SMA SUNNY CENTRAL 250U User manual

SCUS-BE-BUS111113 |98-4000613 |Version 1.3
US
Central Inverter
SUNNY CENTRAL 250U / 500U / 500HE-US / 500HE-CA
User Manual

SMA America, LLC
User Manual SCUS-BE-BUS111113 3
Copyright © 2011 SMA America,LLC. All rights reserved.
No part of this document may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form
or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photographic, magnetic or otherwise, without the prior
written permission of SMA America,LLC.
Neither SMA America,LLC nor SMA Solar Technology Canada Inc. makes no representations,
express or implied, with respect to this documentation or any of the equipment and/or software it may
describe, including (with no limitation) any implied warranties of utility, merchantability, or fitness for
any particular purpose. All such warranties are expressly disclaimed. Neither SMA America,LLC nor
its distributors or dealers nor SMA Solar Technology Canada Inc. nor its distributors or dealers shall
be liable for any indirect, incidental, or consequential damages under any circumstances.
(The exclusion of implied warranties may not apply in all cases under some statutes, and thus the
above exclusion may not apply.)
Specifications are subject to change without notice. Every attempt has been made to make this
document complete, accurate and up-to-date. Readers are cautioned, however, that
SMAAmerica,LLC and SMA Solar Technology Canada Inc. reserve the right to make changes
without notice and shall not be responsible for any damages, including indirect, incidental or
consequential damages, caused by reliance on the material presented, including, but not limited to,
omissions, typographical errors, arithmetical errors or listing errors in the content material.
All trademarks are recognized even if these are not marked separately. Missing designations do not
mean that a product or brand is not a registered trademark.
The Bluetooth® word mark and logos are registered trademarks owned by Bluetooth SIG, Inc. and
any use of such marks by SMA America,LLC and SMA Solar Technology Canada Inc. is under
license.
SMA America, LLC
3801 N. Havana Street
Denver, CO 80239 U.S.A.
SMA Solar Technology Canada Inc.
2425 Matheson Blvd E, 8th Floor
Mississauga, ON L4W 5K5 Canada

SMA America, LLC
4 SCUS-BE-BUS111113 User Manual
IMPORTANT SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS
SAVE THESE INSTRUCTIONS
This manual contains important instructions for Sunny Central 250U, Sunny Central 500U, Sunny
Central 500HE-US and Sunny Central 500HE-CA photovoltaic (PV) inverters, that shall be followed
during installation and maintenance of the inverter.
The Sunny Central is designed and tested according to international safety requirements, but as with
all electrical and electronic equipment, certain precautions must be observed when installing and/or
operating the Sunny Central. To reduce the risk of personal injury and to ensure the safe installation
and operation of the Sunny Central, you must carefully read and follow all instructions, cautions and
warnings in this Installation Guide.
Warnings in this document
A Warning describes a hazard to equipment or personnel. It calls attention to a procedure or
practice, which, if not correctly performed or adhered to, could result in damage to or destruction of
part or all of the SMA equipment and/or other equipment connected to the SMA equipment or
personal injury.
DANGER
DANGER indicates a hazardous situation which, if not avoided, will result in death or
serious injury.
WARNING
WARNING indicates a hazardous situation which, if not avoided, could result in death or
serious injury.
CAUTION
CAUTION indicates a hazardous situation which, if not avoided, could result in minor or
moderate injury.
NOTICE
NOTICE indicates a situation that can result in property damage if not avoided.

SMA America, LLC
User Manual SCUS-BE-BUS111113 5
Other Symbols
In addition to the safety and hazard symbols described on the previous pages, the following symbol
is also used in this Installation Guide:
Markings on this Product
The following symbols are used as markings on this product with the following meanings.
Information
This symbol accompanies notes that call attention to supplementary information that you
should know and use to ensure optimal operation of the system.
Warning regarding dangerous voltage
The product works with high voltages. All work on the product must only be performed
as described in it‘s documentation.
Electric arc hazards
The product has large electrical potential differences between its conductors. Arc flashes
can occur through air when high-voltage current flows. Do not work on the product
during operation.
Beware of hot surface
The product can become hot during operation. Do not touch the product during
operation.
Observe the operating instructions
Read the documentation of the product before performing any work. Follow all safety
precautions and instructions as described in the documentation.
UL1741 is the standard applied by Underwriters Laboratories to the
SunnyCental500HE-US to certify that it meets the requirements of the
NationalElectricalCode®, the Canadian Electrical Code® CSA C22.1 and
IEEE‑929‑2000. IEEE 929-2000 provides recommendations regarding the proper
equipment and functionality necessary to ensure compatible operation when power
generation is connected to the utility grid.
DC current
Earth Ground

