SMA vs SolarEdge

[bbartmasse r]

Anybody have opinions on the quality/reliability of SMA vs SolarEdge.

We have been pushed into using a lot of Solar Edge lately but putting all those optimizers on the roof is still a scary idea to me (so many chinese-made points of failure that surly will have to be replaced before the modules)

Have people generally had good luck with them so far. We have not had issues.....yet.

I always liked SMA in the past, but the Rapid Shutdown box was pretty disappointing.

Trying to weigh out the reliability of of Optimizers vs the pain in the arse of the RS box. The system I am considering is in full sun so does not really need optimizers anyway.

thanks

 

[ggunn]

Anybody have opinions on the quality/reliability of SMA vs SolarEdge.

We have been pushed into using a lot of Solar Edge lately but putting all those optimizers on the roof is still a scary idea to me (so many chinese-made points of failure that surly will have to be replaced before the modules)

Have people generally had good luck with them so far. We have not had issues.....yet.

I always liked SMA in the past, but the Rapid Shutdown box was pretty disappointing.

Trying to weigh out the reliability of of Optimizers vs the pain in the arse of the RS box. The system I am considering is in full sun so does not really need optimizers anyway.

thanks

SMA's response to rapid shutdown has indeed been a bit problematic. We have quit using SMA in places where RS is enforced.

Here's a thing that gotcha'd us: We had a system using two SMA inverters with three strings each. We installed it with three RS boxes, two strings each, which meant one RS box had one string going to inverter 1 and the other going to inverter 2. It seemed to work on paper but not in the field. SMA's documentation doesn't say it won't work, but it won't.

 

[jaggedben]

We haven't had many issues with SolarEdge. And handful of optimizer failures here and there (infant mortality) but less than 1 in a thousand. Failure does not affect the rest of the system. Quite a bit safer to install, too.

I will say that in my experience SMA's reliability can't be beat. That goes in comparison to any other manufacturer. But we don't usually use them for reasons of streamlining sales to design and dealing with shade and multiple azimuths. RS is just another reason to add to those.

 

[310 BLAZE IT]

Anybody have opinions on the quality/reliability of SMA vs SolarEdge.

We have been pushed into using a lot of Solar Edge lately but putting all those optimizers on the roof is still a scary idea to me (so many chinese-made points of failure that surly will have to be replaced before the modules)

Have people generally had good luck with them so far. We have not had issues.....yet.

I always liked SMA in the past, but the Rapid Shutdown box was pretty disappointing.

Trying to weigh out the reliability of of Optimizers vs the pain in the arse of the RS box. The system I am considering is in full sun so does not really need optimizers anyway.

thanks

SolarEdge is awful with regard to reliability and o&m costs and is more expensive to install and buy. Sma core is a way lower installed cost, has better customer support and is a more efficient system considering the optimizer losses.

Residential is a different story. Rapid shutdown Tigo or trina smart solutions will come about eventually and will still probably be less than SolarEdge though.

Their 100kw system looks like the mess that their system actually is. Beware. They will ship you new inverters like it's nothing but 150 dollars doesn't cover your Truck roll. Their higher up commercial technical support (east coast) will blow you off and are completely unprofessional if your system has trouble.

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