Grid voltage too high

 Folks:

I was out working in my yard this afternoon (13:30 PST, Sunday), and I
noticed that my inverter wasn't feeding any power back into the grid.  
The fault code indicated that the grid voltage was too high.

Has anyone else noticed this condition?  How often does this occur?

I use a SunPower SPR-2000 inverter that is rated for up to 132VAC.  I'm
located in Sunnyvale, CA, and my electric provider is PG&E.

Thanks.

--
Bill Bushnell
http://pobox.com/~bushnell/

 
We live in West San Jose, about 5-10 miles south of you, and have
noticed grid voltages regularly in the range between 240 and 250
volts.  I have never seen 264 volts, which would correspond to your
reading of 132 on one side of the line.  But if this happened during
the day, I'm not so sure we'd notice.

I THINK (not sure) your SunPower inverter is really an OEM from PV
Powered.  Perhaps you have monitoring software already, in which case,
it would be easy to take several days' worth of readings at 1-minute
intervals.  You could then go back and look at the data and see how
often the inverter thinks the line voltage is too high.

If you don't have monitoring software, and your inverter has an RS-232
port, possibly the stock PV Powered monitoring software would work
with it.  This software is no longer supported, and you would need a
PC or laptop, and a 9-pin modem cable.  Anyway, let me know if you
want to try it.  No guarantees, and no promise that it won't void your
warranty!

Another possibility is, if you see this happening again, get or borrow
a Digital Voltmeter (be sure to use the AC voltage setting!), and
stick in in one of our outlets to see what the voltage really is.
Hopefully, you can measure an outlet without too much load on it, as
that would lower the voltage.  If the voltage is too high, you need to
call PG&E.

If you want to find me, my email can be found on this page:

http://www.angelfire.com/ca2/roderick/pvm/pvmon.html

I think I know you; we used to ride with Western Wheelers...

 
My Fronius holds maximum and minimum readings that can be accessed from the
front panel.  Today I see 229-239 VAC.  The lifetime range is 216-253. I
don't know that it has ever faulted due to high or low volts, other than
shutting down when power goes out.  The Fronius manual shows a range of
215-260, adjustable to 180-270.

Because I have no reporting, I guess it could have faulted for the
remainder of a day, and then come up clean the next morning.

--
Clarence A Dold - Hidden Valley Lake, CA, USA  GPS: 38.8,-122.5

 
If it faults again, or is continuously high, I would definitely contact the
P-genie and let them know that you have a problem. You might check your
voltage with  a meter to verify what the inverter is telling you. Also, I
once had a loose neutral connection on my drop, and the 120v  voltage on one
side or the other would go high or low, depending on what kind of load I had
on the opposite side, so I would have them do some checking if the problem
persists.

Phil