Solar Inverter Service Software Kit

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Table of Contents1 Scope of delivery 2

2 Introduction 22.1 Supported devices 22.2 Document legend 3 2.2.1 Profile dependent content 3

3 Requirements 33.1 System requirements 33.2 Hardware Requirement 3

4 Installation 34.1 Software installation 34.2 Hardware installation 3

5 Quick starting guide 35.1 Register the Solar Inverter Service Software 35.2 The main functions 45.3 Typical operations 4

6 Manual 46.1 User interface overview 46.2 Ribbon bar 5 6.2.1 Home tab 5 6.2.1.1 Tab section: "New" 6 6.2.1.2 Tab section: "Configuration" 6 6.2.1.3 Tab section: "Selection" 7 6.2.1.4 Tab section: "Operations" 8 6.2.1.5 Tab section: "Options" 8 6.2.2 Inverter tab 9 6.2.2.1 Tab section: "Update inverter" 9 6.2.2.2 Tab section: "Update view" 9 6.2.2.3 Tab section: "Manage settings" 106.3 Configuration pane 106.4 Inverter pane 116.5 Functions 12 6.5.1 Search inverters 12 6.5.2 Firmware update 13 6.5.3 Tab section: "Manage settings" 14 6.5.3.1 Save settings 14 6.5.3.2 Load settings 15

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1 Scope of delivery

• USB converter (incl. driver CD ROM "USB/RS485 Communication Interface")• RS485 cable• Manual• Solar Inverter Service Software CD ROM

2 Introduction

The Solar Inverter Service Software is a tool to monitor and configure the Delta solar inver-ters. For instance it is possible to read out statistics and measurements. It is also possible to update the firmware of the device via the integrated boot loader.

2.1 Supported devicesThe Solar Inverter Service Software is a modular system, which will be expanded during the evolution of the Delta solar inverters series. Currently the Solar Inverter Service Soft-ware supports the following inverters:• SI 2500 (only SI 2500 mentioned in the list below)• SI 3300 (only SI 3300 mentioned in the list below)• SI 5000• CI 100

Inverter type Part number Delta Country Starting Revision #

SI 2500 EOE45010006 Germany 00

SI 2500 EOE45010007 Spain 00

SI 2500 EOE45010008 Greece 00

SI 2500 EOE45010009 Italy 00

SI 2500 EOE45010135 Portugal 00

SI 2500 EOE45010136 Czech Republic 00

SI 2500 EOE45010138 Belgium 00

SI 3300 EOE46010004 Germany 09

SI 3300 EOE46010005 Spain 09

SI 3300 EOE46010014 Greece 04

SI 3300 EOE46010011 Italy 05

SI 3300 EOE46010129 Portugal 00

SI 3300 EOE46010130 Czech Republic 00

SI 3300 EOE46010139 Belgium 00

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2.2 Document legend

2.2.1 ProfiledependentcontentSome functions are only available to user with specific profiles (electrician, trader). These functions are highlighted.

3 Requirements

3.1 System requirementsThe Solar Inverter Service Software is compatible with Windows 2000, Windows XP, Win-dows Vista and requires the Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 SP1 to be installed.

3.2 Hardware RequirementFor the connection between your PC and the solar inverters, you need a special adapter which is composed from the following parts:• Delta USB to RS485 adapter (Model: IFD-6500)• Delta RS485 cable

4 Installation

4.1 Software installationRun the installer "Setup Solar Inverter Service Software x-x-x" and follow the instructions from the installer wizard.After being installed, run the application from the shortcut on the desktop and follow the instruction (see also section 5.1).

4.2 Hardware installationTo install the Delta USB to RS485 adapter, please perform the following steps:1. Insert the adapter in your computer. Note: The following process (point 2 to 7) must be repeated two times.2. Wait until the installer assistant is opened.3. If the installer wizard is asking you to connect to Windows Setup choose the option "No, not this time" and click the "Next" button to continue.4. If this page is not shown, go to point 8.5. On this page choose the option "Install from a list of generic location" and click the "Next" button to continue.6. Check the option "Search for the best driver in these locations".7. Check the check box "Include this location in the search:"8. To start the installation, open the Microsoft Explorer and click on the Drivers.exe file in the CD ROM drive.9. Click on the "Finish" button.10. When the installation wizard appears again, repeat the operation from point 2 to 9.

