Preventive RFI Measures for Morningstar MPPT 45?

Hi KE5YD,

There is quite a lot of information on this Forum -- the Sticky in the Advanced topic:
http://forum.solar-electric.com/foru...from-pv-system

This is a bit long, but has a number of steps that are detailed, there.

Briefly, in my experience, for battery-based systems, the PV wiring is usually the largest contributor to noise. MPPT Charge Controllers (CCs) are by far the largest generators, often followed by Inverter/Chargers. You might want to consider PWM CCs, which, generally produce less noise than MPPT CCs

When considering Inverters, make certain that the one that you choose is from a reputable company, and carries FCC Class B certification. Place all of your AC power feeders underground.

As was noted in the Links that BB Bill provided, separate receiving antennas from the PV array -- the farther away from antennas used for receive, the better. . And if the antennas are directional, try to place the antennas such that the primary direction of interest you have for reception has the PV array, and the power room at a null of the RX antenna.

Shield the PV cables, all of the way to the power center.

Place the power room in a faraday shield, like a Cargo Container.

Use Toroidal cores, stacked, if possible, and pass both the pos and negative PV cables on the input side of the Charge Controller, and, perhaps on the output of the CC as well.

EDIT: Also as was alluded to in one of the info links, it was noted that for battery based CCs, FCC class B tests completely ignores the entire MF and HF spectrum, as this spectrum is only tested for FCC B, by measuring the radiation that is Conducted along the AC power leads connecting to the Unit Under Test. There are NO AC conductors connecting to CCs used with battery systems, so NO test in the spectrum below 30.00 Mhz. SO, one FCC B certified CC may have much larger emissions in the HF range, for example, than another, also FCC B certified CC >Edit end<.

For the radio facilities, here use about all of the above, and, generally, the noise on the HF bands borders on imperceptible. And, if it is rough copy on very weak signals, there is always the option of simply switching off the CCs, No big deal.

FWIW, 73, Vic