Right, Corey.

All critical loads and their wiring aside, the GT only inverter cannot put out more
current than the pass through relay in the BB inverter is rated for.
For example, you would not want to use a 100 kW PV-GT only inverter
on the AC output of a 4 kW BB inverter.

When grid is up, the GT only inverter is in parallel with the grid just like
it would be if it were not going through the pass through relay except that
the relay in the BB inverter AC current and voltage ratings must be payed
attention to.

boB


On 7/31/2013 11:24 AM, Corey Shalanski wrote:
Mac,

We have installed about ten AC coupled Magnum systems over the past year.

Overcharge protection is accomplished by frequency shift, but Magnum recommends an auxiliary form of battery management. The cheapest way to do this is to program the relay driver on the Magnum advanced remote control (ARC) to open/close a solid state relay at specified battery voltage setpoints - similar to what Kelly mentioned. Unfortunately the "cheapest way" sometimes comes back to haunt us in the form of unanticipated extra costs. We had two customer callbacks indicating their inverter had mysteriously shut down - site visit revealed a fried relay in each case.. so I would recommend at least investing in a good quality relay if you choose this route.

One other thing we have learned is that not all grid interactive inverters are compatible with the Magnum inverters. Specifically Power One Aurora string inverters cannot seem to synchronize in off-grid mode - we have had to switch out Auroras on two projects because of this. We have had no such synchronization issues with SMA inverters so far.

--
Corey Shalanski
Joule Energy
New Orleans, LA



On Wed, Jul 31, 2013 Mac Lewis <maclew...@gmail.com <mailto:maclew...@gmail.com>> wrote:


    Here is a paper on AC coupling the magnum.
    
http://www.wholesalesolar.com/pdf.folder/inverter%20pdf%20folder/MagnumACcoupling.pdf

    The key is to connect the AC input terminals on the Magnum to the main
    panel (or a panel closer to the utility feed) and then feed the
    utility
    interactive inverter to a subpanel that is connected to the AC output
    terminals on the Magnum.  Under normal operation, the Magnum
    passes the
    power through and the utility interactive inverter is connected to the
    grid.  If the grid goes down, the internal relays isolate the
    Magnum and
    the critical load panel from the grid and the Magnum starts to
    make a sine
    wave that the UI inverter will export power to.

    You have to keep the critical load panel amperage below the pass
    through
    rating on the internal relays on the Magnum, and the grid connected
    inverter needs to have a lower output than the Magnum (I think by
    10%).
     Also, I'm not sure if the diversion controller Magnum has been
    working on
    is out yet or not.

    I've never done this, but I am about to.  Any wrenches have experience
    doing an AC coupled magnum?



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