Anyone used SMA Sunny SensorBox?

[mabartlett]

I have signed up for a 4Kwp system with Yingli panels, SMA400TL inverter and Sunny WebBox for monitoring through the Sunny Portal. I am thinking of adding a Sunny SensorBox which measures the actual irradiation falling on the panels and the panel temperature. This in theory will give me a continual system efficiency as well as the simple system output. This should allow the early detection of any system issues or dirt build up or degradation of the panels. Sounds great, wondered if any experience out there?

 

[mabartlett]

Have ordered the SensorBox, install on Saturday. I will update when I see what it can do!

 

[stephene]

Have ordered the SensorBox, install on Saturday. I will update when I see what it can do!

Hi,

I am considering the yingli panels with either a sma 400tl or a power one aurora and i wondered how you would rate both the yingli panels and teh 4000tl? also how have you found the sensor box?

Many thanks for you help

S.

 

[Gavin A]

sensor box?

I'm jealous, might have to get a couple of those on the go.

 

[pvman]

We have installed a couple of sensor boxes, customers seem very happy with them but it is an expensive option.

 

[mabartlett]

Hi,

I am considering the yingli panels with either a sma 400tl or a power one aurora and i wondered how you would rate both the yingli panels and teh 4000tl? also how have you found the sensor box?

Many thanks for you help

S.

The system has been in for 9 months now and has performed well. The overall performance is about 15% at least above estimate. The Yingli panels have been absolutely fine no issues. The sma 4000tl has also been faultless. The one error and auto restart was on Xmas day when the mains voltage fell below the legal limit for the inverter and it had to shut down for about a minute! The sensor box is in my view worth it. Because you can measure the amount of sunlight (insolation) and temp of the panels you can get the Sunny Portal to calculate the efficiency automatically. This proved useful in December as it suddenly showed a drop in performance. I could download the data and look at it as a graph which showed two dips in performance during the day. Turns out next doors chimney was shading two different panels twice in the day! Longer term I would expect the Sensorbox and the performance ccalculation to give me a direct indication of any faults straight away.

 

[Eco Deal]

why not just get a solar edge inverter ??? instead

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsa9rHpDVmQ&feature=player_embedded

online monitorinig as standard

 

[prof. popkiss]

....Because you can measure the amount of sunlight (insolation) and temp of the panels you can get the Sunny Portal to calculate the efficiency automatically.

Just out of interest, mabartlett, what's the maximum panel temperature you've seen so far, please?

 

[mabartlett]

Just out of interest, mabartlett, what's the maximum panel temperature you've seen so far, please?

Last month saw 39c with ambient of about 20c on a crisp clear sunny day!

 

[prof. popkiss]

Thanks, mabartlett. I appreciate that this is off-thread, but does anyone know how hot panels get in the height of summer? I'm curious how much frames expand and contract according to the season.

 

[stephene]

The system has been in for 9 months now and has performed well. The overall performance is about 15% at least above estimate. The Yingli panels have been absolutely fine no issues. The sma 4000tl has also been faultless. The one error and auto restart was on Xmas day when the mains voltage fell below the legal limit for the inverter and it had to shut down for about a minute! The sensor box is in my view worth it. Because you can measure the amount of sunlight (insolation) and temp of the panels you can get the Sunny Portal to calculate the efficiency automatically. This proved useful in December as it suddenly showed a drop in performance. I could download the data and look at it as a graph which showed two dips in performance during the day. Turns out next doors chimney was shading two different panels twice in the day! Longer term I would expect the Sensorbox and the performance ccalculation to give me a direct indication of any faults straight away.

MABARTLETT - Many thanks for your response!! did you have the sunny beam monitor? how are you finding it?

I have two companies quoting me at the moment one is pushing the power one aurora and the other the sma 4000tl. It is for a 4kw system (possible split 10 to 6 on a east/west roof. Does anyone have any recomendations on inverter? or other advice?

Many thanks in advance.

 

[mabartlett]

MABARTLETT - Many thanks for your response!! did you have the sunny beam monitor? how are you finding it?

I have two companies quoting me at the moment one is pushing the power one aurora and the other the sma 4000tl. It is for a 4kw system (possible split 10 to 6 on a east/west roof. Does anyone have any recomendations on inverter? or other advice?

Many thanks in advance.

I do have the sunny beam monitor. It is fine but one thing to note is that it will only continuously display the output of the system if it is powered from the USB socket. On internal battery it won't provide real time display it will only display the current output when woken up. This was added as a new "feature" with the latest sw release, only found out from the releas notes, the installer did not know this at the time as the older version did display in real time. I have a split system with 10 panels on one bit of the roof and 7 panels on another. The sma 4000tl has two MPPT trackers and works fine. I can only comment that the sma inverter has been faultless since installed and seems to be built with typical German solidity!

 

[stephene]

OK. thanks. hmmm, i would want real time info while on battery... i suppose they must have had issues with battery life... still think it should be a user defined option...

Am thinking on the webbox and the sunny portal as an option... could then use the iphone app to check on my system... would that make the sunny beam obsolete?

 

[Earthstore]

MABARTLETT - Many thanks for your response!! did you have the sunny beam monitor? how are you finding it?

I have two companies quoting me at the moment one is pushing the power one aurora and the other the sma 4000tl. It is for a 4kw system (possible split 10 to 6 on a east/west roof. Does anyone have any recomendations on inverter? or other advice?

