Wisey

Too right Plonkster. Looking at Red or Blue now Grid tied is where its at... Ethekwini coming through at last with three phase I have been begging and waiting for... Can anyone make a suggestion for sourcing SMA Sunny Boy AV-41?

Good morning again everyone In the last few days, some hard lessons have been learnt . I'm not out to knock the Axpert inverter, as when it works, it works. And as I expected from the beginning these inverters would be a hassle when they did eventually pack up. I did not expect I'd have to toss them out completely. They are incompatible with the newer version modern firmware version (4.3). 1) Axpert inverters are not backed up after the warranty period. 2) The replacement main board is not far off the cost of an entire unit

Thanks

Can anyone make any suggestions on who to send two Axpert 5Kva main boards to - for repairs please?

Would love to but Victron prohibitively costly. I am improvising until Eskom supply installed. Which appears to be on the horizon...out there somewhere...

All PV inputs on one array are connected in the combiner box and a single output (via the surge protector) is then split to the four inverters. I think the 3 and 4 panels to each inverter is a better arrangement. The combiner box is not setup that way so I will adapt it accordingly. That way the Wp can never exceed 4000Wp. Will do on all other suggestions. Thank you Anyone out there willing to carry out repairs on the main boards?

All PV inputs on one array are connected in the combiner box and a single output (via the surge protector) is then split to the four inverters. I think the 3 and 4 panels to each inverter is a better arrangement. The combiner box is not setup that way so I will adapt it accordingly. That way the Wp can never exceed 4000Wp. Will do on all other suggestions. Thank you Anyone out there willing to carry out repairs on the main boards?

What is your view on these RCT's?

Yes. There could be something in that. However, the 4kWp is never exceeded. I have monitored the display on a bright day at noon and have never seen anything over 3kWp. That said (if it is a PV voltage issue) I have in the past connected one string at a time . I was aware yesterday of connecting and disconnecting a string 'under load'. A bit tricky. Probably best to disconnect and reconnect at night.

These are the replacements Apologies - I see Maximum open circuit voltage is 145VDC Any opinions on this course of action would be appreciated

Please see pic attached. I would say yes they from the battery side No sun on the inverters. They are well ventilated Please PM me your contact details Coulomb

Thanks for your contributions Hoping mine will prevent this happening to someone else. To answer your questions phil.g00 1) PV voltage I tested prior to disconnection as a matter of ensuring all strings were optimised. There was a variation of about a half a volt between strings. Output from both combiner boxes was approx. 103V, as you know the inverter is rated for 145 VAc please see model pic attached 2) I use 2 combiner boxes with 7 strings of 3 panels fused in each From 2 x combiner boxes I have two feeds connected (in parallel) to all four Inverter PV inputs 3) The sun was high. I would say optimum exposure - peak The discovery now is these units (pls see attachment) are the old spec 145VDC and later models are 450VDC - they are not compatible! The MOSFET's are available My thinking towards a solution is the following: 1) the two early models (145VDC) - parallel connected (Inverter Pair 1) as one AC supply to one DB, with one array of 21 PV's - seperated from second AC supply (Inverter Pair 2) to second DB with later models in parallel and second 21PV array. Send the main boards off to be repaired and hold them as back up. (Any suggestions would be welcomed on who to send them to). As mentioned I am in Durban. I would also appreciate any thoughts on the following: 1) Using the battery bank (6 x 4 x 12V 250Ah) ie. 6x48V as a common bank to both Inverter pairs with common utility and generator feed to both or should I split the battery bank too? Again, much appreciate the contribution All the best

At this stage trying to source MOSFET CSD19505kcs - no one in Durban has stock - Mantech etc.