Neighbor's solar installation humming!

Accomodation, House and Garden
1
Our neighbor just installed solar panels on his roof. Our houses are adjacent, and our cellar wall shares their cellar wall. Now, there is an audible 50Hz hum from his solar inverter that he has apparently installed in his cellar. The sound, though subtle, can be heard throughout our entire house, and it NEVER stops! Before I go over there and complain, anyone have advise or a solution to this problem? I CANNOT live like this, it is like Chinese water torture!

2
affix inverter to a different internal wall.

isolate inverter from wall using rubber buffer material to reduce vibrations.

maybe measure the sound to see how loud it is if it exceeds any limits.

also maybe check with the neighbour to see if it was a broken sump pump stuck in the on position and creating a noise.

3
Thanks! Any idea what the official limits are?

4

I have the same problem, except it’s my own inverter!

Mine is an issue with the SolarEdge inverter. It has a fan inside which makes this vibrating sound that resonates through the wall that it’s installed on. The installer said they are working with SolarEdge for a solution, but I wouldn’t hold my breath.

My current fix is a 30chf fan from interdiscount, mounted under the inverter on a timer, keeping the inverter cool, that way its internal fan won’t turn on. Hardly a good solution, but at least I can’t hear anything upstairs.

https://www.interdiscount.ch/de/haus…w–p0009501139

I couldn’t live with the humming, it was resonating upstairs in the room where I’m working, making it impossible to work without headphones.

As for measuring the sound, it’s not loud at all. Putting my phone next to the inverter, it’s lower than the 40dB that the inverter is rated for, but the resonance through the wall is unbearable, even though it’s not very loud.

5

...it never stops, even at night when no solar power is produced ?

6
It's the inverter, not the panels, so as long as you are using power, you are using the inverter.

Tom

7
This...in addition, don't tighten the screws all the way down so it embeds nicely in the rubber buffer. Should cure your ills. Good luck!

8
you can probably look it up online or ask police. i saw limits for when installing heatpumps.

9

Yes i understand this, but at night the panels don't produce so the inverter is in standby mode, not working therefore it should not be humming all the time, just when the panels are producing

10
there might be battery storage...

plus standby mode isn't OFF. plenty of electronics create hum when in standby, sometimes moreso.

11
The panels still create electricity, even at night.

12
No, the inverter runs off the battery if they are using electricity.

Tom

13

I'd love some panels that can create electricity at night

My inverter is silent at night - I have no batteries. The DC power in is ZERO at night. It only consumes energy from the grid required to keep it running, keep the network connection up, things like that, which is very low.

Also, the "electrical" noise from the inverter, when running at full blast (around 12kW), is nearly silent, you can barely hear it with the ear up against it. It's only when the stupid internal fan turns on that it starts resonating through walls. I imagine with batteries, the inverter will be warm and possibly run the fans at night too.

Thankfully my extra fan blowing air into it is enough to ensure that the inverter's fan never turns on.

I wonder if the op's neighbour also has a SolarEdge with the same issue. And I wonder if SolarEdge will ever fix mine.

14
I have a Fronius, 15Kw, makes no noise at all when no solar is produced, hums faintly during the day

15
I think your neighbour would have required a permit for this. Go to the gemeinde and ask to see the documemts. Before you complain you need information.

Is the existing installation exactly as planned? If yes, then I would invite someone from the gemeinde to your house to listen to the noise.

Did you see the neighbour's request for a building permit?

I hope you find a solution.

16
Are you renting or owner? Send a registered letter to him or to your landlord threatening legal action if he does not do something about it.

17
Something's gone wrong here, the device shouldn't be that noisy and if it's annoying you the neighbour must notice it too and they can complain to the installers.

It won't help them but solution for you could be moving it to another wall so it's not making the shared wall vibrate, or to add insulation.

You can say to your neighbour that it's noisy they can then ask the installers to solve the nuisance.

One further idea here can be to replace the single inverter with microinverters, these work with each panel. But this is rewiring, new devices, expensive. Either way you can make some suggestions.

18
Do you mean your neighbour installed solar panels on their roof or do you mean your neighbour had solar panels installed on their roof?

There is a difference and doing it yourself, without understanding all the nuances of a complete system, the inverter may be under-powered and unsuitable for the setup and thus working hard the whole time, with the fan on.

19
So, I finally confronted my neighbor about the humming... he told me he hasn't actually activated his solar power system yet! He checked out his cellar and it turns out his sump pump was broken and stuck in the on position. He switched it off and the noise disappeared! Hallelujah. It's a good thing that I did bring up the possibility of noise once his solar inverter is switched on, so I hope I have nipped a potential problem in the bud. Ahhh.. the sweet sound of silence again!

20

Absolutely amazing the results that can be had with a simple bit of dialogue