SMA Sunny Boy SWR 1800U Parts list manual

SB1800U-11:EE0402
Sunny Boy
SWR 1800U
Technical Description
Grid Tied String Inverter for Photovoltaic Systems
Issue 1.0

Sunny Boy 1800U Technical Description
SB1800U-11:EE - 2- SMA Regelsysteme GmbH
Alteration Review
Document
Number
SB1800U
Issue
and Alteration
Review 1)
Comments Author
-11:EE0402 1.0 A First issue Homburg
1) A: Changes due to faulty documents or improvement of the documentation
B: Changes maintaining full or upward compatibility
C: Changes limiting or excluding compatibility
Name Date Signature
Approved Bremicker

Sunny Boy 1800U Technical Description
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Table of Contents
1Introduction......................................................................................................... 4
2System Description ............................................................................................ 5
2.1 String Technology ...................................................................................... 6
2.2 Diagnosis and Communication .................................................................. 8
2.3 Technical design of the Sunny Boy............................................................ 9
2.3.1 Ambient Temperature............................................................................ 9
2.3.2 Sequential Control System .................................................................. 10
2.3.3 Stainless Steel Case ........................................................................... 10
2.3.4 Islanding Protection............................................................................. 11
2.3.5 Grid Monitoring.................................................................................... 12
2.3.6 Ground Fault Detector Interrupter (GFDI)............................................ 13
3System Monitoring and Diagnosis .................................................................... 14
3.1 Data Transmission via Powerline............................................................. 14
3.2 Data Transmission with a Separate Data Cable ...................................... 16
3.3 PV-System Management and Diagnosis.................................................. 18
3.4 Measuring Channels and Messages........................................................ 20
3.5 Measurement Precision ........................................................................... 22
4Technical Data ................................................................................................. 23
5Appendix .......................................................................................................... 31

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1 Introduction
You have decided to use one of the most sophisticated devices and for the most ad-
vanced modular PV system technology by purchasing a Sunny Boy® 1String Inverter.
SMA string technology has revolutionized parallel grid feeding. The SMA Sunny Boy
String Inverters are the most successful photovoltaic String Inverters in Europe. They
convince with their outstanding qualities concerning the efficiency and reliability and
make the installation of a PV-system most simple and affordable. Sunny Boy String
Inverters are the universal equipment for all applications – small or large scale PV-
systems.
The Sunny Boy has complete on board islanding protection and meets safety operat-
ing standards and code requirements world-wide. In North America, the Sunny Boy
meets the requirements of UL 1741. NEC 690 building code requirements for photo-
voltaic systems will be met with the internal ground fault detector interrupter (GFDI).
In Australia Sunny Boys are certified according to the “Australian Guidelines” and the
regulations of the IEC950. In the United Kingdom Sunny Boys passed the tests in
accordance with the “engineering recommendation G77”. The Sunny Boys comply
with all regulations from the VDEW (Association of German Electricity Producers) for
the supplementary grid feeding to the low voltage electricity grid of the utility. This
contains the regulations concerning the “Independent Disconnection Device” known
as MSD (Mains monitoring device with allocated Switching Devices) and the regula-
tions of the DIN VDE 0126. Furthermore the Sunny Boy complies with the according
standards and the low voltage regulations as certified in the CE declaration (see ap-
pendix).
1Sunny Boy is a registered Trademark of SMA Regelsysteme GmbH

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2 System Description
The reduction of CO²emission and other pollution resulting from energy conversion is
becoming more and more important. The direct conversion of solar radiation to elec-
tric energy (photovoltaics) will play a substantial role in this essential matter.
Supplementary grid feeding includes the conversion of the DC voltage from the PV-
panel to grid compatible AC voltage with so-called ”inverters“ and the subsequent
connection to the electricity grid in the house distribution.
Here the electricity from the PV-modules provides all consumers with electric power
(household devices, lights etc.). In case that not enough energy is produced the addi-
tionally necessary energy is obtained from the grid. In case that there is a surplus of
energy, this surplus is fed into the local grid and is therefore available for other con-
sumers. This way every single kilowatt-hour is utilized and the electricity company’s
power systems are relieved. In the most simple case a PV-system therefore consists
of two basic components: the PV-panel and the inverter.
Fig. 2.1: Grid tied String Inverter application

