Testing a grid-tie solar inverter

Quick and dirty test of a NIB Advanced Energy GC-1000 1KW photovoltaic inverter that I got of off eBay years ago. I got this at a huge discount from the ~$1700 MSRP, however the manufacturer is no longer in business, so if it craps out on me I'll be out of luck, if I can't fix it.

Three Kaneka GSA-60 60W panels are wired in parallel to the string combiner box. I did see the output hit 1.4A in direct sunlight!

UPDATE: It's now permanently installed with four panels. VERY wet spring this year, but I've seen a peak output of 282W at the Kill-a-Watt meter when the clouds broke.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• solar
• inverter

[michael970]

Hey how are these panels working out.Have you put up any mome uopdates on them.TAKE CARE

[NardDogz]

Hey there! There has not been a good sunny day in Portland OR since I ran this shot this video! So not yet. I should be installing them on the shop roof pretty soon. Also should note to any viewers that there are hidden expenses with using these... when you consider that you have to install more modules & each one needs shipped, then its wiring and mounting hardware, suddenly its not $1.67/W but more like $2.75/W. YMMV, I suppose the savings would be greater on a larger installation. See ya.

[turbofroggy]

I have 32 of these Kaneka 60 watt panels grid tied though a SMA3000 inverter. They are in 4 series and 8 of those strings tied together. They are 90+ volts open, 60V MPPT so watch out, they are super high voltage. I got them for $0.98/watt in a pallet and a half of them from sunelec.com.

[plazmafeld]

Theres no such thing as legal

[js111410]

what is legal. 

[ABOSOLUTEKNOWLEDGE]

280 wattt panels seen for 450 on sale might wanna upgrade ur sytem with one of those:)

[qcages]

Hey, awesome video!

I'm thinking about buying these panels. I also want to run them through a grid tie inverter. The grid tie inverter i have is rated with a voltage range between 10v and 28v. So i couldn't just hook up these panels to it, but would need a charge controller with a high enough input voltage capacity. do these panels put out 60v with a load? It's going to be hard finding a 24v charge controller with that kind of an volt input range :/. Any suggestions?

[helloman1976]

NardDogz, I get my 175Watt 24v solar panels for much cheaper if you are interested, about $1.88 a watt shipped. I just bought 2 175watt 24v solar panels for $660 shipped. PM me if you want details...

[michael970]

@NardDogz Hey thanks for the info. I had a line on these fo 90.00 a panel and I could have picked them up to avoid shipping charges.I was a little worried about them not working well.I would use the small grid tie inverters that plug into the wall socket.I would have had to get a new charge controller to drop the voltage to 24 volts.I was not sure how this would affect the wattage of the panels.what are you thoughts on this.thanks for your timeTAKE CARE