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Sorotec REVO II 5,5Kw / EASUN( AXPERT/POWLAND) IGRID VE II 5,5KW

Then you aren't looking for an hybrid, but a grid tied inverter.

The ones who act as you describe are called grid tied :)

Some grid tied also have battery option.
Most don't.

Grid tied will feed excess power to the grid.
Some might be able to stop this, most don't.
I kindly disagree, there is hybrid inverters that do as I describe. Solark, Deye, skybox. They also use external CTs to read the power usage of the entire house and limit their production to that amount
 
@fhorst Thanks! I guess my thinking about a BMS was trying to understand the 'performance' of my battery bank. 16 x 200AmpHr x 48V is supposed to be 9600kWHr. I don't expect I'm getting all that, but how to know what I am getting out of the battery bank. Is it being used most effectively....?
First of all, your calculations need to be with the nominal voltage of LiFePO4 cells, that's 3.2v.

This makes 51.2v X 200Ah =10.240ah.

Good news, you are capable of getting the 9.6kwh....
If you want.

Even really close to the 10.2kwh

Where lead acid takes 100% and puts roughly 85%(reality 87-89%) into the battery, and you can use maximal 60%, before you really decline the lifecycle count...

LiFePO4 puts about 95% (reality 98/99%) of the generated power into the cells, and you can use almost all!!

The last few Ah to get fully absorption, take time, keeping your cells at 3.65 for 2-3 hours will do this.

Draining... Under 2.5v things get "bouncing".
You discharge till 2.2v, stop, and after 3-4 hours, voltage is up to 2.8, and you can get a few watts extra.
Discharge a few times to 2.2 or 2.0 will give after the first stop about 100 watt hour for 200Ah x16 setup.
Not a lot.
That's why most people stop at the first 2.2v bottom.
You do get 10.xxx? kWh!!!

How to test? That's where the world of capacity testers open up.
You don't do per pack, but per cell, to get most accurate readings.
Your lowest capacity cell will determine the capacity of the pack.
200Ah cells will fluctuate between 190 and 210Ah real capacity, after being fully charged to 3.65 (absorbed) and discharged till 2.5 (or 2.0, depends who you ask)

Now...
You have your 2000 cycles.
How would you like to get 2000 extra???
For "free" ??

LiFePO4 does not like extreme.
Not full and not empty.
Lead acid loves full, hate empty..

If you would keep your cells between 10 and 90% or better 10 and 93% SOC, you aren't using 15%, but it will increase the total amount of possible cycles.

You should have them compressed, the cells, as the thin aluminium walls aren't intended to stand free but have tight casing (compressed and then leader welded)
Or, as most do, with plywood and threaded rods.
You don't have to crush the cells, snug fit is good

That's a bit beyond your question.

So there you have it..
Not 9.6 but even 10,X kWh
Without compromise, without damage.
And you can get bonus if you stop at 3.5v and let it settle at 3.36 or so.

As you don't top charge..
The cells will get slightly out of balance.
Once you notice that the BMS starts stopping charge or discharge earlier then you expect, they are way off...

Charging them full for a week (or 2 ,or 3, depending on your Balance current) will bring them back in line.

First focus on getting things working optimal with 3.65, fully charged.
You can always tweak later once all is working as it should.
 
I kindly disagree, there is hybrid inverters that do as I describe. Solark, Deye, skybox. They also use external CTs to read the power usage of the entire house and limit their production to that amount
Lol...
You really need to read some more.

Sure, there probably is an inverter that runs on Steam....
Nuclear?

Exceptions strengthen the rules.

In principle hybrid passes the grid power via the Inverter, and is for this limited to the capacity of the inverter. Almost all hybrids need batteries, some can "function" without, limited in real life.
Hybrids can operate with and without grid.

And sure.. CT is there to give the option to feed to the house or the grid or both.. what ever you like.
Besides this, it measures the consumption.

In principle grid tied is not passing the energy via the inverter, but rather adding it to the home net,
By doing so, the amount of power used can be independent of the grid tied inverter, it doesn't care.
Your grid probably will, if you start using 30kw on a 25A main fuse :)
Grid tied can not operate without grid.
When the grid is down, you have no power.
(Perhaps exception with the ones who have battery option, bit that would make them almost hybrid)

It can, like hybrid use CT to limit the power provided to only house useage (not feeding back to the grid)
Almost no grid tied uses battery, and they don't need.
Some can have external battery array.