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2.1 String Technology
The experience with several thousand grid-connected PV-systems in Europe with an
output range from one to several hundred kilowatts has shown that the costs for grid
connecting and monitoring the PV-system add up to almost 50 % of the costs for the
entire system. The reduction of these costs, especially the costs for the cabling on
the DC side and the subsequent distribution on the AC side, was the reason for de-
veloping the String Technology from SMA. The Sunny Boy finally enabled the string
technology to be the standard system design for PV-systems.
String technology means that a small number of PV-modules are connected in series
to a ”string“, each string is then connected to a separate inverter which feeds the
electricity of one string to the grid. Large PV-systems consist of a large number of
single strings. The energy produced is collected directly on the AC side which results
in the fact that the system design gets very simple and no extraordinary DC cabling is
necessary anymore. String Technology allows MPP tracking for each small module
group, thus improving system efficiency by 1 – 3%.
The most various system concepts can be realized with this strategy. A wide range of
differently scaled inverters and peripheral components is available:
Sunny Boy Inverters:
• Sunny Boy 700:
The small model for small PV-systems with simple extension possibilities and
configurable input voltage range
• Sunny Boy 850:
The output optimized inverter for PV-systems with 1 kWp
• Sunny Boy 1100E:
For PV plants with 1 kWp; supports a wider input voltage range
• Sunny Boy 1700E: For PV plants around 2.2 kWp / wide input voltage range

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• Sunny Boy 2000:
The transformerless String Inverter with extended input voltage and increased
efficiency, ideal for large PV-systems.
• Sunny Boy 2500U:
The powerful String Inverter with electric separation, ideal for large PV-systems.
• Sunny Boy 3000:
The powerful String Inverter with electric separation and optimum efficiency,
ideal for large-scale plants.
• Sunny Display
Lid integrated LCD for all Sunny Boys, cyclic display of all relevant operating
data
• Sunny Data:
The PC-program for the communication with your Sunny Boy inverters
• Sunny Boy Control:
The terminal for your PV-system for data acquisition and evaluation - for up to
50 Sunny Boys - communication via Powerline or RS232/RS485
• Sunny Boy Control LIGHT:
Terminal for PV systems with up to 20 Sunny Boys - communication via Power-
line
• Sunny Boy Control PLUS:
The terminal for your PV-system for data acquisition and evaluation - for up to
50 Sunny Boys - communication via Powerline or RS232/RS485 - additional
digital I/O channels for nearly any sensor type - continuous standalone data
storage and remote access via modem etc.
• Sunny Data Control:
The PC-program for visualization of the data from your Sunny Boy Control
The Sunny Boy Family is the result of consistent development with SMA´s experi-
ence in PV conversion with over 130 MW of total nominal inverter output power in
over 90,000 units with nominal powers from 700 W up to 500 kW (update: 01/02).

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2.2 Diagnosis and Communication
The modular PV system technology leads to a spread out distribution of the Sunny Boy
String Inverters. A simple and fast function monitoring of the status and measured val-
ues for each single Sunny Boy is easy to achieve. The data is either displayed on the
LCD of the Sunny Boy Control or is shown on the screen of a PC running the according
SMA software. Two programs ”Sunny Data“ and ”Sunny Data Control“ are based on a
comfortable Windows GUI and allow the user to process the data with other programs
such as MS Excel®.
The data transmission is done via Powerline (see chapter 3.1). SMA supports the fol-
lowing monitoring strategies for Sunny Boy String Inverters:
• PC with software package Sunny Data for small and medium size PV-systems -
also for Sunny Boy Control and Sunny Boy Control Light
• Sunny Boy Control as standalone controller for nearly any PV-system size
• PC with software package Sunny Data Control for enhanced operation together
with the Sunny Boy Control
These monitoring concepts support the following features:
• Continuous acquisition of operation data of all connected String Inverters and
their PV-panels
• Supervision of operating states and failure indication
• Spot value transmission from single Sunny Boys
• Identification of failures in the single strings
• Graphical representation of the data from single Sunny Boys or comparison of
the data from several ones
• System management, transmission of operation parameters

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2.3 Technical design of the Sunny Boy
The Sunny Boy inverter is based on a power unit that operates with a very high effi-
ciency and optimal reliability. An IGBT H-bridge converts the voltage coming from the
PV modules to a high frequency secondary circuit with 16 kHz. The voltage is then
fed to the grid after being processed by a transformer.
Fig. 2.2: Block circuit diagram of the Sunny Boy 1800U
The Sunny Boy 1800U is designed for strings with 11 to 16 standard modules con-
nected in series.
A micro controller manages the current control which results in a perfectly sinus wave
AC current with very low harmonic distortion. Both operation with a fixed voltage or
with MPP tracking is possible.
2.3.1 Ambient Temperature
The heat sink of the Sunny Boy is necessary in order to let thermal energy dissipate.
Once the heat sink gets too hot the Sunny Boy reduces the output energy accord-
ingly but nevertheless keeps feeding to the grid.

