Transformer Requirements-SC PDF

Technical Information
Transformer Requirements
Important requirements of medium-voltage and auxiliary transformers
for SC 500HE-US ⁄ SC 500HE-CA ⁄ SC XXXCP ⁄ SC XXXCP-US ⁄ SC XXXHE
Contents
This document describes the requirements of medium-voltage transformers as well as auxiliary supply
transformers that are connected to Sunny Central 500HE-US, Sunny Central 500HE-CA, Sunny Central CP,
Sunny Central CP-US and Sunny Central HE.
SMA America, LLC only accepts the warranty for transformers that have been purchased from
SMA America, LLC.
The transformer design requirements presented in this document are to ensure proper operation of SMA
inverter and transformer. The customer is responsible for obtaining Authority Having Jurisdiction ("AHJ")
approval for any inverter-transformer combination including upstream transmission system design
considerations.
SCUS-Tra-TI-UUS121120 Version 2.0 1/18

Technical Information SUNNY CENTRAL 500HE-US ⁄ 500HE-CA
1 SUNNY CENTRAL 500HE-US ⁄ 500HE-CA

1.1 General Requirements for Step-up Transformers
The transformers used must comply with the following technical requirements:
1. The transformer must be suitable for operation with a pulsed inverter.
2. The transformer must be designed for the voltages that arise during pulsed operation of the inverter. The
voltages can reach a magnitude of maximum ±800 V regarding ground. The root-mean-square value of
the voltages regarding ground is maximum 390 V (see following diagram).
1000
800
600
Voltage U[V]
Voltage
400 regarding ground
200 Line-to-line
voltage
-200
-400
0
Time
3. The transformer must be designed for voltages on its low‑voltage windings that can exhibit a voltage
gradient dU ⁄ dt of up to 500 V ⁄ µs regarding ground. The line to line voltages are sinusoidal.
4. A shield winding that is grounded to the tank is necessary between the low‑voltage windings and the
high‑voltage windings. This serves as an additional dU ⁄ dt filter.
5. The transformer is provided with separate galvanically isolated low‑voltage windings for every Sunny
Central.
6. The line to line output voltage of the Sunny Central 500HE‑US or Sunny Central 500HE‑CA is 200 V.
7. The voltage level on the medium‑voltage side of the transformer has to be chosen to match the voltage level
at the point of common coupling. The inverter can be connected to a medium as well as a low‑voltage grid
via the transformer defined herein. SMA America, LLC recommends the use of a transformer with a tap
changer on the grid side that enables an alignment to the voltage level of the grid voltage.
8. It has to be ensured upon inverter order that the short-circuit current rating of the AC breaker within the
Sunny Central 500HE-US or Sunny Central 500HE-CA is chosen to higher short-circuit current ratings
based upon project specific conditions of available fault current, impedance of AC conductors, and the
specific step-up transformer impedance values.
SMA America, LLC 2/18

9. The load curve and the ambient conditions at the respective installation site must be taken into account
during thermal rating.
10. The Sunny Central 500HE-US and Sunny Central 500HE-CA have a continuous power up to ambient
temperatures of +113 °F (+45 °C). A derating occurs at ambient temperatures above +113 °F
(+45 °C).
11. If the neutral has to be grounded on the high-voltage side, the system behavior will have to be considered.
12. The possible consequence of a failure (e.g. short circuits, ground faults, loss of voltage,…) has to be
considered.
13. The country-specific grid frequency has to be taken into consideration.
14. The transformer must be a UL-listed type.
15. This document does not and is not intended to replace any local, state, provincial, federal or national laws,
regulation or codes applicable to the installation and use of the SMA inverter, including without limitation
applicable electrical safety codes.
1.2 Requirements for Specifying a Two-Winding Step-up

Transformer, for connection to1 Sunny Central Inverter
Permissible Vector Groups:
The following vector groups for different high-voltage star point connections are possible:
High-voltage star point High-voltage star point High-voltage star point

ungrounded reactively grounded solidly grounded
Dy11, Dy5, Dy1, YNy0 YNy0
Yd11, Yd5, Yd1 YNd11*, YNd5*, YNd1*
* a sufficiently high reactance has to be considered
The three phases of the low-voltage side of the transformer have to be connected to the inverter. If a neutral
on the low-voltage side is present it is not allowed to ground it (see following diagram as an example).