That's the difference between grid tied and hybrid. (On/off grid)

Revo II (what we are talking about in this thread) is a hybrid.

The 5.500 watt can do spikes of 6500 watt, but not soly from the grid. The resettable fuse will snap after 5500 watt.

@Cheap 4-life , do you have a Revo???
Or like to purchase one?

Or compare specifications with Solark, Deye, skybox. ???

If so, please make a new thread about this, as discussion about other brands and models, and their options make this thread what is about the Revo-II, quite a mess.

Thank you!
 
Lol...
You really need to read some more.

Sure, there probably is an inverter that runs on Steam....
Nuclear?

Exceptions strengthen the rules.

In principle hybrid passes the grid power via the Inverter, and is for this limited to the capacity of the inverter. Almost all hybrids need batteries, some can "function" without, limited in real life.
Hybrids can operate with and without grid.

And sure.. CT is there to give the option to feed to the house or the grid or both.. what ever you like.
Besides this, it measures the consumption.

In principle grid tied is not passing the energy via the inverter, but rather adding it to the home net,
By doing so, the amount of power used can be independent of the grid tied inverter, it doesn't care.
Your grid probably will, if you start using 30kw on a 25A main fuse :)
Grid tied can not operate without grid.
When the grid is down, you have no power.
(Perhaps exception with the ones who have battery option, bit that would make them almost hybrid)

It can, like hybrid use CT to limit the power provided to only house useage (not feeding back to the grid)
Almost no grid tied uses battery, and they don't need.
Some can have external battery array.

That's the difference between grid tied and hybrid. (On/off grid)

Revo II (what we are talking about in this thread) is a hybrid.

The 5.500 watt can do spikes of 6500 watt, but not soly from the grid. The resettable fuse will snap after 5500 watt.

@Cheap 4-life , do you have a Revo???
Or like to purchase one?

Or compare specifications with Solark, Deye, skybox. ???

If so, please make a new thread about this, as discussion about other brands and models, and their options make this thread what is about the Revo-II, quite a mess.

Thank you!
What exactly do I need to read more of? I think you are the one confused. You specified that I wasn’t referring to a hybrid inverter. That I was talking about a grid tie inverter. That is incorrect. There are hybrid inverters that function the same as a grid tie inverter. They also supply solar+batteries and allow main panel to add power to loads if it’s needed at the same time. Those hybrid inverters can supply their max output to the main panel and those main panel loads can additionally at the same time use any more amount of power needed, directly from the grid via the main panel without having to pass main panel power through the inverter. I was asking if the inverter this threads about had that functionality. I wanted to know if this inverter was right for my application.
Didn’t realize I was hurting the sale of this threads inverter by asking questions
 
Again.. lol

You are saying it yourself..
There are inverters who call them selves hybrid (or you think they are called like this) and act like grid tied.

When you read the 3 pages of this post, you can see that the Revo-II is limited to it's capacity.
And can not use additional power from the grid.

Yet, you try to ask if the Revo II can act like different brands??
Or try a discussion about what is hybrid and what is grid tied?

While there are many overlapses, they have different way of contacting to your house.

Pass through or add.
Hybrid or grid tied.

That simple.

And yes, again they're are overlapses, some grid tied have battery and might look like hybrid
Some hybrid can add some power from the grid beyond their capacity, and look like grid tied.

It has nothing to do with sales, I don't work for or at Sorotec, I'm just an overall happy customer.
Who have had its share of hickups as being one of the first to use their model in 2019.

If you don't like this specification, then the Revo-II might not make you happy.

Many other companies who sell (almost all Voltronic OEM, Like EASun) and just a few who really develop their own products.
Sorotec is one of them.
While they do sell Voltronic products as well (98% of all Chinese inverter names have one or more Voltronic types in their product line), they try to focus on in-house development and knowledge.
Something that a company as EASun does not have, they only move boxes, and lie about the specifications.
(They OEM Revo II, and claim/ lie how can do 5.500 Mppt, where the original does 5000...
While Sorotec does have models that can do 5.5, the Revo II is "limited" to 5000 watt..@ max 450v)

That is/was my choice to choose for Sorotec + my limited budget.

Sure, if I had the money, I'll buy a set Victron Quattros...
For 15-20% of their price, Sorotec delivers mor then 75% of their quality...
Good enough for me.

So, if that is what your question is:
Can the Revo II use more then its rated capacity via the grid?

Answer is no, it can not.
It's feeding fuse is 25A, strict and will stop at 25A.

