I haven’t been offered a board swap yet (I must wonder why at this
far point in the saga). But that is very important to know! I will
mention it to Xantrex technical support. Regards,
- Peter
Peter T. Parrish, Ph.D., President
California Solar Engineering, Inc.
820 Cynthia Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90065
Ph 323-258-8883, Mobile 323-839-6108, Fax 323-258-8885
CA Lic. 854779, NABCEP Cert. 031806-26
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:re-wrenches-
[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Jon Haeme
Sent: Saturday, November 29, 2008 7:02 AM
To: RE-wrenches
Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] Problems with the Xantrex XW6048
I would check to see if the home owner has added any loads to those
circuits. The system status screen does show the loads being used .
I have noticed the fluctuation of the AC1 watts and the load watts
also . I have a 1 KW PV array and a 2.5 KW wind turbine running
through a XW6048. The wind turbine fluctuates naturally anyway so I
haven't been overly concerned. You will also have to figure for
battery charging loses as the charge control is floating the
batteries.
Aside from a replacing a smoked board in the XW 6048 a few months
after installing, I have been happy with it. It is a big
improvement over the SW series inverters it replaced. Being able to
swap out boards without removing it from the wall and sending to a
repair center is a relief.
Though it would be nice not to have to repair anything in the first
place.
Jon
Jon Haeme Innovations
NABCEP certified solar PV installer # 102503-19
Kempton, IL
On Nov 28, 2008, at 5:48 PM, Peter Parrish wrote:
Good point. The loads are fairly small, totaling about 270 W. The
security system, a medical oxygen pump, telephone system, a portion
of the basement lighting; totaling about 270 W. That’s why I said
“in excess of 3.0 kW”. I expect 3.2-3.4 kW total production at
local noon, perhaps less this time of year (the array is a flush
mount on a 5:12 roof; dead South). Charge control does show the
full amount. I am less concerned, at least at this point about the
top end AC sell power; I just want the system to settle down and
produce 3.0 kW+ at Noon this time of year.
- Peter
Peter T. Parrish, President
California Solar Engineering, Inc.
820 Cynthia Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90065
Ph 323-258-8883, Mobile 323-839-6108, Fax 323-258-8885
CA Lic. 854779, NABCEP Cert. 031806-26
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:re-wrenches-
[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Jon Haeme
Sent: Friday, November 28, 2008 10:59 AM
To: RE-wrenches
Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] Problems with the Xantrex XW6048
What are the loads on the sub-panel being backed up by this
system ? Any power being used on that sub-panel would not show up
on the screen showing power being sold to the grid . Does your
charge control show the full rated output from the array ?
Jon
Jon Haeme Innovations
NABCEP certified installer #102503-19
Kempton, IL
On Nov 28, 2008, at 12:22 PM, Peter Parrish wrote:
I was hoping that I would not have to post the message, but I have
been unable to sort this problem on my own, and I am attempting to
gather information and advice from this august body.
We install about two grid-tied battery backup systems a year in the
Los Angeles basin and will probably continue to do so at this rate
or greater for the foreseeable future. I might add, that it is
difficult for us to support these installs and sales because of the
added complexity of the systems and the extra knowledge and
terminology we have to master. Those of you for whom the off-grid
market is your primary market, know this stuff backwards and forwards.
Having said that, the information I am looking for is any
experiences and advice that the wrenches may have and are willing
to share with me about the Xantrex 6048 (or similar) systems.
We purchased a XW6048 with two MPPT60-150 charge controllers. We
also have a System Control Panel and all four boxes are wired up
using Cat5+ Ethernet cables (and terminations). The rest of the
system consists of 30ea Sharp 142W modules and 8ea 8A8D 12V/225Ah
batteries. The PV modules are configured as six strings of five
each and the batteries are configured as two strings of four each.
The module strings are combined using fusible combiners of three
strings each and fed into the charge controllers separately. The
batteries are hard wired using 2/0 cable within the strings and 4/0
cable after combining. We are using SS bolts/washers/nuts on lead
terminals. The XW system and batteries are located in a fully
furnished basement in an air-conditioned home in Los Angeles (i.e.
the temperature in the basement varies no more than 65F to 80F.
Here’s the problem: I monitor the system around local noon on a
sunny day, and expect to see the system producing in excess of 3.0
kW, with the batteries fully charged. Here’s what we see: the
system is in sell mode and he output power goes through an
oscillation from about 2.15 kW to 2.90 kW and back down again. The
period of the oscillation is ~5 secs on the rise and ~2 secs on the
fall.
In consultation Xantrex, here is what we have done:
(1) Fiddled with the GS voltage. Currently it is 53.0 V
(2) Upgraded the firmware to Rev. 1.03.00
(3) Fiddled with the max sell current, now 17.5 A
(4) Fiddled with 2-stage vs 3-stage charge cycles. 3-stage on
charge controller and 2-stage on inverter/charger
(5) Several other tweaks of no consequence
We have made a total of six trips to this customer after
commissioning the system, each time with a different set of
suggested tweaks courtesy of four different members of the
technical support staff. One of the trips was solely for the
purpose of the firmware upgrade. All in all, I have been working
the problem now for over four months.
At this point in time, I have been unable to reach a live tech
support person after four tries spread out over two weeks. About
five weeks ago, one of the tech support individuals commented that
this oscillation in output power was a known phenomenon, but this
was the same individual that thought the problem would be fixed
with the firmware upgrade. I’m at my wits end. Leaving messages is
a waste of my time.
I apologize in advance for the long narration, but I was hoping to
get all the facts out there at once and minimize the amount of Q&As.
(1) Has anyone seen this phenomenon in the XW systems?
(2) If so, what was the fix?
(3) What is the knowledge level and responsiveness of Xantrex
Tech support on this system?
(4) Is anyone experiencing a general decrease in the quality of
Tech Support at Xantrex?
(5) To whom at Xantrex should I escalate this problem I am
having? In specific, I have spoken on two occasions with Erica
Yedid, who I understand is in charge of post-sales tech support for
the SW system.
- Peter
Peter T. Parrish, Ph.D., President
California Solar Engineering, Inc.
820 Cynthia Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90065
Ph 323-258-8883, Mobile 323-839-6108, Fax 323-258-8885
CA Lic. 854779, NABCEP Cert. 031806-26
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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