Samill inverters? who stocks them?

[wersolaruk]

Anybody know a good supplier

 

[SolarCity]

Segen, Rexel, EH Smith.....

 

[wersolaruk]

Eh smith were r they bases?

 

[SolarCity]

Based in Sutton Coldfield, north of Birmingham

 

[The Solar King]

Is that WH Smiths brother? Do you get free top shelf mags with every purchase?

 

[infinity]

Krannich

 

[wersolaruk]

Good thanks guys, I have used a few of the 2300tl which were ok, need a dual tracker 4kw do you guys use the 3400tl or the 4000tl just on a standard 250w 60cell panel 8 east 8 westI would be leaning towards the 4000tl but in the past wholesaler a have said the 3400tl would do, wether this is sales patter I don't know, is there configuration software for these inverters? I know undersizing on a spilit east/west is standard. Just wondering what u guys have done from experience and yield returns? Thanks bill

 

[infinity]

you would need to check this on Pv-sol or similar as a 4kw may not be needed if split east and west, another alternative though for the 16 panels is the samil 3680TL

 

[wersolaruk]

Didn't know they did a 3680tl, av got pv sol havnt really used it to much will run it through to mo

 

[Gavin A]

I'm just going to use this thread to post up a couple of thoughts / queries about Samil.

1 - Is anyone aware of any statement from Samil about the inverter not being capable of feeding DC currents into the grid? If not, and I've never found one, then a Type B RCD would need to be used if an RCD is needed.

2 - They're listed as having a power factor of 0.8lagging~0.8leading, yet G83 regulations specify a PF range of 0.95 lagging to 0.95 leading.... which begs the question for me as to whether these actually meet G83 regulations.

Has anyone checked either of these points with Samil?

 

[JulianC]

Isn't it the case that the twin MPPT models aren't G83 certified? Just G59 as far as I am aware.

 

[SolarCity]

I'm just going to use this thread to post up a couple of thoughts / queries about Samil.

1 - Is anyone aware of any statement from Samil about the inverter not being capable of feeding DC currents into the grid? If not, and I've never found one, then a Type B RCD would need to be used if an RCD is needed.



2 - They're listed as having a power factor of 0.8lagging~0.8leading, yet G83 regulations specify a PF range of 0.95 lagging to 0.95 leading.... which begs the question for me as to whether these actually meet G83 regulations.

Has anyone checked either of these points with Samil?

1. I did ask the question about 18 months or so ago and remember being told that all was okay regarding DC grid injection. I can't remember if I got hold of a document backing this up. I think it was Segen that I spoke to.

2. Not noticed this. Interesting point.

 

[Gavin A]

1. I did ask the question about 18 months or so ago and remember being told that all was okay regarding DC grid injection. I can't remember if I got hold of a document backing this up. I think it was Segen that I spoke to.

2. Not noticed this. Interesting point.

needs to be in writing from the manufacturer or it's worthless really.

I can't find it now, but I'm sure there's something in their documentation that actually indicates the DC injection could be far too high for standard RCDs. This tallies with reports from some electricians I had a long discussion with who swear that they've come across a lot of solar installs where the solar was installed onto RCDs which stuck when they tested the RCDs, which is what you'd expect from high levels of DC injection through the RCD.

 

[SibertSolar]

I too have heard mention of high DC leakage current values with these units in the field but, in fairness, their G83 test data shows a Pass for the max DC leakage current test (20mA) and Pass for the power factor tests (0.95 lag/0.95 lead)

 

[Gavin A]

I too have heard mention of high DC leakage current values with these units in the field but, in fairness, their G83 test data shows a Pass for the max DC leakage current test (20mA) and Pass for the power factor tests (0.95 lag/0.95 lead)

yeah, but 20mA of DC leakage current is far too high for a type A RCD, hence the requirement for a type B RCD to be fitted for TL inverters unless the manufacturer specifically states that the inverter isn't capable of feeding in DC currents.

Where an electrical installation includes a PV power supply system that cannot prevent d.c. fault currents from entering the a.c. side of the installation, and where an RCD is needed to satisfy the
general requirements of the electrical installation in accordance with BS 7671, then the selected RCD
should be a Type B RCCB as defined in IEC 62423.

Where any doubt exists about the capability of the
inverter to prevent d.c. fault currents entering the a.c. side of the system then the manufacturer
shall be consulted.

I'll lay good odds that 99% of samil inverters that have been installed with an RCD have been installed with standard a type A RCD without any indication from Samil that their inverters are suitable for use with type A RCDs

- from wiki

• for residual pulsating direct currents superimposed by a smooth direct current of 6 mA, with or without phase-angle control, independent of the polarity

I'm not sure if this is universal for all type A RCDs, but assuming it's at least broadly right, it's pretty obvious why a declaration about the inverter not exceeding 20mA DC injection isn't sufficient to justify their use with a Type A RCD.

IMO all TL inverters that have this issue should come with a specific warning that Type B RCDs must be used, but most simply refer to local regulations / requirements, and place the onus on the installer to actually understand what it all means.


PF - fair enough if that's the case, bit odd that they give it as 0.8 on the datasheets / manual.

 

[SibertSolar]

Thanks Gavin, you've summed up my past comments about Type-B RCDs perfectly!

As for most being on Type-A RCDs (that never trip - great!) I bet there's more than a few that have Type-AC...

 

[Gavin A]

probably.