The SMA SB240 microinverter is discontinued. Brad
On Thu, Sep 15, 2016 at 9:04 AM, William Dorsett <wmdors...@sbcglobal.net> wrote: > Brad, which has been discontinued, the SMA 240’s or Trimetric? While we > don’t have a large collection of Enphase systems, after they are installed > when needed to think of them at all, we have a consensus among owners of > satisfaction especially in terms of monitoring and troubleshooting that > goes with microinverters. > > > > I’m learning new features on Enphase’s website constantly. For what string > inverter can you see a continuous graph of DC volts and input current, AC > output volts and current, as well as frequency and internal temp of the > inverters at the module level? At this point we may have slightly over 1% > failure rate on systems that are up to six years in the field. Keep in mind > that while there is talk of capacitors failing, SMA 240’s also uses a row > of paralleled caps. > > > > And I sense an uptick in installer support. > > > > There is one area where string inverters have an advantage and that is the > ability to place a lightening arrester between the module(s) and the > inverter, making micros more vulnerable in that regard. > > > > Bill Dorsett > > > > *From:* RE-wrenches [mailto:re-wrenches-boun...@lists.re-wrenches.org] *On > Behalf Of *Bradley Bassett > *Sent:* Thursday, September 15, 2016 10:02 AM > *To:* RE-wrenches > *Subject:* Re: [RE-wrenches] micro-inverters > > > > My SMA micro-inverters have been rock solid for a couple of years. They do > not taper off and do not communicate with the Sunny Island. The only issue > I've had is that it seems that an internet connection is needed for the > monitoring to work, even for the local monitoring. If there is no > monitoring ie: power outage for the neighborhood DSL, then there is no > direct way to see if they are working or not. Indirectly when off grid, my > Trimetric is the best source of information on charge or discharge. A > separate kWh would of course provide more accurate info on their status. > > I believe that these have been discontinued now though. > > > > Brad > > AEE Solar > > > > On Thu, Sep 15, 2016 at 6:46 AM, Drake <drake.chamberlin@ > redwoodalliance.org> wrote: > > Is it the consensus that Enphase 215 inverters on are the most reliable > micro inverters (even though the tech support may be lacking these days)? > > Someone on this list mentioned that the SMA micros had a rocky time of it. > What were the problems with these? > > Do the SMA micro inverters taper charge when AC coupled with Sunny Islands? > > Drake Chamberlin > > > > > > *Athens Electric LLCOH License 44810CO License 3773NABCEP Certified Solar > PV 740-448-7328 <740-448-7328>*http://athens-electric.com/ > > At 03:24 PM 9/14/2016, you wrote: > > > Re 190's. > > Not much to learn from dissecting a swollen 190. Most of the time the > swelling is caused by electrolytic capacitors that have failed. Some very > high current capacitors actually have brackets to bolt them down to > minimize swelling. > > Frank BZP. > > BZ Products INC. > > 8801 Gravois Rd. > > St.Louis MO 63123 USA > > 314-644-2490 > > www.bz-products.net > > On 9/14/2016 1:58 PM, Benn Kilburn wrote: > > You guys should really cut one of those swelled up ones and share the > photos with us :) > > Benn Kilburn > SkyFire Energy Inc. > 780-906-7807 > > On Sep 14, 2016, at 11:14 AM, Jerry Shafer <jerrysgarag...@gmail.com > > wrote: > > > The 190's had component issues which case them to balloon up > Jerry > > On Sep 14, 2016 10:11 AM, "William Miller" <will...@millersolar.com > > wrote: > > Colleagues: > > We have M190s fail in beach installations. Some have had the cases swell > up like there is a tumor inside. I haven't cut them open to see what's > inside because they need to go back to manufacturer. > > William > > On Sep 14, 2016, at 9:32 AM, Jerry Shafer <jerrysgarag...@gmail.com > > wrote: > > > Mike > > I also work near the ocean, its all around me here in Hawaii, we have had > the 190's fail but not to environmental conditions and very few issues with > 215's. Do you have any pics of the damage as l have seen very little salt > issues. > > Jerry > > On Sep 13, 2016 9:11 PM, "Mike Nelson" < mdelectricso...@gmail.com> wrote: > > I've had so many Enphase failures it's kind of ridiculous. We install most > of our systems near the ocean so corrosion has played a big factor. The > newer micro inverters are holding a much better, 215 and 250's. I have > learned over the years that SMA makes the best product, and I mostly stick > with them. Sometimes micro inverters are requested or really fit the > installation particulars, so I still use them occasionally. I haven't yet > tried solar edge. > > Michael D Nelson > > MD Electric & Solar, Inc. > > 707-684-0064 mobile > > 707-884-1862 office > > www.mdelectricsolar.com > > Sent from my iPhone > > On Sep 13, 2016, at 6:23 PM, Rebecca Lundberg < rebecca.lundb...@gmail.com> > wrote: > > > Esteemed wrenches, > > I'm hoping the experience of this list can help give us a broader > perspective on the current market performance and as a secondary concern, > tech support (or lack thereof), from solar micro-inverter manufacturers. > > Are others having much trouble with micro-inverters? We have had repeated > issues with several different brands on our systems in Minnesota: > > - 8 Enphase systems with mostly M210 and M215, have had to repeatedly go > back to sites to replace units. The new replacement ones seem to be lasting > better (we sure hope they will). Enphase is harder to contact in recent > years, but we're happy they at least provide a predictable stipend. Are you > also having to replace a lot of this brand of product? Are the newer models > holding up better? > > - We gave a new inverter busbar design concept a try (tenKsolar) and > though the micro-inverters were supposed to take turns and be 'redundant,' > the ones with APS micro-inverters needed 100% replacement and the ones with > Lead Solar micro-inverters have a problem where if one of them fails it > appears to send a signal to all the rest so the entire busbar stops working > -- in action it's far from redundant. When we purchased the tenKsolar Rais > Inverter Bus (RIB) the spec sheet didn't tell us what brand of > micro-inverter they would use as the OEM so we couldn't research the > viability of the product or company or warranty stipend (or lack there-of) > of the micro-inverter OEM. We assumed it was a tenKsolar product and they > would provide warranty replacements, service, and tech support, but our > experience has been far from that. When something goes wrong tenK says > 'it's not our product that's failing' because they don't actually > manufacture the micro-inverter (it's an OEM), the micro-inverter company > says 'it's not our product' because tenKsolar has it wired and used in a > very unique manner specific to the tenKsolar product, so both manufacturers > are backing away from any responsibility. A 25-year warranty on the > inverter busbar is a great concept but if/when something goes wrong there > is no support and no apparent warranty at all except maybe they will send > us a new component that needs several hours of work to re-install, so > either the installer does the warranty work for free or the customer has a > very unexpected expense to get their system back up and running a year or > two after it was installed; we think both scenarios are unacceptable (from > our installer perspective :-), do any of you have experiences you can share > here? > > I'm wondering if the climate in MN makes us an anomaly. Based on these > micro-inverter experiences we feel like the Rapid Shutdown rule has forced > us to use dc optimizers on residential applications whether we want to or > not -- is that pretty much what all of you are doing too? > > Rebecca Lundberg > > _______________________________________________ > > List sponsored by Redwood Alliance > > List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org > > Change listserver email address & settings: > > http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org > > List-Archive: http://www.mail-archive.com/re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches. > org/maillist.html > > List rules & etiquette: > > www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm > > Check out or update participant bios: > > www.members.re-wrenches.org > > > > _______________________________________________ > > List sponsored by Redwood Alliance > > List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org > > Change listserver email address & settings: > > 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