Many thanks in advance.

My advice would be to use a smaller inverter for an east/west split, this has been covered recently, but it is doubtful your system would ever peak at 4KW, as in the morning east will be working, then in the afternoon the west would be in full swing, your system would produce more if you use a 3600 or even a 3000KW inverter, as it would be running at it's "sweet spot" for most of the time, instead of struggling to power a larger inverter.
Of course your supply companies should know this.

I hope this helps.

 

[mabartlett]

My advice would be to use a smaller inverter for an east/west split, this has been covered recently, but it is doubtful your system would ever peak at 4KW, as in the morning east will be working, then in the afternoon the west would be in full swing, your system would produce more if you use a 3600 or even a 3000KW inverter, as it would be running at it's "sweet spot" for most of the time, instead of struggling to power a larger inverter.
Of course your supply companies should know this.

I hope this helps.

Fair point if east/west split on the roof. Mine is due south, the roof happens to be split and different pitches side by side. I have peaked at 4.2kw and have had 4kw today but agree not often

 

[mabartlett]

OK. thanks. hmmm, i would want real time info while on battery... i suppose they must have had issues with battery life... still think it should be a user defined option...

Am thinking on the webbox and the sunny portal as an option... could then use the iphone app to check on my system... would that make the sunny beam obsolete?

The Sunny Portal and the iPhone app is fine but they give a summary position which is updated every so often perhaps 10-60 mins. You can also connect directly to the Sunny Webbox with its web browser interface which gives real time info (every few seconds). I do this from PC, iPad and iPhone browsers.
for me the Sunny Beam is used to provide real time power versus the current consumption (British Gas usage meter) side by side to decide when to stick tumble dryer or dishwasher on! Sad but true! To get real time I just purchased a mains USB charger from Amazon for a couple of quid and power the Sunny Beam, it then does update in real time.

 

[stephene]

The Sunny Portal and the iPhone app is fine but they give a summary position which is updated every so often perhaps 10-60 mins. You can also connect directly to the Sunny Webbox with its web browser interface which gives real time info (every few seconds). I do this from PC, iPad and iPhone browsers.
for me the Sunny Beam is used to provide real time power versus the current consumption (British Gas usage meter) side by side to decide when to stick tumble dryer or dishwasher on! Sad but true! To get real time I just purchased a mains USB charger from Amazon for a couple of quid and power the Sunny Beam, it then does update in real time.

Hmmm, right deff going with the 250w yingli's (x16) and webbox. invertor??? - i think i will go for sma 3600tl as i have an east/west roof. thinking of a 10/6 split in favour of the west side (which is facing slightly more south). However PVSOL seems to think that the power one aurora 3.6 would give me more energy so that is making me doubt my inverter choice... any thoughts??

 

[mabartlett]

Hmmm, right deff going with the 250w yingli's (x16) and webbox. invertor??? - i think i will go for sma 3600tl as i have an east/west roof. thinking of a 10/6 split in favour of the west side (which is facing slightly more south). However PVSOL seems to think that the power one aurora 3.6 would give me more energy so that is making me doubt my inverter choice... any thoughts??

I can only repeat my earlier comment that the sma product seems very well built and has had no problems. The website and documentation is also very good. I would be surprised if the inverter makes much difference to annual output. The biggest factors are the roof layout and the unpredictable weather! The best news is that most systems, mine included, seem to outperform the estimates assuming they are working properly and there is no shading. I am getting about 18% more than estimated. I would go for whatever you think is the better quality inverter rather than PVSOL which is after all only an estimating tool.

 

[stephene]

I can only repeat my earlier comment that the sma product seems very well built and has had no problems. The website and documentation is also very good. I would be surprised if the inverter makes much difference to annual output. The biggest factors are the roof layout and the unpredictable weather! The best news is that most systems, mine included, seem to outperform the estimates assuming they are working properly and there is no shading. I am getting about 18% more than estimated. I would go for whatever you think is the better quality inverter rather than PVSOL which is after all only an estimating tool.

Hi, Gone for the sma 3600tl, 16 Yingli panels and the WebBox. Being installed next week. Just shy of 8k, still only money...

 

[mabartlett]

Hi, Gone for the sma 3600tl, 16 Yingli panels and the WebBox. Being installed next week. Just shy of 8k, still only money...

Excellent, enjoy! I am sure you won't be disappointed. Join the club of those watching usage versus generation, even my other half knows when to stick dishwasher on now!!

 

[sundown]

i have 10 panels east and 5west useing sunnyboy 3600 tl. produced 16 kw today best yet. sun all day. when you get installed can you tell me how your installer checked that optitrac was turned on. or if he thought it wasn't necessary. what was your passcode set at from factory?

 

[mabartlett]

i have 10 panels east and 5west useing sunnyboy 3600 tl. produced 16 kw today best yet. sun all day. when you get installed can you tell me how your installer checked that optitrac was turned on. or if he thought it wasn't necessary. what was your passcode set at from factory?

When I researched Optitrac it is only useful when you actually get shading, there is a small about 0.5-1% loss when used without shading. I turn it on early Dec when I get some shading from next door chimney and turn it off again mid Jan when the shading disappears. You can turn it on and off easily from the installer menu from the web interface.