SW4024 Trace/Xantrex Settings?

stmar
stmar Solar Expert Posts: 373 ✭✭✭
in Grid Tie and Grid Interactive Systems #1
I set my inverter to "ON" instead of "SRCH". Under what conditions would you use the Search mode? The previous owner had it on Search. I also set "Set Grid Usage" to FLT; to make sure my system does not try to power the grid if there is an outage, I am not "selling" power back to the grid.
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  • BB.
    BB. Super Moderators, Administrators Posts: 33,622 admin
    #2
    Re: SW4024 Trace/Xantrex Settings?

    Inverters take a couple of 10's of watts to run even if there are no AC loads.

    So search mode "turns on" the AC output for 1 cycle every second looking for >~6-10 watts AC loads. If it finds an AC load, then the inverter turns on full time until loads go away.

    if you have small lights (like 4 watt LED hall light), they will not turn the AC on when you flip the switch.

    Also, if you clocks, or an AC frost free refrigerator/freezer, having search mode turned on will mess the the clock and defrost timers up.

    So, it depends on your AC loads. Can they take intermitant AC loads and does the 10-20 Watts continuous AC inverter "always on" load use "too much power" (especially during winter) and force you to run the genset more/too much (20 watt tare load * 24 hours = ~480 WattHour of inverter losses).

    -Bill
    Near San Francisco California: 3.5kWatt Grid Tied Solar power system+small backup genset
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  • Cariboocoot
    Cariboocoot Banned Posts: 17,615 ✭✭✭
    #3
    Re: SW4024 Trace/Xantrex Settings?
    stmar wrote: »
    I set my inverter to "ON" instead of "SRCH". Under what conditions would you use the Search mode? The previous owner had it on Search. I also set "Set Grid Usage" to FLT; to make sure my system does not try to power the grid if there is an outage, I am not "selling" power back to the grid.

    "Search" or "standby" leaves most of the inverter (the 'power' part) turned off. Every so often it checks to see if there is a load active on the output, and if one is detected then the whole thing powers up to run the load. On some inverters the detection level and frequency are adjustable, on some they are not. So you could set it to look for loads greater than 6 Watts every 30 seconds, for example. The difference is having to supply the full power demand of the inverter all the time or only part of it. In some instances this adds up to a lot of Watt hours.
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  • stmar
    stmar Solar Expert Posts: 373 ✭✭✭
    #4
    Re: SW4024 Trace/Xantrex Settings?

    So for convenience sake, clocks and such, it is good the way I set it and since I am on a fairly good grid the power consumption is not a big deal. Thanks for the input, wanted to make sure I was thinking correctly.
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