5 Quick starting guide

5.1 Register the Solar Inverter Service SoftwareTo use this software, a registration is needed. Please follow the steps below:• Start the application from the desktop icon.• Click on the "OK" button on this window. This will open your user data folder in the windows explorer.

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• This folder contains a XML file named "registration".• Cut out this "registration" file and send it to: register@solar-inverter.com• The file will be signed and send back to you. Then you have to copy the received file back to this user folder. Now you can start the software again.

5.2 The main functionsThe first step after starting the Solar Inverter Service Software is to connect the PC to one of the solar inverters on the RS485 bus, using the Delta USB converter and the RS485 cable. The other inverters are connected to each other by daisy chain.

5.3 Typical operationsHere are some typical functions, which are shortly described in this section.• Search solar inverters on the bus• Open an solar inverter view• Change parameters of the solar inverter• Send or save changes to the solar inverter• Actualize the solar inverter view

To connect to the solar inverters, use the "Search inverters" dialog that can be opened with the "Search" button from the ribbon bar (see 6.4).

After that, the list of the available solar inverters is shown in the configuration pane (see 6.3). These solar inverter items can then be opened separately. Their values, parameters and settings will be shown in the inverter pane (see 6.4).

The inverter pane can contain one or more tabs, each tab corresponding to one solar inver-ter. Each solar inverter tab contains the solar inverter data, values and settings, which are organized themselves in tabs (see 6.4).

Some of the values shown in the inverter panes can only be read, while other values can be changed. After changing a value, the field background is turning green. This signalize that this field has been changed.

To send the changed values to the inverter, use the "Send" function. After using the "Send" function, the new values are instantaneously active on the running solar inverter, but will be lost after a reboot of the solar inverter.

To save the changed values to the solar inverter, use the "Save" function. After using the "Save" function, the new values are instantaneously active on the running solar inverter, and will remain even after a reboot of the solar inverter.

6 Manual

6.1 User interface overviewThe Graphical User Interface (GUI) is separated into three main sections:1. Ribbon bar2. Configuration pane3. Inverter pane

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Figure6-1:(1)Ribbonbar,(2)Configurationpane,(3)Inverterpane

6.2 Ribbon barThe ribbon bar is the context sensitive toolbar of the Solar Inverter Service Software, which is divided into 2 tabs:• Home tab• Inverter tab

The home tab is activated when the configuration pane is active, and the inverter tab is activated when the inverter pane is active. The tabs can also be activated by mouse click.The ribbon bar tabs are themselves divided into several tab sections.

6.2.1 Home tabThe home tab is the one that appear when starting the Solar Inverter Service Software. It contains mostly operations concerning the inverter configuration on the bus.

Figure 6-2: Home tab Note: The "Update" button can only be seen by electrician profile!

The home tab contains the following tab sections, from left to right:• Configuration: Manage the inverter configuration on the bus• New: Create new a new configuration• Selection: Actions that can be applied to the selected configuration item• Operations: Global operations not depending on the selected configuration item• Options: Other application options

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This button opens the "Search inverters" dialog. This dialog is used to search and connect to the solar inverters on the bus. Refer to section 6.5.1 for more information.

This button is used to add a new solar inverter group in the solar inverter confi-guration.

6.2.1.1 Tab section: "New""Search" button

"Add inverter group" button

6.2.1.2 Tabsection:"Configuration"The tab section "Configuration" contains operations to manage solar inverter configura-tions. It is possible to save or delete the actual solar inverter configuration and to load a previously saved solar inverter configuration.

"Open" buttonThe "Open" button is used to open a previously saved configuration. In the "Open" dialog, please select the configuration file to open and click on the "Open" button.

Note: If the currently loaded configuration was not explicitly saved, the "Delete configuration" message box will pop up to give the opportunity to cancel the opening of the new configu-ration, to allow saving of the actual configuration before (see figure 6-3).

Note: The configuration files are in XML format. For that reason the "Open" dialog is only showing XML files (.xml).

With the "Save" button it is possible to save the actual loaded configuration, that is visible in the "Configuration pane". In the "Save as" dialog, please choose a location, enter a descriptive name and click on the "Save" button.

Note: The standard location where the "Save" dialog opens is the user’s application data folder. In this folder is also saved the default configuration loaded at startup.

"Save" button

The "Delete" button removes the entire loaded configuration, which is actually visible in the configuration pane.

If the actual configuration was not saved, a message box opens asking to confirm the action (see figure 6-3). Click "Yes" to confirm the removing of the actually loaded configuration. Click "No" to cancel and do not change the actual configuration.

