glitch in Power One 3.6 OUTD power reporting?

[Sunshine777]

Every now and then my system with a Power One 3.6 OUTD inverter reports a cumulative power output for the day of 255 watts even though it's only just turned on at perhaps 08:00 and the actual instantaneous output is perhaps in the single figures or low double figures. Thus 255 Wh for the day so far is rather implausible. A check on the live output page on pvoutput at the same time reveals perhaps 1, 2 or 3 systems every day with early morning outputs at or above 255 Wh while the rest are at just a few watt hours. Check their inverters and every time it's a Power One 3.6 OUTD. Drill down into the daily page for each system and again the cumulative vs instantaneous outputs don't correlate. I suppose it doesn't matter much in the greater scheme of things as the inverter's power reporting is just for informational purposes and its the only generation meter reading that really matters but curious if others have seen this or have an explanation.

Here's a snapshot from pvoutput from this morning; the first 3 systems all have Power One 3.6 OUTD inverters:

Live Outputs
Rank	Intraday	Location	System Size	Energy	Efficiency	Power	Seen	Awake	Updated	Online▼
1	BlackBoys	United Kingdom TN22	3.760kW	0.404kWh	0.107kWh/kW	265W	3 mins ago	00:00	08:30	8hr 30min
2	Uncle Mike Dundee	United Kingdom DD5	3.760kW	0.265kWh	0.070kWh/kW	70W	31 secs ago	07:55	08:35	40min
3	Dunfermline SSE+WSW Arrays	United Kingdom KY12	3.675kW	0.255kWh	0.069kWh/kW	3W	5 mins ago	00:00	08:30	8hr 30min
4	KCHOME	United Kingdom TN34	3.920kW	0.215kWh	0.055kWh/kW	360W	2 mins ago	00:00	08:30	8hr 30min
5	Workshop	United Kingdom DA1	9.890kW	0.188kWh	0.019kWh/kW	264W	40 secs ago	07:45	08:30	45min
6	St Lawrence Solar	United Kingdom PO38	3.960kW	0.138kWh	0.035kWh/kW	292W	6 mins ago	00:00	08:30	8hr 30min
7	JayEmmCeeOne	United Kingdom RG27	4.080kW	0.138kWh	0.034kWh/kW	168W	5 mins ago	07:20	08:30	1hr 10min
8	Gillingham Generator	United Kingdom ME7	4.000kW	0.124kWh	0.031kWh/kW	204W	4 mins ago	06:15	08:30	2hr 15min
9	PAD4U	United Kingdom M19	3.840kW	0.115kWh	0.030kWh/kW	216W	8 mins ago	00:00	08:30	8hr 30min
10	Maidstone-UK	United Kingdom TN12	3.900kW	0.113kWh	0.029kWh/kW	228W	4 mins ago	07:50	08:30	40min
11	Purr Power	United Kingdom PO15	3.760kW	0.110kWh	0.029kWh/kW	192W	2 mins ago	08:00	08:30	30min
12	MJB_HFW2	United Kingdom BN42	3.600kW	0.108kWh	0.030kWh/kW	204W	2 mins ago	07:55	08:35	40min

 

[SolarCity]

That's interesting. Do you find you get this reading every morning?

 

[Sunshine777]

No, just random mornings.

 

[Fitstart]

No, just random mornings.

Same here - getting really annoying, sometimes it is a glitch of several kWh at start up.

I thought at first it was a communication error from the inverter to the computer (running Aurora Communicator), but the inverter display also shows the same wrong energy reading on the display for that day.

Here is a sample of part of today's log showing what is happening:

[info]
Plant Name:
Date: 19/04/2012


[measurements]
Time;Address;Model;MPPT;VDC1;IDC1;PDC1;VDC2;IDC2;PDC2;VAC;IAC;PAC;TINV;TINT;ENERGY;RISO;ILEAK;GENFREQ;
;;;;VDC;ADC;W;VDC;ADC;W;V;A;W;°C;°C;Wh;MOhm;mA;Hz;


