Faults on new system just installed lastweek

[Richchad]

A difficult situation. Yes you're probably right to leave the inverter alone, especially if they are coming back to look- to be honest "recalibration" sounds a lot like they may be coming back to switch the dials to the g83 setting.
As far as the cable size goes. 16a on a 2.5mm cable is fine- but as an elctrical installation, not as a pv one. firstly you want to minimize any voltage drop and the cables used in pv are often oversized for this reason (this is not a standard 16a radial circuit) and secondly because it is what the manufacturer requires. I presume it is a difficult cable run if they are digging their heels in.
I think from the sounds of it changing the settings on the inverter to the correct ones will sort out the problem but the cable issue does need to be addressed.

I emailed SMA with my problem and they have confirmed more or less what you have said above, so have forwarded the email to my installer saying that I am not happy with the install and the cable looks as though it should be replaced regardless of what their electrician says, didn't want it to come to this but I am sitting here looking at Sunny Explorer showing in the events a series of red triangles with exclamation marks one after the other since 12.30 saying "please contact installer"

Will see what the response is, don't suppose I will here anything for a while, not sure when email will be read...

If I fail to get a quick resolve to the problem, how and where do I get the system inspected, are systems inspected by someone randomly?

 

[SolarCity]

You've told your installer that you're not happy. If he doesn't sort out the problem for you then contact the MCS and tell them. You've spent a lot of money and the service you should be getting should be A1.

 

[Graeme Harrold]

In addition you should also contact their competant persons scheme. You seem to have asked nicely, found out the correct information and presented this as factual evidence. If he has completed other installs in this manner, it wont take long for MCS, REAL or the scheme to track them down, (with REAL being your first point of contact is all else fails).

I know the 1% volt drop is a recommendation in the Dti guide, but the manufacturers instructions are there for a reason and will normally take precedence over BS7671.

As Biggs said, you have paid for a working system and it should be installed to the highest standard, after all that is why we have spent so much on training, registration and audits, to stamp out the cavalier practices where systems are miss sold and thrown together. Stand your ground and insist on the cable being upgraded, if not take it further and start claiming for lost revenue!

 

[Richchad]

Right update, electrician installed a replacement 6mm cable yesterday, today with first bright sunlight, haven't been getting warnings and errors so far but have noticed quite a few Grid overvoltage slow (103) events where it cuts for a few minutes before restarting.

So does it look like it will require some adjustment with grid guard code to tolerate voltage fluctuations?

Still not sure if set to correct country standard, asked electrician and was told if the display is in english then it is correct, but I don't think this is right as I believe language display is a different setting from country standard.

Can the country standard be changed (if necessary) without grid guard code, Sunny Explorer shows grid guard code required if I am looking right place that is.

Can I change it with the A & B dials (5 & 8) without grid guard code?

 

[northernsun]

yes the language is different from the country setting, cant rememebr which way round they are but the two dial correspond to each one, ie, 5= english and 8 = g83. You can have the setting for another country with english as the language or ours but in german if you desire. You may not be able to change them yourself and may need unlock codes. However I have been back and changed the dials on an ineverter that was running for a couple of weeks and I changed it by moving the dials.
If you do decide to change it turn everything off, remove the DC isolator from the inverter- this is a bit stiff at first and then pulls out, remove the screws with an alan key and then turn the two dials with a small terminal screw driver. Put it all back together and turn everything back on. Watch the screen on start up, give it a tap to iluminate the display and look out for a country cert setting code- I have seen "kemco" before, not too sure what you might see for other countries, if it is right it will say g83. When you have seen the G83 you know your good.

I can sense your frustration on this! If you are still getting fault codes then the job isnt finished. They really should be back to check the settings. You are probably doing them a favour by letting them know about stuff like this if they were unaware.
Glad you have the cable replaced and good luck.

 

[Richchad]

yes the language is different from the country setting, cant rememebr which way round they are but the two dial correspond to each one, ie, 5= english and 8 = g83. You can have the setting for another country with english as the language or ours but in german if you desire. You may not be able to change them yourself and may need unlock codes. However I have been back and changed the dials on an ineverter that was running for a couple of weeks and I changed it by moving the dials.
If you do decide to change it turn everything off, remove the DC isolator from the inverter- this is a bit stiff at first and then pulls out, remove the screws with an alan key and then turn the two dials with a small terminal screw driver. Put it all back together and turn everything back on. Watch the screen on start up, give it a tap to iluminate the display and look out for a country cert setting code- I have seen "kemco" before, not too sure what you might see for other countries, if it is right it will say g83. When you have seen the G83 you know your good.

