Great info...disappointing about the Lion battery...again looking forward to hearing more on your progress thxI have four Lion Energy UT-1300's for my 12v system. One of the four batteries is starting to fail and needs replaced. They were expensive. I am building a 24V system and went on the cheap with success so far. Two Ampere Time Plus 200Ah and two CHINS 200Ah. Both have 200A BMS's. I am still testing. See this thread:
Ampere Time 200ah Lithium??? Any reviews?
Thank you for posting this Product Manual. From page 2: I have one that is currently shut down (accidentally shorted it)...was going to rip the top off of it and reclaim the cells. (#2 above) This could be done with a bench power supply, yes? Set it to output...say,13.6V 10A ??? 2A...diysolarforum.com
I am expecting a delivery of the CHINS batteries Friday, and will be posting a new thread for them. I will do an unpackaging, charge and capacity test. I will then do a load test on each of the four batteries, then in series and parallel. I hope it will help someone.
Growatt 24V SPF 3000TL LVM off-grid
- Thread starter Nathaniel
- Start date
Vanconversion21
New Member
- Joined
- Jan 24, 2021
- Messages
- 23
Can't wait. Thank you. I'm looking at the chins 300ah and I'm considering the growatt to save some beans over victron. Curious how you like it and the no load power draw.I have four Lion Energy UT-1300's for my 12v system. One of the four batteries is starting to fail and needs replaced. They were expensive. I am building a 24V system and went on the cheap with success so far. Two Ampere Time Plus 200Ah and two CHINS 200Ah. Both have 200A BMS's. I am still testing. See this thread:
Ampere Time 200ah Lithium??? Any reviews?
Thank you for posting this Product Manual. From page 2: I have one that is currently shut down (accidentally shorted it)...was going to rip the top off of it and reclaim the cells. (#2 above) This could be done with a bench power supply, yes? Set it to output...say,13.6V 10A ??? 2A...
I am expecting a delivery of the CHINS batteries Friday, and will be posting a new thread for them. I will do an unpackaging, charge and capacity test. I will then do a load test on each of the four batteries, then in series and parallel. I hope it will help someone.
Fans only get loud when charging at a high rate especially when using utility power to charge. Also when there is a significant load on the inverter, otherwise they are quiet
Ok thanks for this
Repro
Solar Enthusiast
Unpackaged the Growatt and the WiFi module. Fought my way through the user manual and some online video tutorials. I bought a 12/3 heavy duty extension cable and cut it in half. I then used it to create my AC input and output. I connected my two 200Ah batteries in series and connected them as well. I plugged in the Growatt and proceeded to go through the menu's and configure. There are a lot parameters, and some of them I would like to highlight here for anyone thinking of buying one.
This unit covers all of the bases as an AC charger, a solar charge controller and a DC to AC power inverter all in one convenient package. Also, at a reasonable price. If you have LiFePO4 battery/batteries, and they have specific charging parameters. For example, I have two 200Ah LiFePO4 batteries right now, and the manufacturer recommends 40A current for the bulk charge with a max of 29.2V in series for absorption, and float is 27.2V. Every single parameter can be individually set. My Growatt model is capable of 60A charge current.
Now to solar. I can set each individual parameter as listed above for charging my batteries with the integrated solar charge controller. You can set the charge current (amperage), the max voltage cut-off, and the float voltage.
The integrated DC to AC power inverter also has the ability to switch between 110V and 120V output as well as the frequency of 50Hz and 60Hz.
At this Time I still have a ton of configuring to do, but the functions that I wish it had are all present and work well. I am happy with it, and glad I purchased it. The fans run all of the time, but are only loud under heavy load. There is a "Power Saver" mode that turns off the inverter when there is no load. Mine has a constant 6W load on standby. No sun here for weeks now, so the solar charging will have to wait.
I will say the the WiFi module is giving me a really hard time. No success in connecting it to my network yet. The instructions are very weak. Doing the YouTube thing for that now.
Once I feel comfortable with my configuration, I am going to do a battery load test for max output. I will post pictures later, and also post the results as well.
This unit covers all of the bases as an AC charger, a solar charge controller and a DC to AC power inverter all in one convenient package. Also, at a reasonable price. If you have LiFePO4 battery/batteries, and they have specific charging parameters. For example, I have two 200Ah LiFePO4 batteries right now, and the manufacturer recommends 40A current for the bulk charge with a max of 29.2V in series for absorption, and float is 27.2V. Every single parameter can be individually set. My Growatt model is capable of 60A charge current.
Now to solar. I can set each individual parameter as listed above for charging my batteries with the integrated solar charge controller. You can set the charge current (amperage), the max voltage cut-off, and the float voltage.
The integrated DC to AC power inverter also has the ability to switch between 110V and 120V output as well as the frequency of 50Hz and 60Hz.
At this Time I still have a ton of configuring to do, but the functions that I wish it had are all present and work well. I am happy with it, and glad I purchased it. The fans run all of the time, but are only loud under heavy load. There is a "Power Saver" mode that turns off the inverter when there is no load. Mine has a constant 6W load on standby. No sun here for weeks now, so the solar charging will have to wait.
I will say the the WiFi module is giving me a really hard time. No success in connecting it to my network yet. The instructions are very weak. Doing the YouTube thing for that now.
