Dana,
We continue to have this issue across the majority of SMA and Tigo
systems. Many sites go months or years with no issues, then a nuisance
trip. Sites with just SMA are fine. SMA/Tigo seem entirely
disinterested in acknowledging an issue.
One SMA tech did tell us the new -41 inverters have a new AFCI protocol
that may resolve the issue. We have largely moved on to Solaredge due
to the severe AFCI problems and I have not yet installed a -41.
Matt
On 2019-08-01 14:27, Dana Brandt wrote:
> Hi everyone,
>
> We're experiencing a large number of nuisance AFCI trips on -40 inverters
> with Tigo. Both SMA and Tigo claim there are no compatibility issues and that
> our experience is unique and others aren't having this problem. Are the rest
> of you still having issues with this?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Dana
>
> Dana Brandt
>
> d...@ecotechsolar.com
> 360.318.7646 x700
> www.ecotechsolar.com [1]
>
> On Tue, May 8, 2018 at 12:15 PM Blake Gleason <bl...@sunlightandpower.com>
> wrote:
> Hi Matt - A couple of years ago, I worked extensively with an inverter
> manufacturer (sorry I can't name) who was seeing a lot of arc-fault nuisance
> tripping on systems with Tigo. They had some fancy test equipment and did a
> bunch of analysis and found that Tigo was creating a lot of noise on the DC
> circuits, and that noise would look like DC arc fault noise in many
> situations. I don't know whether Tigo has made improvements or not, but I
> wouldn't be surprised if the -40 is sensitive to the Tigo noise. If you can
> talk to the right person at SMA (I don't know who that would be these days),
> you might ask them about whether they have evaluated the -40 arc detection
> for compatibility with Tigo; if not, maybe they could. I suspect it's
> partially a matter of an evolving and imperfect set of standards. Probably
> both the inverter and the maximizer meet their respective noise standards,
> but there is still a problem when you put them together.
>
> Best,
> Blake
>
> On Tue, May 8, 2018 at 9:42 AM, Matt Partymiller
> <m...@solar-energy-solutions.com> wrote:
> Wrenches,
>
> I recall seeing some past threads about SMA arc fault issues but am
> curious if others are using SMA -40 inverters extensively and NOT seeing
> intermittent arc faults? If so, I would be curious what your DC
> installation practices look like? Are you ensuring that homerun ends use
> connectors identical to your module manufacturer? Are you crimping any DC
> transitions? Perhaps using insulated lugs for DC transitions? What type of
> conduit are you using for DC wiring? Are you using ferrules where you
> terminate in the inverter? Any other tips or suggestions are also
> welcome.
>
> At the moment arc faults for the SMA -40 inverters seem to be our main
> service ticket at this time (surpassing Enphase replacements and
> surpassing prior-model SMA arc fault issues). The arc fault errors are
> particularly prevalent on systems with Tigo optimizers installed though we
> have occurrences on pretty much every -40 unit. System meantime between
> failure seems to be unpredictable but somewhere between 2-180 days. There
> does seem to be some correlation between systems with shading and Tigos
> and prevalence of arc faults. Shutting off arc fault seems to be the only
> true solution which is obviously undesirable.
>
> SMA has us update firmware and has had us shutoff Optitrac neither of
> which resolve the issue. They also ask us to check wiring connections
> which almost never yields results (though we have found a squirrel or two
> which makes one grateful that the arc fault function exists).
>
> Thanks for any advice,
>
> Matt
>
> Matthew Partymiller
> Solar Energy Solutions LLC
> (877) 312-7456
> m...@solar-energy-solutions.com
>
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