I can sense your frustration on this! If you are still getting fault codes then the job isnt finished. They really should be back to check the settings. You are probably doing them a favour by letting them know about stuff like this if they were unaware.
Glad you have the cable replaced and good luck.

Okay, thanks for the info, will take a look later today, a bit hot in loft at the moment... will try to see what comes up on display first by powering off and on first, have read instructions and see that country standard shows in sequence after firmware and serial number.

Getting "grid overvoltage slow" events every few minutes now, which is annoying, won't get done until next week now which is even more frustrating, I think if I had known how much possible hassle there is with PV systems I might have been a bit more choosy with the company I got to install it, didn't really think after service was that important, thought it was installed and away you go, not one guys doing the quotes I had mentioned anything about possible grid faults etc..

So once it has been adjusted to tolerate the over voltage, do you think I can expect to have a fairly consistent level of power without any grid faults?

When my electrician gets the grid guard code will he be told by someone what levels to set or is it something he decides?

Thanks again everyone for your help.

 

[pjcomp]

Just come across this thread, and I don't want to drop pebbles in a well-established pool. But just to add some (possibly useful) info, I had an install last year on a remote Welsh hilltop farm fed by overhead line. The inverter (a Steca) kept cutting out and being probelmatical. Changed it and still had problems. When I was checking it over I clocked a mains voltage nudging 270V!! The customer (bit of an engineer, used to technical problems and his "interesting" electrics) rang the DNO and complained, and when we checked after a cupp the voltage was back down to 240ish. Subsequently he's kept an eye on his supply voltage and when it looks like it's creeping up again he gets onto them. And since then he hasn't got through so many light bulbs ....

PJ

 

[andyemms]

He will need to adjust dial A (left dial) to 5, and dial B (middle dial) to 8. This will set the inverter to the correct language and country settings. Ignore the right hand dial as this is an id code setting for Bluetooth, normally on 1 as standard.

 

[Cider]

Clearly the electrician who did the install has no PV training at all, as Voltage drop limits are the basics for PV.
Also I thought an inverter for the UK had to be set up on the production line, not just pushing a few buttons on site to ensure G83 disconnection on loss of AC supply?

 

[edexlab]

Clearly the electrician who did the install has no PV training at all, as Voltage drop limits are the basics for PV.
Also I thought an inverter for the UK had to be set up on the production line, not just pushing a few buttons on site to ensure G83 disconnection on loss of AC supply?

Not necessarily we often have inverters meant for the German market ie only come with German manuals / instructions where you have to set the country codes

 

[Cider]

So when you do the disconnection test its all set up?

 

[Richchad]

Okay, tried a disconnection & reconnection this morning, even took a video of the power up sequence to double check what was displayed...

First was Firmware, second was serial number, third wasn't G83 but ADO but the O had a broken top left segment angled in from the top, not sure what letter or number it was supposed be? Then fourth was Language English.

I cannot see anything in the installation instructions country data set list that looks anything like ADO

Any ideas anyone?

Also anyone know the answer to this..
When my electrician gets the grid guard code will he be told by someone what voltage levels to set or is it something he decides?

 

[northernsun]

Right, it is definately not set right, the dials need changing to to 5 and 8 to be set to g83. fingers crossed that this will do it chnage it, it might have been running too long. Either way, you can let your installer know that it needs changing to g83, you can tell him that yes, the inverters are factory set to g83 at dial setting 0,0 but occasionally some come through that are'nt and they need to be changed- this is all in the installation manual.
He shouldnt need to change thye volatge or anything similar-just set it to g83.

 

[Richchad]

Right, it is definately not set right, the dials need changing to to 5 and 8 to be set to g83. fingers crossed that this will do it chnage it, it might have been running too long. Either way, you can let your installer know that it needs changing to g83, you can tell him that yes, the inverters are factory set to g83 at dial setting 0,0 but occasionally some come through that are'nt and they need to be changed- this is all in the installation manual.
He shouldnt need to change thye volatge or anything similar-just set it to g83.

It has been running for about 2 weeks now, so does that mean I can't change the dials without a grid guard code?

What would happen if I change the dials now and it did need a grid guard code?

 

[dansk]

This isnt helpful to you - but i need to say this - im embrassed for your installer and feel sorry for you having to come here to get your system running properly, after all that money you have agreed to pay for a solar system to be professional installed.

Its not my style to start reporting people, but i strongly feel you need to let this company/guy know about his apprant bad service and in reality he's the one that should be on here asking for help not you the consumer.

I do hope you get the bottom of this and one day you have trouble free generation - because whens its working right its one of the best things going.