Power Line Communications

[czars]

Power Line Communications appears to be able to support greater than 250 foot comm links, but it also appears to depend on how the microinveter provider implements the PLC algorithms in their products. Anybody have experience with Solar PV installs with AC panels separated from the monitor by 250 feet or more?

 

[jaggedben]

There's a guy on the Enphase forum who routinely suggests the following for people with large ground mounts at such a distance from their building.

-Install an outdoor rated "AC combiner" load center at the array, as you probably would anyway.
-Run a #14 120V circuit from the load center back to the building (along with the main feeders for the system).
-Install a receptacle on the #14 circuit and plug only the Envoy into it.

Worked for him, I guess. Easy enough to do.

 

[Zee]

I cannot rely on it when it is 20 feet away.

I am curious:
Why use micros on a ground mount? I assume no partial shading, no split orientations and not a sub 3KW system ?

 

[jaggedben]

I am curious:
Why use micros on a ground mount? I assume no partial shading, no split orientations and not a sub 3KW system ?

I've seen plenty of ground mounts with shading. Remember, lower down means more likely to be below the tree tops.

Beyond that, one gets into the whole ball of wax regarding micros vs string inverters. System resiliency (one micro goes out, the rest keep working) is a big one. Some people also care about expandability. Etc. Etc.

 

[Zee]

JaggedBen,Yes, lower down on ground would be an excellent reason for micros, I agree.Yes, that whole "ball of wax" was - admittedly - where i was headed....I'll leave it for another discussion. haha

 

[czars]

Thanks for your inputs!