Hedges
I See Electromagnetic Fields!
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Ahh, but I consider EG4 to be a known quantity. And Midnight also.
Midnite Solar Announced their new 10kw AIO at Intersolar Today
- Thread starter HighTechLab
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Ahh, but I consider EG4 to be a known quantity. And Midnight also.
Correct. Which is why I would buy it over the Chinese solark and Chinese 18kpv, but for 1/3 to 1/2 the price I may just continue with the unapologetically Chinese units
zanydroid
Solar Wizard
Why do we think that MidNite has better Chinese wrangling skills than the other companies? We can only extrapolate from the history of their DIY series, which were for off grid/unpermitted usage AFAIK.
Also, SolArk has the most track record with cutting through red tape across the U.S., which is another important input
Also, SolArk has the most track record with cutting through red tape across the U.S., which is another important input
kscessnadriver
New Member
Exactly, and far from the cheapest. It looks cool, but is it really that much better than other stuff coming out?
Hedges
I See Electromagnetic Fields!
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There is managing the ECM, ODM, or whatever.
Then there is circuit design, also PCB design.
And software.
What parts did Midnight do?
I think SolArk has their own software. Don't know how much of the circuit design and component selection.
Software/firmware is definitely a part of the hardware reliability. But I'd be most interested in how much of the electronic hardware design was by Midnight.
Then there is circuit design, also PCB design.
And software.
What parts did Midnight do?
I think SolArk has their own software. Don't know how much of the circuit design and component selection.
Software/firmware is definitely a part of the hardware reliability. But I'd be most interested in how much of the electronic hardware design was by Midnight.
Brucey
Solar Wizard
I'm pretty confident that they haven't just rebadged a lux power 12k like eg4 has or sol-ark with Deyes, but perhaps Robin or Bob may pipe in?
Midnite has spent seemingly 6 months testing it.
Almost every qualm in this forum on other AIO are firmware related.
I simply anticipate competent folk to devise competent equipment. I think there is an objective difference in Bob, Robin, and crew in knowledge, know how, background, and expertise than any other solar inverter relabeler.
Secondly, The breakers, e-panels, and other accessories are midnite not a random brand.
I won’t dismiss the reputation of the sol-ark but they have been less than up front in their business model when they were growing. It was good to see eg4 put a dent in that market
There are multiple reasons why I made my “preference” why I did. My preference doesn’t have to be yours
If you all truly thought that all Chinese inverters were equal, none of you would have paid 5-8 grand for an eg4 or solark vs other
Almost every qualm in this forum on other AIO are firmware related.
I simply anticipate competent folk to devise competent equipment. I think there is an objective difference in Bob, Robin, and crew in knowledge, know how, background, and expertise than any other solar inverter relabeler.
Secondly, The breakers, e-panels, and other accessories are midnite not a random brand.
I won’t dismiss the reputation of the sol-ark but they have been less than up front in their business model when they were growing. It was good to see eg4 put a dent in that market
There are multiple reasons why I made my “preference” why I did. My preference doesn’t have to be yours
If you all truly thought that all Chinese inverters were equal, none of you would have paid 5-8 grand for an eg4 or solark vs other
It's ok to be excited but it seems we've crowned it king even though it's yet to be used by anyone
zanydroid
Solar Wizard
This does not translate to critical non engineering stuff like supporting customers in dealing with AHJs and putting the pain on a Chinese partner if things go south
Ironically EG4 has a ton of experience in the latter
I’m sure their trips to the factory in China helped develop a positive relationship to resolve issues. It also seems that nearly everything they produce is designed to work with various compliance requirements
Does sending out batteries with missing UL labels help customers deal with AHJs?
zanydroid
Solar Wizard
No but they have produced more modern (post 1741SA grid tie equipment than MidNite has), and they at least have things like CEC basic approval (not sufficient for my POCO lol) and export limiter paperwork.
Rosie is not such a unit. It is intended for more special cases like off grid and mobile
MidNite has to grind up the half dozen or so special paperwork’s and extra certs. Vs the 2 EG4 accomplished in the past 6 months.
