SolarEdge SE7600H-US and batteries

[chilly2]

Hello!

A friend of mine had the following installed on his home last year.

- 7.6kW array (19 x 400w Q.PEAK DUO BLK ML G10+)
- SolarEdge HD Wave Inverter SE7600H-US (240v)
- SolarEdge P401 Power Optimizers for each panel.

He's in the miserable heat that is Texas, and interested in batteries to shift some of his excess production to lessen the AC overnight, and also for a grid down situation.

I don't think he'll make much of a dent in the AC with batteries and don't think it's worth it so have written a detailed check list of things he should do to first to reduce AC demand.

- log into his utility and find out how many kWh he's burning through to set a baseline.
- smart thermostat to optimize when the AC kicks on and see the speed of temperature change when it's not running.
- use the thermostat data to consider better insulation and windows.
- look into flair smart vents as it's dumb cooling the whole house all the time.
- consider a mini split with a couple of zones to lower the work for the AC.

Only once that's dealt with do the batteries.

The options I've found for his inverter are...

- SolarEdge Home battery. Expensive, and I'm not sure if it would work with his inverter or not.
- AC coupled options (Tesla Powerwall).
- Generac (I know, boo, hiss, etc).

I don't think he wants to deal with DIY (yet here I am on a DIY forum) otherwise I'd have suggested an EG4 18k and a few 48v batteries. Still it's worth asking to see if I can change his mind.

Anyone else in the SolarEdge boat who added batteries? If so, what did you opt for? Did you go mad making your house efficient first? What did you do there?

Thanks!

 

[Solar Guppy]

The inverter your friend has is gridtie only and since it uses SolarEdge optimisers, is only supported by that manufacture.

To build on that and keep the arrays unchanged would be an inverter swap out to the Storedge inverter but I that is a 2 generation old solution and not recommended and absolutely a BIG no using LG for the battery, regardless of the storage inverter selected.

Turnkey options are Tesla, Enphase with AC coupling. There are dozens of other manufacture options, that in my opinion won't be around in 5 years.

You will see lots of suggestion, but all would require a custom design and install, not for the faint of heart.

 

[darkskies]

I had a SE7600 with the SolarEdge Backup Interface and LG 16kwh battery.

Pros:
The inverter and battery combo works well, excess panel generation charges the battery (DC), while the inverter provides power to house load and exports to grid. No DC/AC/DC to charge batteries.
Optimizers work well with shading that we have.

Cons:
The generator integration, which is advertised in their data sheets and specs, does not work (yet?). They have an asterisk on data sheets that says "with required firmware upgrade", and it's been almost two years w/o the integration complete. Right now, I have an ATS handling critical circuits as a workaround from my installer.

They had a firmware release last year that got it closer, and there have been two releases this year. My installer just updated my inverter to the 11.4 kw model, and is planning on checking the integration. If it works, we'll be done, if not, they are going to put in an ATS for the whole house (they only had a 100A one available last Winter).

Of course, we're waiting for a breaker, there was an issue with getting the battery working with the 11.4kw inverter, so the battery has been RMA'ed (new one here today). I'm still trying to find out from the installer, what happened to the battery, which would run for about 2 mins and then trip it's internal breaker (worked fine before the upgrade).

At this time, I wouldn't recommend the SolarEdge Backup Interface/battery/generator solution. It doesn't work.

It's been a painful slog, with both the installer and SolarEdge.

 

[BlueMarblePA]

How about bringing the solaredge 7600 into a solark inverter through the Gen in input. Then you can add 48v batteries to the solark. The advantage is that you can also add some ground mount DC panels to the solark in addition to the AC from the solaredge

 

[BlueMarblePA]

The Sol Ark allows for AC-coupled input from either microinverters Enphase or Solaredge. This seems to be the best solution. I also have 7.6kw Solaredge inverter, and I am planning this for myself as well.

 

[garetwo]

The Sol Ark allows for AC-coupled input from either microinverters Enphase or Solaredge. This seems to be the best solution. I also have 7.6kw Solaredge inverter, and I am planning this for myself as well.

Have you moved forward with this?