H1
6 6 6
4 4 4
2 2 2
H3 H2
1 1 1
3 3 3
5 5 5
H1 H2 H3
X1 X2 X3
X1
X3
X2
Permissible Impedance Voltage:

The impedance voltage Z(%) of the transformer has to be in range as described below:
Sunny Central Impedance voltage Nominal value Impedance voltage

Absolute minimum value Absolute maximum value
SC 500HE-US ⁄ 4.0 % 6.0 % 6.6 %
SC 500HE-CA
The impedance voltage is based on the nominal power for two-winding transformers.
1.3 Requirements for Specifying a Three-Winding Step-up

Transformer, for connection of 2 Sunny Central Inverters
A three-winding transformer consists of a single medium-voltage winding and two low‑voltage windings.
The winding sequence of the transformer has to be low-high-low which means that the medium‑voltage winding
is located in between the two low‑voltage windings.


Three-winding transformers of the vector groups Dy11y11, Dy5y5 and Dy1y1 can be used.
If a neutral on the low-voltage side is present it is not allowed to ground it (see following diagram as an
example).
H1
6 6 6
4 4 4
2 2 2
H3 H2
1 1 1
3 3 3
5 5 5
H1 H2 H3
X1 X2 X3 Y1 Y2 Y3
X1 Y1
X3 Y3
X2 Y2

The impedance voltage Z(%) of the transformer has to be in range as described below in relation to every
single inverter:

SC 500HE-US ⁄ 4.0 % 6.0 % 6.6 %
SC 500HE-CA
The impedance voltage is based on half of the nominal power for three-winding transformers.
The impedance voltage imbalance between the medium-voltage winding and each low-voltage winding
must be below 2.0 % for three-winding designs.
The impedance voltage Z (%) between both low‑voltage windings has to be absolute higher than 9 %. This
impedance voltage is based on the half nominal power of the three-winding transformer respectively. This
value can be measured if one of the low‑voltage windings is short-circuited and the voltage on the other
low-voltage winding is increased until the nominal current flows. The high-voltage windings are in idle at
the same time (see following diagram).

1.4 Requirements for Specifying a Four-Winding Transformer, for

connection of 2 Sunny Central Inverters
A four-winding transformer consists of two medium-voltage and two low-voltage windings (double-storey
transformer).

The following vector groups are allowed for this transformer design type. The picture below displays the
winding configuration.
High-voltage star point High-voltage star point High-voltage star point

ungrounded reactively grounded solidly grounded
Dy11y11, Dy5y5, Dy1y1, YNy0y0, YNd11d11*, YNy0y0
Yd11d11, Yd5d5, Yd1d1 YNd5d5*, YNd1d1*
example).
H1
6 6 6 6 6 6
4 4 4 4 4 4
H3 H2 2 2 2 2 2 2
1 1 1 1 1 1
3 3 3 3 3 3
5 5 5 5 5 5
H1 H2 H3
X1 X2 X3 Y1 Y2 Y3
X1 Y1
X3 Y3
X2 Y2


single inverter:

SC 500HE-US ⁄ 4.0 % 6.0 % 6.6 %
SC 500HE-CA
The impedance voltage is based on half the nominal power for four-winding transformers.
must be below 2.0 % for four-winding designs.
The impedance voltage Z (%) between both low‑voltage windings has to be absolute higher than 9 %. This
impedance voltage is based on the half nominal power of the four-winding transformer respectively. This
value can be measured if one of the low‑voltage windings is short-circuited and the voltage on the other

1.5 Requirements for Specifying Auxiliary Supply Transformers

The Sunny Central 500HE-US or Sunny Central 500HE-CA has an integrated auxiliary transformer which can
be selected to be supplied by internal AC output power or external power at 208 V. This selection is done
upon order. Please refer to the installation manual for details.
If other external auxiliary low-voltage levels shall be used, the customer has to install an external transformer
to be connected to the 208 V-input of the inverter.
1. The transformer has to be a 3‑phase 2‑winding design.
2. The rated secondary voltage has to be 208 V.
3. The primary voltage of the transformer must have the same line to line voltage when it is connected to the
electricity grid fed by the utility (see following figure).
4. The transformer must be able to generate at least 3.0 kVA of power per inverter.
5. Several inverters can be supplied by a single auxiliary transformer in parallel connection ensuring at least
3.0 kVA auxiliary power per inverter.
6. The transformer design must be suitable for 100 % asymmetric loads.
7. The impedance voltage must be between 3 % … 6 %.
8. External protection against overload should be provided for the transformer. One means of protection is
to ensure that the short-circuit current at the inverter input is limited to 6 kA.
9. The ambient conditions at the respective installation site must be taken into account.
10. A suitable external fuse protection for the transformer has to be considered.
12. The valid country-specific standards must be taken into account.
13. The transformer must be a UL-listed type.