That is without any discussion of the Revo-II is a Hybrid / one-off grid/ grid tied / battery less / Mppt / one, two or three phase (NOT split) or what ever..
That's it.

And. No worries, if you don't like, buy different.

There is a whole new line of Inverters coming!!

@Will Prowse already mentioned them in his videos, who have higher Mppt voltages and really blurr the lines between the different types.

In the future terms like hybrid and grid tied are probably no longer used.

What to expect..
2019-2021... 2 years of development.

For that, you are lucky you are buying today, and not in 2019 (or more early)
Smart BMS back then was unheard-of, and 48v was Indeed 48v, S15, not S16 as standard.
LiFePO4 was double the price as it's now and knowledge limited.

If you haven't bought yet, and are searching for what is the best for your installation, you should not be looking at old models, but the new ones with WiFi updates.
Not that this is always a good thing, look as the WD harddrives..
Hundreds of people lost all their valuable data due firmware hack.

I lost loads of data with an update from my mobile phone, who decided to delete video's to make enough space for the update...

Lucky, an inverter doesn't have much important data to screw up.

While handy for bug fixes, it does impose a risk.

It probably does beat the hell out of support I received from Sorotec, new display boards, new Mppt boards, new controller boards, free of charge, shipment (FedEx) paid.. after major firmware update.
(That was sarcastic)
This is the amount of support I received from Sorotec.
And while updates via WiFi would make it obsolete method, sending those parts, making those costs....
That's German like customer support.
Unheard of for China.

Companies like Easun will just say "make a dispute if you aren't happy with the way it works" , and try to rip out an arm while at it.....
(Why I don't like EASun? Their Mppt charged my 800AH deep cycle lead acid with 78v... Being slowly the death of the lead acid batteries (6 months old) and take absolutely no responsibility, make it a 10 week fight before finally accepted return at their cost to "agent" in Thailand...
Crying about "damage" to box and manual, so they can't resell....
No, they should not want to resell..
It's defective product!!!
I lost $400 on that purchase, + $2750 on deep cycle lead acid...
If it would have been LiFePO4, a BMS would have protected...
Thank you EASun!!

I feel sorry for those who did buy them, I did place a "warning charges at 78v!) in the box, manual and inside the inverter.

That's standard (or old??) Chinese idea of customer support.

And that makes Sorotec stand out of the crowd, making high quality products, that may, or may not fit your needs.

For what I read, probably not for you.
Growatt has a new line of Inverters, you might look into those.
Several have the options you like.
Probably a bit more pricer then the Sorotec.
The WiFi networks give, to my knowledge, just information from the unit, status, production, usage.
It still can't be used to update firmware.

But, perhaps different models have different options to update, not "hard core" like Sorotec does.
Where normally firmware update is something that's been done by the service engineer, not the end user.
 
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Houston...we have a problem. My battery charge/discharge section seems to have stopped working. Some history:

1. All seemed to be fine charge/discharge up until a couple of days ago.
2. Battery type set at User, Bulk Charge at 58V, Float at 57. All seemed to be OK...charge/discharge working fine.
3. Noted the battery charge/discharge cables were pretty hot. (6mm cable). Charging limit was set at 60A, so thought 6mm OK.
4. Checked individual battery voltages ... 15 of 16 just over 4V. One battery showing 0.32V (1st in battery pack). With all 16 batteries (15 good, 1 bad), battery pack was measuring 60.2V end to end.
5. Removed bad battery (quite swollen). Remaining 15 batteries showing 63.5V end to end (yesterday). Now seem to have settled to 60.5V.
6. During time 3-5, battery pack connected/disconnected (two pole isolation switch) from the inverter.
7. No battery charge/discharge indication on display.
8. Tried running in Battery Mode...no joy, switching on/off etc. Got a couple of Fault Code 9's (Bus Voltage too low), but these seem to have cleared.
9. Inverter still in Solar mode. Previously in Solar mode a charge voltage circa 58V would be on the inverter battery terminals (with battery pack disconnected). Now 0V.

It's like a 'fuse' has blown on the battery charge/discharge board. Also how can the batteries get up to 60+ volts when the charge voltage max is set at 58V?

Any thoughts or suggestions.... or is a return on warranty job??

PS...I've doubled up the battery connect cables and have 35mm cable ready to go when I get the cable crimp tool.

Thanks!!

