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Tech Tip: Proper Communication for Sunny Island and Sunny Boy Systems
Sunny Island systems, especially in grid-tied battery-backup configurations, can do amazing things as standalone micro-grids. But they all depend on communication. Today, we’re discussing the proper communication configuration between the Sunny Island and Sunny Boy for optimal use.
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With new proposal by the Calif. CPUC I am looking at taking my home off grid after 20 years of net-metering. Currently have about 9 KW power through 2xSB4000US inverters. I have purchased 2 Sunny Island 6048 inverters & (pending purchase) lithium iron oxide batteries & looking for guidance in rebuilding the system for off grid. Does SMA have any documents to assist in getting this system changed over from grid-tied to off grid?
Dennis – the Sunny Island product manual has the required information. Please note that SMA Service will provide battery support only when a lithium battery from the approved list is used (look at Sunny Island -US section). As the Sunny Islands will be AC coupled into your system, there are a few ways to install the system. You can view an overview webinar on the Sunny Island here. As the Sunny Island is a fairly complicated device, SMA would recommend working with an installer with experience with the Sunny Island or at least other battery based inverters.
I have two new model SB7.0’s only on gridtie and I have two new model SB6.0-1SP-US-41 inverters ac-coupled interfacing to two SI6048-US-10 Sunny Islands. Sunny Island is RS485 (with piggyback card) and the SB6.0 is speedwire/wifi. Sunny Island also has a sorta CANbus (com sync). Communication between the slightly older SI and brand new SB is unclear. I’m sure there are other people out there who have say older SI’s and installed newer inverters. This is for grid backup. Setting the SB’s to off grid while the grid is down doesn’t make sense. Or lets say you have a purely grid tie with older SB’s and you bought new SI6.0 inverters. How do they communicate? I know SMA doesn’t like dealing with end users…. but there are plenty of “installers” who have electronics/engineering background looking for answers. Guys have told me the 6048 series needs firmware updates to make it possible. Hopefully you don’t leave us hanging.
Peter – If the only communication you are looking for is for the inverters behind the SIs to be set to “off grid” mode when the grid fails, the recommendation is to set them to off-grid mode permanently. The SIs are the UL 1741 listed “gatekeepers” upstream of the Sunny Boys, and can disconnect them from the grid according to UL 1741 limits. Then they are ready for Frequency Shift Power Control in backup mode.
Hi Mike, nice video!
Have a new 14KV system consisting of 34, 445W Canadian Solar panels with a pair of Sunny Boy SB7.0-1SP-US41 and a pair of Sunny Island SI-6048-US-10 along two (2) 48V DC battery banks. I have an ethernet CAT-5 cable from my home network already run into the area where have the equipment above and wish to have wired connectivity into my network rather than wifi, with the ability of see data from both the Sunny Boy and the Sunny Island. What equipments do I need to connect both the Sunny Boy’s and the Sunny Island’s into the wired network to see all the information from both using Sunny Web portal?
Do I need to buy the RS 485 piggy back cards for each equipment (4)? I saw the video of web box but understand is now a retired product, apparently replaced by the web connect. Trying to figure out what to buy for the 2 SB and 2 SI’s to make the proper wired connection to my home network and from there into the Sunny Web application.
Thanks!
Francisco
Francisco – You can view this recorded webinar (starting at around the 2hr 10 min mark) for more information. The Sunny Island master only will need the RS485 piggyback card, and the Sunny Boys do not need any additional equipment. You can choose either the Data Manager M or Lite, and register the system to the ennexOS Sunny Portal. Please note if you are using the Sunny Islands as a split phase cluster, they should be sharing one common battery bank. They must not be connected to independent battery banks (unless they are working independently to create 2 separate 120VAC microgrids. Also note the 14kW of solar is slightly more than SMA allows for backfeeding through 2 Sunny Islands. The relay limit of 56A at 120VAC limits the amount of allowable backfeed power to 6720W per Sunny Island (13,440W total for you) . If you have disabled grid backfeed or this is offgrid, this limit does not apply.
Hi, I comissioned a cluster of summy islands in 2014 and then I decommissioned a cluster back in 2020. And I would like to use them as single systems. However, I keep getting the F743 Cancom error from one of the three inverters on starting the system. I am not using the syscan module since it’s not a multicluster system. How do I clear this error?
Zair – If the Islands have been correctly reprogrammed to operate as a single cluster, and also have been correctly interconnected via the ComSyncIn and Out ports along with the terminating resistor plugs placed at each end, then please contact SMA Service (Service@SMA-America.com / 1-877-697-6283) for further troubleshooting help. Sunny Islands devices of types 5048U, 4548-US and 6048-US can be utilized within the same three phase cluster.
I have a site that I am looking to expand by adding two 7700TL-US-22 units in the three phase mode. I currently have three SB 7000-US and three SB 5000-US units connected to twelve SI-6048-US units in an off grid-capacity.
Will these TL-22s be able to communicate with the Sunny Islands? My installer seems to think they should work. I noticed that as of February 2016, your documentation shows that the 7700TL-US-22 is no longer supported in an off-grid mode. I am a little confused as to whether or not these are compatible or if there are any limitations on it.
