PV-15208 Photovoltaic Inverter
Operation and Maintenance Manual
Copyright 2000, Xantrex Technologies/Trace Technologies Corp.
DOCUMENT: 150919
4-1
SECTION 4
OPERATION
DESCRIPTION OF SYSTEM OPERATION
Overview
The PV-15208 is a fully automated grid-tied photovoltaic inverter. Manual interaction or control of the
inverter is necessary only in the event of a system fault. The following conditions govern PV-15208
operation:
•
Stable utility voltage and frequency must be present for all states of operation.
•
Fault states are automatic from any state of operation. A fault will cause the PV-15208 to immedi-
ately stop processing all power. The fault condition will be reported to the operator interface.
•
The on/off switch, located on the front door of the PV-15208, must be switched to the on position
for all operating states.
•
Cycling the on/off switch attempts to clear any system faults and return the PV-15208 to normal
operation.
Operating States
Control software governs the operation of the PV-15208. There are five main operating states. The
following descriptions depict the LED interface. Inverters configured with LCD displays will indicate
operating states on the display.
•
Standby: The amber LED is illuminated. The PCU monitors the status of the PV array and utility
grid, waiting until the PV array voltage is sufficient to export power to the utility.
•
Wake-Up: The amber LED is illuminated. Once the PV voltage is sufficient to export power to the
utility grid, the PV-15208 will wait 5 minutes before starting to insure the voltage is not transient in
nature. This keeps the system from cycling during unstable irradiance conditions.
•
Power Tracking: The green LED will illuminate while the PV-15208 delivers power to the utility.
This is the standard operating state of the PV-15208. The PV-15208 maximum power tracker will
optimize power output from the PV array. If available PV power is above the maximum power
rating of the PV-15208, the inverter will current limit, which will cause the PV voltage to rise
above the array peak power voltage. The minimum operating voltage of the PV-15208 is 330 VDC.
The power tracker will not track voltage below this point, regardless of the actual peak power
voltage of the PV array.
•
Sleep Test: The control system will begin a 5 minute sleep test. This normally indicates the PV
irradiance is declining as the sun sets. If the output power remains below 200 watts during the 5
minute sleep test, the system will transition to standby. The time delay allows the inverter to ride
through any temporary irradiance reductions.
•
Fault: The PV-15208 has encountered a fault condition. When this happens, regardless of the PV-
15208 state-of-operation, the PV-15208 will stop processing all power and execute an orderly sys-
tem shutdown. The red LED will illuminate while the yellow and green LED’s flash the fault code
(See section 5, Troubleshooting).
On early versions of the PV-15208, a push-pull Emergency Stop switch was used
instead of the on/off switch. It functioned in the same manner described for the on/
off switch.
NOTE
OPERATOR INTERFACE (LED and LCD)
