Hello all,

Now that the "New SunTie" has been around for a year or so, and the old SunTie a lot longer, does anyone have an idea of what the anual improvement might be? I have read the white paper seen the stated numbers etc. but when all is said and done is it 10% better on the year, 15% more???? I hope to replace my old SunTie this month with a "New SunTie" and was hoping to see if the improvements tracked with others. I also look forward to the software etc. that all goes with this new inverter.

Thanks in advance.

DFriedeck

There can't possible be a general number as every installation is different.

There is lattitude , panel mounts and angles , shading , wiring , local weather , like fog , cloudy tropical weather ect ect

The White paper I wrote is accurate ... the UPG is better , 20-30% in dynamic conditions , like partly cloudy skies , and perfectly clear weather is more like 5-8% , so add up all your days of different conditions , multiply by the percentages and you'll have our answer ...

seriously now ... it will be better , but only running it on your array will give you the answer

Hi Folks,

Another issue that can strongly affect the improvement produced by the new Sun Tie is air temperature around the inverter when large arrays, say 2800 PV name plate watts and up are connected to the inverter. The SUntie, Henry's SUntie, is a warrior when it comes to maintaining its power rating up 45 degrees C! The old Suntie ran away from the Max. Power Point under hot conditions -- example the Old Suntie would at times only produce about 1300 watt AC, when the new Suntie produces 2300 watts AC. By the way, the Sunny Boy has much the same problem at high temperatures with large arrays. This may be a problem for other inverters as well. Nobody beats the new Suntie in high temperatures.

Gordon

Gordon,

That is of interest, I have 2730 "Name Plate" watts yet have never seen more than 1800 watts on the ST meter on a cool day. My panels, as stated before are set flat on a flat roof, are still near ideal in mid summer, this based on a simple shadow test. I am aware of the panel de-rate for temp but never gave much thought to the inverter (it lives in the shade). Temps this time of year are near 100 degrees F if not over it. I still do not have my new ST but I will post the info when I have some.

Dave

In cool weather and providing your sun angle is close , you'll see 2100 or so watts peak ,On my old system 2880 watts with the adjustable 4 season ground racks I saw 2200 watts on cool days.

As Gordon knows , the old ST was terrible in hot weather , new UPG will run allday , in heat at its power limit of 2500 watts.

On my roof based system , in the intense Florida summer heat I get about 1800 watts , this is with even the Sun angle off since the roof mount is 25 degrees

Well I had to purchase a ST from the market but it is up and running, harvest looks vey good. I am a happy camper, it will be a while until I see summer conditions but 5KW durrin winter is awsome.

Regards,

Dave

Flat mounted panels an a flat roof will easily loose around 10% from dust that doesn't wash away in the rain like it would with a slightly sloping mount.

I got about a 35% improvement when I went from an origional ST to a ST UPG. We have a lot of scattered clouds here.

Ron,

The location is Southern California, rain just does not wash the panels flat or otherwise it does not rain here sometimes for months, and the smog / dust is bad, we wash them down at least once a month, more in summer. I am happy with the unit but not with Xantrex, it was just too darn simple to stay with the SunTie, the install of the upgraded inverter was about 45 minutes, to change to another inverter would have required a major re-wire of the array.

We just added a spa so now I need some solar hot water and all will be good.

Regards,

Dave

And why is that ?

Dave,

I think you will be pleased with the SunTie UPG (make sure it is not just a STXR). It just works. Follows the panels loading requirements just like it should.