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2.3.2 Sequential Control System
The sequential control system also manages the communication with the system
monitoring tools Sunny Data and Sunny Data Control. The Sunny Boy therefore is
not only a simple standalone device - it can be part of one big PV-system that has
one central control and monitoring facility.
2.3.3 Stainless Steel Case
The case of the Sunny Boy is made of stainless steel which protects the inverter from
dust and water up to enclosure type NEMA 4X. The Sunny Boy can therefore be
mounted nearly anywhere inside or outside the house with an ambient temperature
range of -13 °F…140 °F (-25°C to +60°C). All applicable standards and regulations for
personnel safety and EMI are complied with.

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2.3.4 Islanding Protection
Islanding protection is an essential safety issue in order to make sure that nobody
working on the grid is harmed. It is important to detect an ”islanding“ where the public
grid is not up and the electricity consumers and producers are accidentally equal -
resulting in the fact that the electricity circuits are on ”full blow“ even though the fuses
are down.
The method of Sunny Boy islanding detection includes the active grid impedance
measurement has been extensively tested and proven to exceed the requirements of
UL1741. In the event of a utility outage, these active measurement results in an
over/under frequency or voltage condition. The Sunny Boy then is disconnected from
the grid. Two independent one-chip computers monitor the grid. Each of these com-
puters constantly monitors the grid quality by checking the frequency, voltage and
grid impedance. The redundant circuit and an automatic self test on each system
startup ensure a reliable function of the grid disconnection. The value of the grid im-
pedance is the sum of the impedance of the public grid and the cabling impedance of
the house (i.e. cable of the house distribution to the connection point of the Sunny
Boy). It is therefore important to avoid an unnecessary increase of the grid imped-
ance due to the connection cable to the Sunny Boy. Otherwise the grid voltage is in-
creased to non-permissible values while the Sunny Boy feeds to the grid.
NOTE: We recommend that you have a look at the connection wire
between the Sunny Boy to the house distribution with respect to the
impedance increase.

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2.3.5 Grid Monitoring
Conditions that cause the Sunny Boy to be disconnected from the grid:
• Over/under AC-voltage
- The grid voltage may be within a range of the requirements of UL1741.
Once the grid voltage exceeds this range the Sunny Boy is disconnected
from the grid within 0.1 s.
• Over/under grid frequency
- The grid frequency may be within a range of +0.5 to –0.7 Hz of the nominal
grid frequency while the voltage is within a range of -30 % and +15% of the
nominal grid voltage VAC - once the frequency goes beyond this range the
Sunny Boy is disconnected from the grid within 0.1 s.
• Rate of change of frequency
- Once the frequency changes drastically while it is feeding to the grid, the
Sunny Boy disconnects within 0.2 s.
This new Sunny Boy disconnection concept provides maximal safety with never-
theless minimal necessary installation.

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2.3.6 Ground Fault Detector Interrupter (GFDI)
The GFDI is supposed to interrupt the connection to ground of the PV panel in case a
ground leakage current of 1 A is exceeded. This ground fault current is the result of a
ground fault of the PV panel. The inverter then has to indicate this condition and dis-
connect from the grid. The inverter has to be reset manually, it cannot restart auto-
matically.
In grid-feeding mode the ground current is continuously monitored by two independ-
ent systems, the sequential control system and the current control system. If the
maximum current intensity is exceeded the inverter switches to “permanent disable”-
“Earth-currentmax”. This is indicated by the red and yellow LEDs.
In addition the voltage between the ground and PV-minus is monitored. If the voltage
exceeds the maximum value defined the failure “GFDI Fuse Open” is displayed and
the inverter stops feeding to the grid. This failure is indicated by the red LED. The
“GFDI Fuse Open” failure persists in case the GFDI fuse is defective.