If I were a customer in a location where export limiter and 9540+1741SA was the regulatory bar, I can mostly safely conclude that 18kpv is installable (since there are a few end to end success stories on the forum)
You would have to wait likely 6 months after The One is released to get to the same level of empirical evidence.
Brucey
Solar Wizard
The only pain experienced seems to be eg4 owners saddled with defective 6000ex and 6500ex units. Discounted trade in of warranty/units against another generation of aios notwithstanding.
Those are all fair points
Brucey
Solar Wizard
Presumably Midnite will be putting more work into the certification end of things, given they mentioned they are seeking ul9540 approval in conjunction with their yet to be released 5 and 15kwh batteries with comms.
zanydroid
Solar Wizard
They would still have to be smart at prioritizing which additional layers of certs are needed, or know the right place to outsource it to to get it all slammed out in a short frame of time. It’s probably not rocket science but somehow EG4 took a long time to finally get one that worked.
Somebody is probably helping all those random Chinese UL9540 ESSes break into EG the Californian market (and pushed in all the right trade shows)
Hedges
I See Electromagnetic Fields!
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18kPV and PowerPro are in a couple threads. Maybe to be resolved by firmware.
18kPV + 1 PowerPro Bat fault
Hello, Lately I am getting Bat fault and Bat voltage high errors. When this happens all the lights at home flicker. Battery and Inverter are on the latest firmware. Any ideas? @EG4_Jared ?
diysolarforum.com
EG4 PowerPro batteries suddenly died
I have two eg4 powerpro wall mount batteries hooked up to one eg4 18kpv. All has been working great lately until tonight. I go into my shop/office tonight and look at the system as I do almost every night and notice the batteries are at 0%. This had me scratching my head as I looked earlier...
diysolarforum.com
I would have confidence in something Midnight designed from the ground up, and took an extended time for Alpha and Beta testing before release (Rosie).
If The One is based on somebody else's inverter design, most we can hope for is they studied the circuits extensively and are happy.
workaholic
New Member
I'm in on the midnite AIO for the simple fact that spare parts will be available so your unit can be fixed vs swapping out the entire unit.
It is currently being used (beta versions) by a few/some people. For instance @HighTechLab would be one of the "lucky" ones. I know of another local dealer that has a unit as well, where I know the guys very well personally. Just yesterday I saw their unit again and I asked if they have gotten around to using it and/or how it's working. The response was a bit boring to be honest. "It just works".
At first I was disappointed, but then I remembered that @HighTechLab said the exact same thing.... And then I also realized that this means there aren't major issues showing up..... So I guess that says something in itself.
I think the guys at Midnite probably have a better understanding of the requirements that the NEC calls for than any of the other inverter companies out there. They have been in the industry pretty much from the start. They have seen all the regulations come into place over the years.
I think getting things right at the start will go a long way on not having as many pain points and issues needing to be resolved!
I know for a fact that sell related functions were/have been/are?? being tested out and firmware being updated to iron out bugs. I personally would expect The One to be working quite well out of the box once it hits the market.
But, I think we could all agree that these days most anything new with electronics ends up getting at least some firmware updates after release. So I wouldn't necessarily expect absolute perfection at release.
HighTechLab
AKA Dexter - CTO of Current Connected, LLC
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I have played with the unit a bit, started filming some stuff but got caught up on some website issues and upgrades that have been taking up a lot of my time these last 2 weeks or so. I am waiting on the final price from the guys at Midnite so we can get that on our site and likely start accepting pre-orders.
As indicated earlier in this thread, there are some battery options to match with the inverter coming. I'm excited to see those head this way as well!
You would be amazed how many Chinese companies have contacted me about this inverter asking if we could get them information on which factory is manufacturing it! I find it comical that they are coming to me...that's a good indicator in my book.
As indicated earlier in this thread, there are some battery options to match with the inverter coming. I'm excited to see those head this way as well!
You would be amazed how many Chinese companies have contacted me about this inverter asking if we could get them information on which factory is manufacturing it! I find it comical that they are coming to me...that's a good indicator in my book.
Questionable parts, reliability, and service, but many MidNite clones in the future.
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