Sol-Ark installer not understanding TIGO CCA

[Oldphile]

The installer is here now and planning to connect the external PV disconnect switch directly to the TIGO CCA aux terminals without any connection to the Sol-Ark. The external PV disconnect will perform RSD, but the Sol-Ark switch won't. What if anything will the PV disconnect switch on the side of the Sol-Ark do? I'm hoping it will do nothing so I can convince him to do it as follows;

 

[Nobodybusiness]

The installer is here now and planning to connect the external PV disconnect switch directly to the TIGO CCA aux terminals without any connection to the Sol-Ark. The external PV disconnect will perform RSD, but the Sol-Ark switch won't. What if anything will the PV disconnect switch on the side of the Sol-Ark do? I'm hoping it will do nothing so I can convince him to do it as follows;

PV switch-------BB terminals Sol-Ark terminals 15,16-----------coil 12V relay N/O contact breaks CCA power

I ordered DIM relays yesterday, but they won't arrive today.

I don’t have TIGOs so can’t tell.
Engineer775 uses them in some of his videos.

I know he has a coil in the raceway to do the shutdown but not sure if it takes it’s queue from the inverter or not.

Maybe someone else will have a clue.

 

[pvgirl]

If you are using the CCA for all of your rapid shutdown, and don't have any requirements for shutdown of the inverter(NEC 2023, local AHJ) and the PV disconnect on the sol-ark isn't labeled as a rapid shutdown initiator. this isn't a code issue. In this config the PV disconnect switch will just disconnect the panels from the inverter, but no rapid shutdown. For your sugeested config I would suggest verifing that power to those BB terminals is removed when the PV disconnect on the inverter is switched off. You could also wire 2 contacts in the shutdown switch one to the CCA and one to the sol-ark to shut both down.

 

[Hedges]

Telling SolArk to RSD should cause it to discharge its PV capacitors. Maybe it also shuts off AC, not sure.
SolArk has 12V (?) output to power RSD keep-alive.

 

[Oldphile]

He wired it his way and I tried the Sol-Ark PV disconnect. It disconnected from the PV input. He shorted the BB terminals and the Sol-Ark went into emergency shutdown (no AC output) and took many minutes to reset.

I guess I'll let the AHJ decide if this is okay. The external RSD switch is only a few feet away from the Sol-Ark.

Sol-Ark has 12V output to power RSD TX, but it doesn't provide enough current to power a TIGO CCA.

 

[Chris72]

I am going through the exact same process. I am planning on using a relay with a 48v to 12 volt DC to DC converter and use pins 15 and 16 of the solark to energize the relay pull in windings. That will complete the circuit to the tigo rapid shutdown transmitter with enough power. When you hit the rapid shut down button it will de-energize the relay and shut the power off to the tigo transmitter. I just need to make sure I wire the relay normally open

 

[Oldphile]

Here was my final solution. My AHJ didn't even test it. I made it an RSD solution, not emergency shutdown. Emergency shutdown kills the AC output.

More about AHJ. All he looked at was RSD and AC disconnect outside. He didn't test anything and didn't see the inverter wiring. Some have rigid AHJ, but I don't.

 

[Think About It]

Late to the party, but this was already discussed in length here:

Sol-Ark 8/12/15k with Tigo TS4-A-O?

Hopefully simple question for this crowd. I'm a long time solar owner, but everything up to now has been installed by others. (Primarily Solaredge equipment). We moved, and I'm heading down the DIY path. The expensive stuff is all purchased and in hand, now working out the fine details: *...

diysolarforum.com

Simply apply power to the Tigo gateway, Install a 12VDC relay on the Sol-Ark 12 RSD output, connect the relay contacts to the Tigo gateway aux terminals. Now the RSD button will both shutdown the inverter and activate the RSD to the Tigo optimizers.