 

[BlueMarblePA]

Solark 15k is installed. I still have the solaredge on the load side, until I buy some black Friday deal batteries

 

[Klubmo]

Solark 15k is installed. I still have the solaredge on the load side, until I buy some black Friday deal batteries

I’ve been looking into a battery solution for my SolarEdge SE7600-US. Were you able to get the SolArk + batteries working alongside the SolarEdge inverter?

 

[BlueMarblePA]

I’ve been looking into a battery solution for my SolarEdge SE7600-US. Were you able to get the SolArk + batteries working alongside the SolarEdge inverter?

I have both running, but I currently have the DC side feeding one 200amp panel and I have the solaredge feeding a separate 200amp panel. I have 400 amp service at my house. Hence, the solark does not see the solaredge yet.

One day I will bring the solaredge in through the Gen input but since I rarely am without grid power, I have not yet done this

 

[y0bailey]

I have the SE7600-US going into the EG4 18kpv "GEN/AC COUPLED" and everything has been great.

 

[y0bailey]

Inside.

 

[spacemancw]

Inside.

Can you post a wiring diagram showing your main panel, EG4, SolarEdge, batteries ... show how they all connect. Do you have a critical load panel? What kind of batteries did you get?

thanks.

 

[y0bailey]

Can you post a wiring diagram showing your main panel, EG4, SolarEdge, batteries ... show how they all connect. Do you have a critical load panel? What kind of batteries did you get?

thanks.

Not shown is a DC coupled array going into the PV terminals on the inverter. So I'm AC coupled into GEN with the SE7600, and have an array that is DC coupled directly into the PV terminals. They are show in the picture of the inside of my unit on the left side.


My whole 200A load panel is my "critical loads panel" and the 18kpv runs the entire 200A service for my basement (which has all of my critical loads on it already)....so you can think of that as my "critical loads panel"

 

[spacemancw]

View attachment 213444

Not shown is a DC coupled array going into the PV terminals on the inverter. So I'm AC coupled into GEN with the SE7600, and have an array that is DC coupled directly into the PV terminals. They are show in the picture of the inside of my unit on the left side.


My whole 200A load panel is my "critical loads panel" and the 18kpv runs the entire 200A service for my basement (which has all of my critical loads on it already)....so you can think of that as my "critical loads panel"

Thanks very much. So a couple of questions.
Are there solar panels coming into the SE7600? I assume so. Otherwise what's the point of it.
You said you have a DC coupled array going into the PV terminals on the 18kpv. So do you have a separate set of solar panels going into the PV terminals?
When the Grid comes into your home it looks like there is noting else in the main panel, it just come thru the main 200a breaker and then to the 18kpv and as you say, the 200A load panel powers everything. You are not separating critical circuits from 'non-critical'. But then you mention service for your basement. What's the difference between service for your basement and service for the rest of the house? Or am I not understanding correctly?
Thanks again

 

[y0bailey]

Thanks very much. So a couple of questions.
Are there solar panels coming into the SE7600? I assume so. Otherwise what's the point of it.
You said you have a DC coupled array going into the PV terminals on the 18kpv. So do you have a separate set of solar panels going into the PV terminals?
When the Grid comes into your home it looks like there is noting else in the main panel, it just come thru the main 200a breaker and then to the 18kpv and as you say, the 200A load panel powers everything. You are not separating critical circuits from 'non-critical'. But then you mention service for your basement. What's the difference between service for your basement and service for the rest of the house? Or am I not understanding correctly?
Thanks again

Yep...panels going into the SE7600 for the original "grid tied system", and then a second array I added going directly into the 18kpv.

The larger box to the left of the 18kpv is purely a 200A breaker that I use as my "disconnect" and an extra layer of security between the inverter and the power company/outside service disconnect.

My house has 2 200A load panels. One in the basement, one in the garage. So I don't run my "whole house" on the 18kpv, but I run my basement load panel that has all of the important stuff on it (well pump, hot water, internet/wifi, wife's office (works from home), first floor air conditioner), all of the fridges). Basically enough to gimp along indefinitely. There are also some "non-critical" loads on that panel that I can just manually flip the breaker off if needed (hot tub, some exterior lighting).

 

[spacemancw]

Thanks very much for all the info!