Fac Bfr error on Sunny boy 2500

System

Hi all;
During siding work on my house while the workers were on the roof I lost power in a few places in my house. Also, my entire solar array is down and I'm getting "Fac Bfr" on both my 2500 inverters. I tried turning the solar off, waiting 10 minutes and turning on again but after the countdown it goes to the same error.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Also, anyone knows if I have an recourse with the contractor (Withholding payment, small claims court etc)?

Thanks,

AK.

BB.

Re: Fac Bfr error on Sunny boy 2500

Random website says:

The grid frequency is no longer within the permissible range ("Bfr" or "Srr" is an internal message that has no meaning for the user). For reasons of safety, the Sunny Boy / Sunny Mini Central disconnects itself from the grid.

Check the grid frequency and the grid connection on the inverter. If the mains frequency lies outside the permissible range because of local conditions, ask the electricity provider if they agree to changing the operating parameters.

If the grid frequency lies within the tolerance range, yet "Fac-Bfr", "Fac-Srr" or "FacFast" faults are still being displayed, contact the SMA Service Line

Home is not running on a backup genset? Possible issue with power outage to the inverters--but you cycled power and saw the inverter change state (i.e., power went down and backup?). Inverter is getting AC power (both hot to hot at 240 VAC and hot to neutral at 120 VAC)?

Some German language boards mention the problem, but the Google Translate did not seem to give a coherent answer in English.

http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=de&u=http://www.photovoltaikforum.com/wechselrichter-f3/sma-wechselrichter-fehler-fac-bfr-t6651.html&ei=6X4hTuqkAZG0sAPy_pBU&sa=X&oi=translate&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CCwQ7gEwAQ&prev=/search%3Fq%3D%2522Fac%2BBfr%2522%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26hs%3D4FP%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-GB:official%26prmd%3Divnsfd

Sounds like you will need to call your installer to find out what is going on.

-Bill

System2

Re: Fac Bfr error on Sunny boy 2500

I forgot to mention that this installation was up and running flawlessly for the past 7 years - until the siding guys did work.

Blackcherry04

Re: Fac Bfr error on Sunny boy 2500

Since you had siding work done, did they have the service entrance worked on ?? I saw a instance where the electric company changed the meter and put in the wrong one.

http://forums.sma-america.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=postlist&Board=2&page=3

Seven

Re: Fac Bfr error on Sunny boy 2500

The siding guys ran a screw somewhere and caused a direct short or caused a broken connection. I have seen it many times in the past with even the simplest home improvement type stuff. if they chose a somewhat loose anchor point it could have a cascade effect. Basic location diagnostics would have you disconnect everything until the problem is gone. That will tell you a general location of the fault. You could undo everything first, and then reconnect until you have the problem again. I am very very green at solar, but doing the remodel work I have done in the past has followed some shoddy work and this type of thing is all about tracing the problem to it's location. IIWY I would look at the known penetration points of your system to start.

They could have stepped on a panel and started the problem there.

realdeal

Re: Fac Bfr error on Sunny boy 2500

Sounds like you don't have AC power going to your inverter. I would check your breaker if applicable, or your outdoor AC disconnect/safety switch. You should be able to check for AC voltage at your disconnect. Not sure if you have an integrated disconnect on the sunny boy 2500 or if it is separate from the inverter. If it is integrated then you should have AC voltage on the right side. If it is separate then it should be hot (voltage present) on the line side, depending on how its wired. If you don't have a multi-meter, maybe you could have a local electrician come over and check it out.
Interested to see what the issue is. Good luck and keep us posted.

realdeal

Re: Fac Bfr error on Sunny boy 2500

I would definitely check your breaker panel, if you lost power in other parts of your house its possible that they popped a breaker by plugging in a compressor of skill saw. Depending how your system is tied into your house, it may be worth resetting that breaker, that is dedicated to your PV system.

Bob Younger

Re: Fac Bfr error on Sunny boy 2500

I had this exact problem, minus the siding folks. FAC-BFR error message on my Sunny Boy. I live in CA and they require fuses on each circuit in addition to breakers at the house. One of the two fuses on the 220 V. AC side was blown. A 30 amp fuse (tubular type) fixed it. It's easy to check for with a volt meter; just check for voltage on both the line side and load side of the fuses (or breaker I suppose). If no voltage on the load side then pull the fuses and check each with an ohm meter to see which has blown. I apologize if I've provided more details than necessary.

BB.

Re: Fac Bfr error on Sunny boy 2500

Bob, welcome to the forum.

Needing a 30 amp fuse + Breakers too? And blowing on of the 30 amp fuses on a 12.5 amp output?

In certain applications, fuses are used instead of circuit breakers (there are special high amp interrupt current)--But that is not the case here.

And, there is (almost always) a solar array fuse requirement (when there are three or more parallel solar panel strings, each string should have a series protection fuse/breaker to protect a sorted solar panel from being fed by the parallel connected panels).

Anyway, I am not exactly sure if you are asking questions about solar array fuses--Or the 120/240 VAC output fuse/breaker (and blown 30 amp fuse--which is very confusing as a properly operating GT inverter should never output over its maximum output current rating).

-Bill

niel

Re: Fac Bfr error on Sunny boy 2500

it does sound like a breaker or fuse blew from the workers introducing a screw or nail into the wiring causing a short. if you find one blown and rectify it and it blows again then there's no doubt they shorted something out in their siding work. at this point it may be advisable to get your installer involved to get a professional opinion to back you up for a case against those workers should they deny fault and refuse to correct it.

ellayararwhy

Re: Fac Bfr error on Sunny boy 2500

When I get the Fac-bfr error twice a year, I replace the 250v 15A AC fuse to 'fix' the problem. Since the 2500 is a decade-old model (and in-service that long for me), and since this has been happening for at least the last five years, I keep a few fuses around to continue this process until this unit eventually gives up the ghost.

I won't go into my line monitoring and debugging travails over the years - I'm OK with my fuse replacing process at this point.

dwalsh3

Bob Younger said:

Re: Fac Bfr error on Sunny boy 2500

I had this exact problem, minus the siding folks. FAC-BFR error message on my Sunny Boy. I live in CA and they require fuses on each circuit in addition to breakers at the house. One of the two fuses on the 220 V. AC side was blown. A 30 amp fuse (tubular type) fixed it. It's easy to check for with a volt meter; just check for voltage on both the line side and load side of the fuses (or breaker I suppose). If no voltage on the load side then pull the fuses and check each with an ohm meter to see which has blown. I apologize if I've provided more details than necessary.

Heya Bob, I'm trying to fix the same issue.  Would you mind telling me where the fuse was located exactly?  I'm writing from Kenya where I'm working for a few months, trying to convey exact instructions to my housemates in California.  So I'm looking for as much detail as possible.

mike95490

Loosing some outlets, and the inverter faulting, implies a branch circuit was damaged.