Jeff - I'm interested to know what Sol-Ark's response was regarding the 15K being rated to 10,000 ft. Did they say it would work but with derating? Any mention of impact on the warranty? I reached out to them with a similar question since I am looking for a solution for our off-grid home at 9950 ft. They replied asking me to review their attached document on inverter power output derate curves based on ambient temperature conditions. The document also has a paragraph on altitude derating that basically states their inverters were designed to be installed up to 2000m and as altitude increases the derating behavior occurs faster as the air density decreases and heat dissipation of the inverter is weakened. The final sentence states "Please install the inverter according to the installation manual to avoid high inverter temperature." In other words, they didn't really give me a clear answer. Did you get a more definitive response from Sol-Ark? Thanks!
Their (Sol-Ark's) response was far from complete -- in fact -- below is the full transcript of my email and their absurdly short reaction. We wound up buying two MidNite 'The Ones' (see the transcript of my question and their response at the bottom) for our use as two Sol-Ark 15's were way more $$ for our needs and I was extremely turned off by many of Sol-Ark's posting history on here....but no doubt a 15k is a nice unit. We also went Midnite to pair with 10 of their 5kwh batteries for easier permitting. Sol-Ark would've been a fortune for Pytes.
Hello,
Our off-grid project will be @ 8,000 Ft elevation (Colorado) -- and despite several AIO's on the market listing an Altitude in their specs -- they simply aren't up to the task (2,000m limit) -- will a Sol-Ark 15 have any issues with this altitude of 2,440m?
Thanks,
Hello Jefferson,
The 15k will work fine at 10,000 ft so the 8,000 Ft or 2,440m will be fine.
MidNite Solar Transcript about altitude:
Hello,
We are considering "the one" for our 100% off-grid location at 8,200 feet elevation in Colorado as the initial pass of the stats appears ideal for our needs.
But what isn't ideal is the 6,500 feet but I was relieved to see it's derated above that vs a hard ceiling. Is this due to a lack of specific testing/listing/cooling for exceeding 6,500 ft altitude or is this a real concern with dielectric breakdown? With a max PV voltage of 600 I can see the concern -- but are the boards conformal coated?
Also -- at 8,200 feet -- what is the % derating? If it matters -- our ambient will be cool -- like really cool -- roughly 60 degrees F year-round and our humidity can be controlled within the space to be near 30% -- or does the unit use only barometric pressure to determine the % of derating?
Please advise.
Jeff
Colorado
Jeff,
The max altitude is from the UL standard that is the elevation UL requires one test to. That said we have no concerns on 10,000 feet as the unit is conformal coated unlike most other AIO’s As for derating you will not see any appreciable amount of derating the real concern as you pointed out is voltage spacing if the unit is not conformal coated.
Ryan
I just heard back from Sol-Ark -- a 15k has rated to 10,000 feet -- so I may just go that rate as it's 'plug-and-play' for our setup and full UL making the eventual electrical inspection part of our permit signed off.
.
…J.