I’ll be installing 2 SI6048’s to give backup power to and existing customer in the US. He has two SB 6.0 inverters. I understand that I must put the SB’s in backup mode so that they will respond to FSPC. How can I affordably give monitoring to the SI6048’s. Last time I did it web boxes were plentiful.
Thank you
I have a Sunny Boy 5.0-US and I just purchased the revenue grade energy meter for use with rs485.
After looking everywhere for the proper rs485 card it simply is not available.
In the manual for the revenue grade meter it states specifically to use the SMA RS485 40.
Every module I see any place I look is for the TL 22 series. Can you please point me to the link for the correct part ?.
I am getting conflicting information from SMA on the new Sunnyboy storage Inverter (SBS6.0-US-10 ) and the Automatic Backup Unit SBS-ABU-200-US-10. Originally I was told these will not operate with the SB-TL-US-22 inverters. But then was told they would. However I still have not gotten confirmation on how they would operate together. The two SB-4000TL-US-22 inverters have RS-485 communications boards that connect to a Webbox. Does the ABU or SBS inverter have an RS-485 interface that can be connected to the two SB-4000TL-US-22 inverters and Webbox to switch them to off-grid mode so they can be controlled with Frequency Shift Power Control (FSPC) of the Sunnyboy storage Inverter (SBS6.0-US-10 )? If not how can this be achieved? It appears the SWDM-US-10 Webconnect modules for the SB-4000TL-US-22 inverters may be needed. Can you confirm what the options are and how this integration is designed to be implemented?
Thanks
I have installed sunny island three phase single cluster consisting of 3 sunny island and 4 sunny boy inverters. I want to upload data to sunny portal. how many SIcomsma card will be required?
Hi!
Is it possible to use SB-240-US-10 micro inverters in combination with a Sunny Island SI6048-US-10 inverter in an off-grid scenario to provide extra power and reverse battery charging through the Sunny Island?
Thanks!
Hi, currently I’ve got a Sunny Boy 5000 with 12 panels.
I want to have power during an outage, and keep using my current panels. I’m very confused whether I can just add a Sunny Island + Batteries to achieve this? Or do I need to connect more solar panels directly to the Sunny Island?
I’ve spoken to an installer here in NZ and he says I need to buy a new inverter to be able to use my solar panels during an outage.
Hi
What module is required if I were to use a 3rd party RS485 ready data logging system?
Thanks.
I have a cluster of 4 sunnyboy 6000US-10 a WebBox-BT.20.GR1,a Bluetooth module and couple RS485 piggy back card. How can I connect all four sunnyboys in the cluster and have it connect to the WebBox with a single Bluetooth module. Any suggestions please?
Hi,
I am planning an installation with 24xSB-240-US-10 micro inverters, 2xMULTIGATE-US-10 multigates, 8x200AH 12V batteries (2P4S) and A Sunny Island 4548-US-10 Inverter.
Will I be able to set up an AC-Coupled Micro-Grid System with these components?
I see a lot of information about using other SMA inverters in AC-Coupled, micro-grid configurations, but I’d like to confirm that using micro-inverters with the Sunny Island is a viable option.
Thank you
Hi, myself and team leader are installing three Sunny Islands and one Sunny boy for an off-grid system. so far we have installed and configured the three S.I inverters. I was asked to figure out how to connect the Sunny Boy to the Sunny Island inverters. while I understand the electrical conections, I’m confused about the communication link. is there anything I’ll need that is not in the scope of delivery? Thank you
Hi, I decommissioned a cluster of sunny islands back in 2016,and I would like to use them as single systems. However, I keep getting the F743 Cancom error from all three inverters on starting the system. I have updated the inverters. I am not using the syscan module since it’s not a multicluster system. How do I clear the error?
Hello, what components I will need to install an off grid pv system with lithium batteries.
I have a sunny island 6048 us and one sunny boy 5000us. I havnt installed my system yet. Will these units work with just basic wiring for standard use or is a piggyback card install a requirement for a standard install?
Hi SMA Tech,
We’re designing some systems for installation in 50 Hz, 230V, single phase locations. Two S.I. 8.0H and two SB3.6-1AV-40 will be used and obviously they need to communicate with each other. We also want to be able to look at the system remotely via the web. From what I can see the SI have 3 different communications cards available and then externally there is Home Manager, Webbox?, maybe others. I would love to see a chart describing these options. We have purchased a Speedwire card for our Master S.I. but now I think that won’t help us get on the web. Can you help?
Hey I got two sunny boy inverters(7700helpl-us)and two sunny island 6048-48, trying to interface for emergency backup off grid situation. Understand and have data modules for both 7700 and piggy back cards installed but don’t know where to land second 7700 cat5 cable
I am installing the sunny boy 6.0 pv inverters along with 4 Sunny Island 6048. How do I go about getting all of the inverters to communicate? The 6.0 inverters do not use the rs-485 and as far as I know the only protocol for the islands is rs-485.
Hi,
I currently have a grid-tied SunnyBoy 3000TL-US-22. I am adding a Summy Island 6048 -US. In my SB I have a web connect module. What additionally will I need for the SB an SI to communicate with each other and for me to monitor each through sunny portal and sunny Explorer? Please advise. Thanks!