"Delete" button

Figure6-3:Deleteconfiguration

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Clicking the "Show" button will open the solar inverter view of the device node selected in the configuration pane.

This button is used to rename the selected solar inverter group.

6.2.1.3 Tab section: "Selection""Show" button

"Edit group" button

The solar inverter view is shown in the inverter pane. If more than one solar inverter is ope-ned, the solar inverter views are arranged in stabs in the inverter pane. It is also possible to rearrange the tabs to separate views. See section 6.4 for more information.

Note: The same behavior occurs when double clicking a device node in the configuration pane.

Figure 6-4: Edit group dialog

This button deletes the actually selected node from the configuration pane. It will also be deleted from the default configuration that is first loaded when the Solar Inverter Service Software is starting up.

Since the configuration has been changed the "Save configuration" button will be activated to allow saving the changes to a custom configuration file.

When leaving the Solar Inverter Service Software without saving the configuration to a custom configuration file, a message box will appear giving the opportunity to save it. Click the "No" button to leave the Solar Inverter Service Software without saving the configura-tion file. Click "Yes" to save the Solar Inverter Service Software to a custom configuration file. By clicking "Yes" the "Save as" dialog will appear. Select the location and the file name and click on the "Save" button to save the configuration file. If you click the "Cancel" button the Solar Inverter Service Software will be closed without saving the actual configuration.

Note: If the Solar Inverter Service Software has been closed accidently without saving the configuration to a custom file, the best solution is to reopen the Solar Inverter Service Software. The last state of the configuration is reloaded and it is now possible to save it to a custom file.

"Delete" button

Figure6-5:Saveconfiguration

Note:This button can only be seen by electrician profile!This opens the dialog to update the solar inverter firmware.Refer to section 6.5.2 for detailed information.

"Update" button

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"Sync clock" buttonThe "Synchronize clock" function sends a global command to the bus to syn-chronize the clock of all connected solar inverters. The command is a broadcast command which is independent from the solar inverter address. It will be sent to all connected solar inverters supporting this broadcast command, even if they

are not registered in the actual configuration pane.

6.2.1.4 Tab section: "Operations"

Important note:This function is only available for the following solar inverter versions:• SI 2500• SI 3300• SI 5000

There are 2 languages available, German and English. Clicking on a flag will configure the Solar Inverter Service Software for the corresponding language. To enable the new language it is required to restart the Solar Inverter Service Software. A message box is displayed to remind of this.

6.2.1.5 Tab section: "Options" "Language" buttons

The "information" button shows the current version of the Solar Inverter Service Software and its loaded modules.

"Information" button

Figure 6-7: About box

The version of the application has the following format:• Major. Minor. Build. Revision

The versions of the modules have the following format:• Major. Minor. Build

Figure 6-6: Language information box

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The "Send" function sends all the changed settings to the solar inverter. The settings are not saved permanently to the solar inverter. All the changed settings will be lost after a reboot of the solar inverter.

6.2.2 Inverter tabThe inverter tab is activated when the view of an inverter is opened. It can also be activated by clicking on the inverter ab.

Figure 6-8: Inverter tab

Note: The "Firmware" button can only be seen by electrician profile!

Note: The tab section "Manage set- tings" can only be seen by trader profile!

6.2.2.1 Tab section: "Update inverter"This tab section contains operations allowing some changes of an inverter. The changes will affect the device actually opened in the solar inverter view pane.

"Send" button

The inverter tab contains the following tab sections:• Update inverter: Operations that are performed on the actual solar inverter• Update view: Operations that change the actual solar inverter view• Manage settings: Manage the settings of the actual solar inverter

The "Send to all" function sends the changed setting from all tabs to the solar inverter. The settings are not saved permanently to the solar inverter. All the changed settings will be lost after a reboot of the solar inverter.

"Send to all" button

The "Save" function saves the changed settings to the solar inverter permanent-ly. The settings will still be present even after the solar inverter was shut down.

Note: This button can only be seen by electrician profile!Refer to section 6.5.2 for detailed information.

The "Manually" function actualizes the currently visible values. While reading the values from the solar inverter, the inverter pane icon changes to an hourglass. When the view actualization is finished, the inverter pane shows again to the green connected icon.

"Save" button

"Firmware" button

6.2.2.2 Tab section: "Update view"This tab section contains operations allowing some actualizations of the actual view."Manually" button

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This button restores the changes made between the two last "Send" or "Save" operations.

