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6
Maintenance and
Troubleshooting
Chapter 6 contains information about how to provide general maintenance
for the Xantrex Grid Tie Solar Inverter. It also provides information about
troubleshooting the unit.
The topics in this chapter are organized as follows:
• “Factors Affecting GT Inverter Performance” on page 6–1
• “Performing General Maintenance” on page 6–3
• “Replacing Parts” on page 6–3
• “Identifying Error/Fault Conditions and Solutions” on page 6–9.
Factors Affecting GT Inverter Performance
This section describes several factors that will affect the amount of power that a
properly installed and operating GT Inverter can produce.
PV Array Factors
PV array ratings PV arrays are rated at ideal factory conditions, such as specified illumination
(1000 W/m
2
), spectrum of the light and specified temperature (25 °C / 77 °F),
which seldom reflect real-world installations. This is called the STC (Standard
Test Condition) rating and is the figure that appears on the PV module nameplate
label.
Expected
performance
Because of several unavoidable environmental factors, you can expect your
PVarray to produce around 60% to 70% of its peak STC-rated output for a
properly designed and installed PV system on a typical day.
Temperature and
reduced output
PV array temperature affects the output of the entire system. As the temperature
on the array surface heats up, its energy output goes down. Roof-mounted arrays
also collect the heat generated by the roof surface (or trapped under the array) and
will produce less output than pole-mounted arrays, which allow greater air
circulation behind the panels.