₦airaland Forum

Troubleshooting Common Problems with a Solar Inverter

A solar inverter is a mechanism that collects radiant energy from the sun and then converts it to usable energy that can power gadgets as small as a mobile phone to larger appliances such as televisions, air conditioners and microwave ovens. Solar inverters are used in many applications such as energy saver alternatives, power outage backups and remote area power supplies.

Solar inverters may run through some problems and often times, these issues are easy to fix.

*Battery Not Charging
The photovoltaic array open voltage circuit should be measured to confirm that it is within normal limits. The connections for the photovoltaic array should be checked if the voltage is measured zero or low. Always remember to disconnect the photovoltaic array from controller when checking the system. Another thing you could check is the photovoltaic and battery voltage at charge controller terminals if the voltage reading at the terminal is the same when it is battery charging. If the photovoltaic reading is close to the open circuit reading of the panels and then the battery reading is low, the controller is possibly not charging the batteries itself and may be a sign of battery damage.


*Excessively High Reading on Battery Voltage
High voltage readings of the battery could mean problems with the controller. Check by disconnecting the lead battery from the positive terminal and leave the photovoltaic array disconnected. The charging light on controller shouldn’t be lit. Go to the solar panel terminal and measure the voltage from the charge controller. If the green light lights up then this proves that the controller may be damaged.

*Improper Loading
The fuses could possibly be damaged or defective if this is the case. The fuses should be checked and should not be frayed or damaged. Another possibility is that the breakers might have been tripped.

*Fault Line is On but AC Load Not Working
A shutdown might have occurred do to an overload in the system and might have exceeded the solar inverters surge capacity.


*Reverse Polarity Connection on Solar Inverter
The battery connection should be check because the inverter could possibly be damaged and needs to be replaced. Always check connections if it is time for it to be replaced.

*Improper Disconnection of Loads
The controller is not receiving proper battery voltage so the battery connection should be checked. Batteries should be checked as a maintenance routine to know if it has to be replaced soon.

*Array Fuse Short Circuits
The battery might have been connected when a short circuit test was performed. The battery should be disconnected in order to perform the test. The rating of the photovoltaic array may have exceeded the rating so another controller in parallel should be added if needed or replace it with a controller that will be able to accommodate the rating

The above are common issues with solar inverters. At Galinverter, we encourage only qualified professional to handle issues that extends above DIY level. Get referred to a solar technician around your neighborhood(Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Rivers, Abia, Ebonyi, Bayelsa, Abuja and Lagos) today.

INVERTER VS GENERATOR

Why an Inverter?
When talking about reliable power solutions, Nigerians always tries to make the correlation between an inverter and a generator. An inverter can be explained as “a generator that uses the battery as its fuel tank”.
But which is better?
Generator – Generators are AC power supplies that use fossil fuels as their main source of energy. In other words, they use fuel (diesel or petrol) to run an engine. One of the major drawbacks of a generator is they can be inefficient and waste a lot of fuel if they’re not run at the appropriate load. Generators also unnecessarily pollute the environment. If your generator is run below seventy five percent of its rated capacity, this can cause carbon buildup on the critical engine components, shortening the life of your generator’s engine. In addition, generators are noisy & expensive to run and maintain. The running and service costs per Kwh can exceed 95/Kwh. For more information on generators.

Inverter – Inverters are also AC power supplies but they use stored DC electrical energy in a battery or battery bank. They use electronics and transformers to modify the DC to AC and then boost the voltage to create 220V. Inverters are extremely efficient, even when compared to generators, and only consume DC power in direct relation to the amount of AC power they put out.

Other major benefits of inverters are:

*They are virtually silent compared to generators;
*The batteries are charged when connected to the main utility power source, alternatively solar panels can be used to charge the batteries;
*They are comparatively light weight compared to generators;
*There is no need to store fuel (diesel or petrol);
*The running costs are much lower;
*There is little or no maintenance involved.
Solar systems are mostly underrated here in Nigeria, surprisingly, the educated/informed class of citizen has continuously appraised and encouraged the used of solar systems as the benefits cannot be overemphasized. The comfort and reliability is amazing.

An inverter system is easily able to replace any power supplier, with the use of sufficient solar panels. The long-term benefits of such an investment require no justification. With GALinverter and Solar systems range, which is a modular system, you can add additional units as your demand increases (to a maximum of six units) providing for up to a total of 24000 W. In the market today, we have products with capability to enable you to commence on a smaller more inexpensive scale and to increase the size and efficiency of your system should your needs require. This ensures you will never have to sell your inverter to buy a bigger one.
Our units are configurable to run as three phase inverters as well allowing 10000w three phase.

Its obvious that generators are cheaper but very expensive on the long run thereby making solar inverter systems more profitable to use as the sun is free and the systems requires no fuel to operate. Despite the high sunshine in northern Nigeria, GALinverter field records have shown that homes in Southern Nigeria use more of solar inverter to power electrical appliances. This is widely evident in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, Calabar in Cross River State, Umauhia in Abia, Owerri in Imo, Portharcourt in Rivers and Yeneogoa in Bayelsa state.