Reference Manual Troubleshooting an Enphase Microinverter System
Contents Enlighten Messages and Alerts 4 ACFOOR (AC Frequency Out of Range) 4 ACVOOR (AC Voltage Out of Range) 5 Critical Temperature DC Too Low 8 DC Too High 8 7 Envoy/EMU not Reporting 9 Gateway Failure 9 GFDI / GFI trip 9 Grid Gone 10 Module Failed to Report 11 Over Temperature 11 Zigbee Device Failed to Report 11 Zigbee USB Stick Removed 11 ENVOY and Communications Issues General Envoy Issues 12 12 A physical Ethernet connection is not practical at this site LCD is completely bla
Communication Issues between Envoy & Microinverters (Power Line Communication) 17 Inverters are not detected / Power line communication level is low/poor 18 How to identify an interfering load 20 This is a Line-side Tap (or Supply-Side, or PLC) Installation When do I need an additional Envoy? 21 22 How to get further training on Enphase power line communication Microinverter / PV Module Issues 23 Microinverter LEDs and What they Mean 23 The Microinverter LEDs are blinking red 22 23 The Microinv
Troubleshooting An Enphase Installation This document describes trouble-shooting flows and procedures only. For product and installation information, refer to http://www.enphase.com/support/downloads. Troubleshooting areas covered in this document include: Enlighten Messages and Alerts ENVOY and Communications Issues Microinverter / PV Module Issues Enlighten Messages and Alerts The following event messages may appear in Enlighten or in the Envoy interface.
ACVOOR (AC Voltage Out of Range) The inverter reports that the AC voltage coming from the utility is either too low or too high as specified by UL standards (UL1741). Acceptable ranges for AC service are shown in the table below: 240 Volt AC Split Phase 208 Volt AC Three Phase L1 to L2 211 to 264 Vac L1 to L2 to L3 183 to 229 Vac L1, L2 to neutral 106 to 132 Vac L1, L2, L3 to neutral 106 to 132 Vac This condition should correct itself, as there are often periodic variations in Utility voltage.
4. Verify that the service entrance power is not coming from a 240 Vac “DELTA” or 240 Vac “STINGER” secondary transformer. 5. Make sure that the site does not have undersized conductors, either to the Enphase branch circuit or between the primary load center and the subpanel (if a subpanel exists). • In the case where the array branch circuits land on a PV subpanel, and there is additional wire run back to the main service tie-in, additional voltage drop calculations must be completed.
on a branch circuit the first three units are fine, but the remaining 8 or 9 units on the branch are in a state of ACVOOR, there is something wrong either at location #3 or #4 in the branch circuit, affecting the AC Voltage from that point and on downstream into the branch circuit. • • If the ACVOOR is not an installation or wiring defect, and there are multiple units impacted on an intermittent basis, it may be that the site’s utility service is simply high.
DC Too Low The inverter reports that DC input voltage from the PV module is too low. This is a normal condition that occurs in the morning and in the evening, but during the day may results from any of the following conditions: • This message can appear during extended periods of low solar irradiance (for example, a period that includes the night hours plus a few hours of low sunlight after sunrise). • This event may indicate a bad or missing DC connection to the inverter.
Envoy/EMU not Reporting The broadband Internet connection that the Enphase Envoy uses to communicate to the Enlighten servers is experiencing a problem. If the Envoy displays a status of –Web in the LCD window, it is not currently communicating with the Enlighten servers. The Internet service may be down or the router may be unplugged or turned off. Internet connections often have temporary outages. If the situation persists, contact your ISP (Internet Service Provider).
7. Click “Administration”, and when prompted for credentials, enter the username as admin and the password as admin. 8. From the Admin menu, choose Device Conditions and Controls. 9. Click on the serial number of the unit exhibiting the GFI condition. NOTE: Do not click or select the box under the column labeled “Select”. 10. In the clear-gfi box, select “set”. 11. Click “send command”. If the condition persists, and keeps happening, there may be a physical, installation reason for it.
Module Failed to Report The microinverter reporting this condition is unable to communicate with the Envoy over the AC power lines. Occasional instances of this error may be ignored. Inverter communications will likely recover on the next reporting cycle. • If communications do not recover right away (the Envoy polls the microinverters every five minutes), make sure that the Envoy is plugged in very near to your circuit breaker panel.
ENVOY and Communications Issues The following sections describe possible problems and solutions.
Internet Problems (Local Area Networking) The Enphase ENVOY operates just as another computer would in the premises. As such, many of the troubleshooting steps for the Envoy are the same as troubleshooting steps for additional computers in the house. LCD shows a non-routable/self-assigned IP address and also shows “-Web” This means that the Envoy has no connection to the Enlighten website. If the Envoy shows a self-assigned IP (169.254.120.
3. If power line communication bridges (from Enphase) are being used, check that all three LEDs are either on or blinking as described in “Are My Power Line Communication Bridges Working?” a. Relocate one of the bridges to a different power outlet, and make sure that neither one is in a power-strip or UPS battery-backup device. b. Bypass the bridges and plug the Envoy directly into the Router to eliminate the bridges as the source of trouble. They may be faulty or too far apart. c.
connection at a time. LCD shows a good IP, but also shows “-Web” This means that the Envoy has no connection to the Enlighten website. The LCD shows a good IP (something other than 169.254.120.1), but also shows “-Web”. • The Envoy is waiting for a response from Enlighten, and will likely show “+Web” soon. Wait a few minutes longer. • Check that the Envoy is connected to a broadband router and not a hub or switch.