Technical Information Sunny Central CP ⁄ CP‑US ⁄ HE
2 Sunny Central CP ⁄ CP‑US ⁄ HE

2.1 General Requirements for Step-up Transformers
1. The transformer must be suitable for operation with a pulsed inverter.
2. The transformer must be designed for the voltages that arise during pulsed operation of the inverter. The
voltages can reach a magnitude of maximum ±1.450 V regarding ground. The root-mean-square value of
the voltages regarding ground is maximum 800 V (see following diagram).
3. The transformer must be designed for voltages on its low‑voltage windings that can exhibit a voltage
gradient dU ⁄ dt of up to 500 V ⁄ μs regarding ground. The line to line voltages are sinusoidal.
4. A shield winding that is grounded to the tank is necessary between the low‑voltage windings and the
high‑voltage windings. This serves as an additional dU ⁄ dt filter.
5. The transformer is provided with separate galvanically isolated low‑voltage windings for every
Sunny Central.
6. The voltages on the low-voltage windings of the transformer must exhibit the following values in relation to
the line to line output voltage of the inverter:

Sunny Central AC line to line output

voltage ⁄ transformer low-voltage
SC 400HE-11 270 V
SC 500HE-11 ⁄ SC 500HE-20 ⁄ SC 500CP ⁄ SC 500CP‑US 270 V
SC 720HE-20* ⁄ SC 720CP* ⁄ SC 720CP‑US* 324 V
* Further AC voltages are possible on request.

7. The voltage level on the medium‑voltage side of the transformer has to be chosen to match the voltage level
at the point of common coupling. The inverter can be connected to a medium‑voltage grid via the
transformer defined herein. SMA America, LLC recommends the use of a transformer with a tap changer
on the grid side that enables an alignment to the voltage level of the grid voltage.
The SC xxxCP and the SC xxxHE can be connected to the low-voltage grid as well.
8. It has to be ensured upon inverter order that the short-circuit current rating of the AC breaker within the
Sunny Central CP-US is chosen to higher short-circuit current ratings based upon project specific conditions
of available fault current, impedance of AC conductors, and the specific step-up transformer impedance
values.
9. The load curve and the ambient conditions at the respective installation site must be taken into account
during thermal rating.
10. The transformer must be designed for the temperature-dependent performance behaviour of the inverter.
At ambient temperatures of up to +77 °F (+25 °C), the transformer must have a current load capability
of 110 %.
At ambient temperatures of between +77 °F (+25 °C) and +122 °F (+50 °C), a linear derating up to
the nominal power takes places.
More information on the overload capacity of the inverter can be found in the following documents:
‒ Inverter datasheets
‒ Inverter installation manuals
‒ Technical information: Compact and weather resistant. Features and characteristics for
SUNNY CENTRAL 500CP ⁄ 630CP ⁄ 720CP ⁄ 760CP ⁄ 800CP
11. If the neutral has to be grounded on the high-voltage side, the system behavior will have to be considered.
12. The possible consequence of a failure (e.g. short circuits, ground faults, loss of voltage,…) has to be
considered.
14. The medium-voltage transformer for the SC xxxCP-US must be a UL-listed type.

15. This document does not and is not intended to replace any local, state, provincial, federal or national laws,
regulation or codes applicable to the installation and use of the SMA inverter, including without limitation
applicable electrical safety codes.
2.2 Requirements for Specifying a Two-Winding Step-up

Transformer, for connection to 1 Sunny Central Inverter
The following vector groups for different high-voltage star point connections are possible:
High-voltage star point High-voltage star point High-voltage star point solidly
ungrounded reactively grounded grounded
Dy11, Dy5, Dy1 YNy0 YNy0
Yd11, Yd5, Yd1 YNd11*, YNd5*, YNd1*
*a sufficiently high reactance has to be considered

example).
H1
6 6 6
4 4 4
2 2 2
H3 H2
1 1 1
3 3 3
5 5 5
H1 H2 H3
X1 X2 X3
X1
X3
X2


