New home build, so I fed all my lights and fridges on the solar inverters vital load terminal, which uses battery power during loss of utility. The LED flicker is BAD at all times. I discharge battery power at night, and the flicker is worse. I'm thinking they need a bigger output inductor to provide more voltage stability during pump/fridge starts? LED are 120V input, so I can't just add capacitance to those ckts.. anyone see this and actually get a fix?
LED flicker BAD with Solark inverter
- Thread starter bjryder
- Start date
Ampster
Renewable Energy Hobbyist
I have a SolArk 12k and do not have any flicker with my LEDs. I do have inverter driven refrigerators and my A/C heat pump is also inverter driven and therefore has no startup surge in current.
A while back I did buy some LED 4 ft tubes and they caused interference with the powerline communication of my Enphase IQ7 micros. I sent those LEDs back and did not have an issue with other brand of LEDs. My point is it is hard to tell with LEDs where the problem lies and substitution is is sometimes the best solution. The same is true for LED dimmers. It is easier and cost effective to swap out the LEDs rathere than the SolArk or the 25 micros on my roof.
A while back I did buy some LED 4 ft tubes and they caused interference with the powerline communication of my Enphase IQ7 micros. I sent those LEDs back and did not have an issue with other brand of LEDs. My point is it is hard to tell with LEDs where the problem lies and substitution is is sometimes the best solution. The same is true for LED dimmers. It is easier and cost effective to swap out the LEDs rathere than the SolArk or the 25 micros on my roof.
hwy17
Anti-Solar Enthusiast
It's probably gonna come down to replacing the bulbs with better LEDs. But I know modern fixtures use built ins.
10 years ago the LED bulbs I would buy from philips had a nice driver in them that weighed at least a couple ounces. Now they're so cheap and light and they burn out like incandescents did. I think the new ones don't have real drivers anymore.
10 years ago the LED bulbs I would buy from philips had a nice driver in them that weighed at least a couple ounces. Now they're so cheap and light and they burn out like incandescents did. I think the new ones don't have real drivers anymore.
zanydroid
Solar Wizard
I thought current LEDs mostly use a capacitive dropper, so it’s generous to call those a driver.
Pretty sure it's the inverter. My heat pump cycled (ATL starter, no soft start) and there was no flicker. The Solark had some contactor switch (at night when on batts) and there was a black out. I've contacted them for tech assist. We'll see...
Samsonite801
Solar Wizard
- Joined
- Oct 15, 2020
- Messages
- 2,993
Some information found on searching...
Good discussion as well:
ledstrain.org
They cite using a bulb which better decouple the AC from the DC, a DC-DC converter built-in (after the AC-to-DC conversion), something to that effect. I installed a bunch of Hyperlite high-bay LED dimmables for my shop and even the outside side-wall building lights of same brand, also dimmable.
They have a separate 2-wire dimmer circuit on them (0-10v range), and they are truly flicker-free at any brightness as far as I can perceive.
I also have some of the smart bulbs which the dimming is not controlled on the light switch via AC input to the bulb, but rather in the phone app, where I assume that the dimming is done directly on the low voltage side.
I don't know if this all plays into the OP's issue here, but generally I find it just depends on the bulb being used, since there are different methods used to build an LED driver, some better than others, and whether or not they are dimmable or non-dimmable (based on the AC 120v side, or DC dimmable).
I'd just say, buy a bunch of test brands / models of bulb, and find one that doesn't flicker with your inverter, then buy more volume of those type. Plenty of people here don't have flicker problems with SolArks though for sure..
Good discussion as well:
Flicker Free LED Lightning it's the most important thing! Which one to buy?
I can't really live well with Flickering LED Lights, even if we are talking about 2 to 3khz dimming frequency. Which LED Lights did you test out that actuall...
ledstrain.org
They cite using a bulb which better decouple the AC from the DC, a DC-DC converter built-in (after the AC-to-DC conversion), something to that effect. I installed a bunch of Hyperlite high-bay LED dimmables for my shop and even the outside side-wall building lights of same brand, also dimmable.
They have a separate 2-wire dimmer circuit on them (0-10v range), and they are truly flicker-free at any brightness as far as I can perceive.
I also have some of the smart bulbs which the dimming is not controlled on the light switch via AC input to the bulb, but rather in the phone app, where I assume that the dimming is done directly on the low voltage side.
I don't know if this all plays into the OP's issue here, but generally I find it just depends on the bulb being used, since there are different methods used to build an LED driver, some better than others, and whether or not they are dimmable or non-dimmable (based on the AC 120v side, or DC dimmable).
I'd just say, buy a bunch of test brands / models of bulb, and find one that doesn't flicker with your inverter, then buy more volume of those type. Plenty of people here don't have flicker problems with SolArks though for sure..
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Ampster
Renewable Energy Hobbyist
If your heat pump did not cause flicker when the heat pump went on, how did you conclude the inverter was causing the flicker on the LEDs? Substituting a different LED would confirm the diagnosis one way or the other.
Benjamin Yang
New Member
Check the settings of the solar inverter to ensure that its output voltage and frequency are adapted to the requirements of LEDs and other loads. It may be necessary to adjust the inverter's parameters to provide a more stable power supply. Consider adding voltage regulators and filters to LED circuits to minimize voltage fluctuations and electromagnetic interference to improve the performance of LEDs
