SolarEdge P1101

[ggunn]

For those who use SolarEdge inverters, be advised that they have changed the stringing rules for the P1101 for inverters on a 480/277V service. I don't know when the change happened or what else they have changed, but the higher limit on the attached power per string has increased and they changed the differential allowed for the longer strings from 2000W to 5 optimizers.

 

[jlack]

I'm from an Insurance carrier and have a question if someone could help.

A question recently arose around equipment breakdown coverage on risks with solar panels. I reached out to HSB to clarify their guidelines and you can see below the guidance they have developed for when a risk needs to be referred for pricing and terms. That guidance is based on the listed nameplate rating of the equipment. When I look at samples of solar panel nameplates the primary field I see is ‘Peak Power/Maximum Power/Pmax’ – would you agree this is the field we should be looking at to determine the total generating power of one solar panel or a field of them?
Thank you,
John Lack
Acuity's Construction Consultant.

 

[roger]

The question above is not a "How To" or a DIY question so we are allowing it for advice.

 

[ggunn]

I'm from an Insurance carrier and have a question if someone could help.

A question recently arose around equipment breakdown coverage on risks with solar panels. I reached out to HSB to clarify their guidelines and you can see below the guidance they have developed for when a risk needs to be referred for pricing and terms. That guidance is based on the listed nameplate rating of the equipment. When I look at samples of solar panel nameplates the primary field I see is ‘Peak Power/Maximum Power/Pmax’ – would you agree this is the field we should be looking at to determine the total generating power of one solar panel or a field of them?
Thank you,
John Lack
Acuity's Construction Consultant.

I am not quite sure what you are asking. The listed maximum power output of a DC solar PV module is its output power under standard test conditions (STC) which is 25 degrees C and 1000W per square meter of solar energy incident perpendicular to the plane of the module with an "air mass" of 1.0, which at sea level means at the equator; this is generally accepted to be the most DC power that the module can produce. STC virtually never exists in real world installations; what a module will actually produce in the field is less, and is subject to many variables, such as latitude, tilt, azimuth, elevation, and temperature.

What they may be asking for is AC rather than DC max power, in which case it is the maximum output power of the inverter(s), and it is independent of the maximum power available from the DC modules.

Does that help?

 

[jaggedben]

I'm from an Insurance carrier and have a question if someone could help.

A question recently arose around equipment breakdown coverage on risks with solar panels. I reached out to HSB to clarify their guidelines and you can see below the guidance they have developed for when a risk needs to be referred for pricing and terms. That guidance is based on the listed nameplate rating of the equipment. When I look at samples of solar panel nameplates the primary field I see is ‘Peak Power/Maximum Power/Pmax’ – would you agree this is the field we should be looking at to determine the total generating power of one solar panel or a field of them?
Thank you,
John Lack
Acuity's Construction Consultant.

I believe the answer to you question is yes. The maximum power, at Standard Test Conditions, often abbreviated Pmax, is what I would assume someone is referring to when they refer to the 'module nameplate'. It is typically the wattage that the module is sold as, and what is referred to in contract documents. That's standard industry practice in my experience.

For example, if someone signs a contract for a 50 kilowatt solar system consisting of (125) 400 watt solar modules, it would be assumed, unless otherwise clearly stated, that 400 watts is the maximum power at STC on the modules' datasheet. If one is trying to determine, say, what constitutes equivalent replacement equipment if it is accidentally destroyed, 50kW of solar panels is the number one would use in this example.

(In most companies I've worked for the contract specifies DC watts, i.e. solar panel equipment, not inverters. This to avoid confusion with the AC nameplate of inverters. Also because the DC number is almost always bigger and therefore sounds better. )

 

[jaggedben]

These days module data sheets often have alternative ratings based on test conditions other than 'standard'. But as the name implies, only Standard Test Conditions offer consistent apples-to-apples comparison across datasheets industry-wide. Make sure you're looking at the STC table on the datasheet.

 

[pv_n00b]

Don't take insurance advice from the internet.
From a technical and engineering point of view that is how we look at module ratings for design purposes. But it is not necessarily the rating of the installed PV system. There is a lot more to rating the output of a PV system than that simple module question may lead you to. I really don't think you or the insurance industry should be basing anything on what you learn in this forum.

 

[jlack]

Thank you for everyone's insight. Very helpful!