[start]
05:47;2;PVI-3.6-OUTD-UK;D;0.0;0.0;0.0;0.0;0.0;0.0;0.0;0.0;0.0;0.0;0.0;0.0;0.0;0;0;
05:48;2;PVI-3.6-OUTD-UK;D;0.0;0.0;0.0;0.0;0.0;0.0;0.0;0.0;0.0;0.0;0.0;0.0;0.0;0;0;
05:49;2;PVI-3.6-OUTD-UK;D;0.0;0.0;0.0;0.0;0.0;0.0;0.0;0.0;0.0;0.0;0.0;0.0;0.0;0;0;
05:50;2;PVI-3.6-OUTD-UK;D;0.0;0.0;0.0;0.0;0.0;0.0;0.0;0.0;0.0;0.0;0.0;0.0;0.0;0;0;
05:51;2;PVI-3.6-OUTD-UK;D;0.0;0.0;0.0;91.7;0.0;0.0;0.0;0.0;0.0;0.0;0.0;0.0;0.0;0;0;
05:52;2;PVI-3.6-OUTD-UK;D;0.0;0.0;0.0;91.7;0.0;0.0;0.0;0.0;0.0;0.0;0.0;0.0;0.0;0;0;
05:53;2;PVI-3.6-OUTD-UK;D;0.0;0.0;0.0;91.7;0.0;0.0;0.0;0.0;0.0;0.0;0.0;0.0;0.0;0;0;
05:54;2;PVI-3.6-OUTD-UK;D;0.0;0.0;0.0;91.7;0.0;0.0;0.0;0.0;0.0;0.0;0.0;2948.0;0.0;0;0;
05:55;2;PVI-3.6-OUTD-UK;D;0.0;0.0;0.0;91.7;0.0;0.0;0.0;0.0;0.0;0.0;0.0;2948.0;0.0;0;0;
05:56;2;PVI-3.6-OUTD-UK;D;0.0;0.0;0.0;91.7;0.0;0.0;0.0;0.0;0.0;0.0;0.0;2948.0;0.0;0;0;
05:57;2;PVI-3.6-OUTD-UK;D;0.0;0.0;0.0;91.7;0.0;0.0;0.0;0.0;0.0;0.0;0.0;2948.0;0.0;0;0;
05:58;2;PVI-3.6-OUTD-UK;D;0.0;0.0;0.0;91.7;0.0;0.0;0.0;0.0;0.0;0.0;0.0;2948.0;0.0;0;0;
05:59;2;PVI-3.6-OUTD-UK;D;0.0;0.0;0.0;91.7;0.0;0.0;0.0;0.0;0.0;0.0;0.0;2948.0;0.0;0;0;
06:00;2;PVI-3.6-OUTD-UK;D;101.9;0.0;0.0;110.4;0.0;0.0;0.0;0.0;0.0;0.0;0.0;2948.0;0.0;0;0;
06:01;2;PVI-3.6-OUTD-UK;D;101.9;0.0;0.0;110.4;0.0;0.0;0.0;0.0;0.0;0.0;0.0;2948.0;0.0;0;0;
06:02;2;PVI-3.6-OUTD-UK;D;122.1;0.0;0.0;110.4;0.0;0.0;0.0;0.0;0.0;0.0;0.0;2948.0;0.0;0;0;
06:03;2;PVI-3.6-OUTD-UK;D;122.1;0.0;0.0;110.4;0.0;0.0;0.0;0.0;0.0;0.0;0.0;2948.0;0.0;0;0;
06:04;2;PVI-3.6-OUTD-UK;D;122.1;0.0;0.0;110.4;0.0;0.0;0.0;0.0;0.0;0.0;0.0;2948.0;0.0;0;0;
06:05;2;PVI-3.6-OUTD-UK;D;104.9;0.0;0.0;123.8;0.0;0.0;0.0;0.0;0.0;0.0;0.0;2948.0;0.0;0;0;
06:06;2;PVI-3.6-OUTD-UK;D;104.9;0.0;0.0;123.8;0.0;0.0;0.0;0.0;0.0;0.0;0.0;2948.0;0.0;0;0;
06:07;2;PVI-3.6-OUTD-UK;D;93.4;0.0;0.0;92.5;0.0;0.0;245.8;0.0;0.0;9.4;9.4;2948.0;0.0;0;0;
06:08;2;PVI-3.6-OUTD-UK;D;193.9;0.0;0.0;193.8;0.0;0.0;245.3;0.0;0.0;9.6;9.5;2948.0;0.0;0;0;
06:09;2;PVI-3.6-OUTD-UK;D;179.8;0.0;0.0;175.9;0.0;0.0;245.3;0.0;0.0;9.8;10.1;2948.0;20.0;0;0;
06:10;2;PVI-3.6-OUTD-UK;D;172.4;0.0;0.0;196.1;0.0;0.0;245.1;0.0;0.0;9.9;10.5;2948.0;20.0;0;0;
06:11;2;PVI-3.6-OUTD-UK;D;204.7;0.0;0.0;202.6;0.0;0.0;245.5;0.0;0.0;10.0;10.9;2948.0;20.0;0;0;

See the 2948 (Wh) ? - that should not be there.

I have tried different Vstart1 and Vstart2 settings, but no difference. (I have 2 strings, 7 panels, 8 panels).

It looks like a surge or spike that is confusing the inverter? - I would think it might be possible to fix it in firmware, but I'm not aware of any way to get the firmware updated on the Power One.

 

[Gavin A]

is it anything to do with the capacitors discharging / charging?

 

[pvman]

I have spoken to power one about glitches with the desktop displays, we have a few which show totals on the statistics page that don't add up to the totals on the main page, they say they are aware of issue and we need to wait for a software update maybe this is a related problem.

On a separate note when you update the fit price you then get the income adjusting for everything you generated at the new rate making the figure irrelevant. Anyone know of a way to fix this?

