Enabling Arc fault detection on a Sol-Ark 12K

[sgturner]

Hi All,

I'm finishing up installation of a Sol-Ark 12K. It came with PV Arc Fault detection disabled by default. I'm assuming you'd want to have this enabled and would assume NEC code would require it to be enabled(?). What are all you Sol-Arkers doing with this setting. ON or OFF?.

Thanks!.

 

[robby]

It's to detect if there is a poor connection on the PV string and I have left mine off because it was off by default and I do not know why, but I assume that maybe it can trip to easily.
I really do not want to come home and find that my batteries where not charged and my house was using Grid power all day because it tripped for no reason.

 

[sgturner]

When I go to enable it in the Web interface, there is a pop-up that says "do you really want to do this?". I get the feeling this "feature" could be flakey as @robby is guessing. I'll ask Sol-Ark tech support and see what they say.

 

[Bkord]

Mine kept tripping at 11:00am everyday. So I turned it off. I have a ground mount so it’s not required. I have imo rapid shutdown, maybe it dose not like that.

 

[robby]

When I go to enable it in the Web interface, there is a pop-up that says "do you really want to do this?". I get the feeling this "feature" could be flakey as @robby is guessing. I'll ask Sol-Ark tech support and see what they say.

I got a hold of Sol-Ark and asked them and they said if you have Firmware version X.X.1.0 or higher and the latest firmware it should work perfectly.
They also said as of Version X.X.1.6 the ARC protection is on by default.
I also asked for some details on how it works and they said it detects leakage voltage on the PV array caused by bad MC connectors or moisture in the cable. They said that rapid shutdown devices should work fine with it but Optimizes will not.


So far I have not tested it myself. I am going to get the 1.6 update next week and see how it works.

 

[Bkord]

I’ll check my firmware. And test it again. Thanks

 

[FightThePower]

Theres a few other mysterious settings on that same screen. I would have to go look at what they are but was looking at that screen the other day and was thinking I have no idea what any of these settings do.

 

[GregTR]

I got a hold of Sol-Ark and asked them and they said if you have Firmware version X.X.1.0 or higher and the latest firmware it should work perfectly.
They also said as of Version X.X.1.6 the ARC protection is on by default.
I also asked for some details on how it works and they said it detects leakage voltage on the PV array caused by bad MC connectors or moisture in the cable. They said that rapid shutdown devices should work fine with it but Optimizes will not.


So far I have not tested it myself. I am going to get the 1.6 update next week and see how it works.

Can you elaborate on this? I just had a Sol-Ark 15k installed and it appears to be working fine (grid-tie, load only mode, no batteries yet) but today it tripped with an Arc Fault code. I do have Tigo optimizers and the panels are on the roof.

Do I need to have arc fault turned on? How can I have it turned on if it does not work with optimizers?

 

[Danke]

Can you elaborate on this? I just had a Sol-Ark 15k installed and it appears to be working fine (grid-tie, load only mode, no batteries yet) but today it tripped with an Arc Fault code. I do have Tigo optimizers and the panels are on the roof.

Do I need to have arc fault turned on? How can I have it turned on if it does not work with optimizers?

Ya, I’d like to know about using it with optimizers too.

 

[robby]

Go to the menu screen and then go to Basic Settings then "Advanced" and you should see ARC FAULT with and On/Off option.
Just turn it off if you have optimizers. Remember to press OK to save the setting.

 

[robby]

Theres a few other mysterious settings on that same screen. I would have to go look at what they are but was looking at that screen the other day and was thinking I have no idea what any of these settings do.

Which ones do you want to know about.

 

[GregTR]

Go to the menu screen and then go to Basic Settings then "Advanced" and you should see ARC FAULT with and On/Off option.
Just turn it off if you have optimizers. Remember to press OK to save the setting.

I understand how to turn it off... My question was more along the line of "is this a feature that is required by code? And if it is, why would it be OK to turn it off?"

 

[robby]

I understand how to turn it off... My question was more along the line of "is this a feature that is required by code? And if it is, why would it be OK to turn it off?"

It is not required by code. It was probably just an extra safety feature that Sol-Ark wanted to add.

 

[GregTR]

Got it, thanks! I guess with the Tigo o\Optimizers it will arc fault as the Tigo will change current/voltage on the fly without inverter interaction which makes sense that it would trigger a fault.

 

[RV10flyer]

I enabled mine. It faulted. I disabled it and nothing has burnt up yet and I've brought in 30-125kWh for 6 mo.

