question

aaron-pe4a avatar image
aaron-pe4a asked

Inverter AC Short Circuit Detection

2 years ago we installed some off-grid solar systems with the Victron Phoenix 24V, 1200VA and 2000VA Inverters in various extremely remote jungle locations. There are insects that have been causing short circuits in our systems causing the inverters to turn off. There are high quality residential Schneider AC circuit breakers in different rooms of the installations but instead of those being triggered the inverter detects the short circuit first and shuts off for 30 seconds 3 times before remaining off permanently for which a manual restart is then required. We are working on solving the insect issues the best we can but short circuits still may occur in the future and thus my questions are as follows:


Is there a way to change how sensible the inverter is to short circuits so that the circuit breakers act first instead of the entire system turning off? How much time does it take for the inverter to recognize a short circuit?


Or are there other more sensitive circuit breakers that can be used to avoid the inverter shutting off first?


Thanks in advance,


Aaron

Phoenix Inverter
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1 Answer
Matthias Lange - DE avatar image
Matthias Lange - DE answered ·

The inverter doesn't detect a short circuit it is an overload condition for the inverter.

There is nothing you can do about that, it is a safety feature.

The 1200VA inverter can deliver 2400W for 1-2 seconds. The 2000VA inverter can deliver 4000W for 1-2 seconds. At 230V that are around 10A or 17A.

A circuit breaker has a datasheet in which you can see what current it needs to react to a short circuit.

In Germany the most common circuit breaker is a B16 and needs 5-8 times the normal current to pop. That's 80A -130A.

Even a much bigger inverter isn't able to deliver that much current.

The only thing you can do is to use fuses that are as small as possible for the application.

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