Tom

 

[Fitstart]

is it anything to do with the capacitors discharging / charging?

It may be Gavin, but the firmware should be able to tell that the energy reading is spurious as it suddenly jumps up to a figure from nothing in an instant, yet the power is still zero. I suspect it may be some spike getting coupled into the measuring system.

 

[Fitstart]

I have spoken to power one about glitches with the desktop displays, we have a few which show totals on the statistics page that don't add up to the totals on the main page, they say they are aware of issue and we need to wait for a software update maybe this is a related problem.

On a separate note when you update the fit price you then get the income adjusting for everything you generated at the new rate making the figure irrelevant. Anyone know of a way to fix this?

Tom

I don't think it is possible to have different rates for different periods. PVOUTPUT does allow this though.
Now if only we could get rid of the glitch in Energy while starting up and the PVOUTPUT live results would be accurate.

I do have a desktop display as well, but only use it for quickly checking what is going on, it is extremely poorly designed, can't even keep the display on all the time, it goes to sleep. If I had known how poor it was I would not have bothered with it, as the combination of a dedicated PC running Aurora Communicator and uploading to PVOUTPUT and an iPhone is much better IMO.

 

[xixou]

I don't think it is possible to have different rates for different periods. PVOUTPUT does allow this though.
Now if only we could get rid of the glitch in Energy while starting up and the PVOUTPUT live results would be accurate.

I do have a desktop display as well, but only use it for quickly checking what is going on, it is extremely poorly designed, can't even keep the display on all the time, it goes to sleep. If I had known how poor it was I would not have bothered with it, as the combination of a dedicated PC running Aurora Communicator and uploading to PVOUTPUT and an iPhone is much better IMO.

I get he same issue already twice in 3 days !

 

[xixou]

See, it start at 12 KWh, wich is far too high

 

[IronLiver]

A customer of ours was reporting the same issue. He does not have a remote display but was getting impossible daily generation figures of 7.5kW by 08.15am etc. plus inconsistencies between weekly totals and the generation meter. Riased issue with Power One UK, they put me on to technical who confirmed that some older models installed around 6 months ago have a problem with the total generation amounts. They will arrange for a technician to visit the site and upgrade the firmware on completion of an online form. They emailed the link straight over and asked me to pass on to the client to complete.

Will let you know how quickly they organise the site visit but I was impressed by their customer service (unlike my experience with SMA :thumbs_down

Cheers

Monty

 

[xixou]

A customer of ours was reporting the same issue. He does not have a remote display but was getting impossible daily generation figures of 7.5kW by 08.15am etc. plus inconsistencies between weekly totals and the generation meter. Riased issue with Power One UK, they put me on to technical who confirmed that some older models installed around 6 months ago have a problem with the total generation amounts. They will arrange for a technician to visit the site and upgrade the firmware on completion of an online form. They emailed the link straight over and asked me to pass on to the client to complete.

Will let you know how quickly they organise the site visit but I was impressed by their customer service (unlike my experience with SMA :thumbs_down

Cheers

Monty

Same problem Today.

 

[xixou]

with the bug:
aurora bug - YouTube

without the bug:
Sans titre - YouTube

 

[xixou]

i contacted the power one support and they asked me to fill an excel sheet with details.
They have upgraded the firmware using their laptop. So far do good.

 

[jonesmabel]

I have a pair of the same inverters and one of them started to display the daily generation error a couple of weeks ago. I contacted the installer (a large company) they say they have not heard of the problem! The inverters were installed in the early part of 2012.
Does anybody have a contact at power-one or a link to the online form to report the problem.

Many thanks
Jonesmabel

 

[pvman]

Power one support on 08000 232341

This is a know problem

Tom

 

[liquidity]

Power one support on 08000 232341

This is a know problem

Tom

What does the solution entail?

 

[Gavin A]

What does the solution entail?

a loooooooooong wait, followed by another looooooooong wait, then still nothing.


maybe those registering the issue now will have less time to wait until they manage to produce a solution though.

 

[Energetic]

Still waiting here... They said before xmas... must be imminent... What happened to your anti-forum software Gav?

 

[Gavin A]

25 minutes a day limit up to 11pm

look - I made myself a whole new web page today instead of posting on forums... our new high efficiency range

 

[Energetic]

It's looking good...

 

[Worcester]

@jonesmabel, if you've still got a problem, call us we're just down the road ...

 

[Fitstart]

Has anyone heard any news on whether Power-One have a fix for this problem yet?

 

[Gavin A]

Install this firmware update

10 Bury head in sand
20 hope it all goes away
30 hope everyone stops pestering us
40 scratch head
50 announce that a cure to the problem is just weeks away
60 Go to 10

(ok, I appear to have forgotten all Basic coding skills)

 

[jonesmabel]

Thanks Gavin A for the suggestion to ....Install this firmware update

However I am not too clear as to which firmware you might be referring

jonesmabel