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I'm an experienced sparky, now semi retired, with absolutely no knowledge of solar PV, which I'm trying to do something about.
My questions are quite simple ones, but ones where Google didn't provide a definitive answer.
A typical 2kVA grid tie invertor is a Sunnyboy 2000HF which has a start up voltage of 220V, a minimum of 175V (does this mean that the DC input needs to reach 220V to turn it on, but then it will keep running until the voltage drops below 175?), a maximum input voltage of 700V and a maximum input current of 12A.
If this is connected to 12 x 250W PV panels, is there any possibility of damage caused by excess input, or does the invertor limit its input? Typical panel is 30V and 8A, so I presume series connection would be best, so that they reach the minimum voltage with less irradiance?
12 x 30V = 360V. peak open circuit voltage would be higher at something like 37V, but 12 x 37V = 444V, so comfortably within the max. voltage, and the max. current (series connected) will be 8A, also well within the max. current limit, but 12 x 30V x 8A = 2880W, which is well above the 2kVA rating of the invertor. Am I right in assuming that the invertor self regulates back to 2000kVA?
One more question: I notice in the Sunnyboy manual that in the section for setting the dials in the 'quick module', that dial A to E and dial B to 0 is a setting for "off grid 50Hz". Does this mean that this invertor will operate as a stand alone invertor, with no connection to a 230V AC supply on the output side, the loss of which would normally shut it down?
Thanks in advance for any replies.
My questions are quite simple ones, but ones where Google didn't provide a definitive answer.
A typical 2kVA grid tie invertor is a Sunnyboy 2000HF which has a start up voltage of 220V, a minimum of 175V (does this mean that the DC input needs to reach 220V to turn it on, but then it will keep running until the voltage drops below 175?), a maximum input voltage of 700V and a maximum input current of 12A.
If this is connected to 12 x 250W PV panels, is there any possibility of damage caused by excess input, or does the invertor limit its input? Typical panel is 30V and 8A, so I presume series connection would be best, so that they reach the minimum voltage with less irradiance?
12 x 30V = 360V. peak open circuit voltage would be higher at something like 37V, but 12 x 37V = 444V, so comfortably within the max. voltage, and the max. current (series connected) will be 8A, also well within the max. current limit, but 12 x 30V x 8A = 2880W, which is well above the 2kVA rating of the invertor. Am I right in assuming that the invertor self regulates back to 2000kVA?
One more question: I notice in the Sunnyboy manual that in the section for setting the dials in the 'quick module', that dial A to E and dial B to 0 is a setting for "off grid 50Hz". Does this mean that this invertor will operate as a stand alone invertor, with no connection to a 230V AC supply on the output side, the loss of which would normally shut it down?
Thanks in advance for any replies.