Once I feel comfortable with my configuration, I am going to do a battery load test for max output. I will post pictures later, and also post the results as well.
Great recap...sounds good so far Repro... thx for sharing.,
schmism
Solar Addict
I also don't have my wifi dongles configured... Ive tried several times. <shrug>
I load tested mine, would do full 3kw. would alarm on overload above that. would run about 3100w. At 3300 or so watts it would shut down. You can configure it to fail-to-grid on overload so it never shuts down (if you have grid available) and you can have it autorestart on overload. Most of my testing was unintentional when cycleing the 1500-1800w of microwave. Short burst and if it shut down, then the micro shut down and when it restarted about 20 sec later the micro isnt on so it would recover fairly gracefully. Then I learned about the fail-to-grid setting and never worried about it.
On the fans, they are reasonable at about half load. On high charge or high inverter demand they do ramp up. You can talk over them but as I've said before, if you were in a small room with it (camper,cabin etc) it would become annoying.
Repro
Solar Enthusiast
Couldn't wait. I went through the settings and set it up as a UPS and tested the inverter output. See the pics. I pushed it to over 100% load at 3.04KW. Held that load for 12 minutes. I had to shut it down as I was getting too hot. 1800W hair dryer, 1500W heat gun, and my gas log were on. The thermostat for the gas logs showed 88 degrees. So, to keep this short, it works. My batteries were not even pushed to their limit. Just over 147A load. I am happy! The fans on the Growatt were very loud, but slow down quickly after dropping the load. Can't wait till my other batteries get here and I can get my solar hooked. up. This is so cool. I love it!
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Repro
Solar Enthusiast
The cables are 4AWG. 2AWG is recommended by Growatt. There is a 2/0AWG connecting the two batteries in series. I only have 2/0 cable on hand for my batteries, and will probably have to get 2AWG because the 2/0 cable doesn't fit through the cable opening. I really really tried. I don't even think there is enough room by the terminals to connect 2/0 with lugs. I am going to wait until I find the right cabinet before ordering cables. Once I know my layout, I will know how much cabling I will need.
Thanks for this...I was hoping they would accept bigger gauge but not a deal breaker.
schmism
Solar Addict
I use 2awg welding wire for mine. but mine are 48v so half the amps. The battery terminal is a 6mm stud.
Makes sense thanks
Repro
Solar Enthusiast
My 24V Growatt also calls for 2AWG with ring terminals, and the DC input terminals are also 6mm studs. I did quite a bit with 12V, so I have a lot of 2/0 cable laying around as well as 4,6,8,10 and 12 AWG, just no 2. My luck! Thanks for your input.
I did get my WiFi dongle to work. It works well and the App (ShinePhone) is really not bad at all. I also set up two solar panels today (400W) and configured as SOL and SBU to get a feel of how the system works and reacts. I am impressed with this system more and more. For the price, it is in my opinion, hard to beat.
I did get my WiFi dongle to work. It works well and the App (ShinePhone) is really not bad at all. I also set up two solar panels today (400W) and configured as SOL and SBU to get a feel of how the system works and reacts. I am impressed with this system more and more. For the price, it is in my opinion, hard to beat.
SirWarEagle
New Member
- Joined
- Jan 24, 2021
- Messages
- 1
im not totally off grid but i have run into a few power outages lAST one was for 6 hours on a cold winter night in newhampshire . the system ive set up kept my lights freezers and HEAT going no problem /open the doors all you hear is generators for miles i sleep like a baby no noise at all ... I personally wont do MPPSOLAR but must say the people {ian } at growatt is alot of help and a strait up guy . ive now got 2 of them wired together split faze 24v volts 240 i can run anything under the sun
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That’s awesome...thanks for sharing.
Repro
Solar Enthusiast
Nice set up, and thanks for making me feel even better about my decision to go with Growatt.
I just finished install of my own. I’mtrying to power my small shop completely from solar and have some battery back up to back feed some critical loads in my house. Will eventually put in small manual generator interlock panel. I have an 800W MPP all in one in my cargo trailer camper and I’ve never had any issues in two years now.
Here is what my shop system looks like.
I’m going to add a generator plug outside the shop, but just for my little 1000W inverter generator. That way if I need to supplement my array if grid down I can use the little generator to charge batteries and supplement the load. I also added small buck converter so I can plug in 12v loads to the panel mount style SAE connector, lower left. Wires all behind the unit. When I need grid power I’ll plug it in to the outlet next to it. The bottom of those outlets I’ll attach to my generator plug outside and then if needed just manually unplug from grid and plug into generator.
Here is what my shop system looks like.
I’m going to add a generator plug outside the shop, but just for my little 1000W inverter generator. That way if I need to supplement my array if grid down I can use the little generator to charge batteries and supplement the load. I also added small buck converter so I can plug in 12v loads to the panel mount style SAE connector, lower left. Wires all behind the unit. When I need grid power I’ll plug it in to the outlet next to it. The bottom of those outlets I’ll attach to my generator plug outside and then if needed just manually unplug from grid and plug into generator.
Repro
Solar Enthusiast
Looks really clean with the cables tucked in behind. Great job!
Can you send a link / contact to where you got your Growatt? Also why not MPPSOLAR, was actually considering to try it for my next build ?
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