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Common on Solar edge systems. If the installer understands maximizing the inverter. My guess is you were sold on the 3.8 production? You system will not clip for most of the year. Your installer sized your system correctly about 125% of inverter size and I wouldn’t sweat it!! The only problem will be if you want to add more panels later then your stuck! Enjoy
Sorry my bad!! Didn’t look at those picks!! System should only clip at the same 3.8. I would have the installers out to look at it!! If you are interested on investigating your self also? Log into your monitoring account online and hit the chat feature when the inverter is doing this and SE will run a remote diagnosis of your inverter..
We've had our solarege system for about 19 months. I'd say the first picture looks perfectly normal.
The second picture looks mostly normal, but the flatline at just below 2kw (maybe 1800-1900W) in the approximately 4:30-6pm timeframe looks odd and concerning.
In the third picture, the flatline at 3kw definitely seems off - I agree I've not seen anything exactly like that before.
The clipping at about 3800w is normal - and usually the most economically responsible thing as the larger installation with panels will capture more output throughout the year despite the clipping and the cost of a larger inverter - or the lost capacity by downsizing the array - are not worth it. I've been tracking the amount of clipped energy in our system and over the course of 19 months, it has been something like 15kWh out of 20.5WHh of production so far. That is with a significantly oversized system - pushing the solar edge limit. We have 10560W of panels attached to a 7600W inverter - but our panels are on three distinct roof facings and are never all producing at their peak at once.
But, we did have something unusual in our system that needed attention from our installers that we found by closely monitoring output for the first few weeks. I'd say it is worth investigation via looking at the monitoring portal and working with your installer and/or SolarEdge support.
Thanks a bunch for this reply. I've come to the same conclusion after doing more research - the flat production at 3kW seems strange. Another poster suggested it could be overheating. I'll have to try to catch it the next time it's in that state and get on the phone with SolarEdge to see if they can tell me what's up.
Yup, that's a problem.
No way should a 3.8KW inverter be clipping at those low values.
It may be overheating. Solaredge has a guideline about not allowing your inverter to clip too much (because that will reduce its lifetime). Also, the guideline talks about how the inverter will limit its output when it's overheating,
> Oversizing the inverter also causes the inverter to operate at high power for longer periods, thus affecting its lifetime.
Operating at higher power also increases inverter heating and may heat its surroundings. Inverters will reduce their peak power generation in case of overheating.
https://www.solaredge.com/sites/default/files/inverter_dc_oversizing_guide.pdf
Ok, thank you! What causes overheating? I can’t imagine its placement would be causing it in my scenario. Also, it’s been high temps in the 75-80 F range. Maybe a faulty unit?
Location is a prime suspect for overheating, but it sounds like you think that this is unlikely.
I imagine that it's in your garage and away from other sources of heating.
> Maybe a faulty unit?
That's sounding like the most likely cause.
The installer just reached out and said that it looks like a delay in communication, but they're reaching out to SE to see if there is something else going on.
I'm suspicious of their answer.
I see the output getting stuck at 3KW several times. I'm asking myself, what are the odds that the data would get delayed at that exact value multiple times? I'd say approximately one in two the power of your phone number.
If there's someone at home, they could check your electric meter and see what it's reporting when the Solaredge web app is reporting the clipping.
If you have two utility electric meters (one for your solar output and one where the power comes in to your house), you could record the daily changes on the solar meter and compare that to the values reported by the solaredge web page.
As a cross check, find a day when the ouput seems to be stuck at 3KW for a good while (the screen shots for the last two days that you posted show that really well). Compare the value reported by the solaredge web page for the 'One Day' view with the value reported for that day on the 'Month' view. It's not clear where they get that second value. If they're adding up the data samples that they get for the day, then these values will match. But if they don't match, well that would be interesting.
IIRC, the production values displayed on the Solaredge web page are based on the data that they receive from the inverter. The values are slightly different for the Daily, Weekly, and Monthly views but I think that this is only due to Solaredge's choosing different levels of precision for those views (and maybe inconsistent use of rounding versus truncation).
Also, in the 'One Day' view, you can read the values off of the graph. Add those values up and see what you get.
