Hey, I’ve installed a new solar bank, I have 12 290w panel. I decided to go with micro inverters. First time, my other two banks are string, anyway….I have 3 inverters, four panels on each. The inverter is 1200w to 110v. I have each inverter on a separate circuit. Heres my issue. the max power I have generated is 550 w. At noon in full sun., electrician verified my connection and panel output. The inverter just won’t produce. I have only one idea (it’s been around 110f the past two months) maybe heat is affecting its? If any have some suggestions pleas interject. Thanks!
Micro inverters
- Thread starter 22slow
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400bird
Solar Wizard
The obvious thing to me is figured out if all 550 watts is from one inverter or split between all 3
What brand of micro inverter? Does it have monitoring so you can log in and see input/output?
What brand of micro inverter? Does it have monitoring so you can log in and see input/output?
550w is on one, they all run fairly similar. It has monitoring.
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zanydroid
Solar Wizard
Panels all identical? All oriented the same way? The extra pitfall with multiport microinverters is that you may not always have one MPPT per port. If you have shared MPPT those ports are effectively parallel with the associated pros/cons
I guess another pitfall I've seen is mixing up the +- from different panels, that'll take out a pair of production at a time.
Presumably the current and voltage specs of the solar panels meet the MPPT spec on the microinverters?
What happens if you disconnect one panel (of course with the micro output disconnected so it's not done under load)?
Do you have PV port granularity monitoring? That will help narrow it down compared to the whole inverter level monitoring you are looking at.
I guess another pitfall I've seen is mixing up the +- from different panels, that'll take out a pair of production at a time.
Presumably the current and voltage specs of the solar panels meet the MPPT spec on the microinverters?
What happens if you disconnect one panel (of course with the micro output disconnected so it's not done under load)?
Do you have PV port granularity monitoring? That will help narrow it down compared to the whole inverter level monitoring you are looking at.
Last edited:
400bird
Solar Wizard
How old are the used panels? Did you test them?
The panels are rated to output max power at about 36 volts, but your MPPT only shows 28 volts on the PV side.
I don't know how it is wired internally, but I would have expected all 4 labels to be on series or for them to have individual MPPTs (and individual reporting)
Edit: just wanted to add that some poor MPPT algorithms get stuck at lower voltages and confused as the sun rises and will just stick at the wrong voltage. It's probably worth the time to try cycling the AC power to the micro inverter around noon to see if the power increases.
Ok, so all 3 output about 550 watts each? That's an improvement from the first post.
The panels are rated to output max power at about 36 volts, but your MPPT only shows 28 volts on the PV side.
I don't know how it is wired internally, but I would have expected all 4 labels to be on series or for them to have individual MPPTs (and individual reporting)
Edit: just wanted to add that some poor MPPT algorithms get stuck at lower voltages and confused as the sun rises and will just stick at the wrong voltage. It's probably worth the time to try cycling the AC power to the micro inverter around noon to see if the power increases.
zanydroid
Solar Wizard
So I have one 16 panel and one 20 panel installation of multiport microinverters, and each of those initially had a case of cross wiring of PV wires, so I think it is well worth double checking.
The PV port level monitoring if available will tell you right away if this is possible since those would show the afflicted ports as disconnected.
The PV port level monitoring if available will tell you right away if this is possible since those would show the afflicted ports as disconnected.
meetyg
Solar Enthusiast
- Joined
- Jun 4, 2021
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I used one of these in the past:
Check the monitoring app during the day, especially at hot hours (noon etc...). If you see that the production drops down to 0 for about 10 minutes and then resumes, then it's certainly thermal throttling.
These specific microinverters are horrible at dissipating heat, as thier cooling fins are so small.
I had mine about two meters away from the panels, in the shade and even put it in an enclosure with some fans. Nothing helped with the thermal throttling.
Simply bad design.
Another issue I had with mine is that it didn't accept large panels with VOC of 45v. It worked fine with smaller 36v panels, but wouldn't even start producing with the larger ones. I don't know if mine specifically was faulty, but it should have accepted up to 50 or 60v VOC, if I recall correctly.
I also didn't like the monitoring app, as it didn't give alot of information.
I replaced it with a DEYE SUN 2000w 3G microinverter, which works flawlessly ever since (around two years). I also like the amount of information and historical data that the Solarman app and website gives.
Check the monitoring app during the day, especially at hot hours (noon etc...). If you see that the production drops down to 0 for about 10 minutes and then resumes, then it's certainly thermal throttling.
These specific microinverters are horrible at dissipating heat, as thier cooling fins are so small.
I had mine about two meters away from the panels, in the shade and even put it in an enclosure with some fans. Nothing helped with the thermal throttling.
Simply bad design.
Another issue I had with mine is that it didn't accept large panels with VOC of 45v. It worked fine with smaller 36v panels, but wouldn't even start producing with the larger ones. I don't know if mine specifically was faulty, but it should have accepted up to 50 or 60v VOC, if I recall correctly.
I also didn't like the monitoring app, as it didn't give alot of information.
I replaced it with a DEYE SUN 2000w 3G microinverter, which works flawlessly ever since (around two years). I also like the amount of information and historical data that the Solarman app and website gives.
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