Electronics > Projects, Designs, and Technical Stuff
Lots of recalls of solar panel DC disconnect switches
Nauris:
--- Quote from: bdunham7 on June 01, 2019, 06:31:55 pm ---Are these high voltage string systems still commonly installed in grid-tied residential systems? I did ours a bit over 6 years ago with microinverters (and all-metal electrical enclosures on exposed parts) and they were beginning to become the preferred method at that time here in California. I would have thought they would be the most common method by now.
--- End quote ---
At least here nearly everyone uses high voltage string system. Microinverters are just so expensive I think these days one chinese panel is cheaper than one microinverter. String inverters maybe one third the price even german made ones. But I think California is just so full of money it hardly matters there.
Siwastaja:
Would have thought that the microinverter price issue would have been solved already as it isn't a new fancy thing anymore, but apparently, no. I was actually thinking about getting into solar power conversion business years ago but decided not to, seeing there's a lot of design effort and a lot of competition to make a mainstream system.
From system design viewpoint, it shouldn't be that much more expensive, or even cheaper, but it will take time until the "premium" tag wears off, designs are optimized for low cost, and volumes get there. But usually, in distributed systems, volumes are no problem since each system uses many.
NiHaoMike:
There are quite a few Ebay special grid tie inverters, the main problem with them is that (from what I have read) they break all the time. Could probably take one of those designs and figure out how to make it more reliable without increasing the cost too much.
bdunham7:
--- Quote from: Nauris on June 02, 2019, 06:15:25 pm ---
At least here nearly everyone uses high voltage string system. Microinverters are just so expensive I think these days one chinese panel is cheaper than one microinverter. String inverters maybe one third the price even german made ones. But I think California is just so full of money it hardly matters there.
--- End quote ---
Perhaps, like many other things, they are simply cheaper here. I believe at the time, the specific microinverter I used cost me about $150 per unit, with the solar panels perhaps double that. Now, the exact same microinverter is still available, at $50 per unit. So for 30 panels, new inverters would cost me $1500 and some work. That seems pretty cheap to me, considering you don't need any high voltage wiring, disconnects, etc. And of course, the inherent reliability and self-diagnostics is a huge plus.
Vell:
Regarding anti-Chinese prejudice, I'm glad to see it shamed. The USA's Chinese Exclusion Act is a blot on our history. Perhaps the one thing that's unfortunate about China is its apparent willingness to make cheap, shoddy products if the customer insists on rock-bottom prices. Japan, before WW II, had a terrible reputation for shoddy products. Now, they're top-notch. They learned, and China will, too.
I have a couple2 of Nikon Coolpix cameras that were made in China, and their quality is superb. One still works fine after two or three drops from handheld height onto concrete and a fall onto it that forced the front section of the telescoping lens badly out of alignment. Its cam follower was forced out of its slot, and snapped back in when I tried. That camera has taken maybe 25,000 shots, roughly. S3100 and L610 for the curious, btw...
Quite a few Chinese products I have with switches lead me to think that the Chinese are still learning how to make good switches.
Switchcraft apparently had no IP theft!
A related topic, which I might post more about later, is the horrible way that many (guessing) factory workers are mistreated.
I never forgot about the safety nets between first (British: ground) and second (Brit.: first?) stories, around a multistory factory, perhaps in Taiwan, and iirc Foxconn. These nets protected pedestrians from workers who went out of higher-story windows to commit suicides.
Over the past two decades or so, I've kept track of roughly 15 instances of (often hidden) factory sabotage of products made in China (& Taiwan?). I have little doubt that it's revenge by workers who had had it long ago, and just couldn't take it any more.
But ... those who sabotaged were very likely to be decent people, simply treated quite badly.
"couple2"? Idea is that "couple", used to mean two, explicitly; now, it is often casually synonymous with "few". Gets humorous if the new usage refers to a married "couple". Polygamy, anyone? Polyandry?
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