Solar Lattice

Symptom

AC circuit breaker tripping

ID
symptom:ac-breaker-trip
IRI
https://solarlattice.org/kb/symptom/ac-breaker-trip
Status
active
Also known as
AC Trip, AC MCB tripping, RCBO tripping

An AC trip happens when the AC circuit breaker between the inverter and the grid opens, which disconnects the inverter from the grid. In monitoring this usually shows up as a no-grid or grid-failure alarm on the inverter, with a prompt to check the AC circuit breaker. On some storage systems a breaker status point changes from closed to open. Note when the trip happens: at grid connection, during startup, while generating power, at random, or at a set time. This helps narrow down the cause. One test is to see whether it still trips with power limited to 10% and then 20%. Check the breaker rating first. A breaker that is too small or has built-in current protection can cause nuisance tripping. The rating should be 1.2 times the inverter's maximum AC output current. If the correctly sized breaker still trips, it may have degraded over time. Replace it with a new one of the correct rating to rule out a hardware fault. Inspect the breaker terminals, AC connector, AC distribution board and meter side for loose or damaged wiring. Measure phase-to-phase, phase-to-neutral and neutral-to-earth voltages at the inverter AC gland, so you can catch AC wiring errors such as shorted phases. If the inverter keeps reporting grid failure, the AC cable may be connected wrongly or the country data set may be configured wrongly. This points to a wiring error or a grid code setting problem rather than a breaker fault.

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Claims

observed_as

c1 verified · fact Zero AC grid voltage

When the AC breaker opens, the inverter loses its grid connection. It may then show a NO-GRID code (Solis 1015) or a 'Waiting for grid voltage / Grid failure' message that tells you to check the AC circuit breaker (SMA).

verified by: review-workflowverified on: 2026-10-24review note: support check: partial - Passages support the NO-GRID 1015 code and SMA 'Grid failure > Check AC circuit breaker' message, but nothing states that phase voltage or frequency reads zero when the breaker trips.

c2 verified · fact Zero inverter AC output

The trip cuts the connection between the inverter and the grid, so the inverter cannot feed any power into the grid.

verified by: review-workflowverified on: 2026-10-24review note: support check: partial - Passage says the trip cuts the inverter-grid connection, which implies no feed-in, but it doesn't state power or current falling to zero.

c3 verified · fact AC breaker open status proposed

On Tesla Megapack, the AC Breaker Status point reads 1 when the breaker is closed and 0 when it is open.

verified by: review-workflowverified on: 2026-10-24

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Data