Update: Still set to off 11/12/23. Still working great. Just thankful I’d didn’t buy EG46500ex’s for the house, instead of the shop (now getting Schneider!)

 

[Ted Katsouras]

I have a Sol-Ark 12K for about 2 years now and I was getting occasional Arc faults, I checked the installation, it was clean, I went back and forth with the Sol-Ark tech support about this issue and 2-3 months ago they fixed it in a software update. I have the ARC fault ON since the software update no more faults.

 

[robby]

I have a Sol-Ark 12K for about 2 years now and I was getting occasional Arc faults, I checked the installation, it was clean, I went back and forth with the Sol-Ark tech support about this issue and 2-3 months ago they fixed it in a software update. I have the ARC fault ON since the software update no more faults.

Sounds right, that is just about the time when i updated to 6.2.1.0
That is supposed to be the first version that had it fixed.
Are you grounding your panels to the same ground as the Inverter?

 

[400bird]

I understand how to turn it off... My question was more along the line of "is this a feature that is required by code? And if it is, why would it be OK to turn it off?"

That depends on where you are and how your panels are mounted. I believe NEC requires ARC fault when over 80 volts and mounted on a building.

 

[robby]

That depends on where you are and how your panels are mounted. I believe NEC requires ARC fault when over 80 volts and mounted on a building.

I think your right but they seem to leave some pretty big loopholes.
It seems that if you used metal lined conduit and boxes your exempt.
If the panels are not attached to the house your exempt.
If the inverter is in a separate room from the house your exempt.
I think most people are using metal conduit as that is another requirement, so they should be exempt.

I have a feeling that a common grounding system is needed for Arc fault to be reliable.

 

[cods4]

Just to add here, that Deye has the same feature. We have a separate option for arc flash detection, and clear arc fault. I.e alarm only, or alarm and trip.

Good to hear it is working well for most with the latest firmware. I will be enabling it on my inverters.

 

[RV10flyer]

I think your right but they seem to leave some pretty big loopholes.
It seems that if you used metal lined conduit and boxes your exempt.
If the panels are not attached to the house your exempt.
If the inverter is in a separate room from the house your exempt.
I think most people are using metal conduit as that is another requirement, so they should be exempt.

I have a feeling that a common grounding system is needed for Arc fault to be reliable.

My array is earth grounded 75' away from house/power shed earth ground rod. I have two IMO switches and six 600V MNS SPD at the array, where I hope the lightning will stay. Mine faulted before my first update. I turned it on again today. Thank you for that info!

 

[400bird]

I think your right but they seem to leave some pretty big loopholes.
It seems that if you used metal lined conduit and boxes your exempt.
If the panels are not attached to the house your exempt.
If the inverter is in a separate room from the house your exempt.
I think most people are using metal conduit as that is another requirement, so they should be exempt.

I'll agree there, that was how I read it. But that isn't how my AHJ interpreted the wording of the code.

 

[Ted Katsouras]

Sounds right, that is just about the time when i updated to 6.2.1.0
That is supposed to be the first version that had it fixed.
Are you grounding your panels to the same ground as the Inverter?

Actually my panels are on a carport type structure that are some distance away so there is a ground there, the inverter has the house ground both grounds are not connected. The ARC faults I was getting when it was partly cloudy day, one cloud will pass then sunny for seconds before the next cloud, the data from the Solar Assistant helped me track this down.

 

[GregTR]

I just had a second arc fault today. Yesterday it happened at 14:25, today it happened at 14:29. I pinpointed the exact second it happened which is when my upstairs A/C kicked on. I think at this time in the day my west side panels 6s2p are producing a large chunk of my power and I also have partial shading on two of the west facing panels. This means that the optimizer probably steps in and when the sudden surge in current draw drives the optimizer to change over the individual panel the voltage drops suddenly for the MPPT and it registers it as an arc fault.

Since I have optimizers, as well as full metal conduit for all my wiring I think I'm going to keep the arc fault feature off.

 

[robby]

I just had a second arc fault today. Yesterday it happened at 14:25, today it happened at 14:29. I pinpointed the exact second it happened which is when my upstairs A/C kicked on. I think at this time in the day my west side panels 6s2p are producing a large chunk of my power and I also have partial shading on two of the west facing panels. This means that the optimizer probably steps in and when the sudden surge in current draw drives the optimizer to change over the individual panel the voltage drops suddenly for the MPPT and it registers it as an arc fault.

Since I have optimizers, as well as full metal conduit for all my wiring I think I'm going to keep the arc fault feature off.

Yes it should be off if you are using optimizers.
Thanks for letting us know exactly what problem they cause.