Homebrewed Electricity > Controls
Noisy Inverters
SparWeb:
For a long time I had an old Xantrex SW4024 inverter, which was a great workhorse inverter until mice built a nest in it, and it had to be scrapped. It worked well, but it was loud. Immediately after installing it in my "battery shed" and switching it on, I thought, "well that's never going in the house". Louder than a clothes dryer.
Fast-forward a couple of decades and I'm shopping for another inverter, which I would install in the house if it's quiet. But I can't find one. All this solid-state switching power supplies replacing coils of copper, but it's still just as noisy. If an inverter has any noise rating at all (some don't) it's pretty loud, like 60dB. That's actually quite loud, especially for a noise that is constantly humming away. The layout of my house puts the systems (electrical, heat, water etc.) in the center and the rooms radiate outward. That doesn't allow the inverter to be installed far away from bedrooms, the dining room, or the living room.
Outback doesn't give any noise data, but the installation manual for the Radian says this, "Avoid large air gaps behind the Radian inverter/charger and its mounting plate. These can result in louder mechanical noise during heavy inverting or charging." LOUDER?
Sunny Boy is 45 dB
SRNE is 60dB
Fronius is "<65dB"
These are all about as loud, or louder, than a clothes dryer. I can choose to close the door of my laundry room, but the electrical panel, where I would locate an inverter, is not isolated like that.
The Sunny Boy is the quietest I have found. Can anyone report their experience of the noise emitted by a SB inverter when it's inverting heavy loads?
Another solution is to use string inverters like Enphase, but that limits my options drastically.
Does anyone know of a quiet grid-tie inverter?
DamonHD:
I have now relatively old Sunny Boys (1100s and a 1200) more than a decade old, in my loft.
I have not sat next to them at peak generation but I can't say that I've noticed any significant noise from them at all.
Rgds
Damon
Mary B:
--- Quote from: SparWeb on February 24, 2024, 02:04:34 AM ---For a long time I had an old Xantrex SW4024 inverter, which was a great workhorse inverter until mice built a nest in it, and it had to be scrapped. It worked well, but it was loud. Immediately after installing it in my "battery shed" and switching it on, I thought, "well that's never going in the house". Louder than a clothes dryer.
Fast-forward a couple of decades and I'm shopping for another inverter, which I would install in the house if it's quiet. But I can't find one. All this solid-state switching power supplies replacing coils of copper, but it's still just as noisy. If an inverter has any noise rating at all (some don't) it's pretty loud, like 60dB. That's actually quite loud, especially for a noise that is constantly humming away. The layout of my house puts the systems (electrical, heat, water etc.) in the center and the rooms radiate outward. That doesn't allow the inverter to be installed far away from bedrooms, the dining room, or the living room.
Outback doesn't give any noise data, but the installation manual for the Radian says this, "Avoid large air gaps behind the Radian inverter/charger and its mounting plate. These can result in louder mechanical noise during heavy inverting or charging." LOUDER?
Sunny Boy is 45 dB
SRNE is 60dB
Fronius is "<65dB"
These are all about as loud, or louder, than a clothes dryer. I can choose to close the door of my laundry room, but the electrical panel, where I would locate an inverter, is not isolated like that.
The Sunny Boy is the quietest I have found. Can anyone report their experience of the noise emitted by a SB inverter when it's inverting heavy loads?
Another solution is to use string inverters like Enphase, but that limits my options drastically.
Does anyone know of a quiet grid-tie inverter?
--- End quote ---
Noise generation in newer units is going to be from the fans... and from using non-potted transformers that vibrate(and fail faster! Built in obsolescence!). Not much you can do for the first... the second you could get transformer varnish and dribble it in... but it won't reach in very well.
SparWeb:
--- Quote ---I have not sat next to them at peak generation
--- End quote ---
Imagine sitting next to them while eating breakfast. That's basically where I'd put such an inverter, unless I remodel the kitchen too.
SparWeb:
I found that SolarEdge inverters 6kW or less have <25 dB noise. Exactly as Mary said, it's because they don't need a cooling fan.
SolarEdge isn't exactly what I'm looking for, because they don't support batteries, but there's hope, so I'll keep looking.
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