The impedance voltage Z(%) of the transformer has to be in range as described below:

SC 400HE-11 ⁄
SC 500HE-11 ⁄ 5.4 % 6.0 % 6.6 %
SC 630HE-11
SC 500HE-20 ⁄
SC 500CP ⁄
SC 500CP‑US ⁄
SC 630HE-20 ⁄
SC 630CP ⁄ 4.0 % 6.0 % 6.6 %
SC 630CP‑US ⁄
SC 720HE-20 ⁄
SC 720CP ⁄
SC 720CP‑US ⁄
SC 760HE-20 ⁄
SC 760CP ⁄
SC 750CP‑US ⁄
SC 800HE-20 ⁄
SC 800CP ⁄
SC 800CP‑US
The impedance voltage is based on the nominal power for two-winding transformers.

2.3 Requirements for Specifying a Three-Winding Step-up

Transformer, for connection of 2 Sunny Central Inverters
A three-winding transformer consists of a single medium-voltage winding and two low‑voltage windings.
The winding sequence of the transformer has to be low-high-low which means that the medium‑voltage winding
is located in between the two low‑voltage windings.
Three-winding transformers may only be used for Sunny Central CP‑US and Sunny Central CP with product
version A4 or higher. On the type label you will find the product version of the inverter.

Three-winding transformers of the vector groups Dy11y11, Dy5y5 and Dy1y1 can be used.
example).
H1
6 6 6
4 4 4
2 2 2
H3 H2
1 1 1
3 3 3
5 5 5
H1 H2 H3
X1 X2 X3 Y1 Y2 Y3
X1 Y1
X3 Y3
X2 Y2


single inverter:

SC 500CP ⁄
SC 500CP‑US ⁄
SC 630CP ⁄
SC 630CP‑US ⁄
SC 720CP ⁄ 4.0 % 6.0 % 6.6 %
SC 720CP‑US ⁄
SC 760CP ⁄
SC 750CP‑US ⁄
SC 800CP ⁄
SC 800CP‑US
The impedance voltage is based on half the nominal power for three-winding transformers.
must be below 2.0 % for both three-winding designs.
The impedance voltage Z (%) between both low‑voltage windings has to be absolute higher than 9 % .
This impedance voltage is based on the half nominal power of the three-winding transformer respectively.
This value can be measured if one of the low‑voltage windings is short-circuited and the voltage on the other

2.4 Requirements for Specifying a Four-Winding Transformer, for

connection of 2 Sunny Central Inverters
A four-winding transformer consists of two medium-voltage and two low-voltage windings (double-storey
transformer).

The following vector groups are allowed for this transformer design type. The picture below displays the
winding configuration.
High-voltage star point High-voltage star point High-voltage star point solidly
ungrounded reactively grounded grounded
Dy11y11, Dy5y5, Dy1y1, YNy0y0, YNd11d11*, YNy0y0
Yd11d11, Yd5d5, Yd1d1 YNd5d5*, YNd1d1*
example).
H1
6 6 6 6 6 6
4 4 4 4 4 4
H3 H2 2 2 2 2 2 2
1 1 1 1 1 1
3 3 3 3 3 3
5 5 5 5 5 5
H1 H2 H3
X1 X2 X3 Y1 Y2 Y3
X1 Y1
X3 Y3
X2 Y2


single inverter:

SC 400HE-11 ⁄
SC 500HE-11 ⁄ 5.4 % 6.0 % 6.6 %
SC 630HE-11
SC 500HE-20 ⁄
SC 500CP ⁄
SC 500CP‑US ⁄
SC 630HE-20 ⁄
SC 630CP ⁄ 4.0 % 6.0 % 6.6 %
SC 630CP‑US ⁄
SC 720HE-20 ⁄
SC 720CP ⁄
SC 720CP‑US ⁄
SC 760HE-20 ⁄
SC 760CP ⁄
SC 750CP‑US ⁄
SC 800HE-20 ⁄
SC 800CP ⁄
SC 800CP‑US
The impedance voltage is based on half the nominal power for four-winding transformers.
must be below 2.0 % for four-winding designs.
The impedance voltage Z (%) between both low‑voltage windings has to be absolute higher than 9 % .
This impedance voltage is based on the half nominal power of the four-winding transformer respectively.
This value can be measured if one of the low‑voltage windings is short-circuited and the voltage on the other

