Solar panel inverters--radio noise?
I think I have heard somewhere that solar panel inverters can be horribly noisy. I think that maybe I heard that the micro inverters are the worst. Does anyone have experience? What bands are worst hit? Any particular inverter brand/type good or bad? How far from the inverter is your shack/antenna?
Thanks and 73,
Burns Fisher WB1FJ
Yes, some brands can be noisy. It's illegal and if the FCC is alerted, they will follow up. HF is where they are particularly noisy. I have one big inverter about 50' from my KT-34XA when it is cranked down. Then I have a couple of installations across the street but I don't know what inverters they are using. I haven't gone out with my ICF-2001 or IC-R3 to try to pinpoint some of the noise. That beam has a lot of gain and I hear noise from quite a distance. And I live on a ridge top. --- Ciao baby, catch you on the flip side. GEO
Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana.
On Sunday, February 10, 2019, 4:12:43 PM PST, Burns Fisher [email protected] wrote:
I think I have heard somewhere that solar panel inverters can be horribly noisy. I think that maybe I heard that the micro inverters are the worst. Does anyone have experience? What bands are worst hit? Any particular inverter brand/type good or bad? How far from the inverter is your shack/antenna?
Thanks and 73,
Burns Fisher WB1FJ _______________________________________________ Sent via [email protected]. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions expressed are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of AMSAT-NA. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
The Solar Inverters that are terrible are the OPTIMIZERS. Little RF generators on EVERY panel all over the roof.
I have received reports that Microinverters are OK, and that String Inverters are OK. But the string inverters are the easiest to suppress further because they only have DC on the roof and are easiest to add any torroids on the two DC wires down at the inverter.
All of the reports I have collected so far are in the ARRL "Energy Choices for the Radio Amateur" book coming out in April.
But this will not just be your own system problem. If your neighbor goes solar with the OPTIMIZERS, you are screwed. Get out there and talk to your negighbors NOW... Don't be surprised...
Bob, WB4APR
-----Original Message----- From: AMSAT-BB [email protected] On Behalf Of Burns Fisher Sent: Sunday, February 10, 2019 7:11 PM To: AMSAT BB [email protected] Subject: [amsat-bb] Solar panel inverters--radio noise?
I think I have heard somewhere that solar panel inverters can be horribly noisy. I think that maybe I heard that the micro inverters are the worst. Does anyone have experience? What bands are worst hit? Any particular inverter brand/type good or bad? How far from the inverter is your shack/antenna?
Thanks and 73,
Burns Fisher WB1FJ _______________________________________________ Sent via [email protected]. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions expressed are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of AMSAT-NA. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
Thanks for that G2 Bob. My current local installs are years old but that beam can hear one on the next ridge over. --- Ciao baby, catch you on the flip side. GEO
Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana.
On Sunday, February 10, 2019, 4:55:14 PM PST, Robert Bruninga [email protected] wrote:
The Solar Inverters that are terrible are the OPTIMIZERS. Little RF generators on EVERY panel all over the roof.
I have received reports that Microinverters are OK, and that String Inverters are OK. But the string inverters are the easiest to suppress further because they only have DC on the roof and are easiest to add any torroids on the two DC wires down at the inverter.
All of the reports I have collected so far are in the ARRL "Energy Choices for the Radio Amateur" book coming out in April.
But this will not just be your own system problem. If your neighbor goes solar with the OPTIMIZERS, you are screwed. Get out there and talk to your negighbors NOW... Don't be surprised...
Bob, WB4APR
-----Original Message----- From: AMSAT-BB [email protected] On Behalf Of Burns Fisher Sent: Sunday, February 10, 2019 7:11 PM To: AMSAT BB [email protected] Subject: [amsat-bb] Solar panel inverters--radio noise?
I think I have heard somewhere that solar panel inverters can be horribly noisy. I think that maybe I heard that the micro inverters are the worst. Does anyone have experience? What bands are worst hit? Any particular inverter brand/type good or bad? How far from the inverter is your shack/antenna?