• Purchase an air card compatible router (e.g., Cradlepoint MBR 900 or MBR 1000). Plug the air card in to the indicated port on the router to create a LAN at the site. • With the air card plugged into a laptop computer, configure the laptop for “Internet Connection Sharing”. Plug the Envoy’s Ethernet/Network cable into the RJ‐45 port of the laptop, and then configure the laptop to “bridge” the communications between the ENVOY and the wireless‐broadband card.
The Envoy is using a static IP and cannot get a web connection If the site owner prefers not to use DHCP, the Envoy must be set up to use a static IP address. • Use the Envoy’s web-interface to navigate to the ADMINISTRATION page. The Username is “admin”, and password is “admin”. Click the “Network Connectivity” menu item. This allows you to see if the Envoy is using DHCP or Static-IP, and allows you to change this setting if needed. • Click “Check Network Connectivity” to view the Envoy connections.
At power-up, the Envoy performs a power line communication check to determine the strength of the signal between the microinverters and the Envoy. This check does not check Internet communications. During this time, the Envoy LCD window shows that a Communication Check is being done.
• Try to determine the source of the interfering load by isolating the Enphase signal from other systems. The Enphase system transmits at 144kHz, and adequately filters X10 and other signals, but we have found that not all other systems adequately filter the Enphase signal. To best isolate the signal: Install a PV subpanel at which to land all the solar branch circuits. Install a dedicated outlet for the Envoy (and power line communication bridges, if needed) off the subpanel.
5. Is the system energized? The PV module powers the microinverter. PV modules provide power only during daylight hours, and microinverters communicate only when powered. Thus, a device scan or communication check is successful only during daylight hours. a. Solar circuit breakers not in the “ON” position? For the Envoy to communicate with the microinverters, the circuit breakers for the solar have to be in the “ON” position in the electrical load-center. b.
The Envoy is in a circuit on the primary load-center, but the solar circuits are on a downstream subpanel If the primary load-center is full, and doesn’t have additional capacity to add circuit breakers for solar, the solar installer will sometimes add a subpanel, which is just another, “mini” load center with a small subset of circuit breakers. In these cases, it is best to add an additional 5-Amp circuit breaker and then run an outlet off of that subpanel.
Another option, in the case where the Envoy is on the premises wiring system, is to use a pair of wireless Ethernet bridges to span the gap between the Envoy and the router. A pair of power line communication bridges come with every Envoy. See the Envoy Installation and Operation Manual at http://www.enphase.com/support/downloads for installation instructions. If this does resolve the issue, you may need to use a wireless bridge.
Microinverter / PV Module Issues This section provide a means of isolating failures within microinverters or PV modules. The Enphase microinverter system provides unprecedented access to the performance data of individual PV modules and microinverters. This access enables rapid visibility to system issues and helps to expedite the troubleshooting process.
Check AC voltages • Are all of the phase conductors running to the microinverter branch circuits showing the appropriate nominal AC voltage? Measure line-to-line and line-to-neutral for all phase-conductors. An electrician must measure hot legs and neutral to ensure that the phases are balanced. • Is the system energized? Are the solar circuit breakers in the “ON” position? For the microinverters to produce, the circuit breakers for the solar have to be in the “ON” position in the electrical load-center.
Power Production In this section, you will be using Enlighten for most troubleshooting procedures. The unit under review shows low production. Has shading been ruled out as a possible cause? The 7-day time-lapse playback will give you a good idea whether a non-productive, or under producing PV/inverter pair shows repetitive production patterns that may be indicative of shading. The following Enlighten snapshot shows an example of a system with shading impacts.
Check DC measurements You can use Enlighten to gain a more detailed analysis of the problem. The DC measurements taken by the microinverter and viewable in Enlighten are key to identifying root cause of the problem. To view the DC measurements, 1. Click on the module under review in the Overview pane. The module will be highlighted (outlined with an orange box) after a few seconds. 2. Scroll down to the graphing pane. 3. Click on 7 days. The default view of the 7-day graph shows a production line in blue.
• The M190 and D380 models require DC voltage of at least 28V to start up the inverter. • The M210 model requires DC voltage of at least 38V. • The M215 model requires DC voltage of at least 26V. Confirming Diagnosis When your analysis suggests that the PV module is not meeting its specifications, and is no longer able to turn on the inverter, the best method for confirming this is to swap the PV module with a known productive module in the array.
My panels are dark in Enlighten and no production value is displayed Modules that are shaded gray, with no indication of production level, have temporarily lost connectivity with the Envoy. This is different than a unit that is reporting, but reporting 0W AC power. Communication outages may be caused by poor power line communications, or they may be caused by DC voltage that has slipped below the level required to turn on the inverter. Inverters that are not powered on will not communicate with the Envoy.
You can also generate reports for specific modules. To access the per module reports menu, select the module you want to report on in the array pane. Once selected the module will be bordered with an orange bracket. Click on the ‘Reports’ link. Then select from report options drop down menu. a. Microinverter Energy Production (enter a date range) b.