Will Midnite have the Inverters tested @ PV Evolution Labs (PVEL)

[Steve_S]

Good Day folks,

I've been following the Inverter Developments and am really looking forward to more on them as they come available BUT has Midnite Inc. considered having the Inverters Tested & Certified by PV Evolution Labs (PVEL) ?   I would suggest that this is an avenue that Midnite should investigate with all seriousness.   There are a great many companies out there producing inverters as we all know, some good and some not so good and others... well... let's not go there.  I believe that Midnite is a Tier One product (on the controllers certainly) and feel the Inverters should be nothing less than that as well.

For more information, please have a quick read here and ponder upon it.  Being able to show PVEL certification would certainly be a positive marketing tool and open more doors to the expanding market far quicker.
REF:  https://www.pv-magazine.com/2019/09/14/the-weekend-read-chile-taps-white-gold-for-security-of-energy-supply-2/

Point in fact, I am an offgridder, so far, I have gone through one Chinese (Yiyen 3kw) Inverter (retired to backup) and one Samlex 4024 which melted down (3 months old) and now waiting on the replacement one which may last   These things are NOT cheap !  and I don't want to be replacing them or WORRYING if/when they will fail.   I would love a Midnite Inverter BUT I want to know it will last which I am certain everyone can appreciate.   ETL/ULC/CSA certifications ONLY mean they meet the basic minimum standards for safety codes and not in regards to performance and quality of design & materials.

[Highflyer]

Steve,

If Midnite builds it, I'll buy it.  And I'll sleep well every night knowing just how good their stuff is.

[Vic]

Hi Steve,

Am not certain your view of the history of Renewable Energy (RE)  manufacturers.   BUT,  some of the current MidNite Engineering personnel  were quite active at Trace Engineering/Xantrex,   Founded Outback Power,   and were active there for12 - 15 years,   and then Founded MidNite.  Have never known the exact details,  of just which persons were involved at Trace/Xantrex,  or Outback,  and for what time period.

MidNite has a culture of designing and building products that are head,  and shoulders above the competition.   This process of offering much more functionality than competing products  usually requires much more engineering and testing time,    longer to document,   and can add cost in Support of the products.

We have been running Classics since early 2011,   and they have been quite solid.  Never an issue,   at all.  AND,   with the timely Firmware update availability,   and MidNite offered the WbJr at a very low cost (and even gave many of them away FREE,  to those who had had Classics for some time).   Some of us,   are still using 15 year-old Outback MX-60 CCs,   which were incredibly innovative/functional  MPPT CCs,   and are still.

As Brian said,   If MN builds it,   I will trust it,  recommend it,  and  buy it.

BTW,  the Xantrex Inverter/Chargers (SW+ 5548s),  here,   have been in service for 14 years,   and still going strong   ...   knock on wood.

To me,   MN products only need Safety Lab testing,   anything beyond that would not make anything to me.   MidNite really goes out of its way to help and support their customers  ...  what other RE manufacturer has a Forum,  where Principals and Support folks are active,   daily ?

Recall that many of us were begging MidNite to start shipping Classics,   as,  many of us really wanted the extended functions present in the Classic.   The wait was well worth it.

Thanks MidNite for all of the innovative,  inexpensive and well-supported products!

Vic

[boB]

I don't think that  PVEL  has any experience with battery based inverters, do they ?

Also, I see their inverter scorecard but it doesn't show much that says what brands and products are better at what.  i.e. not a concise list...  Might be something about MPPT efficiency though.

A lot of what I saw in their "scorecard" is exactly what we do during the engineering of our products although their floors are certainly a lot cleaner than ours and they wear nice lab coats.  I realize that a lot of that is advertisement.

I would love to see some real reports or output from PVEL on products though.  Please point some out if you can find them.

Would also be nice to see which inverters trip the least from real arc faults and that will actually trip when there is a real arc fault.

Of course, everybody wants to jump on the solar bandwagon these days.  I feel this is partly why the cost of solar has not been as low as it could be with all the rules and regulations that have recently been put in place and that are coming up.

Remember the outfit that was going to test all of the wind turbines before they could be sold ?  Whatever happened to that ?  Of course, I haven't been looking for them in the last few years like I was when I was more heavily involved in wind.

NRTLs can also be very greedy and make companies jump through hoops that aren't in the specs or are widely open to interpretation.
BUT first thing we need is the NRTL (UL, ETL, etc) to bless our new products.  They are expensive enough.

I'm sure that PVEL is a nice addition but I bet it is very expensive to do, too.  We aren't as rich as you might think !

[Vic]

And,   Steve,

Found this on the MidNite Solar site.   It is a much better picture of the companies and the people involved with the PNW Electronics and Solar companies:

http://www.midnitesolar.com/pdfs/nw_inverter_companies.pdf

FWIW,    Vic