Question regarding a Trace 5548.

[littleharbor2]

 I recently picked up a ground mount system consisting of 66 Siemens SP 75 6/12 volt panels and a Trace 5548 inverter. The thing that intrigues me is the inverter was set up as a, sell only, grid tie, batteryless configuration. It came in a trace inverter outdoor enclosure and instead of batteries it has two large capacitors connected to the battery terminals on the inverter. Also the panels were configured as 6 volts, with what I think are Zenner diodes in the junction boxes. Apparently the panels were wired in 11, 6 panel strings.

I was hoping that one of you Trace/Xantrex guys could shed a little light on this set up if you know about it.

I'm not putting this old system back into service. I buy and sell solar equipment and bought this system for the 12 volt panels, mostly but have found there's always a market for working Trace/Xantrex inverters.

[boB]

Ahhh yes ! I remember these !  (but I have also forgotten a lot about them, too.)

They were used in California for the S.M.U.D. program.  Sacramento Municipal Utility District and were specially programmed to sell back to the utility grid from homes in the area.

Since these inverters would normally use a battery but did not in these installations, the capacitors are attached instead for extra filtering.

The diodes you mention may be bypass diodes.  Kyocera 125 watt modules broken up into two 6 volts halves ?

I don't remember if it will work as a regular inverter or not.  Attach a battery or power supply between 50 and 58 volts or so and see what happens without grid input.  It might work normally enough but will want to sell back to the grid when battery input voltage is higher than 50-something volts to try and keep the PV (battery) voltage at maximum power point, whatever that point is.

Battery charging may be weird but maybe the 5548 will try to charge when the input goes below 50-ish volts ?  I just can't remember exactly.  I will ask a couple people at work and see if they remember the particulars.

I would be interested to be reminded of what you find here.

boB

[littleharbor2]

Rut row, Marmaduke. I sure hope the inverter will function off grid, otherwise I bought a $400.00 brick.
This system came with siemens 75 watt panels. Here's a pic of the diode from the junction box. Pay no attention to the upper jumpers. Note the location of the diode connected between the pos.+ and neg.- terminals

[boB]

Bypass diodes I'm pretty sure.  They used to place them on the outside instead of integral to the panel.

Will ask more questions about the use of that particular inverter.  I would just apply power to it to see if it puts out 120VAC.  I think so.

Not sure of the charging ability though, yet.

Craig Wilburn or the guys at Solar Cowboyz would know for sure since they still work with this stuff.

[littleharbor2]

 boB, thank you for your help on this. This is awesome to be able to converse with the guys who actually built this stuff all these years ago.
I will apply a 48 volt battery to it next chance I get. I have it in storage at the moment.

[boB]

I found an old thread on the NAWS forum where somebody else had one that needed to be fixed.  There is some more information on this one...

https://forum.solar-electric.com/discussion/23032/trace-sw5548-problem-which-board-what-controls-the-inverting

So, it's 240 VAC output I guess ?

boB

[littleharbor2]

Oh no!   Glad I didn't buy the other inverter, then. The one I bought was a back up that never got hooked up.

[boB]

Here is a manual for this and other related Trace utility gridtie inverters....

http://www.energyalternatives.ca/pdf/traceutilitytie_man.pdf

I don't know if the menus are active through the front panel or not.

If so, you can look up the regular manual too maybe.

boB

[littleharbor2]

 Wow! Thanks again.

[littleharbor2]

 I've printed out the manual addendum to add to the library.
One thing I'm not clear on. If the output is 240 volts, is it split phase with two hot legs? I don't see it this way in the manual. I do see mention of two different types of these "U" inverters, one, requiring the use of batteries for back up power. I guess when I get back to the beast I'll be able to verify the model # and AC out status.
So, if this is a strictly grid sell inverter there's no off grid capability? No current use for it these days? sell it for parts? Hope that isn't a dumb question.

[boB]

As for L1 Neutral and L2  (120/240)  you would have to look for neutral and two HOT leads and measure with your meter.

From what I read on the forum, it should put out AC from battery with no grid.  Not sure about battery charging though.

It's all software in that unit I think.

boB

[littleharbor2]

I'm looking forward to getting back to the inverter now. The possibilities run the gamut of, off grid brick to workable split phase 240Vac. Anything the large caps might be usable for? I'm not an electronics wizard, by any means, just wondering if the caps should be hung onto, or not.

[boB]

The caps are probably worth 10$ to $20.   You might give them to a geek friend ?

boB

[littleharbor2]

None of my friends are smart enough to qualify as geeks. Lol I'll find homes for the caps though.

Thank you for all your help. I would appreciate any other info anybody out there might have.

[littleharbor2]

So I have determined the inverter to be a SW 5548 UPV. This is strictly batteryless and incapable of being set up off grid. Bummed about that. Now I have a 147 pound anchor.  Except..... Are there parts that can be salvaged off of it? I see the prices for the FET boards Series AC boards and SWRC's are quite high. Not that I want to sell them but It would be nice if they are exchangeable with regular SW inverters.