Poorly ten year old 10 panel installtion poor output in the afternoon

[UKMeterman]

Hi,
This is a 10 year old 10 panel installation, recently output has been droping and somtines reaching zero mid afternoon. I think it is a sunnyboy inverter. Does it look like a panel, inverter or high mains volts? Could I have names of installers in West Yorkshire who may be able to help.

Thanks

 

[JD6400]

Got the same problem on a sunnyboy down in Buckinghamshire at the moment , it is one of two on the site , what is yours showing for a fault code?
This one keep showing grid disturbance but only at peak output around midday and only on one of the two inverters !?
SMA have suggested getting hold of the DNO and checking what connection agreement is in place and then getting the authorisation code for us to give to SMA in order for them to open up the settings on the inverter and stop it going out on over voltage. I have got to look into doing it later this week when I have time . It is not a system we installed and to be honest I have never dealt with SMA before as only ever fitted fronius , they do not seem most easiest of companies to deal with.

 

[UKMeterman]

Got the same problem on a sunnyboy down in Buckinghamshire at the moment , it is one of two on the site , what is yours showing for a fault code?
This one keep showing grid disturbance but only at peak output around midday and only on one of the two inverters !?
SMA have suggested getting hold of the DNO and checking what connection agreement is in place and then getting the authorisation code for us to give to SMA in order for them to open up the settings on the inverter and stop it going out on over voltage. I have got to look into doing it later this week when I have time . It is not a system we installed and to be honest I have never dealt with SMA before as only ever fitted fronius , they do not seem most easiest of companies to deal with.

Hi,
Daft question how do I get to see the fault codes?

In your case check the length of the sub main from the inverter to the cut out, it will only cause the votlage at the inverter to be even higher.

 

[JD6400]

Either by blue tooth (on later models) or cable to a laptop with I think it was sunny explorer on it , which you can find on the SMA website.
I am pretty sure that the hand held monitor in your photo will tell you any fault codes aswell ?
As for the supply cable , the system is a 10 kw and was installed 10 years ago with no previous faults and even now only on one of the two inverters , I had thought maybe a high resistance joint on the sub main as it was apparently a existing cable that feeds a set broiler sheds and judging by the state of the chicken sheds it was probably cobbled up from multiple lengths joined together ? , but it is only showing on the one inverter ?

 

[Peter8518]

Hi,

Just joined the forum today, so a bit of a cheek!

You also may have already have had the problem fixed, but here goes:

The picture shows a 'SunnyBeam' blue tooth monitor and, as JD6400 has said, the monitor will show the error code by using the rotating toggle button on the light of the 'gadget'.

The picture shows that you are at the 'power today' display, so I will take you forward from there.

From the 'power today' display point press the toggle button again and it will take you to the 'Main Menu' display which will show you a number of options (Plant view, Inverter views etc). It will also show and 'Events' option.

Toggle down to 'Events option' (by rotating thr toggle button) and press the toggle buttton. The monitor will display any 'events' recorded against the inverter.

If there are any events shown, toggle down to any event and press the toggle button which will then display details of the particular event (Date, start/end time , elapsed time etc).

It will also show an error code (eg PE conn missing etc) which can be used by the engineer to identify the problem.

Hope this helps and hope you get things sorted quickly.

Regards,
Peter

 

[Berniethebolt]

I had the same problem, was off for 3 days then a week later 8 days. (Zero output all day) But I only noticed when i checked readings at end of month. by which time it was working, so after that I was checking everyday for loss of output. after about 3 weeks gave up, thinking it was not going to re-occur. but you guessed it happened again for 3 days, however not giving up this time, will check every day, then I can see what could be wrong with mains input. PS also about 10yrs old, will keep you updated if I find anything.
I have operated the isolator and MCB several times incase of a bit of crud on the contacts.

 

[Peter8518]

Got the same problem on a sunnyboy down in Buckinghamshire at the moment , it is one of two on the site , what is yours showing for a fault code?
This one keep showing grid disturbance but only at peak output around midday and only on one of the two inverters !?
SMA have suggested getting hold of the DNO and checking what connection agreement is in place and then getting the authorisation code for us to give to SMA in order for them to open up the settings on the inverter and stop it going out on over voltage. I have got to look into doing it later this week when I have time . It is not a system we installed and to be honest I have never dealt with SMA before as only ever fitted fronius , they do not seem most easiest of companies to deal with.

As a matter of interest did you ever reach a satisfactory outcome from the problem and if so, how?.........Peter

 

[JD6400]

Hi Peter, yes and no !
The authorisation code seems to be the only way to go, unfortunately in the current climate it is like pulling hens teeth trying to get anywhere with the DNO.
It is looking more likely that I may get them to come out and do a centre tap change on the transformer , to drop the voltage on site.
As and when if ever I succeed with either , I will report back.

 

[Berniethebolt]

As a matter of interest did you ever reach a satisfactory outcome from the problem and if so, how?.........Peter

I think the error codes are a red herring, the data from the bluetooth reader seems to not match real world output. over the 10 or so days reporting " showing grid disturbance " the difference in readings is 170kWh so it seems it was working all the time, remember I was not reading the REAL export meter, only the inverter's output data. so don't panic folks