EEVblog 1610 - Deye Hybrid Solar Inverter - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: Brumby
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: April 13, 2024, 12:02:09 pm
content: Well, an effort was made.Maybe consider acquiring a borescope camera...?

author: Kleinstein
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 13, 2024, 02:34:38 pm
content: With the panels oriented east / west there is a good chance that one would not get the full nominal power anyway. So the panels may well be OK from the size.

author: Brumby
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: April 14, 2024, 12:59:27 am
content: If things come down to a warranty claim, I can imagine the real, on-site physical realities may not play as important a part as the simple numbers on paper would.Whether or not you would do this, let's look at the following hypothetical...Say you were wanting up to 8kW of solar power on the best, sunniest day possible but, due to circumstance, you had to install a string of solar panels rated for a maximum of 12kW to achieve that.Then say you had a piece of attached equipment rated for 10kW which failed.The numbers on the specification sheets would depict a clear mismatch - so what would you expect the result of a warranty claim to be?As an extension to this question, let's say you have run this system for 4 years covering some extreme examples of high insolation and your history shows the maximum instantaneous power generated at ANY point was 8.2kW. Whatthenwould the answer to the warranty claim?Edit: Maybe I'm just getting cynical, but when it comes to warranty matters, my life experience has taught me to be very mindful and tread carefully.

author: EEVblog
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: April 14, 2024, 07:40:45 am
content: Quote from: Kleinstein on April 13, 2024, 02:34:38 pmFor a good part of the day, yes. But my roof is fairly shallow pitch, so in summer there is going to be pretty close to full power on both arrays for a good part of the day.Better to be safe than sorry.And the two spare 440W panels I can mount elsewhere and have the DC cables come down direct so I can play with various microinverters and other products. e.g. I could hook them up to my Hoymiles microinverter mounted on the wall and connect into the Generator input of the Deye for extra potential battery charging.

author: EEVblog
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: April 14, 2024, 07:43:10 am
content: Quote from: Brumby on April 14, 2024, 12:59:27 amI'd say there would be some buffer built into that MAX string rating for this very reason. e.g. panels can actually give out more than their rated label power on a high solar insolation day.But if you installed a system with a panel label capacity greater than the max, they'd have every excuse to not honor any warranty IMO.

author: Brumby
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: April 14, 2024, 01:28:16 pm
content: Quote from: EEVblog on April 14, 2024, 07:43:10 amThat was the essence of my point.

author: madires
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 14, 2024, 02:09:28 pm
content: Yep, surprisingly good build quality. But I'm still quite wary because of the RelayGate/DeyeGate last year (https://www.eevblog.com/forum/renewable-energy/deye-pv-microinverters-lack-a-safety-relay-(eu)/).

author: nctnico
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 14, 2024, 07:18:13 pm
content: Quote from: EEVblog on April 14, 2024, 07:43:10 amIn such cases the MPTT trackers just throttle down to the capacity the inverter supports. When I installed my 4.2kW Growatt inverter it was set to 2500W max. by default and it throttled down to stay within that limit. After I configured it correctly, It peaks to 4.5kW when a cloud moves away and then throttles down to 4.2kW. But I've noticed it can do this balancing asymmetric so one string delivers 2500W and the other 1700W. But this is on relatively cold days during the spring.You could say that my inverter is undersized but it is kind of what is recommended for a 4500Wp setup. And realistically, on a hot day it peaks at around 3900W due to the panels being quite hot.

author: EEVblog
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: April 14, 2024, 11:04:13 pm
content: Quote from: madires on April 14, 2024, 02:09:28 pmI'd still err on the side of giving them the benefit on the doubt on that one. It's unlikely they deliberately made the decision to remove a relay in just one country to save a few cents. Of course if they screwed up then they should fix it.

