Inverter and ASHP lifespan

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Home Farm

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We have a SolarEdge inverter and was wondering how many years we should get out of it.

I have a similar question about air source heat pumps.

These are expensive pieces of kit, so was wondering if it’s years or decades.

 
With all electronics lifetime depends on operating conditions and thermal stresses.  Generally running them at less than 100% rating and keeping them cool will extend life a great deal.

There was another thread on here a while back which mentioned invertors operating in hot roof spaces, which are at their hottest when the device is also running flat out. I went and added a cooling fan to mine as a result!

 
My 1st gen SolarEdge inverter (the big one) died within 4 years but warranty was good so I got another unit which was much small unit (HD series) and that too died in few days. Another replacement was given out and so far it has been good for past 2 years. Hope it doesn't die sooner. I found warranty to be comprehensive and staff are helpful however I lost out two months of peak summer time generation due to this.

 
Inverter located in the loft. Now you ask me I think both the inverter failed in early summer days. Loft is hot during day in summer. Could it be heat related failure. If so it can fail again very soon. I hope newer version HD series is better protected.

it is connected to 4kw system and  inverter, model is SE3680H.

 
I would suggest heat is killing the inverter, my background is high integrity engineering in military equipment. Inverters are designed to self-protect from heat effects, and newer inverters are better at that thean older models, BUT, heat still shortens the life of electronics. On most of my solar installs the inverter is either in something cooler like a garage, or mounted on an external wall in the shade - not had to change an inverter so far in 8 years. I would add some simple roof vents to improve attic air circulation and some vents in the eaves so you create a natural air flow. Option 2 is move the inverter out of attic.  A cooler inverter will work better in the hotter months, so improving FiT income and supplying more power to your home.

 
I’ve lashed up a fan on a timer for hot weather. Remember that the invertor works hard est when the loft is its hottest. One day I’ll make a proper job of it with a thermostat etc

 
 Remember that the invertor works hard est when the loft is its hottest. 


Precisely, and to protect themselves the inverters the inverters make themselves less efficient by shifting the MPPT curve, so they do less work, keep cooler, but also they output less energy whulst doing this. 

A couple of vents near the ridge, and simple vents in the eaves will allow natural convection air-flow sucking  cooler air into the attic.

 
Ok, let me come up with thermostat based fan solution, it is dead easy to do it using a few xiaomi component out of box. This will help for now.

regards,

Afsar

 
if you have decent size fascia boards you could use thermostat to control a bathroom fan and pump hot air out of attic - if you do ths add a similar vent on opposite side to allow the creation of across-roof air movement.

 
As a side note, I noticed that my loft space is a lot cooler now that the south facing side is covered in solar panels.

 
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