Indoor Installed Inverter Heat

[Zeigh]

Hello,

My pending 15.75 kW solar electric design has one SolarEdge 7600 watt inverter (SE7600A-US002NNU2) placed inside a dedicated 4’x8’ electrical closet, at the back of my four car garage. While the documentation states that this units can be installed indoors, should I be concerned about excess heat buildup generated by the device itself? I can install a venting system if needed.


Peace,
Dr. Z.

[Ben25]

No, but you should be concerned with only one 7600w inverter being used for a 15.75kw system...

[solar pete]

Hello,

My pending 15.75 kW solar electric design has one SolarEdge 7600 watt inverter (SE7600A-US002NNU2) placed inside a dedicated 4’x8’ electrical closet, at the back of my four car garage. While the documentation states that this units can be installed indoors, should I be concerned about excess heat buildup generated by the device itself? I can install a venting system if needed.


Peace,
Dr. Z.

Howdy Zeigh,

I assume you are having 2 x SE7600, and as someone with no SolarEdge experience I would be concerned about heat build up. We don't know your location so don't know if it gets really hot in your parts. Does the electrical closet have good ventilation? It might be ok but I definitely would be concerned about heat build up, someone with some SE experience might chime in, cheers.

[Zeigh]

No, but you should be concerned with only one 7600w inverter being used for a 15.75kw system...

Opps, my mistake. My design does indeed have two SolarEdge units.


Peace,
Dr. Z.

[Ben25]

Opps, my mistake. My design does indeed have two SolarEdge units.


Peace,
Dr. Z.

That's better!
I would wait and see how warm it gets in there, but you may need a couple vents in there. One down low, one up high should do it. Where are you located?


Ben

[Zeigh]

That's better!
I would wait and see how warm it gets in there, but you may need a couple vents in there. One down low, one up high should do it. Where are you located?

Just northeast of Prescott Valley, Arizona. 5500 feet. Average high temperature of 89F degrees.

I could fairly easily install a few vents. In fact, I did something similar with a network closet using fans and high temperature alerts via home automation. Still, I wasn't sure what to expect with solar inverter heat. Keeping all the home electrical in one central location isn't that big of a deal in the long run. Depending on further feedback with this issue, I could just as easily install the inverters outside.


Peace,
Dr. Z.

[J.P.M.]

Just northeast of Prescott Valley, Arizona. 5500 feet. Average high temperature of 89F degrees.

I could fairly easily install a few vents. In fact, I did something similar with a network closet using fans and high temperature alerts via home automation. Still, I wasn't sure what to expect with solar inverter heat. Keeping all the home electrical in one central location isn't that big of a deal in the long run. Depending on further feedback with this issue, I could just as easily install the inverters outside.


Peace,
Dr. Z.

Heat is not good for electronics. If you place the inverters in a closed space and have little air movement, things will get hot. If so, you may exceed allowable op. temps.

1st cut: if the inverters run ~ 97% efficient - see the data sheet - you will have the same as 15.75 kW * (1-.97) ~ = .47kW ~ = 1600 BTU/hr. heat added to the space at full output. You will need to figure out how to dissipate that heat via ventilation, either forced or natural, or by other means and keep the enclosure temp. below max. amb. as stated on data sheets.

The numbers are approx. Calc. your own worst case from the data sheets using published efficiency as above.

[thejq]

My SE6000 (4.8KW system) installed inside my garage without active cooling gets pretty hot (~ 100-120 F) in the peak summer time. So putting in an enclosed box without sufficient cooling is probably not a good idea.

[J.P.M.]

My SE6000 (4.8KW system) installed inside my garage without active cooling gets pretty hot (~ 100-120 F) in the peak summer time. So putting in an enclosed box without sufficient cooling is probably not a good idea.

It's a consideration of heat transfer, or how to get rid of excess heat.

A simplification: In an enclosure (garage, box, whatever), under steady state generation conditions, the interior temp. will rise until the rate of heat loss from the enclosure equals the rate of heat generation inside the enclosure. To keep the interior temp. at or below a certain level, the rate of heat loss (heat dissipation) can be increased. For an enclosure, that increase in the rate of heat loss is usually provided by increased ventilation, either forced or natural, or both, or by mechanical refrigeration (A/C) or some other combination of methods. Nat. vent. is usually the cheapest, but not always sufficient or practical. After that, mechanical (fans, or other ducting) is probably the next cheapest.

In the case of an inverter in an enclosed space, garage, box, whatever, the enclosure temp. must be kept below mfg. recommended levels, I'd suggest by a considerable amount within practical limits.

[thejq]

SolarEdge inverter has a gap between the main unit and the disconnect box. Capture.JPG I put a PC fan there blowing air up through the heat sink fins (at the back). It lowers the temp about 10 F. For Dr. Z, he probably need that and an exhaust fan on the closet itself to remove heat from the inside the closet.