author: EEVblog
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: April 15, 2024, 04:02:20 am
content: UPDATE:Someone has the exact same inverter (in pieces) and is sending it to me for a complete teardown.Deye actually market the use of premium component suppliers in the manual, but I've seen photos of this unit and it uses Aishi caps

author: Xena E
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 16, 2024, 06:34:19 pm
content: Quote from: EEVblog on April 15, 2024, 04:02:20 amDoes it make anyone else cringe when they see HV lytic caps (particularly those ones¹), apparently sitting directly on top of the solder mask?¹more bang for your buck.

author: thm_w
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 17, 2024, 09:20:12 pm
content: Quote from: Xena E on April 16, 2024, 06:34:19 pmWhat is the issue with that?Quote from: nctnico on April 14, 2024, 07:18:13 pmYeah I would hope so if its properly designed, assuming the panel string is within the VOC max, I would think the only downside is the >3250W power going into heating up the panels a bit. I assume the rating is there more so people don't put 5kW all on one string and only get 3kW out.

author: nctnico
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 17, 2024, 09:44:10 pm
content: Quote from: Xena E on April 16, 2024, 06:34:19 pmNope. I don't see a reason why this is bad at all. Actually, having the capacitors mounted tight to the PCB makes sure they don't wiggle under vibration which could break the pins at some point. Adding some glue to stick the capacitors to the board is even better for durability.

author: Phoenix
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 18, 2024, 11:26:46 am
content: Your comment about the MOSFET packages around 15min - they look like a custom mounting bracket that allows a single screw to apply pressure to two TO-247 packages. It's not a special package.

author: Phoenix
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 18, 2024, 12:06:22 pm
content: I've done a quick markup of the mainboard layout too if anyone is interested. I can also help with a more detailed reverse engineering when you get the disassembled boards - especially around some of the hairy details if you want to deep dive things like conversion topologies, purpose of specific components etc.

author: EEVblog
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: April 19, 2024, 12:09:09 am
content: Quote from: Phoenix on April 18, 2024, 12:06:22 pmThanks. I'll post high res photos when I get to this.

author: EEVblog
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: June 01, 2024, 05:02:09 am
content: Only just got around to this, but teardown photos here:https://www.flickr.com/photos/eevblog/albums/72177720317489696

author: SiliconWizard
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 01, 2024, 07:04:11 am
content: Damn, there's black resin over all ICs.

author: Phoenix
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 01, 2024, 09:27:15 am
content: Nah it's just conformal coating. Look at it with light from the right angle you'll read them. The trouble with photos is that you can't tilt them for more detail.

author: EEVblog
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: June 02, 2024, 07:29:08 am
content: Quote from: SiliconWizard on June 01, 2024, 07:04:11 amMain processor is an Advchip DSPhttp://advancechip.com/mobile/32fd/61.html

author: EEVblog
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: June 02, 2024, 07:57:52 am
content: Quote from: Phoenix on June 01, 2024, 09:27:15 amYes, in this case you need near horizontal light to just be able to see the numbers.

author: Phoenix
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 02, 2024, 09:34:27 am
content: Quote from: EEVblog on June 02, 2024, 07:29:08 amThey aren't subtle about what they are trying to copy...https://www.ti.com/product/TMS320F28335#features

author: nctnico
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 02, 2024, 04:29:55 pm
content: So much thermal grease. Yuk!

author: EEVblog
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: June 02, 2024, 11:21:05 pm
content: Quote from: nctnico on June 02, 2024, 04:29:55 pmImpossible to avoid in the teardown, it just gets everywhere.

author: nctnico
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 02, 2024, 11:29:57 pm
content: Quote from: EEVblog on June 02, 2024, 11:21:05 pmThat is what I mean. Using heat conductive pads would have been so much nicer from a service standpoint (and likely manufacturing as well).

author: Phoenix
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 03, 2024, 12:22:25 am
content: Quote from: nctnico on June 02, 2024, 11:29:57 pmIt looks like there's both insulating silpads that sit in the routed recesses and thermal grease. In my experience it is still beneficial to have thermal grease even if you have the silpad as you still need something to fill the micro-voids.