Dead inverter - what else to turn off?

H.E. Pennypacker

My Trannergy PV inverter seems to be dead - the display is dead and the on/off switch has no effect. My Eddi diverter is displaying a high voltage error but nothing has tripped at the consumer unit, including the PV breaker/kWh counter.


Do I need to turn off the fireman's switch beside the inverter or is ok to leave everything as is until I can get the installer back out?

rolion

Sorry to hear that !

If inverter is under warranty...i will not touch it .
Maybe turn off the switch from inverter to main fuse panel (not the panels to inverter) just in case...

H.E. Pennypacker

rolion wrote: »

Sorry to hear that !

If inverter is under warranty...i will not touch it .
Maybe turn off the switch from inverter to main fuse panel (not the panels to inverter) just in case...

Thanks - will do. It was fitted on Thursday so should be straightforward to sort out

freddyuk

Maybe it was designed incorrectly and the recent sun/cool mornings has caused over voltage situation which has blown the inverter. You should have been given a diagram of the system showing the panels and wiring so you can see what voltage is going into the inverter. How many cables feed the inverter? Multiply panel voltage by number of panels and divide by the number of cables feeding one input terminal.
That will give you a rough idea if the input voltage is close to the inverter limit.
You should also have been given written instructions on how to switch off/on the system correctly??

H.E. Pennypacker

freddyuk wrote: »

Maybe it was designed incorrectly and the recent sun/cool mornings has caused over voltage situation which has blown the inverter. You should have been given a diagram of the system showing the panels and wiring so you can see what voltage is going into the inverter. How many cables feed the inverter? Multiply panel voltage by number of panels and divide by the number of cables feeding one input terminal.
That will give you a rough idea if the input voltage is close to the inverter limit.
You should also have been given written instructions on how to switch off/on the system correctly??

I got installation/user manuals for the inverter and diverter and a verbal walkthrough but nothing on the panels or the system design. There was mention of the fireman's switch but I understood that it was for emergency responders and not something that I'd need to use. Maybe more was said than that but it was all verbal and I don't remember any instructions been given.

There are two cables coming from the roof going into a dual power supply and then two from that into the inverter. There are only two DC terminals on the inverter, one positive, one negative. Its a 6 x 300w panel system. The error would have happened at a time when a nearby chimney partially shades the panels.

This morning the inverter will start and showing input wattage from the panels with a status of normal. When the diverter was switched on initially, it showed an over voltage error but is showing a normal screen now.

Does anyone know what the box with the red light at the bottom of it in the attached photo is for btw? Its got no branding or markings on it

unkel

Partial shading kills your solar output, I'm surprised you didn't go for a setup with micro inverters?

H.E. Pennypacker

unkel wrote: »

Partial shading kills your solar output, I'm surprised you didn't go for a setup with micro inverters?

I didn't know about them and no-one who came out to survey/quote mentioned them. I first came across them last night when I was googling stuff about inverters. There's a chimney which throws a shadow across some areas of the panels in the later afternoon so its not too significant.


Mind you, while the inverter seems to be working as far as the display and warning lights are concerned, the Eddi diverter is not happy and is still reporting a high voltage issue and tripping a circuit breaker.

rolion

The white box could be the clamps / sensors box that talks with the Eddi diverter !?

H.E. Pennypacker

rolion wrote: »

The white box could be the clamps / sensors box that talks with the Eddi diverter !?

You're right! Turns out that its a heavy duty z wave switch for the Eddi for remote control...


The good news is that the inverter seems to be o.k. in so far as its not dead... Apparently its normal for the inverter to be completely switched off when there's no pv input. Today, the panels generated power and while they did so, the day/night meter didn't accumulate any units so the house consumed what it needed and the rest was presumably exported.


The company that fitted it will come out to investigate - the Eddi is still showing a supply voltage too high error even at night when the inverter is off so maybe that z wave heavy duty switch is the issue.

rolion

Great relief ...

The inverter is powered entirely by the PV panels.
The inverter will require an input voltage of around 90-120V,its called start-up power. IF no power generated by PVs, then panel goes in off mode.
Mine, every morning does a series of tests which can be heard from inside the house.

I'm surprised by the quality of work...do the installer connected the system to an online monitoring station / site ,where you can login and see some reports !?

Not lastly...keep a close eye on the meter, make sure that is not counting the wrong way.

Good luck and enjoy it.

unkel

H.E. Pennypacker wrote: »

There's a chimney which throws a shadow across some areas of the panels in the later afternoon so its not too significant.

That's probably not too bad then. That said it could very well be that the shadow would bring the voltage of your string under the minimum voltage the inverter can take. And that means you will have zero electricity generation. Easy to check, wait for the shadow and look at your inverter and see what it produces.

H.E. Pennypacker

rolion wrote: »

I'm surprised by the quality of work...do the installer connected the system to an online monitoring station / site ,where you can login and see some reports !?

Not lastly...keep a close eye on the meter, make sure that is not counting the wrong way.
.

It comes with an app which shows the overall consumption, panel output, amount being diverted to immersion and smart plug consumption. Immersion boost can be timed through the app and immersion divert can be turned on and off remotely as can the smart plugs. There's monthly reporting but no ability to export reports. As apps go its not bad but not as intuitive as it could be.


I'm watching the meter but so far everything is in order.

unkel wrote: »

That's probably not too bad then. That said it could very well be that the shadow would bring the voltage of your string under the minimum voltage the inverter can take. And that means you will have zero electricity generation. Easy to check, wait for the shadow and look at your inverter and see what it produces.

I can see output on the app while watching the shadow - so far it keeps producing but can drop to 200w or so. I'll keep monitoring it and see how it goes as we get deeper into winter.

denismc

So your EDDI should be on a completely separate circuit to your inverter, it should be somewhere between your consumer unit and your immersion. So its issues should have nothing to do with your panels and inverter.
According to the Eddi manual an Over Voltage Error! is because the voltage is too high! it should be less than 260V.

So if your Eddi is on you can check the supply voltage yourself, just check the readings on the main panel, the voltage is on page 2, anything upto 255V is normal.

H.E. Pennypacker

denismc wrote: »

So your EDDI should be on a completely separate circuit to your inverter, it should be somewhere between your consumer unit and your immersion. So its issues should have nothing to do with your panels and inverter.
According to the Eddi manual an Over Voltage Error! is because the voltage is too high! it should be less than 260V.

So if your Eddi is on you can check the supply voltage yourself, just check the readings on the main panel, the voltage is on page 2, anything upto 255V is normal.

Thanks - I wasn't familiar with the inverter setup when I first posted and didn't realise that it goes dead when there's no PV input. The response from the installer was very good - they came out the next day and replaced the Eddi. All has been well since.