Solar Freaks

Hi All,

I am new to this forum and found it whilst searching for some info on my concern below.

I have the CMS2000 inverter mounted inside an IP 65 rated box next to my meter box.
The specs of this invertor shows an operating range of up to 55 degrees, Now in western sydney in summer it is not uncommon to see 40+ degree days, with direct sun on the box and the inverter generating heat when functioning I believe i will see temps in excess of 55 degrees at the inverter.

As this model inverter does not run a cooling fan i was thinking of installing some sort of fan (p.c fan perhaps) to the vents of the box or the back of the inverter just to promote air flow and help bring the temps down a few degrees

Has anyone here done such a mod and if so would you be prepared to show what you have done and how you did it?

Thanks and regards,
Darren.

Hi Darren,

Just to supplement replies of thermo-controlled fans on other forums, possibly the easiest option for you, as your inverter is already mounted in a weatherproof enclosure, would be to get a sparkie to install a standard power point inside the enclosure (I'm assuming the inverter enclosure is very close to the main switchboard, which would make it a fairly simple and inexpensive job), then to save the hassles of additional cost of the electrician connecting up fancy temperature-controlled fans, use a cheap plug-in kambrook 24hr timer (I think a twin-pack from Bunnings is $10) to control a 240-volt PC-style cooling fan(s). I'd recommend AGAINST using the inverter's 240v circuit to supply the fans, purely because that will detract from the gross metering register. Vents are usually on either side of the enclosure, so face the fans in a push-pull arrangement. If there is vents on the bottom as well, then you could simply mount the fan(s) on the bottom (inside the enclosure of course, to keep protected from weather) and they will suck cool air in and it will work it's way up the inverter's heatsink fins and out the side vents.

Because you're not screwing temperature sensors to the heatsink, there's no voiding the inverter's warranty.

Shop around for the fans. I know Jaycar are quite expensive - although I haven't compared their prices of 240v fans, their 12v fans seemed rather steep when compared to dedicated PC parts shops (which I doubt would sell 240v fans anyway).


FYI, the internal temperature of my CMS2000 reaches 40 degrees on a cool sunny day like today (20 degrees ambient, continuous (and declining due to PM) inverter power output of around 1400W after 1pm when the cloud cleared). Inverter is installed in a laundry.


I'll be adding fans in a few months when the weather warms up and will post photos etc to relevant threads when I do.

Hi Inspector,
Great to see a familiar name here.

Yes my invertor is right next to my meter box, almost too close i think, about a three inch gap between them.

I had discounted the idea of a 240 volt fan and was looking at 12 volt fans however i think your suggestion may be the easiest option, I was hoping to see a few others peoples set ups just for some extra ideas.

I have set up a couple of 12 volt fans running off a small solar panel to cool the condensor on my caravan fridge, I was thinking of a similar option for cooling the invertor, this will reduce the need for a timer or any complex circuitry,the down side of this is running the wiring into the box may look untidy

Using a battery and 12v fan(s) was going to be another suggestion and might be simpler for you to DIY as you already have experience with a similar setup... How often do you open the inverter enclosure? Probably rarely. So having 12v wiring and a battery (either charged with a small 12v solar panel or battery trickle-charger) in the enclosure isn't going to be too much of a problem.

Inspector wrote:How often do you open the inverter enclosure? Probably rarely.

Sadly I open it every day as well as the meter box just to see what I have made for the day and also graph my ouputs, It's becoming an obsession.

I'm thinking the 12 volt option is the way I will go, the set up on my caravan doesnt use a battery or regulator, wired directly to the panels, the down side is on a cloudy day the fans slow down a fair bit,I had thought about fitting a small capacitor to the circuit to store some energy for when the sun goes behind the clouds but had no idea which cap to fit, Guess a small battery would do the same job

Anywho i will start perusing eBay for the parts and will post up my creation once completed