SolarEdge users: What's your inverter temp during high production?

[HX_Guy]

I've looked into this before and never was able to get a clear answer from SolarEdge as to what the normal operating temperature of their inverters is.
All they state is that the inverter will start to derate at 122º ambient temperature, but have no data on internal temps. They did say that if the inverter was out of temp spec (whatever that spec number is), it would give an error message.

Still, this seems pretty freaking hot to me...and it's only in the high 80s outside today. Inverter is mounted outside on a north facing wall in full shade.
Both fans show as functioning in the on-screen menu and can be heard running.

[pleppik]

Still, this seems pretty freaking hot to me...and it's only in the high 80s outside today. Inverter is mounted outside on a north facing wall in full shade.

I don't know diddly about inverters, but I do know that the internal component temps of electronics can get higher than most people expect.

For example, the CPU temp of my laptop right now is reading 153F, and it's not even running the fan on high (it has to get up to around 200F before it really starts blowing).

So what you're seeing doesn't worry or surprise me all that much, assuming that they put the temperature sensor in the hottest part of the electronics.

[thejq]

153? that is pretty hot. the data sheet says it should never be more than 140. When I saw 120 F, I got worried. So I installed an external fan. Now it never reaches 110. I think you should consider improving the cooling mechanism.

[HX_Guy]

So what the heck?? A buddy of mine recently got a new SolarEdge inverter and it no longer shows the temperature on the LCD screen. He called to see what's going on and they said in the latest firmware, the temp readout has been deleted.

Are they having issues with this temps and now just sweeping it under the rug?

[thejq]

So what the heck?? A buddy of mine recently got a new SolarEdge inverter and it no longer shows the temperature on the LCD screen. He called to see what's going on and they said in the latest firmware, the temp readout has been deleted.

Are they having issues with this temps and now just sweeping it under the rug?

That is just wrong! I hope they don't remote update my firmware.

[sensij]

Heat sink temperature data at 5 min intervals is still available through the technical data API. Use this format to call it:

https://monitoringapi.solaredge.com/equipment/<SITE ID>/<INVERTER SERIAL NUMBER>/data.xml?startTime=YYYY-MM-DD%20HH:MM:SS&endTime=YYYY-MM-DD%20HH:MM:SS&api_key=<API Key>

Replace the bold text with your actual information.

The inverter serial number should start with 7F.

The "%20" is just html for a space.

HH:MM:SS is using 24 hour local time.

[HX_Guy]

Wow sensij that's awesome if I could see that data. So do I just put that in the url field in my browser but replace the bold with my own info?

I'm actually worried that my system is derating my power because of these high temps. My power output used to looks very nice and smooth when temps were lower but now at 150º+, they seem to level off and be pretty jagged, almost as if it's derating.

[sensij]

Yeah, you can just put it in your browser. There are a few formatting options (JSON, XML), but nothing as easy to look at as CSV. I'm working on a query in excel that will make it more (non-developer) user friendly, but don't have it done yet.

If you look at the 5 min temperature data, you can test your derating hypothesis... if it is really derating, you should see it in the chart.

There is a lot of other good information in the tech data. If you look closely, you can see where the 3% energy reading inflation comes from. Not quite enough to point the finger and say they are intentionally doing it, but, you know... At least the power data seems fairly accurate, although I will post more about that once my revenue grade monitoring is up.

[HX_Guy]

Hmm, can't seem to get it to work, I keep getting this error:

HTTP Status 403 -

type: Status report

message:description Access to the specified resource () has been forbidden.

[sensij]

Would you PM me the exact query you submitted? You can leave out the API key if you don't trust me, but if you leave it in, I can try to duplicate your result and see what's up.

[gvl]

Curious how much DC power are you feeding in and into what inverter?

[HX_Guy]

Would you PM me the exact query you submitted? You can leave out the API key if you don't trust me, but if you leave it in, I can try to duplicate your result and see what's up.

Sure, I'll send you the whole string. A buddy of mine (same guy I mentioned before with an SE inverter) typed up the string...for his it works, for mine it does.

[HX_Guy]

Curious how much DC power are you feeding in and into what inverter?

SE11400US inverter, system size is 12,400W DC.

[gvl]

SE11400US inverter, system size is 12,400W DC.

What I find interesting is that all 7600-11400w inverters are spec'd at the same dimensions/weight, so likely they utilize the same heat sink, which may imply that the higher output ones run a bit hotter. It is possible they push more air through to compensate. I have a 10kW inverter fed from a 9kW DC array waiting for PTO, I will post my numbers once it is running, hopefully I don't have the latest firmware yet.

[bcroe]

I don't know diddly about inverters, but I do know that the internal
component temps of electronics can get higher than most people expect.

Yes, remember vacuum tubes, the smell of the dust burning off the top? That red glow
means something. Bruce Roe