diy solar

diy solar

SunGoldPower 24v 6000W 240v split phase inverter charger

Maybe its just a cheap AIMs clone?
AIMS, "Sungoldpower", "Oneinverter", "Ouyad", "Upsen" and "Sigineer" inverters (the low-freq models with 120-204v split-phase outputs) are all extremely similar and appear to be made by the same factory, Yiyen. I suspect Sunray Shenzhen inverters are also made by Yiyen. And probably a few other brandnames I have not seen yet.....

The point is that Yiyen's inverters are sold under a TON of assorted brandnames. It's perfectly legal, since these are meant mostly for off-grid or mobile applications. If you want one with UL type approvals you will have to pay loads more for the "premium" types like Schneider or Outback Power. AIMS has some inverter models that are "ETL conforming" and alleged to conform to UL standard 458. They SHOULD be acceptable for home solar installation but I suspect you would need the blessing of a professional electrician.

I have had a 4kW AIMS and a 6kW Sigineer. They are amazingly similar except the Sigineer has a built-in display. Both of them consumed about 50-60 watts at idle with no load, so you may have gotten a bad sample. I put a scope on the outputs and saw very clean sine waves, even under some load. They are not BAD products--you just can't expect the built-in fans to cool them properly. You MUST put plenty of external fans around them if they are exposed to temps of 80 deg F or more. Take better care of them than the "serious industrial" types.

Like a lot of industries, the inverter manufacturing base in China is a crazy mess, with dozens of resellers buying OEM inverters and remarking them--and pretending to be the original manufacturer. Applies to all other solar-power products too. Be aware of this.
 
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Edit: After a bit more research, I'm back to having no clue whether the manufacturer is Sigineer, Yiyen / Yiy, or some other yet to be named company

AIMS, "Sungoldpower", "Oneinverter", "Ouyad", "Upsen" and "Sigineer" inverters (the low-freq models with 120-204v split-phase outputs) are all extremely similar and appear to be made by the same factory, Yiyen. I suspect Sunray Shenzhen inverters are also made by Yiyen. And probably a few other brandnames I have not seen yet.....

I think you are on the right track, but I went down this road and came to a different conclusion (still not positive). It is my impression that Sigineer is the manufacture, or as close to the manufacturer as I've been able to find. I used to believe Yiyen was one of the brands manufactured by Sigineer, now I am not sure one way or the other. But from the digging I've done, I believe Sigineer to be the closest thing to the Manufacturer/OEM/ODM I have found so far. Do you have any evidence that points to Yiyen, I would be interested to learn more if you do.

I think Yiyen could be another rival company making a nearly identical product, could be a company that buys and rebrands Sigineer inverters, or could be the same entity as Sigineer under a different name. (Both claim to be OEM/ODM's on their websites).

The point is that Yiyen's inverters are sold under a TON of assorted brandnames. It's perfectly legal, since these are meant mostly for off-grid or mobile applications. If you want one with UL type approvals you will have to pay loads more for the "premium" types like Schneider or Outback Power.

Actually I am nearly positive Aims offers versions of their inverters that are UL listed, this is one of the reasons they can charge more than similar inverters sold under different brand names. I believe Sigineer doesn't sell a UL listed inverter retail, but they may sell a UL compliant(?) inverter wholesale, for a company to rebrand and certify.

Like a lot of industries, the inverter manufacturing base in China is a crazy mess, with dozens of resellers buying OEM inverters and remarking them--and pretending to be the original manufacturer. Applies to all other solar-power products too. Be aware of this.

I agree with you. Its confusing as hell to try to decipher who actually makes and designs these products. And whats OEM, whats a rebrand, white label, a knock-off. Western companies play this game too (just a little more refined). Renogy and Rich Solar would be two examples of companies that are or have been mostly branding companies, selling OEM stuff made in China (Renogy sold essentially the same inverter as Aims/Sigineer/Sungoldpower at one point, as well as an EPEVER charge controller).

Then there is the opposite problem, where the same company or conglomerate, will exist under a half dozen corporate names, with multiple brand names and even logos.
 
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I have had a 4kW AIMS and a 6kW Sigineer. They are amazingly similar except the Sigineer has a built-in display. Both of them consumed about 50-60 watts at idle with no load, so you may have gotten a bad sample.
Was the transformer a toroid? I've seen the big square transformers and also the toroid.

Do they have a decent choke?
 
