PVI 3000S, 4000S, 5000S, 5300 Series Inverters
Installation and Operation Manual (Rev A)
9
The housing and heat sink for the PVI 3000S - PVI 5300 is manufactured using an aluminium
extrusion with an anti-corrosion finish. The housing is NEMA 3R compliant to be resistant to rain and
snowfall. The heat sink and fan are designed in such a way that operation of the inverter is possible
at ambient temperatures of -13° F (–25° C) to +131° F (+55° C) at full rated power.
The heat sink serves to conduct away heat generated from energy losses in the power electronics.
Internal temperature regulation provides protection against excessively high temperatures inside
the PVI 3000S - PVI 5300. The maximum power processed from the PV array is automatically
reduced to limit excessive inverter temperature.
The PVI 3000S - PVI 5300 will only operate in parallel with the utility grid. AC grid monitoring is
done by microcontrollers configured to meet the requirements of UL1741/IEEE1547. The inverter
shuts down immediately if the grid goes down, or if the grid gives surges, sags, changes frequency or
otherwise shows signs of instability. If this happens, the inverter will check the grid and reconnect to
the grid 5 minutes after the grid is back to normal. The display then shows: “Monitoring”.
Disconnecting from the grid is important to protect the line workers who may be working to restore
the grid as well as electricians working at a site with PV systems.
Power grid faults that will cause the PVI 3000S - PVI 5300 to isolate itself from the power grid:
•
AC grid voltage
The grid voltage must not go outside the range of -12%/+10% of the nominal 240 or 208V AC grid
voltage. The inverter will isolate itself from the power grid if these limits are exceeded. The PVI
3000S - PVI 5300 is factory set to automatically detect and sync to 240 or 208VAC when connected
to the neutral. If it is desired to connect to 208 or 240VAC without a neutral connection, then the
inverter must be set at the factory or adjusted by a qualified installer. A qualified installer can
reconfigure the grid voltage setting in the field using jumper adjustments inside the inverter.
•
AC grid frequency
The inverter will operate when grid frequency is within a range of -0.7Hz, +0.5Hz of the nominal
60Hz grid frequency . The inverter will isolate itself from the power grid if these permitted limits are
exceeded.
Other important safety features are galvanic isolation of the utility grid and PV array, as well as
ground fault detection and interrupt (GFDI) of the PV array. The PV array negative is grounded inside
the inverter (and must not be grounded at any other point).