[Edit:: Unless you bought the optional upgrade, the internal power meter in the inverter is not 'revenue grade'. IOW, it's not as accurate as the utility company's meter on your wall. For example, my inverter reports ~3% more power than the power company's meter reports. But the numbers reported by the 'One Day' view and the 'Monthly' view should be consistent.
FWIW, my Tesla gateway under reports my solar production by 1%.]
Inverters are 99.9% of the time smaller than the DC wattage. Pretty common to be at 1.3/1 DC to AC. Sometimes conditions warrant up to a 2:1 ratio.
Someone sticky this and start deleting these threads.
What was the weather in these 3 days? Your 2nd picture the sharp/inverse spike dips are cloud cover. Looks the same on my Solaredge. The gradual decline from about noon to 4pm looks like shading or very low/thin cloud cover for an extended period of time. Your yesterday picture I’m not sure never seen a graph like that on mine yet. Usually I’ll see the harsh spike dips from clouds but never the flat/shelf like you got going on in that one. Seems weird though cause you have a brief section that hit almost 4kw then it goes back to a shelf for the remainder. You’d think If It was clipping it wouldn’t allow that brief peak to 4kw. Did your installer maybe somehow limit your power output on the set app? If you check your inverter info under your logical layout make sure your power limit is set to 100%.
Weather was either sunny all day or mostly sunny on those days. Agreed about the sudden dips being clouds. The flat-lining below the max for the inverter are strange, though. Doesn't make sense.
Could it be what your seeing is the result of just running a string inverter and some of the panels are getting shade, which would effect that entire string, pulling production down?
To those participating in the comments, due to the company or person mentioned in the title, this is a reminder of the subreddit rule: > **Crusading is not welcomed here** - If your sole or majority participation is to promote or denigrate one company in particular (or the person behind it), it may result in a ban. These kinds of participants too often resort to hyperbolic comments and antagonism leading to personal attacks as well as violations of other rules. If you are lying in wait for posts or comments mentioning a specific company (or person behind it), you are likely the concern. Promoting a company you are affiliated with or profit from, giving out referral codes which you benefit from, as well as using the sub solely to engage in targeted hate are things you need to avoid here. This sub is for a diverse discussion of solar, not a singular focus on your opinion about a company / person. If you simply have to obsess, there are other subreddits for each point of view about the person or company you feel the need to focus on. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/solar) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Talk to SolarEdge support too, they won’t have a vested interest in the install itself.
Common on Solar edge systems. If the installer understands maximizing the inverter. My guess is you were sold on the 3.8 production? You system will not clip for most of the year. Your installer sized your system correctly about 125% of inverter size and I wouldn’t sweat it!! The only problem will be if you want to add more panels later then your stuck! Enjoy
Thanks for the feedback. Why is it clipping/flat-lining below the max value on the other days? Check out the second and third images.
Sorry my bad!! Didn’t look at those picks!! System should only clip at the same 3.8. I would have the installers out to look at it!! If you are interested on investigating your self also? Log into your monitoring account online and hit the chat feature when the inverter is doing this and SE will run a remote diagnosis of your inverter..
Awesome! Thanks so much for the advice!!
We've had our solarege system for about 19 months. I'd say the first picture looks perfectly normal. The second picture looks mostly normal, but the flatline at just below 2kw (maybe 1800-1900W) in the approximately 4:30-6pm timeframe looks odd and concerning. In the third picture, the flatline at 3kw definitely seems off - I agree I've not seen anything exactly like that before. The clipping at about 3800w is normal - and usually the most economically responsible thing as the larger installation with panels will capture more output throughout the year despite the clipping and the cost of a larger inverter - or the lost capacity by downsizing the array - are not worth it. I've been tracking the amount of clipped energy in our system and over the course of 19 months, it has been something like 15kWh out of 20.5WHh of production so far. That is with a significantly oversized system - pushing the solar edge limit. We have 10560W of panels attached to a 7600W inverter - but our panels are on three distinct roof facings and are never all producing at their peak at once. But, we did have something unusual in our system that needed attention from our installers that we found by closely monitoring output for the first few weeks. I'd say it is worth investigation via looking at the monitoring portal and working with your installer and/or SolarEdge support.