SMA America, LLC
6 SCUS-BE-BUS111113 User Manual
General Warnings
General Warnings
All electrical installations must be done in accordance with the local and
NationalElectrical Code® ANSI/NFPA 70 or the Canadian Electrical Code®
CSAC22.1. This document does not and is not intended to replace any local, state,
provincial, federal or national laws, regulation or codes applicable to the installation and
use of the SMA inverter, including without limitation applicable electrical safety codes. All
installations must conform with the laws, regulations, codes and standards applicable in
the jurisdiction of installation. SMA assumes no responsibility for the compliance or
noncompliance with such laws or codes in connection with the installation of the SMA
inverter.
Before installing or using the Sunny Central, read all of the instructions, cautions, and
warnings on the Sunny Central, the PV array, in this Installation Guide and in User Manual.
Before connecting the Sunny Central to the electrical utility grid, contact the local utility
company. This connection must be made only by qualified personnel.
PV arrays produce electrical energy when exposed to light and thus can create an
electrical shock hazard. Wiring of the PV-arrays shall only be performed by qualified
personnel.

SMA America, LLC Table of Contents
User Manual SCUS-BE-BUS111113 7
Table of Contents
1 Information on this Manual. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1.1 Target Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1.2 Validity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
2 Safety Instructions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
3 Description of the Sunny Central . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
3.1 Design of the Sunny Central . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
3.2 Location of the Safety Instructions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
3.3 Identifying the Sunny Central . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
3.4 Firmware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
3.5 Elements for Sunny Central Operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
3.5.1 Sunny Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
3.6 Optional Accessories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
4 Operating the Sunny Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
4.1 Functions of the Buttons. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
4.2 Description of Display Symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
4.3 Navigating through the Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
4.4 Switching the display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
4.5 Menu Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
4.5.1 Description of Menu Items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
4.6 Changing Date and Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
4.6.1 Changing Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
4.6.2 Changing Date . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
4.7 Display Firmware Version . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
5 Spot Values. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
6 Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
6.1 Description of Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Table of Contents SMA America, LLC
8 SCUS-BE-BUS111113 User Manual
6.2 Changing Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
7 Error Diagnosis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
7.1 Diagnosis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
7.1.1 PV Generator Fault . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
7.1.2 Sunny Central Fault. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
7.1.3 Grid Fault . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
7.1.4 Display Fault . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
7.1.5 Acknowledge Error at the Sunny Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
7.1.6 Acknowledge the Error with the Sunny WebBox . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
8 Appendix - Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
9 Contact . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

SMA America, LLC
User Manual SCUS-BE-BUS111113 9
1 Information on this Manual
This document describes the operation, maintenance and failure correction of the Sunny Central
250U, Sunny Central 500U and Sunny Central 500HE-US. This manual does not cover any details
concerning PV modules. Information concerning the PV modules is available from the manufacturer of
the PV modules.
1.1 Target Group
This manual is for the installer, the maintenance personnel and the operator of a Sunny Central 250U,
Sunny Central 500U and Sunny Central 500HE-US. The installer, the maintenance personnel and the
operator of the Sunny Central have to be qualified personnel. Qualified personnel has received
training and has demonstrated skills and knowledge in the construction and operation of the device.
Qualified personnel is trained to deal with the dangers and hazards involved in installing electric
devices.
1.2 Validity
This manual applies for the Sunny Central 250U, Sunny Central 500U, Sunny Central 500HE-US and
Sunny Central 500HE-CA from the BFR firmware version 1.030 and the DSP firmware version 1.030.
In this manual the Sunny Central 250U, Sunny Central 500U, Sunny Central 500HE-US and Sunny
Central 500HE-CA are referred to as "Sunny Central".

SMA America, LLC
10 SCUS-BE-BUS111113 User Manual
2 Safety Instructions
DANGER
High voltages are present in the live components of the medium voltage grid.
Death resulting from burning and electric shock.
• Do not touch the live components of the medium voltage grid or the inverter.
• Pay close attention to all safety precaution measures regarding the medium voltage
grid.
WARNING
Failure to follow the manual, the operating instructions and the safety precautions may lead
to severe injury from electric shock.
• All work on the Sunny Central may only be done as described in this manual.
• Pay attention to all safety instructions.
• Follow all operating instructions.
• If problems occur when performing the work described here, contact SMA America.
WARNING
Operating a damaged Sunny Central may cause severe injury from electric shock.
• The Sunny Central may only be used when it is technically faultless and safe to
operate.
• Operate the Sunny Central only if there are no visible damages.
• Regularly check the Sunny Central for visible damage.
• Ensure that all external safety features are freely accessible at all times, and that they
are regularly tested for correct functionality.
Storage of handbooks
This documentation must be kept in the immediate vicinity of the Sunny Central. It must be
accessible to service and maintenance personnel at any time.
Do not store this documentation or other papers in the Sunny Central.