Enphase/Schneider Power Voltage Issues

[Nitr0]

I have a Schneider CSW4024 operating as a micro-grid when power is disrupted. The AC coupled solar side is a mix of Enphase IQ7 and IQ8 microinverters. I have no issues when running on grid with AC coupling. Enphase support had me set the inverter profile to PREPA Microgrid FW60. When I loose grid power and with the microinverters producing power I get low voltage warnings from various UPS devices in my home when running on battery and solar. The lights also flicker when this is happening. The inverters also produce the error "AC Voltage Low and AC Frequency Low". I also tried the profile SAM-60-120-1304 ver 2 (1.1.7) when testing and it has the same results. I contacted Schneider support and they blame Enphase. Enphase is just slow getting back to me.

Any thoughts on how I can verify if its the microinverters or the CSW4024 causing the low voltage? When the Solar side breaker is turned off and I'm running on battery the voltage output from the CSW stays between 235.9v and 240.9v @ 60Hz.

 

[ncsolarelectric]

What is the ratio between Schneider inverter / Enphase inverter nameplate power ratings?
What was the load % on the system when it was flickering?

It may just be an issue with not enough load for the two to play well together. If all you have are UPSs with battery chargers, and refrigerator motors, i.e., non-linear loads, that could make it unstable. It needs a good percentage of the load to be resistive, i.e., heating, water heating, and incandescent lights. Try plugging in an electric heater, or some incandescent lights and see if it still flickers. If it sees more load, it may boost the voltage too. Low voltage could indicate too much inductive load. Inductive load makes the inverter output lower, and capacitive load makes the inverter output higher in general.

 

[Scheff]

I have a Schneider CSW4024 operating as a micro-grid when power is disrupted. The AC coupled solar side is a mix of Enphase IQ7 and IQ8 microinverters. I have no issues when running on grid with AC coupling. Enphase support had me set the inverter profile to PREPA Microgrid FW60. When I loose grid power and with the microinverters producing power I get low voltage warnings from various UPS devices in my home when running on battery and solar. The lights also flicker when this is happening. The inverters also produce the error "AC Voltage Low and AC Frequency Low". I also tried the profile SAM-60-120-1304 ver 2 (1.1.7) when testing and it has the same results. I contacted Schneider support and they blame Enphase. Enphase is just slow getting back to me.

Any thoughts on how I can verify if its the microinverters or the CSW4024 causing the low voltage? When the Solar side breaker is turned off and I'm running on battery the voltage output from the CSW stays between 235.9v and 240.9v @ 60Hz.

Hey Nitr0 did you ever figure this out?

 

[Nitr0]

I had to switch to this PREPA 2017 FW60 PF98oe profile and rebalance my critical loads panel a little. I also find that, as stated by ncsolarelectic above, that my loads are not normal but capacitive. I actually put two small 600w space heaters on different circuits so one was L1 and one was L2 and the flickering stopped completely. With the new profile itself there is slight flickering but at least my UPS devices stopped freaking out and going to battery. Enphase support sent me a really helpful spreadsheet with very detailed information about all the profile settings that would work for my situation. I tested yesterday and I still have a problem that my IQ8 inverters aren't producing at all whenever I'm on microgrid/off-grid but I haven't heard back from support yet. They just put out an over frequency error but it doesn't clear. I made sure to start the test at 70% battery so the CSW4024 didn't try to curtail the power of the inverters down.

 

[Scheff]

I also have the same setup minus the iq8's..

Enphase said you can't mix the 8 and 7 series. The only work around is to dump them into a Combiner box 4 (3 if you don't have batteries).

Things are working fairly well on grid profile "Off-Grid FW60" but I often hit 34V triggering HBCO entering and exiting AC Coupling mode.

I might want to try "PF98oe"

 

[GVSolar]

I had to switch to this PREPA 2017 FW60 PF98oe profile and rebalance my critical loads panel a little. I also find that, as stated by ncsolarelectic above, that my loads are not normal but capacitive. I actually put two small 600w space heaters on different circuits so one was L1 and one was L2 and the flickering stopped completely. With the new profile itself there is slight flickering but at least my UPS devices stopped freaking out and going to battery. Enphase support sent me a really helpful spreadsheet with very detailed information about all the profile settings that would work for my situation. I tested yesterday and I still have a problem that my IQ8 inverters aren'whenever I'm on microgrid/off-grid but I haven't heard back from support yet. They just put out an over frequency error but it doesn't clear. I made sure to start the test at 70% battery so the CSW4024 didn't try to curtail the power of the inverters down.

Any chance you could post that spreadsheet? I'm running an SW4024 AC coupled to Enphase m215s. Thx...

 

[Nitr0]

Any chance you could post that spreadsheet? I'm running an SW4024 AC coupled to Enphase m215s. Thx...

 

[Nitr0]

Profiles-61.5(1).xlsx

Sheet1 Name,Envoy Type,Min Envoy Version,Reference voltage,Nominal frequency,Over voltage trip time,Over voltage limit,Over voltage trip time 2,Over voltage limit 2,Over voltage trip time (slow),Over voltage limit (slow),Average over voltage,Over voltage momentary cessation start voltage,Under v...

docs.google.com

Let me know if this doesn't work. It wouldn't let me save an excel file here

 

[Nitr0]

I also have the same setup minus the iq8's..

