and solar production. They also like the remote access part; tracking energy use from anywhere is usually pretty important to my customers who want to monitor usage (larger homes, often secondary residences, so they need more than a local-only display). The company is extremely prompt at returning emails and phone calls, always same day, usually within an hour. Like lots of smaller start-ups, the support comes from the top; you get emails from the product developer directly, David Mosberger. If he doesn't have an answer or his product lacks some functionality, then he'll improve based on your feedback. Plus there are no recurring fees for the monitoring service, a big plus. I've used some Dent products from the PGE Pacific Energy Center tool rentals and agree with Marv, not the best interface, but you get plenty of good data. I'd be curious to hear what anyone else has experienced with eGuage, or if someone has hands-on direct feedback when compared with a TED. -Phil Real Goods Solar On Mon, Jun 7, 2010 at 2:17 PM, Darryl Thayer daryl_so...@yahoo.com wrote: Has anyone tried the EGauge ? at www.eGauge.net It has more channels up to 12 current taps and 3 voltages? and they said it has a lot more communication power than the TED and it appears they have some one answer the phone that knows something and can answer questions? DArryl --- On *Mon, 6/7/10, Andrew Truitt atru...@gmail.com* wrote: From: Andrew Truitt atru...@gmail.com Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] Unshaded micro-inverter performance To: RE-wrenches re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Date: Monday, June 7, 2010, 4:09 PM Darryl - We use Locus Energy as our third-party, production + demand monitoring and we've been pretty happy with them. Not always the easiest thing to install and make look good but it does work! A little pricier than TED though. - Andrew On Mon, Jun 7, 2010 at 10:40 AM, Darryl Thayer daryl_so...@yahoo.comhttp://mc/compose?to=daryl_so...@yahoo.com wrote: Hi I have such a set up but the monitoring would be the problem. I think I would want a thing like a TED that works. Darryl --- On *Mon, 6/7/10, Andrew Truitt atru...@gmail.comhttp://mc/compose?to=atru...@gmail.com * wrote: From: Andrew Truitt atru...@gmail.comhttp://mc/compose?to=atru...@gmail.com Subject: [RE-wrenches] Unshaded micro-inverter performance To: RE-wrenches re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.orghttp://mc/compose?to=re-wrenc...@lists.re-wrenches.org Date: Monday, June 7, 2010, 9:29 AM Is anyone aware of a third-party report or study on the performance of unshaded string inverter systems vs. unshaded micro-inverter systems? Enphase claims a 5-25% increase, and uses a small-commercial SunEd installhttp://www.solarindustrymag.com/e107_plugins/content/content_lt.php?content.4376as evidence, but I'd like to see something beyond a single performance ratio. It would be great to see something that incorporates multiple module types and their tolerances for voltage and current. Could make a good SolarPro article... Andrew Truitt Standard Solar Inc. -- Don't get me wrong: I love nuclear energy! It's just that I prefer fusion to fission. And it just so happens that there's an enormous fusion reactor safely banked a few million miles from us. It delivers more than we could ever use in just about 8 minutes. And it's wireless! ~William McDonough -Inline Attachment Follows- ___ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.orghttp://mc/compose?to=re-wrenc...@lists.re-wrenches.org Options settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules etiquette:
