CanadianSolar CSI 23KTL-CT/US-480 User manual

PRELIMINARY
THREE-PHASE
STRING INVERTER
INSTALLATION
MANUAL - 23-28KW

Table of Contents
Before You Start .........................................................................................................................................1
Chapter 1 IMPORTANT SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS............................................................................2
Chapter 2 Overview ........................................................................................................................5
2.1 Inverter for grid-tied PV systems.......................................................................................................5
2.2 Product features..................................................................................................................................5
2.3 Product protection functions .............................................................................................................6
2.4 Circuit structure design ......................................................................................................................6
2.5 Appearance Description .....................................................................................................................7
Chapter 3 Installation .....................................................................................................................8
3.1 Recommendations before installation..............................................................................................9
3.2 Mechanical installation .................................................................................................................... 10
3.3 Electrical installation ........................................................................................................................ 22
3.3.1 DC connection................................................................................................................................ 24
3.3.2 AC and ground connection .......................................................................................................... 33
3.3.3 Communication connection......................................................................................................... 38
Chapter 4 Commissioning.............................................................................................................46
4.1 Commissioning Checklist................................................................................................................. 46
4.1.1 Mechanical installation ................................................................................................................. 46
4.1.2 Cable connections ......................................................................................................................... 46
4.1.3 Electrical check............................................................................................................................... 46
4.2 Commissioning steps....................................................................................................................... 46
Chapter 5 User Interface ..............................................................................................................48
5.1 Description of LCD panel ................................................................................................................ 48
5.2 Operation state................................................................................................................................. 49
5.3 Interface types .................................................................................................................................. 49
5.4 Menu functions................................................................................................................................. 51
5.4.1 Operation information.................................................................................................................. 51
5.4.2 Alarm............................................................................................................................................... 52

5.4.3 History................................................................................................................................................52
5.4.4 System conguration.......................................................................................................................53
5.4.5 Power dispatch .................................................................................................................................55
5.4.6 System protection parameters setup ............................................................................................55
5.4.7 System control parameters.............................................................................................................56
5.4.8 Arcing fault current interruption....................................................................................................62
Chapter 6 Operation........................................................................................................................64
6.1 Start-up .................................................................................................................................................64
6.2 Shut-down ............................................................................................................................................64
6.3 Operation mode ..................................................................................................................................64
6.4 Grid-tied power generation................................................................................................................66
Chapter 7 Maintenance and De-installation ................................................................................67
7.1 Fault shut down and troubleshooting ..............................................................................................67
7.1.1 LED fault and troubleshooting........................................................................................................67
7.1.2 LCD fault and troubleshooting .......................................................................................................67
7.2 Product maintenance..........................................................................................................................73
7.2.1 Check the electrical connection......................................................................................................73
7.2.2 Clean the air vent lter. ...................................................................................................................73
7.2.3 Replace cooling fans ........................................................................................................................73
7.2.4 Replace the inverter.........................................................................................................................74
7.3 De-installing the inverter....................................................................................................................76
Chapter 8 Technical Data................................................................................................................77
Chapter 9 Limited Warranty .....................................................................................................................81
101 Appendix: Instruction of inverter selection.....................................................................................81

Before You Start.
This manual contains important information regarding installation and safe operation of this unit. Be sure
to read this manual carefully before using.
Thank you for choosing this CSI Grid-tied PV Inverter. This PV Inverter is a high performance and highly
reliable product specically designed for the North American Solar market.
If you encounter any problems during installation or operation of this unit, rst check the user manual
before contacting your local dealer or supplier.
This user manual is applicable for the following 2 models:
CSI 23KTL-CT/US-480 and CSI 28KTL-CT/US-480.
Instructions inside this user manual will help you solve most installation and operation diculties.
Contact your local supplier if the problem still exists.
Please keep this user manual on hand for quick reference.
1

Chapter 1
IMPORTANT SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS
(SAVE THESE INSTRUCTIONS)
Please read this user manual carefully before product installation. Canadian Solar reserves the right
to refuse warranty claims for equipment damage if the user fails to install the equipment according to the
instructions in this manual.
Warnings and symbols in this document:
DANGER: WARNING:
DANGER indicates a hazardous situation which, if not avoided, will result in death or serious injury.
WARNING indicates a hazardous situation which, if not avoided, could result in death or serious injury.
CAUTION: NOTICE:
CAUTION indicates a hazardous situation which, if not avoided, could result in minor or moderate
injury.
NOTICE indicates a hazardous situation which, if not avoided, could result in equipment working
abnormally or property loss.
MARKINGS ON THE PRODUCT
INSTRUCTION: HIGH VOLTAGE:
INSTRUCTION indicates important supplementary information or provides skills or tips that can be used
to help you solve a problem or save you time.
HIGH VOLTAGE indicates the product works with high voltages. All work on the product must only be
performed as described in this document.
2

HOT SURFACE:
The equipment is designed to meet international safety standards, but surfaces can become hot
during operation. Do not touch the heat sink or peripheral surfaces during or shortly after operation.
EARTH GROUND:
This symbol marks the location of grounding terminal, which must be securely connected to the
earth through the PE (protective earthing) cable to ensure operational safety.
WARNING:
All the installation and wiring connections should be performed only by qualied technical personnel.
Disconnect the inverter from PV modules and the Power Grid before maintaining and operating the
equipment.
DANGER:
Please disconnect the inverter from AC grid and PV modules before opening the equipment. Make
sure hazardous high voltage and energy inside the equipment has been discharged. Do not operate
or maintain the inverter until at least 5 minutes after disconnecting all sources from DC and AC sides.
NOTICE:
This inverter is designed to connect AC power only to the public grid. Do not connect the AC output of
this equipment directly to any private AC power equipment.
3
MARKINGS ON THE PRODUCT

CAUTION:
CSI 23/28KTL-CT series inverter is approx 55kg (=122 pounds).
Please ensure the mounting is properly installed before hanging the inverter on the bracket.
CSI 23/28KTL-CT series inverter has the Arc Fault Detection feauture in the disabled mode by default.
Please ensure that this setting meets local code requirements. If you need to enable this feature for your
install, please contact your local sales or service manager for assistance.
INSTRUCTION:
Please check with your local electricity supply company before selecting the grid standard. If the inverter
is operated with a wrong grid standard, the electricity supply company may cancel the operation license.
Putting the inverter into operation before the overall system complies with the national rules and safety
regulation of the application is not permitted.
4

Chapter 2 Overview
2.1 Inverter for grid-tied PV systems
CSI 23/28KTL-CT/US-480 series inverter is suitable for use with commercial and large scale PV grid-ed systems. The
system is generally made up of PV modules, DC power distribuon equipment, PV inverter and AC power distribuon
equipment (Figure 2-1). The inverter converts the DC from PV modules to AC with the same frequency and phase as the AC
grid. All or part of the AC power is supplied to local loads, and the surplus power is supplied to the electricity grid.
2.2 Product features
➢High conversion eciency: Advanced 3-level conversion technology; Max. eciency: 98.6%; CEC
eciency: 98%
➢Strong grid adaptability: 7 grid standards applicable; Reactive power adjustable; PF value:±0.8,
Remote Curtailment
➢Flexible communication: Supports standard modbus communications to ensure compatibility with
3rd party monitoring and control systems
➢Wide DC input voltage range: Operating DC Input Voltage Range: 300-900Vdc; Max DC input voltage:
1000V
➢Long service life: Uses thin-lm capacitors to extend inverter’s service life
➢2 MPPTs: Dual and independent MPPT (Maximum Power Point Tracking) enable maximum design
exibility and optimize energy harvest over the life of the system
➢Integrated AFCI: Integrated AFCI (Arc Fault Circuit Interruption) feature meets the need to meet
advanced local electrical and grid codes. This feature is disabled by default but can be enabled if
needed in the eld. Please contact your local sales or service manager for assistance.
➢High protection degree: NEMA 4 protection degree meets the needs of both indoor and outdoor use;
➢Intelligent Integration: Embedded DC/AC switches and up to 8 fused string inputs eliminates the need
for external combiner boxes and simplies installation.
5
DC Power
distribuon
equipments
AC Power
distribuon
equipments
Bidireconal
electric meter AC Grid
Figure 2-1 Grid-ed PV system