Enphase said you can't mix the 8 and 7 series. The only work around is to dump them into a Combiner box 4 (3 if you don't have batteries).

Things are working fairly well on grid profile "Off-Grid FW60" but I often hit 34V triggering HBCO entering and exiting AC Coupling mode.

I might want to try "PF98oe"

So... You can add IQ8s to an existing combiner 3 with a little bit of trickery. I retired all my IQ7 inverters in the web interface. Then I added the IQ8 inverters and unretired the IQ7s again. Works fine but they don't show up on the diagram. You can still select them individually and see their production and info and they show up in the total production.

 

[Nitr0]

So... You can add IQ8s to an existing combiner 3 with a little bit of trickery. I retired all my IQ7 inverters in the web interface. Then I added the IQ8 inverters and unretired the IQ7s again. Works fine but they don't show up on the diagram (not pretty). You can still select them individually and see their production and info and they show up in the total production. I only care about the data and interacting with them. I didn't need to be able to see them on my stand.

 

[Nitr0]

 

[GVSolar]

Profiles-61.5(1).xlsx

Sheet1 Name,Envoy Type,Min Envoy Version,Reference voltage,Nominal frequency,Over voltage trip time,Over voltage limit,Over voltage trip time 2,Over voltage limit 2,Over voltage trip time (slow),Over voltage limit (slow),Average over voltage,Over voltage momentary cessation start voltage,Under v...

docs.google.com

Let me know if this doesn't work. It wouldn't let me save an excel file here

Thanks. Now, if I could only figure out what it all means…

 

[Scheff]

Any chance you could post that spreadsheet? I'm running an SW4024 AC coupled to Enphase m215s. Th

 

[Scheff]

I had to switch to this PREPA 2017 FW60 PF98oe profile and rebalance my critical loads panel a little. I also find that, as stated by ncsolarelectic above, that my loads are not normal but capacitive. I actually put two small 600w space heaters on different circuits so one was L1 and one was L2 and the flickering stopped completely. With the new profile itself there is slight flickering but at least my UPS devices stopped freaking out and going to battery. Enphase support sent me a really helpful spreadsheet with very detailed information about all the profile settings that would work for my situation. I tested yesterday and I still have a problem that my IQ8 inverters aren't producing at all whenever I'm on microgrid/off-grid but I haven't heard back from support yet. They just put out an over frequency error but it doesn't clear. I made sure to start the test at 70% battery so the CSW4024 didn't try to curtail the power of the inverters down.

What is the difference between the "PREPA 2017 FW60 PF98oe" and " Off-Grid FW60" profile?
Does the "98" halt 98% of production?

Thanks, I'm worried about sending 5kw of solar into my Conext 4024.

And Enphase is showing in large red letters that " Off-Grid FW60" is obsolete.

Dan

 

[solar8484]

What is the difference between the "PREPA 2017 FW60 PF98oe" and " Off-Grid FW60" profile?
Does the "98" halt 98% of production?

Thanks, I'm worried about sending 5kw of solar into my Conext 4024.

And Enphase is showing in large red letters that " Off-Grid FW60" is obsolete.

Dan

PF98 means 0.98 fixed power factor which should allow for higher minimum efficiency for PV power usage.

What's the power output capacity of the Conext 4024? Most inverters only supports max 1:1 ratio between its own power output capacity and AC coupled PV power capacity. If your Enphase systems has 5kW rated power capacity then you likely need an inverter with at least 5kW rated power output capacity. Also, perhaps more importantly, you may need minimum 10kWH of battery (assuming LiFePo4) depending on the inverter requirements for AC coupling.

 

[Scheff]

I have a Schneider CSW4024 operating as a micro-grid when power is disrupted. The AC coupled solar side is a mix of Enphase IQ7 and IQ8 microinverters. I have no issues when running on grid with AC coupling. Enphase support had me set the inverter profile to PREPA Microgrid FW60. When I loose grid power and with the microinverters producing power I get low voltage warnings from various UPS devices in my home when running on battery and solar. The lights also flicker when this is happening. The inverters also produce the error "AC Voltage Low and AC Frequency Low". I also tried the profile SAM-60-120-1304 ver 2 (1.1.7) when testing and it has the same results. I contacted Schneider support and they blame Enphase. Enphase is just slow getting back to me.

Any thoughts on how I can verify if its the microinverters or the CSW4024 causing the low voltage? When the Solar side breaker is turned off and I'm running on battery the voltage output from the CSW stays between 235.9v and 240.9v @ 60Hz.

Hey Nitr0,

What Fuse are you using between your Conext 4024 and battery bank?

Thanks

 

[Gubman]

So... You can add IQ8s to an existing combiner 3 with a little bit of trickery. I retired all my IQ7 inverters in the web interface. Then I added the IQ8 inverters and unretired the IQ7s again. Works fine but they don't show up on the diagram. You can still select them individually and see their production and info and they show up in the total production.

Enphase has told me repeatedly no mixing of IQ7s & IQ8s on the same combiner. Originally started with IQ7s and then upgraded to IQ8s, but my IQ7s remain retired in the toolkit to this day. I was tempted to attach them to a separate "site" in the barn 275' away. PLC is supposed to top out at 250' else a filter can be used. I am excited to see that you made it work. After all, the batteries use IQ8s while you can have IQ7s and/or IQ6s on the roof. Is seems to me a software matter as opposed to a physics (hence EE) restriction.