Thanks and 73,
Burns Fisher WB1FJ _______________________________________________ Sent via [email protected]. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions expressed are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of AMSAT-NA. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb _______________________________________________ Sent via [email protected]. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions expressed are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of AMSAT-NA. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
I concur. Unfortunately, my knowledge comes from personal experience. I did not do my homework before getting my solar panels. Each of the 14 panels has its optimizer. I used to use dipoles in my attic. Imagine how that sounded the first time I turned on my radios once the solar panels were up and running.
I quit the attic dipoles and put an end fed wire out the back of my 2nd story window. That was better but not much. I bought a Timewave ANC-4 Noise Canceller. That actually does reduce the noise somewhat. 40 m is now usable during the day. But the box only works on HF.
The noise level is also a problem on VHF. I used to download satellite telemetry during daytime passes, but I can't really do that anymore. I can do some satellite work from the house at night. Otherwise, if I have had a satellite QSO with any of you in the last year, it was with a handheld and an Arrow from my backyard, preferably pointing the Arrow away from the house.
I did have toroids from Palomar Engineers installed on the wiring of the panels after the fact, but they didn't help much. Maybe a little.
I do not regret going solar, but I wish I'd done more research first. Learn from my mistakes.
Steve AI9IN
On 2019-02-10 19:52, Robert Bruninga wrote:
The Solar Inverters that are terrible are the OPTIMIZERS. Little RF generators on EVERY panel all over the roof.
I have a 7kw SMA Sunny Boy inverter and I can say that I have experienced no noticeable interference. My inverter is in the barn about 125' from the house, and about 125' from my antenna. I also have tested my portable/mobile HF rig parked 20' away on HF SSB with no noise. Also, I regularly work Sats. mostly FM, but I have started SSB, typically 15'-25' away. It is not an inexpensive inverter, but I have been extremely pleased with it from a performance standpoint, and an RF noise standpoint.
R.J. WY7AA
On Sun, Feb 10, 2019 at 8:23 PM [email protected] wrote:
I concur. Unfortunately, my knowledge comes from personal experience. I did not do my homework before getting my solar panels. Each of the 14 panels has its optimizer. I used to use dipoles in my attic. Imagine how that sounded the first time I turned on my radios once the solar panels were up and running.
I quit the attic dipoles and put an end fed wire out the back of my 2nd story window. That was better but not much. I bought a Timewave ANC-4 Noise Canceller. That actually does reduce the noise somewhat. 40 m is now usable during the day. But the box only works on HF.
The noise level is also a problem on VHF. I used to download satellite telemetry during daytime passes, but I can't really do that anymore. I can do some satellite work from the house at night. Otherwise, if I have had a satellite QSO with any of you in the last year, it was with a handheld and an Arrow from my backyard, preferably pointing the Arrow away from the house.
I did have toroids from Palomar Engineers installed on the wiring of the panels after the fact, but they didn't help much. Maybe a little.
I do not regret going solar, but I wish I'd done more research first. Learn from my mistakes.
Steve AI9IN
On 2019-02-10 19:52, Robert Bruninga wrote:
The Solar Inverters that are terrible are the OPTIMIZERS. Little RF generators on EVERY panel all over the roof.
Sent via [email protected]. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions expressed are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of AMSAT-NA. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
On 11/2/19 2:01 pm, Robert Bragg wrote:
I have a 7kw SMA Sunny Boy inverter and I can say that I have experienced no noticeable interference.
I also have a Sunny Boy inverter, two in fact, and they produce almost no RF noise. It's a different story with the LED lights; noise right across the RF spectrum. I have the same problem with the solar regulator and LED lights in my motorhome.
participants (6)
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Burns Fisher -
GEO Badger -
Phil -
Robert Bragg -
Robert Bruninga -
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