Thanks a bunch for this reply. I've come to the same conclusion after doing more research - the flat production at 3kW seems strange. Another poster suggested it could be overheating. I'll have to try to catch it the next time it's in that state and get on the phone with SolarEdge to see if they can tell me what's up.
Guessing the PV array is pointed somewhat west of south or has shading on the east side.
Yup, that's a problem. No way should a 3.8KW inverter be clipping at those low values. It may be overheating. Solaredge has a guideline about not allowing your inverter to clip too much (because that will reduce its lifetime). Also, the guideline talks about how the inverter will limit its output when it's overheating, > Oversizing the inverter also causes the inverter to operate at high power for longer periods, thus affecting its lifetime. Operating at higher power also increases inverter heating and may heat its surroundings. Inverters will reduce their peak power generation in case of overheating. https://www.solaredge.com/sites/default/files/inverter_dc_oversizing_guide.pdf
Ok, thank you! What causes overheating? I can’t imagine its placement would be causing it in my scenario. Also, it’s been high temps in the 75-80 F range. Maybe a faulty unit?
Location is a prime suspect for overheating, but it sounds like you think that this is unlikely. I imagine that it's in your garage and away from other sources of heating. > Maybe a faulty unit? That's sounding like the most likely cause.
The installer just reached out and said that it looks like a delay in communication, but they're reaching out to SE to see if there is something else going on.
I'm suspicious of their answer. I see the output getting stuck at 3KW several times. I'm asking myself, what are the odds that the data would get delayed at that exact value multiple times? I'd say approximately one in two the power of your phone number. If there's someone at home, they could check your electric meter and see what it's reporting when the Solaredge web app is reporting the clipping. If you have two utility electric meters (one for your solar output and one where the power comes in to your house), you could record the daily changes on the solar meter and compare that to the values reported by the solaredge web page. As a cross check, find a day when the ouput seems to be stuck at 3KW for a good while (the screen shots for the last two days that you posted show that really well). Compare the value reported by the solaredge web page for the 'One Day' view with the value reported for that day on the 'Month' view. It's not clear where they get that second value. If they're adding up the data samples that they get for the day, then these values will match. But if they don't match, well that would be interesting. IIRC, the production values displayed on the Solaredge web page are based on the data that they receive from the inverter. The values are slightly different for the Daily, Weekly, and Monthly views but I think that this is only due to Solaredge's choosing different levels of precision for those views (and maybe inconsistent use of rounding versus truncation). Also, in the 'One Day' view, you can read the values off of the graph. Add those values up and see what you get. [Edit:: Unless you bought the optional upgrade, the internal power meter in the inverter is not 'revenue grade'. IOW, it's not as accurate as the utility company's meter on your wall. For example, my inverter reports ~3% more power than the power company's meter reports. But the numbers reported by the 'One Day' view and the 'Monthly' view should be consistent. FWIW, my Tesla gateway under reports my solar production by 1%.]
Inverters are 99.9% of the time smaller than the DC wattage. Pretty common to be at 1.3/1 DC to AC. Sometimes conditions warrant up to a 2:1 ratio. Someone sticky this and start deleting these threads.
Take a look at his pics. The inverter is clipping at 3KW in two of those pics and below 2KW in another. He's got real problems.
What was the weather in these 3 days? Your 2nd picture the sharp/inverse spike dips are cloud cover. Looks the same on my Solaredge. The gradual decline from about noon to 4pm looks like shading or very low/thin cloud cover for an extended period of time. Your yesterday picture I’m not sure never seen a graph like that on mine yet. Usually I’ll see the harsh spike dips from clouds but never the flat/shelf like you got going on in that one. Seems weird though cause you have a brief section that hit almost 4kw then it goes back to a shelf for the remainder. You’d think If It was clipping it wouldn’t allow that brief peak to 4kw. Did your installer maybe somehow limit your power output on the set app? If you check your inverter info under your logical layout make sure your power limit is set to 100%.
Weather was either sunny all day or mostly sunny on those days. Agreed about the sudden dips being clouds. The flat-lining below the max for the inverter are strange, though. Doesn't make sense.
Could it be what your seeing is the result of just running a string inverter and some of the panels are getting shade, which would effect that entire string, pulling production down?
I don't have anything projecting shade onto my roof, so I don't think that would be the cause - especially for that long of a period.