6
2.3 Product protection functions
➢Polarity reverse protection of DC input
➢Short circuit protection
➢DC input insulation against ground monitoring
➢AC output voltage and frequency monitoring
➢Integrated Arc Fault Detection and Interruption*
➢Leakage current against ground monitoring
➢Monitoring of DC injection from AC output
➢Anti-islanding protection
➢Input and output over-voltage protection
➢Input over-current protection
➢Environmental temperature monitoring
➢Module temperature monitoring
*The AFCI function ships from the factory in diaabled mode. To enable this feature, please contact your local sales or service manager to get instructions.
2.4 Circuit structure design
The basic schematic diagram of CSI 23/28KTL-CT/US-480 series inverter is shown in Figure 2-2.
The input of PV modules passes through surge protection circuitry, DC EMI wave lter, and the front-end
boost circuitry to achieve maximum power tracking and boost up voltages. The output of the inverter
converts the DC voltage to 3-phase AC voltage. The high frequency AC components are removed with
a wave lter. Then the 3-phase AC voltage is passed through two-stage relays and EMI wave lter to
produce high quality AC power.
PV
Input
PV1 +
PV1 +
PV1 +
PV1 +
PV1 -
PV1 -
PV1 -
PV1 -
PV1 +
PV1 +
PV1 +
PV1 +
PV1 -
PV1 -
PV1 -
PV1 -
Fuses DC
Switch
AFD
Three level
Inverter
AC
Output
N
L1
L2
L3
PE
Figure 2-2 Schematic diagram of CSI 23/28KTL-CT series inverter

7
2.5 Appearance Description
Main items of the inverter:
1) Main housing of the inverter
2) Wiring box of the inverter
3) Mounting bracket
4) External cooling fans
5) LED indication lights
6) LCD display
7) Key buttons
8) DC switch: DC power on/off
9) AC switch: AC power on/off
Figure 2-3 Appearance sketch of CSI 23/28KTL-CT series inverter

8
Chapter 3 Installation
Below is the installation procedure for the inverter. Please read carefully and install the product
step-by-step.
Before installation, please check that the following items are included in
the package:
Table 3-1 Main items
No. Item Q’ty Note
(1) Main housing of the PV 1
inverter
(2) Wiring box of the PV 1
inverter
(3) Mounting bracket 1 Upon which inverter is hung and
mounted onto a wall
(4) User manual 1 Installation and operation manual
(5) Accessory kit 1 Contains all necessary accessories
The (5) Accessory kit contains items listed below:
Table 3-2 Accessories
No. Item Q’ty Note
(1) M8 Expansion tubes 8 For mounting bracket
(2) M8 x 25 assembling bolts 8 For mounting bracket
(3) M6X 16 screw 6 For wiring box and main housing;
2 spare parts
(4) M5X 10 screw 8 For mounting bracket and inverter,
external ground connection
(5) M3X8 screw 2 For partition plate; 1 spare part
cont’d. on next page

No. Item Q’ty Note
(6) M5 ange nut 2 For internal ground stud connection;
1 spare part
(7) Lifting eye nut M10 2 For lifting the main housing
(8) OT type terminal 2 For ground connection
(9) Pre-insulated end 5 For AC output cables, 1 spare part
ferrule for AC side
(10) Pre-insulated end 8 For ground cables
ferrule
(11) Pre-insulated end 20 For DC input cables, 4 spare parts
ferrule for DC side
(12) RJ45 connector 4 For RS485 or Ethernet communication,
2 spare parts
(13) 5 pin connector 1 For RS485 communication
(14) 3 pin connector 1 For dry contact communication
(15) Partition plate 1 For partition signal cable and the
power cable
3.1 Recommendations before installation
➢Check that the product environmental specications (protection degree, operating temperature range,
humidity and altitude, etc) meet the requirements of the specic project location;
➢Make sure that the power grid voltage is within normal range;
➢Ensure that the local electricity supply authority has granted permission to connect to the grid;
➢ Ensure that local code requirement is met by enabling the AFCI funcon from the LCD screen. This feature is
disabled by default but can be enabled in the eld.
➢Installation personnel must be qualied electricians or people who have received professional training;
➢Sucient space is provided to allow the inverter cooling system to operate normally;
➢Install the inverter away from ammable and explosive substances;
➢Avoid installing the inverter in locations that exceed the temperature limits specied in the inverter data
sheet to limit undesirable power loss;
➢Do not install the inverter near the electromagnetic source which can compromise the normal operation
of electronic equipment
9
cont’d. from previous page
INSTRUCTION:
The items in the accessory kit table above are for the standard conguration.
The accessories may vary if optional parts are purchased.

