microinverters - how do I monitor a AP Systems microinverter? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: emptech
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: February 09, 2020, 12:45:15 am
content: A contractor installed a PV system, 30 panels, 15 YC600 AP Systems micro inverters. The contractor went out of business and is unreachable. Other than looking at the utility company meter or the utility bill, unable to tell if and how much the system is producing. They never gave us the ability to monitor the system. Can somebody out there set us straight? I can give you more details about what we have and what we don't have. TIA - JimBTW, AP Systems in Seattle, the manufacturer of the micro inverters has been fairly unresponsive on helping out, guess that's what happens when you go for the low bid.

author: NiHaoMike
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 09, 2020, 03:43:19 am
content: If measuring just the total production is enough, easiest will probably be to add clamp on current sensors. In principle, you could install sensors on each panel but getting to the connections might be problematic.

author: SolarMan
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: March 30, 2020, 05:28:07 pm
content: Finding out how the system is doing in generalAs NiHaoMike said, you need a current sensor (CT clamp). This should be located on the (AC) bus cable that connects all of your microinverters to your distribution board. If you're not in the mood for a DIY project, then a company called Efergy is advertising a commercial solutionhttps://efergy.com/efergypro/The pro version should give you detailed time series data on the PV generation, your energy consumption, and imports/exports to the grid (I've wanted to try their product but haven't got around to it).Checking the health of individual microinvertersOf course, it is possible that one of your microinvers has failed while the others are working fine. The only way to know this will be to measure the current coming from each individual microinverter. If you can get access to the microinverters then this will be really easy. Go out on a sunny day and use a cheap and simple handheld CT clamp current sensor to make sure that each and every microinverter is putting out AC. Your (your electrician) can then replace any duds. Unfortunately, you will probably have to do this test periodically from now on to catch any failures that occur in the future. In theory, you could set up a permanent monitoring system with a CT clamp on each of your 15 microinverters, but that might be overcomplicating things.

author: NiHaoMike
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 30, 2020, 10:17:48 pm
content: Quote from: SolarMan on March 30, 2020, 05:28:07 pmThe energy has to go somewhere. If it's not being used, it goes into heating the panel. You could check the panels with a thermal camera and see if any are running hotter than usual.

author: SolarMan
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: April 01, 2020, 04:03:56 pm
content: Kudos to NiHaoMikeThe thermal imaging idea is a very neat trick. I will try to remember that one for the future.

author: bdunham7
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 07, 2020, 05:47:23 pm
content: The microinverters communicate over 2.4GHz ZigBee wireless. You need the AP Systems communication module part# ECU-R. I have an account with Renvu Solar and they show it costing $231.40, but out of stock. If these are out of stock everywhere for some reason, there is one on e-Bay for $269.If you don't already have these, here are datasheets for both devices. I have not used AP Systems so I can't advise you as to setup, but it probably isn't too complicated.https://usa.apsystems.com/resources/library/As for low bidders, as long as they didn't screw up the physical installation, I wouldn't fret. You can pay top dollar and still get crap after-sale service. Best to keep the money and learn how it works yourself.