The "Automatic" function performs a periodic reading of the currently visible values from the solar inverter.

"Automatic" button

"Undo" button

6.2.2.3 Tab section: "Manage settings"Note:This button can only be seen by trader profile!

With these functions it is possible to save all the settings of one solar inverter and to reload them later from the same solar inverter. See section 6.5.3 for detailed information.

6.3 ConfigurationpaneThe configuration pane contains the list of the connected solar inverters found by the "Inverter search" function (see 6.5.1). The list is arranged in a tree view structure. The first level of the tree view is always the "Inverter group" level. A "Group" is just a container which can take one or more solar inverters. The default name of an "Inverter group" is: "New group", but it can be renamed via the "Edit group" dialog (see 6.2.1.3). For instance in figure 6-9 the "Inverter group" is named: "New inverters".

Note: All the solar inverters can be assigned to only one

"Inverter group". Defining several "Inverter groups" and distributing the devices to "Inverter groups" is only an optional way to facilitate the overview in large installations, for instance to assign devices to different locations.

Figure6-9:Configurationpaneexample – CI 100 kW central inverter with one module

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Figure 6-10: Inverter pane example

6.4 Inverter paneThe inverter pane contains one or more inverter views. The views are arranged in a tabbed document style. In the figure 6-10 the inverter pane is highlighted through a red frame.

It is possible to show several views in parallel, either vertically or horizontally. To do this, click the tab header and drag toward the center of the active view or to the center of another view. While dragging, a guide diamond will appear.

Figure 6-11: The guide diamond

The four arrows of the diamond point towards the edges of the enclosing view. Continuing to move the mouse pointer over one of these arrows will show a preview of the split view, either vertically or horizontally. The split operation will be performed when the mouse button is released. Dropping the tab to the center of the guide diamond will shift the view in a tabbed document. See the examples in figure 6-12.

Figure 6-12: Drag & Drop a view to another view

The inverter pane has a header composed of:• The status icon• The descriptive title of the solar inverter• The group title Figure 6-13: Inverter pane header

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The group boxes are arranged by different solar inverter data items. This data can have read-only or read-write access. For example read-only data could be a measurement and read-write data could be a check box to switch on/off the solar inverter display.

6.5 Functions

6.5.1 Search invertersThis function is used to search for solar inverters on the bus. Click on the "Search" button to start the "Search inverters" dialog:

Choose the connection settings from the "Connection group": • Interface: Choose RS232 even the Delta adapter is an USB adapter.• Port: The port is a COM port even the Delta adapter is an USB adapter. • Baudrate: Choose the same Baudrate used by the solar inverters.

Figure 6-15: Connection group

After choosing the right connection settings click on the “Search” button to start the sear-ching process.

Note: To find out the right COM port number, perform the following steps:1. Unplug the Delta USB adapter.2. Click on the "Search" button to start the "Search inverters" dialog.3. Look at the available ports in the "Port" drop & down box.4. Close the "Search inverters" dialog.5. Plug in the Delta USB adapter.6. Open again the "Search inverters" dialog via the "Search" button from the ribbon bar.7. Look again at available ports in the "Port" drop & down box.8. The right port is the port not available at point 3. Select this port and click on the "OK" button.

The "Search" function will try to communicate with all de-vices connected to the bus by going through all possible addresses from 0 to 254. The found solar inverters will be listed below in the "Found inverters" group. The searching can be stopped at any time by clicking the “Finish” button. The progress of the searching process is shown by the progress bar beside the “Finish” button.

Note:Even only a few solar inverters are online on the bus, e.g. 3 solar inverters on address 1, 2 and 3, the search

The data of one inverter tab is shown just below the inverter pane header. The data are also distributed in tabs.

Figure 6-14: Sample of inverter data distributed in tabs

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Click on the "Load enc file" button to load the firmware update file. In the opening "Load hex file" dialog, choose the location and the wanted encrypted file and click on the "Open" button. The path of the firmware file will be shown in the box above the button.

To start the firmware update, click on the "Install firmware" button. A confirmation message box will pop up. Click the "Yes" button to start the firmware update. Click the "No" button to cancel the firm-ware update.

Note: This button can only be seen by electrician profile!This function is used to update the firmware of the solar inverters. Click on the "Firmware" button to start the "Update inverter firmware" dialog.