10
3.2 Mechanical installation
1) Dimensions
Figure 3-1 Dimensions of CSI 23/28KTL-CT series inverter
2) Installation method (see Figure 3-2):
Make sure that the mounting structure (wall, rack, etc.) is suitable to support the inverter weight.
Follow the mounting guidelines:
(a) If the location permits, install the inverter vertically
b) If the inverter cannot be mounted vertically, it may be tilted backward by no lower than 15 degrees
from horizontal
(c) Do NOT mount the inverter leaning forward
(d) Do NOT mount the inverter in a horizontal position (<15 degrees)
(e) Do NOT mount the inverter upside down

11
Figure 3-2 Mount the inverter correctly
NOTICE:
When the inverter is mounted backward by ≥ 15° outdoor, shield cover is
recommended to be installed above the inverter to avoid direct sunlight.
3) Installation space requirement (see Figure 3-3):
The distances between the inverters or the surrounding objects should meet the following conditions:

12
NOTICE:
The spacing between two adjacently mounted inverters should be ≥500mm
(19.7 inches). Ensure that the air space around the inverter is well ventilated.
Figure 3-3 Inverter wall mounting dimensions
NOTICE:
The installation clearance between two inverters needs to be increased
when the ambient temperature is higher than 45° C.

INSTRUCTION:
If the inverter is tilted backward by no lower than 15° from horizontal, the
bottom clearance distance can be reduced according to specic conditions
Figure 3-4 Inverter pillar mounting dimensions
INSTRUCTION:
If the inverter is installed in open air on metallic brackets (instead of solid
wall), the top clearance distance can be reduced to as minimum as 100mm
(3.94in.)
13

14
4) Mount the inverter onto the bracket
(1) Mark the 8 holes on the bearing surface for mounting the bracket as shown in Figure 3-5:
Figure 3-5 Dimensions of holes on the bearing surface
(2) Drill holes at hte marked positions with a 10mm (0.4in.) drill and put the M8 expansion tubes①into
the holes; Fasten the mounting bracket②with the M8x25 assembling bolts③in the accessory kit.
Tool: Electric drill (ɸ10mm/0.4in. head), No. 13 wrench

15
Figure 3-6 Secure the mounting bracket
(3) Hang the inverter onto the mounting bracket as shown in Figure 3-7 and Figure 3-8:
Lift mounting: Take out the lifting eye nut M10 (2pcs) from the accessory kit, and screw them on the
bolts at the top of the inverter. Use sling rope or bar (inserted through both lifting eye nuts) to lift the
inverter onto the bracket. The minimum angle between the two sling ropes should be less than 90
degrees.
Manual mounting: Two people grab the handle positions marked in Figure 3-8, and mount the inverter
onto the bracket.
CAUTION:
The main housing of the CSI 23/28KTL-CT series inverter is about 46.5kg
(=102.5 pounds)
Please ensure the mounting is properly installed before hanging the inverter
on the bracket. It is recommended to have at least 2 people to mount the
inverter due to the weight of the equipment.

16
Figure 3-7 Mount the main housing on the bracket by lifting
Figure 3-8 Position of grab handle
(4) Install the wiring box
①Remove the cover plate at the bottom of the main housing. (see Figure 3-9)
Tool: No. 2 Phillips head screwdriver

17
Figure 3-9 Cover plate of the main housing
②Remove the cover board at the top of the wiring box (see Figure 3-10)
Figure 3-10 Cover board of the wiring box
Save the cover board ad screws, and x the board on the left side of the wiring box after the wiring box
is attached to the inverter housing (see step 6, Figure 3-13)
Tool: No. 2 Phillips head screwdriver