EG4 18kPV - Information
- Thread starter WattAboutThat
- Start date
rakitejada
Solar Enthusiast
(Please excuse me, I posted this on another topic but no one replied, so I’m trying here to see if I get an answer)
Thanks for all your help. I love the forum.
This is also my first time calculating each string for an mppt and i need your help.
I am a little confused regarding Mppt 1 and its two inputs and utilizing the best i can the power i can get.
I have three panel options:
A) JINKO 575w. 50.88VOC. 14.39ISC
B) JASOLAR 555w. 50.02VOC. 14.07ISC
C) CANADIAN SOLAR 550w. 49.8VOC. 14.05ISC
So MPPT 2 and 3 are pretty easy since they are 15AMPS MAX and 1 input:
11 JINKO 575w in series would be safe on VOC (559.68VOC) and with 14.39ISC I think I am safe. That would bring in: 575w x 11 = 6,325w on each MPPT x 2 = 12,650w
Now, going back to my initial confusion: MPPT 1: I havent found data on how those two inputs add up: should i assume they are in parallel or in series? I know they must be a simple question for many of you but really don’t know how to calculate.
Im thinking i can afford around 15,000w of panels right now and if i need the extra 6,000w i can do in the future, but have everything set up and wired so in the future its just an easy add on.
I live in the carribbean and i dont need to take in consideration winter or cold because its summer all year long.
Lastly, the reason i would like the extra wattage is because my wife and I own a Tesla and a Chevy Bolt, since i work from home it would be great to charge during sunlight hours and i also bought 6 EG4 Lifepower Batteries x 5.12kWh = 30.72kWh that will also be charging during sunlight.
I wont be able to inject the grid until I get all the permits and that usually takes 6 months. So i’ll be making my best effort to work around charging the cars in the morning along with Lifepower batteries and saving energy in the night to see if i can make it through the night with the 30.72kWh from the batteries (3 Inverter A/C’s 2*12,000btu and 1*18,000btu) but most likely I know I’m going to end up using some power from the grid.
What are you recommendations?
Thank you so much for your time!
Raki
Thanks for all your help. I love the forum.
This is also my first time calculating each string for an mppt and i need your help.
I am a little confused regarding Mppt 1 and its two inputs and utilizing the best i can the power i can get.
I have three panel options:
A) JINKO 575w. 50.88VOC. 14.39ISC
B) JASOLAR 555w. 50.02VOC. 14.07ISC
C) CANADIAN SOLAR 550w. 49.8VOC. 14.05ISC
So MPPT 2 and 3 are pretty easy since they are 15AMPS MAX and 1 input:
11 JINKO 575w in series would be safe on VOC (559.68VOC) and with 14.39ISC I think I am safe. That would bring in: 575w x 11 = 6,325w on each MPPT x 2 = 12,650w
Now, going back to my initial confusion: MPPT 1: I havent found data on how those two inputs add up: should i assume they are in parallel or in series? I know they must be a simple question for many of you but really don’t know how to calculate.
Im thinking i can afford around 15,000w of panels right now and if i need the extra 6,000w i can do in the future, but have everything set up and wired so in the future its just an easy add on.
I live in the carribbean and i dont need to take in consideration winter or cold because its summer all year long.
Lastly, the reason i would like the extra wattage is because my wife and I own a Tesla and a Chevy Bolt, since i work from home it would be great to charge during sunlight hours and i also bought 6 EG4 Lifepower Batteries x 5.12kWh = 30.72kWh that will also be charging during sunlight.
I wont be able to inject the grid until I get all the permits and that usually takes 6 months. So i’ll be making my best effort to work around charging the cars in the morning along with Lifepower batteries and saving energy in the night to see if i can make it through the night with the 30.72kWh from the batteries (3 Inverter A/C’s 2*12,000btu and 1*18,000btu) but most likely I know I’m going to end up using some power from the grid.
What are you recommendations?
Thank you so much for your time!