6.5.2 Firmware update

Important note: It is only possible to update one solar inverter after the other. Before starting any update, please ensure that only one solar inverter is online. If more than one solar inverter online, the firmware update could cause permanently damage to the solar inverter.

process continues until the last possible address 254. The searching process has to be finished to be sure that all expected inverters on the bus are found.

After the searching process is finished, the found inverters are listed in the "Found inver-ters" group. All the devices are preceded by a check box. The check box can become unchecked for inverters that shall not be shown in the configuration pane.

By clicking the "OK" button, the checked devices will be taken to the actual configuration and shown in the configuration pane.

To cancel the dialog, please click on the "Cancel" button or on the red cross icon. It is not possible to close the "Search inverters" dialog while a searching process is running. In this case it is necessary to click on the "Finish" button at first.

The progress of the update process will be shown in a progress bar. While the firmware is updated no interaction is possible.

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6.5.3.1 Save settingsThis function saves the actual settings of the solar inverter. Unsent changes will not be saved. To ensure that only actual values are saved, the Solar Inverter Service Software actualizes the view before saving the settings.

Click on the "Save" button of the tab section "Manage settings" to save the settings. The "Save settings" dialog will open. A file name is generated per default and inserted in the "File name" box. The file name contains important in-formation like date, time, type and software version of the solar inverter. The default location for this file is the "Delta Energy Systems" folder in the users "My documents".

When the firmware update is finished, a message box is confirming the success of the update.

Note: Do not disconnect the solar inverter while the update process. This could cause permanent damage to the solar inverter.

If the version of the chosen encrypted file does not match the solar inverter, a message box appears saying "There was a signature error". Click on the "Cancel" button to cancel the firmware update. Or click the "Retry" button to go back to the "Update inverter firmware" dialog, then click on the "Load enc file" button to load another encrypted file from disk.

If other errors occurre a message box appears saying "There was an unknown error" appears. In this case click on the "OK" button, check the connection cable and ensure that exactly one solar inverter is connected. Then restart the solar inverter, wait until the solar inverter is online and try firmware update again.

After the firmware update process the configuration is removed from the configuration pane. Perform a new "Search" operation like described in section 6.5.1 to get a new confi-guration.

6.5.3 Tab section: "Manage settings"Note: This tab section can only be seen by trader profile!

This function is used to save and load the settings of the solar inverters. It is only possible to save and load those settings that are writable.

Figure 6-16: Save settings dialog

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Click on the "Load" button of the tab section "Manage settings" to restore the settings. Per default the last saved setting file will be displayed. To choose other settings to restore, click on the "…" button to open the "Open" dialog. Choose the location and the setting file to restore and click on the "Open" button.

To start to restore the settings click on the "Load" button. A waiting bar will show the activity while the restoring process.

6.5.3.2 Load settings

Figure 6-17: Load settings dialog

After the restoring process is finished, the changed editors will be marked green. Use the "Send" or the "Save" function to apply the changed to the solar inverter.

Compatibility detectionTo avoid restoring wrong settings, the Solar Inverter Service Software checks some device specific data before starting to restore. The following data are checked:• The address• The inverter model• The part number• The firmware and hardware revision

If one or more items do not match, a message box will appear.The first check is the address check. This ensures that the settings that are going to be restored do originate from a device at the same address. If the addresses differ, it is not possible to restore the settings and a message box will pop up (see figure 6-18).

Optionally it is possible to change the proposed file name or to overwrite an existing file. To do this, click on the "…" button to open the "Select file name" dialog, choose the file name and click on the "Save" button.

When the file name is defined, click on the "Save" button from the "Save settings" dialog to save the settings. A waiting bar will show the activity while the saving process.

Figure6-18:Addressconflict

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In this case it is not possible to load the settings.

After this check the other data (inverter model, part number, firmware and hardware revision) are checked. If some items do not match the actual solar inverter, a message box shows the incoherent items (see figure 6-19). In this case it is still possible to load the settings back. This is done by clicking the "Yes" button to ignore the conflict. By clicking the "No" button the loading of setting is canceled.

Figure6-19:Restoresettingsconflict

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Delta Energy Systems (Germany) GmbH Tscheulinstrasse 21D-79331 TeningenGermanySales Email: sales@solar-inverter.comSupport Email: support@solar-inverter.comSales Hotline: 0180 10 SOLAR (76527)Support Hotline: 0180 16 SOLAR (76527)Mondays to Fridays from 8 am to 5 pm (apart from official Bank Holidays) (3.9 ct/min.)

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