Keeping solar equipment cool

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Paul_S

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I hope to start my solar journey next year but one thing which I haven't seen any discussion about, is how people keep their solar inverter and batteries within operating temperature specs for longevity and warrantee purposes.

My install will need to be in a garage which seems to be a common location. My garage is very hot so I will need to build an insulated enclousure around the equipment and use forced ventilation but even so, if ambient air temps are 35C how does one keep the equipment temps down which will likely be 15 or 20 degrees higher?
Is installing an aircon to cool the inverter and batteries feasible? How do other people handle heat issues?
 
Forced air drawn from outside through a dust filter maybe? With the enclosure it might help
 
Look installing an AC would be great. But not that practical i think. My stuff is also in my garage. And my temps are very low. This is my batteries temps.

1665983321759.png

This is from the RIOT. Note the ambient temp is what's reported at my location. The ambient temp inside the garage stays at constant 20-24 degrees.

This is my average inverter temps.

1665983510416.png
 
What are the outside temps like? I would be cautious of putting an inverter in a box if the fan fails the box temps will increase quickly.

Rather one of these "turbo vents" on the roof and maybe a inline ducted fan drawing cool air blowing on the inverter inlet side.

th-2401182174.jpg


TT-200_1024x1024.jpg
 
B-1 said:
What are the outside temps like? I would be cautious of putting an inverter in a box if the fan fails the box temps will increase quickly.

Rather one of these "turbo vents" on the roof and maybe a inline ducted fan drawing cool air blowing on the inverter inlet side.

View attachment 1401875


View attachment 1401877
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This. I have an inline ducted fan in my one shower. Connected with that flexible silver pipe. I am sure you can make a mean extractor with one of those on your inverter.

Make a manifold-type adaptor on the underside and on the top side, assuming your inverter's heatsinks or whatever is like that to draw cold air from under to expel hot air at the top. You will never have a problem.
 
Obviously, try and set it up that is sucks and expells on the outside of the building.
 
Thanks for the ideas. Turbo vents are ugly. An industrial duct fan with filter sounds like a prettier idea and one can get very quiet ones with decent flow. I guess I can always hook up a temperature sensor with Home Assistant and cut power from the invertor if the fan fails and the temperature rises too much. My garage is well over 40C on a hot day.
 
Paul_S said:
Thanks for the ideas. Turbo vents are ugly. An industrial duct fan with filter sounds like a prettier idea and one can get very quiet ones with decent flow. I guess I can always hook up a temperature sensor with Home Assistant and cut power from the invertor if the fan fails and the temperature rises too much. My garage is well over 40C on a hot day.
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Put ceiling insulation. Put aircon.
 
Paul_S said:
Thanks for the ideas. Turbo vents are ugly. An industrial duct fan with filter sounds like a prettier idea and one can get very quiet ones with decent flow. I guess I can always hook up a temperature sensor with Home Assistant and cut power from the invertor if the fan fails and the temperature rises too much. My garage is well over 40C on a hot day.
Click to expand...
In one of the solar threads there was some discussion the last few weeks about inverter temperature. What was clear was that the 8kW Sunsynk runs much cooler with its built in fans than the passive cooled 5kW unit. Think it was 30-40C compared to 70-80C. So if you are installing in the garage seriously consider an inverter with active cooling built in. The batteries don't seem to generate that much heat.
 
Mine I have two inverters 5kW and 8kW
Dont let them fool you. Both are in hot places in summer conditions.
5kW first

5Kw Temp Inv.jpg
Then 8kW

8kW Temp Inv.jpg
 
Paul_S said:
I hope to start my solar journey next year but one thing which I haven't seen any discussion about, is how people keep their solar inverter and batteries within operating temperature specs for longevity and warrantee purposes.

My install will need to be in a garage which seems to be a common location. My garage is very hot so I will need to build an insulated enclousure around the equipment and use forced ventilation but even so, if ambient air temps are 35C how does one keep the equipment temps down which will likely be 15 or 20 degrees higher?
Is installing an aircon to cool the inverter and batteries feasible? How do other people handle heat issues?
Click to expand...
The biggest contributor to heat in a battery is high charging or discharging current, high ambient temperature only has a noticeable impact if the heat is sustained over a number of days (and is has to be really hot)

If you are concerned about the impact on the inverter make sure it has active fans or consider a low frequency inverter (as opposed to a high frequency model)
 
My uncle has three Victron MPPTs and we used a Shelly 1 to control some 220V fans mounted above each of the MPPTs. The Shelly is set to turn on the fans at Sunrise and turn them off at Sunset. This has proved effective at reducing operating temps by at least 10 degrees.
It also helps that the ceiling of the garage is insulated.
 
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