Raki
The two inputs on MPPT 1 are connected in parallel.
As far as recommendations go, the first thing I'd suggest is a system like the Emporia Vue so you can get an accurate representation of your usage. You'll be able to see exactly what and when things run, and some basic math will tell you what is used when there isn't enough sun to power it.
OK, like most things I do, I jumped in with both feet, no small steps for me.
I have the 18kPV, 35 Canadian Solar CS3W-400PB-AG panels, a rack of 6 EG4 batteries, and Tigo optimizers.
I will be making 3 strings of 9 and one of 8.
The 18 will be my whole house backup, supply side tap, as per manual. I have submitted plan to electric company, waiting on feedback/approval.
House has 2 well pumps, electric HWH, electric clothes dryer and a geothermal heat pump system.
So once I get this all approved and together, I will be able to provide details on how the system handles heavy loads, ie Geo running, taking a shower, so HWH and Well pump kick in.
I have the 18kPV, 35 Canadian Solar CS3W-400PB-AG panels, a rack of 6 EG4 batteries, and Tigo optimizers.
I will be making 3 strings of 9 and one of 8.
The 18 will be my whole house backup, supply side tap, as per manual. I have submitted plan to electric company, waiting on feedback/approval.
House has 2 well pumps, electric HWH, electric clothes dryer and a geothermal heat pump system.
So once I get this all approved and together, I will be able to provide details on how the system handles heavy loads, ie Geo running, taking a shower, so HWH and Well pump kick in.
timselectric
If I can do it, you can do it.
- Joined
- Feb 5, 2022
- Messages
- 19,080
This might be the first solar test with a shower scene. lol
Well as a test I put the 18 in place with just battery and load, going into my generator backfeed.
Killed the mains, opened up the generator backfeed, and boom, 18 was feeding the whole house. Nifty.
After a few minutes the fans are running like mad. Look on the panel and the house is drawing 11,500 watts. WTH? Checked HVAC, not running, checked HWH, nope. Where is the draw? Oh yeah, my EV is plugged into the lvl 2 charger. Lol. Good news is, the 18 was able to carry that load.
Killed the mains, opened up the generator backfeed, and boom, 18 was feeding the whole house. Nifty.
After a few minutes the fans are running like mad. Look on the panel and the house is drawing 11,500 watts. WTH? Checked HVAC, not running, checked HWH, nope. Where is the draw? Oh yeah, my EV is plugged into the lvl 2 charger. Lol. Good news is, the 18 was able to carry that load.
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Today I ran a test in an off-grid scenario. Main breaker off. Inverter feeding the generator breaker in main panel.
Ran whole house, well pump, 3 ton geo unit, and HWH. It was bumping right up against the 12k limit at times, and ran fine. Most of the time it was running around 1-2 k, until AC or HWH kicked in.
Minus those big loads, with the house just kind of sitting, watching TV, etc, it was barely breathing. Fans didn't kick on until north of 6K load.
Once installed in a hybrid whole home setup, I only think I'll be drawing from the grid if literally every electric load in the house is on at the same time.
Ran the house for 4 hours, used about 20%, and this was with AC, showering and HWH going. If there was a long outage, I'd obviously turn off the AC and turn HWH on once a day.
Waiting on plan approval, but building and mounting a lot of what I can in the meantime. Today was just a test, and to lower SOC of the batteries, I'm not a fan of them sitting at 100%.
Ran whole house, well pump, 3 ton geo unit, and HWH. It was bumping right up against the 12k limit at times, and ran fine. Most of the time it was running around 1-2 k, until AC or HWH kicked in.
Minus those big loads, with the house just kind of sitting, watching TV, etc, it was barely breathing. Fans didn't kick on until north of 6K load.
Once installed in a hybrid whole home setup, I only think I'll be drawing from the grid if literally every electric load in the house is on at the same time.
Ran the house for 4 hours, used about 20%, and this was with AC, showering and HWH going. If there was a long outage, I'd obviously turn off the AC and turn HWH on once a day.
