New Solax Panels and Inverter breaker tripping all time

[davesparks]

bit harsh to be contacting MCS / their body at this stage in proceedings.

tbh it could simply be that the inverter isn't restricted to 16A as it should be (unless you have permission to generate more than 16A).

Solar's different to almost every other load other than maybe storage heaters in that it can operate at full capacity for maybe 6-8 hours at a time at the peak of summer, so it ends up on parts of the tripping time curve for MCBs that are almost never reached, so MCB's ratings shouldn't be too close to the max rating of the inverter or they will risk tripping at the peak of summer.

Not harsh at all, they've had 3 opportunities to identify and rectify the fault and have so far made what appear to be random guesses. 1- blame it on thunderstorm 2- move the mcb out of the board and in to a seperate enclosure 3- uprate the mcb. This sounds like sheer incompetence to me, especially if the person responsible is an engineer as stated above.

Solar is not a load at all it is a source of energy.

 

[infinity]

It could well be classed as a load in terms of how it works, just in reverse. The MCB can't detect polarity.
Gavin's knowledge in all things solar will far exceed yours.
He's correct with everything he says. There's no other domestic load designed to run at full load like an inverter can/ will.
Also, it seems the 'engineer' has taken steps to correct the fault. Sometimes it can be as simple as a faulty inverter, we can assume he has tested the circuit. Usually very simple being s radial, so has eliminated any other components at the same time.

 

[AWAKEFIELD720]

bit harsh to be contacting MCS / their body at this stage in proceedings.

tbh it could simply be that the inverter isn't restricted to 16A as it should be (unless you have permission to generate more than 16A).

Solar's different to almost every other load other than maybe storage heaters in that it can operate at full capacity for maybe 6-8 hours at a time at the peak of summer, so it ends up on parts of the tripping time curve for MCBs that are almost never reached, so MCB's ratings shouldn't be too close to the max rating of the inverter or they will risk tripping at the peak of summer.

Im not going to yet, just in my back pocket if goes ---- up. Their customer service has been terrible though to much to explain. It has been generating loads they said highest they have seen on a 4kw system?. Shouldnt the 20A breaker has worked though ?what do you recomend

 

[AWAKEFIELD720]

Spot on davesparks .. jst how i feel , i shouldnt be having to raise this question they are the competant installers and electricians not me

 

[AWAKEFIELD720]

Could they try a higher rated mcb higher than 20A then to avoid new inverter install ?

 

[davesparks]

It could well be classed as a load in terms of how it works, just in reverse. The MCB can't detect polarity.

It cannot be classed as a load, it is a source of energy!
A load is a component or part of a electrical circuit which consumes electrical power, a source of energy is that part of a circuit which produces electrical power.
(Technically it is the conversion of energy from one form to another rather than consuming/producing power, but that is irrelevant to the point)

I'm sure he does know more about solar than me, but the point still remains that a specialist company has installed a system which does not function as intended and have repeatedly failed to rectify the situation.

 

[matthunt]

do you happen to know what your voltage is at home?

 

[davesparks]

Solar's different to almost every other load other than maybe storage heaters in that it can operate at full capacity for maybe 6-8 hours at a time at the peak of summer, so it ends up on parts of the tripping time curve for MCBs that are almost never reached, so MCB's ratings shouldn't be too close to the max rating of the inverter or they will risk tripping at the peak of summer.

This makes no sense, an mcb is rated to carry its full load current indefinately. The tripping curve will always be above it's rated current for its rated operating environment (ambient temp, altitude, humidity).
Do you have a graph of the output current of one of these inverters outputting at maximum?

 

[AWAKEFIELD720]

I can acess graphy through wifi on inverter , il check what it says.... how will i know the voltage in my home .. excuse my lack of knowledge on this.. im a hydraulics engineer not this electrc black magic :smiley2:

 

[matthunt]

do you happen to know what your voltage is at home?

reason I ask is that the inverter is close to your consumer unit, now if the installer has set the inverter to 262v (which is wrong) and a common misconception with some installers due to a high residential voltage then you could get higher currents generated.

 

[davesparks]

I can acess graphy through wifi on inverter , il check what it says.... how will i know the voltage in my home .. excuse my lack of knowledge on this.. im a hydraulics engineer not this electrc black magic :smiley2:

My comment about a graph was intended as a reply to the Gavin A
But if you can access a graph of current output in the hours leading up to and the point at which it trips that may be helpful in working out what's wrong.
Without measuring it you won't be able to tell your supply voltage, unless the inverter has the ability to tell you this?

 

[matthunt]

I can acess graphy through wifi on inverter , il check what it says.... how will i know the voltage in my home .. excuse my lack of knowledge on this.. im a hydraulics engineer not this electrc black magic :smiley2:

Yes you can check the output voltage and current though the wifi log

 

[AWAKEFIELD720]

Output current is always peaking at below 15A, Voltage is 248.4v , never gome above 15A in graphs since install

 

[davesparks]

Output current is always peaking at below 15A, Voltage is 248.4v , never gome above 15A in graphs since install

Unfortunately we don't know how those current readings are taken, or what they actually represent. They may be averaged values over a sampling period, wheras a maximum value from each sampling period may tell a different story.

 

[AWAKEFIELD720]

Il post the graphs of output voltage n output current tmorro you will make more sense than me