Israel Keys
New Member
Hey guys,
My name is Israel and I'm a Brit who has just moved to Africa to do some Missionary & Charity work. We have a sizeable property here that we are trying to run off-grid (electricity here is very unreliable).
We've been building slowly and currently have 20.7kw of solar panels (3 different arrays) with another 9.85kw to come soon (adding a 4th array and expanding one of the previous 3). We expanded gradually and currently have 3 different inverters totalling 27.5kva (with a final 15kw to come with the extra panels). We also currently have 72 kwh of LiFePo4 with a final.14.4 to come
The property is 3 phases, and each phase handles a different section of site. Each inverter handles a different phase, and the 4th inverter will split on phase into 2. We got each component relatively cheap by waiting for good deals and jumping on them. This brings me to what I need advice with.
I recently found a deal for a Solax X3 Mega G2 grid tie inverter in the UK. It's a 3 phase 60kw (not kva) inverter with 6 built-in MPPTs and can take 12 different PV Arrays. The going rate was just under 3k POUNDS (not dollars), but I snagged it for 800 pounds (it was from a job the customer cancelled). I was so excited to get it I didn't realise it was a TRUE grid-tie in the classical sense:
1. No battery connectivity (at least not without horsing around with it ) and
2. It shuts off when the grid is down
Well, the grid is down over half the time over here. So, I've been looking to see if I could do AC or DC coupling and watching SEVERAL YOUTUBE videos. I'm already stuck with the inverter as I can't return it. Also, the 60kw will mean we can run the whole property without load watching (as we currently do). It will also mean the capacity on each phase can be shared with other phases (which we currently can't do as each of the existing inverters is a different size, so we can't parallel them).
As I said, this system was built stage by stage utilising amazing deals as they presented themselves so we could insist on everything being uniform. Sorry for the dissertation, but I'm hoping that the finest brains in DIY Solar can give me some counsel on how to proceed.
My current ideas are a crazy mishmash of both AC and DC coupling, but I'll save that till AFTER you reply so I don't affect your ideas. Thanks in advance
My name is Israel and I'm a Brit who has just moved to Africa to do some Missionary & Charity work. We have a sizeable property here that we are trying to run off-grid (electricity here is very unreliable).
We've been building slowly and currently have 20.7kw of solar panels (3 different arrays) with another 9.85kw to come soon (adding a 4th array and expanding one of the previous 3). We expanded gradually and currently have 3 different inverters totalling 27.5kva (with a final 15kw to come with the extra panels). We also currently have 72 kwh of LiFePo4 with a final.14.4 to come
The property is 3 phases, and each phase handles a different section of site. Each inverter handles a different phase, and the 4th inverter will split on phase into 2. We got each component relatively cheap by waiting for good deals and jumping on them. This brings me to what I need advice with.
I recently found a deal for a Solax X3 Mega G2 grid tie inverter in the UK. It's a 3 phase 60kw (not kva) inverter with 6 built-in MPPTs and can take 12 different PV Arrays. The going rate was just under 3k POUNDS (not dollars), but I snagged it for 800 pounds (it was from a job the customer cancelled). I was so excited to get it I didn't realise it was a TRUE grid-tie in the classical sense:
1. No battery connectivity (at least not without horsing around with it ) and
2. It shuts off when the grid is down
Well, the grid is down over half the time over here. So, I've been looking to see if I could do AC or DC coupling and watching SEVERAL YOUTUBE videos. I'm already stuck with the inverter as I can't return it. Also, the 60kw will mean we can run the whole property without load watching (as we currently do). It will also mean the capacity on each phase can be shared with other phases (which we currently can't do as each of the existing inverters is a different size, so we can't parallel them).
As I said, this system was built stage by stage utilising amazing deals as they presented themselves so we could insist on everything being uniform. Sorry for the dissertation, but I'm hoping that the finest brains in DIY Solar can give me some counsel on how to proceed.
My current ideas are a crazy mishmash of both AC and DC coupling, but I'll save that till AFTER you reply so I don't affect your ideas. Thanks in advance