Aims GLF (PICOGLF60W48V240VS):
aims1.png

(Video)

SungoldPower APC (APC4024D):
front-angle-jpg.18043



Sigineer APC (APC6048D):
Screenshot_20200915_130505.pngScreenshot_20200915_130659.png
(Video)

It looks like Yiyen is selling the same or a very similar inverter, but I can't find any pictures inside the case, or any videos. There isn't a lot of info about them online. I did find this video where they are certainly presenting themselves as a manufacturer/assembler

Also, edited my last comment to reflect my now lower confidence that sigineer is the manufacturer. I am back to having no idea whether Sigineer, Yiyen, or some other unnamed company manufactures these inverters.

This thread has some useful context
 
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we might never know for certain, until someone who speaks passable Mandarin physically goes to Shenzhen and asks around.

All I can add is: these inverters work very well, IF you keep them cool. Our AIMS inverter died after overheating (the internal fans are useless) so I bought the next size up Sigineer. It too gets very hot in normal operation. So we put four high-volume 12v fans next to it that run constantly. And they make a huge difference. It is now 2 months old and still handling the 500W-2kW load of the house with no problems at all. Barely gets warm even under a big load on a 100-degree day.
 
Well, this has been very informative folks, as this is the inverter I was about to purchase.
I have a 7kw 48v Lithium battery bank.
I have a 5.4kw solar array on the way.
Now I'm shopping for an inverter and solar charge controller.

This will be for my garage.
It's a 1.5 car garage with no grid power to it. Instead of getting it hooked to the grid, I decided to go solar off grid.
I'm hoping for enough power for all my power tools, including 220v welder, and 220v air compressor, as well as basic lighting and a small air conditioner for summer. This system will also act as back up power for when the grid goes down.

I don't plan to use the garage daily, so I don't mind having to power on the inverter each time I need to use it. I can hook up 12v lighting and run them off of a step down converter instead of the inverter. With that said... having a 2nd fridge or freezer in the garage running 24/7 would be nice.
Any thoughts of alternative split phase inverters? Something 3kw or higher and around $1000 give or take a couple $hundred??

One question on this inverter... on the charger side, can it charge Lithium batteries, or just lead-acid?
 
I went with this, works really well, far superior to the old school inverter. Bought it on eBay.


This also looks very promising.
 
I went with this, works really well, far superior to the old school inverter. Bought it on eBay.


This also looks very promising.
Thanks for the suggestions.
I had both the MPP and Growatt brands on my list.
With the MPP HF inverters, my concern was longevity and the low surge ratings, but it seems like these new unites can handle a descent surge.
Power tools like drills, saws, and compressors will need that starting power.

The Growatt 6kw inverter was at the top of my list, before finding this sungoldpower inverter at a lower cost. Of course I'm assuming the Growatt will have the same stand by consumption issue as well.

So how do you like your MPP inverters now that you have them hooked up together and producing split phase power?
 
I don't plan to use the garage daily, so I don't mind having to power on the inverter each time I need to use it. I can hook up 12v lighting and run them off of a step down converter instead of the inverter. With that said... having a 2nd fridge or freezer in the garage running 24/7 would be nice.
Any thoughts of alternative split phase inverters? Something 3kw or higher and around $1000 give or take a couple $hundred??

One question on this inverter... on the charger side, can it charge Lithium batteries, or just lead-acid?

Apart from Sigineer/Aims/Sungoldpower

The only low frequency split phase inverter I can think of near the price point you want and the power you need would be the Magnum MS-Pae 4448 (4400W continuous, 5 minute surge of 5400, 5 second surge of 8500). Unfortunately its about $700 more than you want to spend.

My thoughts on MPP (and maybe Growatt-- i'm not positive) would be that they would not be best suited for your application (high power tools, welder, etc) since as you noted, they are high frequency inverters. However maybe you could consider oversizing them substantially to account for this (treat the continuous rating as the surge rating).
 
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Apart from Sigineer/Aims/Sungoldpower

The only low frequency split phase inverter I can think of near the price point you want and the power you need would be the Magnum MS-Pae 4448 (4400W continuous, 5 minute surge of 5400, 5 second surge of 8500). Unfortunately its about $700 more than you want to spend.

My thoughts on MPP (and maybe Growatt-- i'm not positive) would be that they would not be best suited for your application (high power tools, welder, etc) since as you noted, they are high frequency inverters. However maybe you could consider oversizing them substantially to account for this (treat the continuous rating as the surge rating).
Thanks for your suggestions, and for the new option. That Magnum Energy inverter looks like a very good quality item. The price reflects it as well, though it's a bit out of my budget, but not entirely crossed out. I may have to slow down a bit and keep my options open at this point.
 