Dan
 
I note in the photo of the mainboard (fhorst... thanks), what looks like a fuse on the +ve battery terminal .... circled in RED. Is this easy to replace? And a small correction to above item 9. With battery pack isolated, the inverter battery terminals measure 'some voltage' ... maybe up to 40+V when the voltmeter is 1st connected, but ramps down to 1 or 2 volts in a few secs. Maybe explained by the pic. There seems to be an electrical connection on the +ve terminal before the 'fuse'. Maybe this causes the voltage to appear on the terminal when voltmeter first connected?

Revo Board Fuse.JPG
 
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Update: It's not the fuse. Removed the top board to have a look. Also not the big capacitors to the right of the fuse (agent asked to check if they had exploded). My voltmeter had a flat battery, so voltages 60V etc., reported yesterday are not correct. LiFePO4 battery pack sitting at 48.5V with individual cells normal at 3.19 - 3.25. I am returning the unit for repair to agent in Thailand.
 
Sorry to read about your issues!!!

First off: what BMS are you using?
Cells can get defective, and with one "missing" the others "compensate" this loss.

Overcharge is not fault of charger, but lack of functional BMS.
It should have stopped discharge with one cell down.
And stopped charge with one cell above 3.65v.

Charger don't know about individual cells, just sees the whole pack.

6mm2 is really not for 60A...
25mm2 already gets warm with 60A
35mm2 is good.

6mm2 wires will give errors with voltage readings.
Revo might see 57/58 where the battery is higher.

Always note what the charger sees, and what you measure at the battery.

Last one is the real voltage.
If it is 55 but sees 53.5v...
At 58 (that is what it sees) the actual voktgae is around 60. ..

This is general China Inverters knowledge, as most don't provide really accurate readings, especially with thinner and longer cables.

Probably calibrated with 15cm max cable, with 48v power supply.
What is easy, but not the same as 48v battery (LiFePO4 or lead acid) and 150cm (or so) power cable...

I hope for you repairs will take short time, and replacement will arrive quickly!
 
Thanks K Frank. It's interesting that two things happened .... a lifepo4 cell failing and the battery charge/discharge function on the Revo ii failing. Logically you'd have to think that they were related...some kind of capacitive surge or momentary short circuit, I have no idea. Related would have made sense if the fuse had blown, but it was OK. (200Amp so some kind of surge to blow that). The battery could have failed some time ago as it's not a thing I check and I have no BMS to alert me of any defective battery. (topic for further discussion on whether one is really needed.!). For the battery cables I have some 35mm battery cable ready to go. Just waiting for the crimping tool to arrive. Agent (T times 2) in Thailand pretty helpful on SMS. He tells me about a week or two for repair depending on what's wrong & parts available. Kerry Express to BKK this afternoon 205Bht. (6.20USD) Some things remain cheap in Thailand. Interesting, the Kerry shop was full of Thais sending boxes of big beans up North. Thought that was a one way traffic from N to S... Cheers

Dan
 
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Is this a joke?
I hope not!!

Yes BMS is absolutely necessary.
Without BMS, you are the manager, and need almost constant monitor the batteries.
As maximum the battery could have been defective for an hour.
That is..
If you want to be the manager.

99.99% want to spend their time different, and choose to automate this. => BMS ?

Only in controlled environment and even then, risky to work without BMS.

And why?
For 30 USD you have one.

If you use higher current, you should have the funds to buy also BMS.

Like driving motorcycle:
First buy helmet and safetysuit.
With the money you have left, buy your motorcycle.

No helmet and suit?
Don't cry it hurts when you fell.
If you're still able to do so.
Many only leave people behind to cry.

If BMS is needed?
ABSOLUTELY!!
 
Update: Inverter had somehow 'locked up'. Agent switched battery type to Lead Acid and it reset itself. Set back to User and worked as normal. Unit on its way back to me. Believe a system 'reset' would also have worked.
 
I will make a video and give you instructions how to do the calibration. For me the correct values for charge and discharge, stopped the floating from working. The values were all correct as measured by multimeter.
Dear MikeSolarPT , have you finished the video which contain the instructions to do calibration?
And please, if you have time can you make another video how to do frimware update.

