[RFI] Solar Panel RFI Update @ K2MO - New Optimizers Installed By Solar City

[Tony]

All:

The crew from Solar City arrived today to fix the RFI emanating from my 
neighbors solar panel installation. The Field Tech said that they would 
be replacing the old optimizers with ones made in Europe which have 
better shielding.

Unfortunately, the interference is worse than it was before. In addition 
to the 3 khz wide noise occurring every 10 khz, there are now sharp 
carriers every 10 to 15 kHz.

As the crew swapped the Optimizers, I could see the interference change 
while monitoring the Flex Radio panadapter. The system was turned off at 
the time, but the Optimizers get their power from the solar panels so 
they work regardless of whether the system is on or not. Interestingly 
enough, the additional carriers appeared after the system was turned 
back on.

I discussed Tony Brock Fishers article with the Field Tech and gave him 
a copy. He agreed that chokes need to be applied as Tony did so we'll 
see what Solar Edge comes up with. Solar City (the installer) presented 
Tony Fishers article to Solar Edge (the manufacturer), but they went 
with the Optimizer swap instead.

I made a few time-stamped screenshots of the spectrum showing the 
interference before the crew arrived and after they completed the 
installation. I also sent the company a screenshot that shows how the 
noise vanishes after sundown when the solar panels no longer provide 
energy to the optimizers. These were sent to the installer as well.

Will keep everyone posted on the outcome.

Tony -K2MO