Ive been very impressed with the MPP unit. Well built and tons of useful features, good support from the factory also. This is the future.
I agree... when I first started to play with solar back in the early 2000's, are options were expensive and very limited.
These new "all in one" inverter/chargers have changed the game.... in a good way.
 
I don't plan to use the garage daily, so I don't mind having to power on the inverter each time I need to use it. I can hook up 12v lighting and run them off of a step down converter instead of the inverter. With that said... having a 2nd fridge or freezer in the garage running 24/7 would be nice.
Any thoughts of alternative split phase inverters? Something 3kw or higher and around $1000 give or take a couple $ hundred??

Well guys, after some thinking, I may have given myself an answer with my previous post.
A 48v to 12v step down converter may be the answer to these high idle consumption inverters.

By connecting all the stuff I want to keep running on to the 12v converter, things like the lighting, radio, and small 12v fridge/freezer, I eliminate the need to have the larger inverter on all the time, and only turn it on when I need to power something off of AC, like the power tools.
I can see this being an option for an off grid cabin as well. I have found 30A rated converters, which should be plenty of power for starting a 12v fridge motor, and more than enough for the radio, and LED lights. (You RV guys know there are lots of 12v appliances you could add to this circuit)

With this kind of set up, I should be able to flip on the lights as I walk in the door, turn on the radio for some background noise as I tinker with hand tools on the work bench. If I need to run a table saw, or any other power tool, it wouldn't be much of a bother to simply turn on the inverter first. I may even add a timer switch to the inverter, as I can see myself forgetting to turn off the inverter before leaving the garage lol.

What do you guys think? Good idea, or am I over complicating things? Please add any questions or impute on this idea.
 
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Inverters can have a sleep mode. My 48V Sunny Island for instance consumes 25W operating but 4W if set to sleep and periodically wake up and check. That function would work for an AC fridge if you had one. 12V Battery/portable power station or maybe 48V to 12V switcher could be a way to run lights & radio.

I have a spring-would timer on the AC line for my air compressor, because I always forget to turn it off and it starts up when pressure gets low in the middle of the night.
 
Inverters can have a sleep mode. My 48V Sunny Island for instance consumes 25W operating but 4W if set to sleep and periodically wake up and check. That function would work for an AC fridge if you had one.
Not something I have experience with, but I was under the impression the only way an inverters sleep mode and a modern fridge would play nice together is if you use some sort of workaround by utilizing an external mechanical thermostat or something. I thought fridges need a little power constantly for the control unit / thermostat, etc? Are you saying that your fridge and your inverters eco/sleep mode both function properly with no modifications, or are you using some sort of workaround?
 
Modern? I'm a luddite.
Most of my cars have a crank starter (well, not really, but I did pick up a trencher with one.)
My PV system is all pre-internet (enabled, that is, I do purchase over the internet.)
I'm sticking with RS-485 between the SMA units, and relays to control loads.

I'm not presently using inverter sleep mode. I think it is adjustable as to how much draw is required to keep it running.
Most of my refrigerators are electromechanical. During sleep the defrost time wouldn't advance.
One, a Kitchenaid, does have electronic setting of target temperature but don't know if timers are electronic or not.

My system is grid backup, and for now just keeps running through the night. Using sleep mode could extend it run time, but for now it just keeps working unless it his 70% DoD and sheds loads. In that case my oversize PV should charge back to 50% fairly quickly, at which point things turn back on.

I don't think the small chest freezers have a defrost, so should work fine with sleep mode.
 
Hi guys, I have a "naive" question. If I understood correctly the inverter will be in standby mode until the leg1 requires more than 25W, so microwaves clocks, standby TVs, etc will not be able to trigger the inverter... to resolve this, I was wondering: is it possible (again excuse my ignorance) to connect an "RLC circuit" btw the leg1 and maybe even having an auto-transfer switch btw leg1 and leg2? Probably it's way too much trouble, but I am curious.. It will be REALLY NICE to use the standby feature with solar panels!!!

Also I was hoping to plug a chest freezer on leg 2.. Now I am not sure I will be able to do so... :(
 
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I am thinking the auto-transfer will not work on, since as soon it kicks in and switches to leg2, then the standby mode will be trigger again... What about a simple bridge btw both legs? --> that actually will send 220V to the appliances.. VERY BAD IDEA!!!
 
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