And a big thank to you because you are the first who's talking about this hybrid inverter and its problems
 
I talked to Kevin, main technical support engineer at Sorotec for the Revo line.

like posted before, the limited guide.
I've done this, its not that difficult, yet not easy at all to get the right readings.
program and ini settings are in the Revo II zip

for me its much easier to simply correct it in the settings.
if the Revo reads the battery pack 0.5v wrong, us this same in the charge controller settings, as well as the inverter settings.

charge till 56 or 56.5 is more easy set, then the voltage from 52.5 to 53v :)

I also do like to see the video, and hope to see that @MikeSolarPT found a more easy way then i did...
probably wishful thinking :)
 

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I talked to Kevin, main technical support engineer at Sorotec for the Revo line.

like posted before, the limited guide.
I've done this, its not that difficult, yet not easy at all to get the right readings.
program and ini settings are in the Revo II zip

for me its much easier to simply correct it in the settings.
if the Revo reads the battery pack 0.5v wrong, us this same in the charge controller settings, as well as the inverter settings.

charge till 56 or 56.5 is more easy set, then the voltage from 52.5 to 53v :)

I also do like to see the video, and hope to see that @MikeSolarPT found a more easy way then i did...
probably wishful thinking :)
Dear fhorst , thank you for sharing the information and the software about the calibration, but i have a question , i should use a special programmer? , or just use the usb cable which was came with the hybrid inverter ?
 
If I recall correctly you use the RS232 port, that looks like networking port and cable, and yes USB on the other end.

There are 2, one for the CAN bus,other one you need.
 
I talked to Kevin, main technical support engineer at Sorotec for the Revo line.

like posted before, the limited guide.
I've done this, its not that difficult, yet not easy at all to get the right readings.
program and ini settings are in the Revo II zip

for me its much easier to simply correct it in the settings.
if the Revo reads the battery pack 0.5v wrong, us this same in the charge controller settings, as well as the inverter settings.

charge till 56 or 56.5 is more easy set, then the voltage from 52.5 to 53v :)

I also do like to see the video, and hope to see that @MikeSolarPT found a more easy way then i did...
probably wishful thinking :)
Dear fhorst thank you for you help because i success to calibrate the PV voltage and Battery voltage easly by changing the mppt volt slop and BatVolt slop parameter that's right ? , but i can't very success to calibrate the charge and discharge current because it is tricky and hard.

Because the pdf guide for calibration that you have posted in this forum is to change the charge-disharge-middle slope.
Did you have a easy way to calibrate the charge and disharge current and the charge-disharge-middle slope?
And what is the invCurvS parameter and inverter volt slope and involt+ , PV Volt+ , BatVolt+ .....
I'm waiting your reply as soon as possible ?
 

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I did only the battery voltage and it reduced the misreading, mis measuments from the Revo, yet not fully 100%.
But close enough.
The rest I did in adjust the settings with the offset.
Half a voltage isn't that important.

Solar, my measurements are matching that of the Revo, no need to change.

And the next step...
Yeah..
@MikeSolarPT ...

Please ?...

That video will be really helpful.
As I get stuck at just battery voltage.
The rest out of my league.
 
Hi, there is many questions about the working of the REVO II series from Sorotec ( same model as EASUN IGRID VE II ).

After many questions to the Engineers, i finally got mine to work.

General Function - This inverter doesn´t like to work with a PV array with Open Circuit Voltage over 300volts. Be sure you set and configure your array to be under 300volts.

CT Limiting Function
- PV Open Circuit Voltage below 300volts
- having a CT sensor 100A/0,333volts
- The CT sensor must be in the correct direction, load displays ( - ) Watts, feed in displays ( + ) Watts. if wrong, just change the direction of the sensor.
- Working Mode - AC+PV with CT sensor Selected
- Ongrid Mode - Set to OFF

You the can calibrate you CT sensor in the other menu to match you load correctly.

Battery
If you are working with LIFEPO4 cells, in the battery menu , select USER and define Bulk and Float

If you have batteries, and you select AC+PV the battery will act as a UPS, only discharges if the AC power goes off. From my findings the PV only powers loads and batter, it will feed the grid with the remaining power.
I tryed pushing more loads and it got it from the grid, not from the battery, so i assume it is backup only mode.

I also got a software for battery voltage and amps calibration but i haven't tested it yet.

Monitoring
For monitoring, i use Jblance code in a raspberry pi. I got the protocol from this inverter and JBlance manage to put it in the software and it is working fine.

you can use Wifi Logger and the app works ok, but i as looking for more detail, that is what i get from graphana in home assistant.

Any help i can give about this inverter, just ask.
hi,
I would appreciate your feedback on the noise level of the Sorotec Revo ii - 5.5kw.
Did you find it to be noisy? what is the dB level of the inverter?
Or is it only noisy when the fans are running, if so, how frequent does the fans run?
thank you in advance.
 
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