2.5 Requirements for Specifying Auxiliary Supply Transformer

The inverters of the HE-11, HE-20, CP and CP-US production series require an external AC voltage supply. The
voltage supply for the inverters can be generated through an external power supply transformer.
1. The transformer has to be a 3‑phase 2‑winding design
2. The rated secondary voltage has to be 230 V ⁄ 400 V (3 ⁄ N ⁄ PE).
3. The primary voltage of the transformer must have the same line to line voltage when it is connected to the
electricity grid fed by the utility (see following figure).
4. The transformer must be able to generate at least 3.0 kVA of power per inverter.
5. Several inverters can be supplied by a single auxiliary transformer in parallel connection ensuring at least
3.0 kVA auxiliary power per inverter.
6. The transformer design must be suitable for 100 % asymmetric loads.
7. The impedance voltage must be between 3 % … 6 % .
8. External protection against overload should be provided for the transformer. One means of protection is
to ensure that the short-circuit current at the inverter input is limited to 6 kA.
9. The ambient conditions at the respective installation site must be taken into account.
11. The valid country-specific standards must be taken into account.

If the external power supply transformer is to be directly connected to the inverter output
(see following figure), then the following conditions must also be met:
1. The primary voltages must correspond to the following inverter output voltages:
Sunny Central AC line to line output

voltage ⁄ transformer primary voltage
SC 400HE-11 270 V
SC 720HE-20 ⁄ SC 720CP ⁄ SC 720CP‑US 324 V
2. On the primary side, the transformer must be suitable for operation with a pulsed inverter.
3. On the primary side, the transformer must be designed for the voltages that arise during pulsed operation
of the inverter. The voltages can reach a magnitude of maximum ±1450 V regarding ground. The
rms‑value of the voltages regarding ground is maximum 800 V (see following diagram).
4. The transformer on the primary side must be designed for voltages that can exhibit a voltage gradient
dU ⁄ dt of up to 500 V ⁄ µs against earth. The line-to-line voltages are sinusoidal.
5. The transformer is provided with separate galvanically isolated low‑voltage windings for every
Sunny Central. An autotransformer may not be used.

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Technical Information

SCUS-Tra-TI-UUS121120 Version 2.0 1/18

1 SUNNY CENTRAL 500HE-US ⁄ 500HE-CA

SMA America, LLC 2/18

1.2 Requirements for Specifying a Two-Winding Step-up

High-voltage star point High-voltage star point High-voltage star point

SMA America, LLC 3/18

Permissible Impedance Voltage:

Sunny Central Impedance voltage Nominal value Impedance voltage

1.3 Requirements for Specifying a Three-Winding Step-up

SMA America, LLC 4/18

Permissible Vector Groups:

Permissible Impedance Voltage:

Sunny Central Impedance voltage Nominal value Impedance voltage

SMA America, LLC 5/18

1.4 Requirements for Specifying a Four-Winding Transformer, for

Permissible Vector Groups:

High-voltage star point High-voltage star point High-voltage star point

SMA America, LLC 6/18

Permissible Impedance Voltage:

Sunny Central Impedance voltage Nominal value Impedance voltage

SMA America, LLC 7/18

1.5 Requirements for Specifying Auxiliary Supply Transformers

SMA America, LLC 8/18

2 Sunny Central CP ⁄ CP‑US ⁄ HE

SMA America, LLC 9/18

Sunny Central AC line to line output

* Further AC voltages are possible on request.

SMA America, LLC 10/18

2.2 Requirements for Specifying a Two-Winding Step-up

*a sufficiently high reactance has to be considered

SMA America, LLC 11/18

Permissible Impedance Voltage:

Sunny Central Impedance voltage Nominal value Impedance voltage

SMA America, LLC 12/18

2.3 Requirements for Specifying a Three-Winding Step-up

Permissible Vector Groups:

SMA America, LLC 13/18

Permissible Impedance Voltage:

Sunny Central Impedance voltage Nominal value Impedance voltage

SMA America, LLC 14/18

2.4 Requirements for Specifying a Four-Winding Transformer, for

Permissible Vector Groups:

SMA America, LLC 15/18

Permissible Vector Groups:

Sunny Central Impedance voltage Nominal value Impedance voltage

SMA America, LLC 16/18

2.5 Requirements for Specifying Auxiliary Supply Transformer

SMA America, LLC 17/18

Sunny Central AC line to line output

SMA America, LLC 18/18

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