SMA SB 700U, SB 3000US, SB 3800-US-10, SB 4000US, SB 5000US Technical Information

Technical Information

PV Inverters

Use of PV Inverters in Off-Grid and Backup Systems in North and South America

Content

Both in off-grid systems and in the event of grid failures in backup systems, grid fluctuations in the stand-alone grid are
possible. This may cause severe deviations in nominal voltage and nominal frequency. Despite such fluctuations, all of
the components in these systems must function without problems.

This technical information will inform you about the following topics:

• Which PV inverters you can use in off-grid systems and backup systems

• Which parameters you need to set in the PV inverter

• What type of communication you need to install in backup systems

• Which values the parameters of PV inverters will take in stand-alone mode

• How the output power of the PV inverter can be limited by the Frequency-Shift Power Control (FSPC) function of the
Sunny Island

SB-OffGrid-TI-US-en-18 | Version 1.8 AMERICAN ENGLISH

1 Applicability of PV inverters (date: February 2016) SMA Solar Technology America LLC

1 Applicability of PV inverters (date: February 2016)

PV Inverters Off-grid system Backup system Available?

Sunny Boy (SB)

SB 700U ✓ ✖ No

SB 3000US ✓ ✓ No

SB 3800-US-10 ✓ ✓ No

SB 4000US ✓ ✓ No

SB 5000US ✓ ✓ No

SB 6000US ✓ ✓ No

SB 7000US ✓ ✓ No

SB 8000US ✓ ✓ No

SB 2000HFUS-30 ✖ ✖ No

SB 2500HFUS-30 ✖ ✖ No

SB 3000HFUS-30 ✖ ✖ No

SB 3000TL-US-22 ✖

SB 3800TL-US-22 ✖

SB 4000TL-US-22 ✖

SB 5000TL-US-22 ✖

SB 6000TL-US-22 ✖

SB 7000TL-US-22 ✖

SB 7700TL-US-22 ✖

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

✓Yes

✓Yes

✓Yes

✓Yes

✓Yes

✓Yes

✓Yes

SB5.0-1-SP-US-40 ✓ ✖ Yes

SB6.0-1-SP-US-40 ✓ ✖ Yes

SB 5000TLUS-12 ✓ ✓ No

SB 6000TLUS-12 ✓ ✓ No

SB 7000TLUS-12 ✓ ✓ No

SB 8000TLUS-12 ✓ ✓ No

SB 9000TLUS-12 ✓ ✓ Yes

SB 10000TLUS-12 ✓ ✓ Yes

SB 11000TLUS-12 ✓ ✓ Yes

1)

Since 2016, no longer supported.

✓ Compatible ✖ Not compatible

2 SB-OffGrid-TI-US-en-18 Technical Information

SMA Solar Technology America LLC 2 Configuration of PV Inverters in Off-Grid Systems

PV Inverters Off-grid system Backup system Available?

Sunny Tripower (STP)

STP 12000TL-US-10 ✖ ✖ Yes

STP 15000TL-US-10 ✖ ✖ Yes

STP 20000TL-US-10 ✖ ✖ Yes

STP 24000TL-US-10 ✖ ✖ Yes

STP 30000TL-US-10 ✖ ✖ Yes

✓ Compatible ✖ Not compatible

System failures due to excessive power output of AC sources in the stand-alone grid

If the power of the AC sources (e.g. PV inverters) in off-grid systems or backup systems is too high, it may cause
system failures.

• Design the total nominal AC power of the PV inverters to be no more than twice as high as the nominal AC
power of the Sunny Island.

• If wind power inverters feed into the stand-alone grid, design the total nominal power of the AC sources in the
stand-alone grid to be no larger than the nominal AC power of the Sunny Island.

• Allow at least 100 Ah of battery capacity per 1,000 W of nominal AC power from the AC sources in the
stand-alone grid.

2 Configuration of PV Inverters in Off-Grid Systems

The country data set must be set to stand-alone mode in off-grid systems.

You can order PV inverters configured for stand-alone mode or you can configure existing PV inverters for stand-alone
mode (see Section4 "Communication Products for Configuring PV Inverters", page5). During the first ten operating hours
you can adjust the country data set for many PV inverters by means of rotary switches (see the manual of the PV inverter).

Setting the Country Data Set via RS485 (e.g. with Sunny WebBox)

The following table shows how the country data set must be set during configuration of the PV inverter via RS485.
The parameter name and the configurable value depend on the PV inverter being used.

Parameter name Value

Either Default

or

CntrySet

Either Off-Grid

or

depending on power frequency, OFF-Grid50 for 50 Hz power frequency or
Off-Grid60 for 60 Hz power frequency

Technical Information SB-OffGrid-TI-US-en-18 3