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3 System Monitoring and Diagnosis
The monitoring and control of PV-systems is essential for the optimal energy yield,
the safety of your PV-system and the long life of your PV-components.
The Sunny Boy family inverters have various options for PV-system control and
monitoring. This chapter will try to cover all different possibilities for the data trans-
mission, the cabling circuits and how to eliminate and suppress any transmission fail-
ures.
3.1 Data Transmission via Powerline
Signal transmission between the Sunny Boy and the Sunny Boy Control or the PC is
done with the grid connection via powerline. This requires a minimum of installation
(see below). The Sunny Boy must be equipped with a powerline modem for data
transmission. The PC must be equipped with the socket modem (SWR-COM). This is
already integrated in the Sunny Boy Control, the specific controller for PV-systems.
The PC or the Sunny Boy Control can be positioned anywhere within the in-house
network as they acquire data directly from the AC circuit.
For trouble-free operation the Sunny Boys and the PC socket modem or the Sunny
Boy Control must be connected to the same phase of the in-house network. If the
communicating partners are connected to different phases the communication must
be established with a so-called phase coupling device. The phase coupling device is
available from SMA and must be installed by qualified personnel. It will make com-
munication within the entire in-house network possible.

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Fig. 3.1: Example of data transmission via Powerline

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3.2 Data Transmission with a Separate Data Cable
Data transmission via Powerline is a reliable and affordable solution. In electrical
grids which are strongly influenced by high-frequency disturbance such as those in
industrial sites data transmission via Powerline may not be possible. Communication
between the Sunny Boys and the Sunny Boy Control or the PC can then be done
with a separate data cable.
RS232 communication
If only one Sunny Boy has to be connected to the PC the easiest way is direct cou-
pling via an RS232 port. A maximum of 15 m is permissible between the PC and the
Sunny Boy.
Fig. 3.2: Example for RS232 communication with a single Sunny Boy
NOTE: RS232 communication is only suitable for data transmission
between a PC and one single Sunny Boy.
NOTE: RS232 communication with a Sunny Boy is only a reasonable
solution with direct connection to the PC. If a Sunny Boy Control is
used instead of the PC an RS485 connection is necessary. See sec-
tion “RS485 communication” for details.

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RS485 communication
In grids loaded with high interference several Sunny Boys can be connected to a PC
or the Sunny Boy Control via RS485 and a separate data cable. Data cables of up to
1200 m are permissible.
Sunny Boy Control
RS485
Sunny Boy
Sunny Boy Sunny Boy
Sunny Boy Sunny Boy Sunny Boy
RS485
interface
converter RS232
Fig. 3.3: Schematic layout of RS485 data transmission with several Sunny Boys

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3.3 PV-System Management and Diagnosis
Sunny Data
Sunny Data is used in order to establish a communication between a PC and your
Sunny Boys and process and evaluate the data from these.
Selected measurement channels can be displayed online. The data can be displayed
manually or automatically. The data is stored on any available mass storage medium.
Special functions allow the installer to modify the operating parameters of the Sunny
Boy in order to improve the system performance. Details are available in the Sunny
Data manual.
Fig. 3.4: Sunny Data user interface

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Sunny Data Control
Large PV-systems are supervised and monitored with a Sunny Boy Control. The Sunny Boy
Control handles up to 50 Sunny Boys and assists the commissioning of the PV-system. Addi-
tional features are remote diagnosis via modem, fax messages and more.
The data can be collected by a PC connected to the Sunny Boy Control. Sunny Data Control is
the software that manages the PV-system and can display the data in nearly any desired way.
For details see the Sunny Data Control manual.
single device
detailed device
information
short information
Fig. 3.5: Sunny Data Control user interface

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3.4 Measuring Channels and Messages
The communication supports a number of measuring channels and messages from the
Sunny Boy inverters.
The following abbreviations are used:
BFR Betriebsführungsrechner (Sequential Control System)
SRR Stromregelungsrechner (Current Control System)
Measuring Channels
Vpv PV-input voltage
Vpv-Setpoint PV-desired input voltage of the Vpv-control
Iac current to the grid
Vac grid voltage
Fac grid frequency
Pac power fed to grid
Zac grid impedance
Vpv-_PE PV-voltage to earth
Ipv current from PV-panels
E-Total energy yield
h-Total total operation hours
Power On total system start ups
Serial Number Sunny Boy serial number
Mode operating mode
Error failure description for mode “disturbance“