Waiting on plan approval, but building and mounting a lot of what I can in the meantime. Today was just a test, and to lower SOC of the batteries, I'm not a fan of them sitting at 100%.
rakitejada
Solar Enthusiast
My first experiece
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Jsands
New Member
Zwy
Emperor Of Solar
At this point it might be the best option. The older LV6548's which is what I run were really a good unit. Later units may have had some changes and might be why Ian at Watts247 quit providing support. I'd buy another pair if I knew if the units were the same as what I currently have. It seems the whole Voltronic manufactured line which included Sungold Power, MPP and EG4 all might be suffering from parts that are different from the originals.
Now that many of the firmware updates have been written it might be a good choice. Also hear of good reports on the SRNE which might be a good option, you might have to use the 5Kw version if you need more than 10Kw as the 10Kw is not parallel capable at this time but the 5Kw unit is. If in the future the 10Kw was parallel capable, I'd really consider it myself for another system in my shop. More information in this thread. https://diysolarforum.com/threads/srne-asf48100u200-h-10kw.67809/
sinewavepro
New Member
High frequency is not really fine because it's shorter life expectancy when powering inductive loads, its much lower surge capacity and its lack of galvanic isolation between its DC boost stage and its AC output which can lead to appliance fires during a catastrophic failure of the H-Bridge circuit.
houseofancients
Solar Wizard
Yeah. Might have been so in the past, also hf inverters are much stronger/high amps now than they were, next to being a lot cheaper where folks buy bigger machines to make sure they won't overload the inverter when running peak loads.
That being said, I'm sure they won't last 40 years, but know anyone still running 40 year old electronic tech?
Yeah, those were the uninformed arguments from ~2004. Reality is much different. All of the limitations can be designed around and in the end provide a better product.
I have seen low frequency inverters blow themselves up with inductive loads (the old Liebert Series 600 UPSs were famous for this). They are not inherently better, but they are simpler and leverage galvanic isolation to forgive some of their inherent design limitations (with varying degrees of success).
I don't know if the EV4-18kPV will have the lasting power and lifespan of the Schneider XW, but that has very little to do with HF vs LF. It comes down to the design life, which few modern electronic devices consider critical.
yep at the rate we see these inverters, we'll be able to get a 10kw for $200 in 40 years..
actually maybe like $50
Guess it is time to provide some more info.
Now I have the 18k running as whole house backup.
60kwh of batteries.
2 strings of 9, 2 strings of 7 400 watt panels.
Also have a Growatt 11k inverter running as AC Coupled. Right now, that has 2 strings of 8 and one string of 4 370 watt panels.
Over winter the house only pulls around 1k per hour. Heavy loads are dryer and EV charging.
Not a lot to report except overall everything running well. Had a few hiccups going to 1919, but those straightened out after a few minutes.
I'm still learning how to best use the system, as far as $ go, but we have had multiple power outages of varying lengths and never even notice.
I will be replacing 30 year old geo system with a new heat pump system this spring, and that is really my last big, continuous load. HW heater and well pump are sporadic.
So far, this month, my estimated electric bill is going to be -$20.
Now I have the 18k running as whole house backup.
60kwh of batteries.
2 strings of 9, 2 strings of 7 400 watt panels.
Also have a Growatt 11k inverter running as AC Coupled. Right now, that has 2 strings of 8 and one string of 4 370 watt panels.
Over winter the house only pulls around 1k per hour. Heavy loads are dryer and EV charging.
Not a lot to report except overall everything running well. Had a few hiccups going to 1919, but those straightened out after a few minutes.
I'm still learning how to best use the system, as far as $ go, but we have had multiple power outages of varying lengths and never even notice.
I will be replacing 30 year old geo system with a new heat pump system this spring, and that is really my last big, continuous load. HW heater and well pump are sporadic.
So far, this month, my estimated electric bill is going to be -$20.
