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Sol-Ark 12k setup & system expansion. The adventure and learning continues.

Sun_Dried_Toad

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Sep 6, 2020
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So. I have my Sol-Ark 12k up and going for 4 days now. Of those 4 days, only 2 have been running loads. 2440w of panels on the roof.

Day 1: install 12k and connect 4X trojan T-1275 batteries for 48v. let charge to 100%, no loads.

day 2: connect single load circuit. circuit consists of: one 12cuft chest freezer (GE one year old) two LED light bulbs, one 120v central HVAC blower fan motor. circuit was dead when I woke up, Sol-Ark in alarm for low battery. Move Chest freezer to a separate circuit, allow system to restart, on it's own,

Day 3: when sun came up. System runs fine, all day. that night, we got a cold front, Central HVAC unit was running (only the 120v blower fan is on solar circuit). The battery died before I went to bed at 11:45 pm. for the record, the outside temperature overnight was not very cold. as a reminder, our HVAC condenser is NOT on the circuit, just the blower fan. Our HVAC furnace is gas powered, not a heat pump, so it would not have mattered, anyway. I Removed the entire load circuit from solar system, allow system to recharge batteries next day after sunrise, with no loads.

day 4: Batteries (4x trojan t-1275) charge all day, no loads. stop at battery store, pick up 4 more trojan t-1275's. come home, wire in additional batteries. NO LOADS CONNECTED. will allow sun to rise, and charge and top off all 8X trojan T-1275 batteries to full. once batteries are topped off, I will connect a single load circuit. Of course, it will run fine, all day, while sun is up. the test will come at night, when we switch to batteries.

Day 5: When sun rises, I will allow system to charge, without load for a few hours, just to ensure all 8 batteries are equal and full charge. after a few hours of top-off charge, I will connect one load circuit. It will likely be a circuit with a freezer OR refrigerator on it, since that will be my primary critical load focus over nights, as we tiptoe into off-grid.

I know that 4 batteries was not much, but I was still surprised just how fast a single circuit ran them down.

I am unsure if I will purchase any more FLA trojan t-1275 batteries. not because of any negative feelings about the product, I just feel that by the time I buy enough banks to achieve my needed storage, I would exceed the number of banks that are recommended for a single 12k unit (4 banks of 4 trojans each) and I would have spent money that would/could be better spent on something lithium bases, such as a Fortress Eflex. the Eflex batteries are around $3,500 and must be purchased in a set of 2 to work with the Sol-Ark. after the initial investment of 2 Eflex, you can add additional Eflex batteries one-at-a-time, you just have to START with two, minimum.

I have another less desirable 48 volt charge controller that I can eventually pair my FLA batteries with, in a less critical or less night-time use area. or, I could sell them to someone for a golf cart, or just eat the cost, and have some last ditch back up batteries on a shelf for a few years, until they give up the ghost. I'm sure I could find a use for them.

Wife and I are planning a move to a home we are building, so the upgrades will continue, using our current home and circuits as a test area to learn about what works and what needs to be improved. We will be buying 12x Mission Solar 345w panels after we get our storage situation figured out and properly sized.

When we move to the new home, we will be making a drastic change in lifestyle. we will switch to wood fire heat and cook stove as our primary source. we will switch to oil lamps in the evenings, and will no longer watch tv after sunset. We will spend our evenings working the land, and our nights either reading, interacting with each other or simply getting bed at a much earlier healthier hour, so as to be ready to wake early the next day, to begin work on the homestead.

I realize this is a bit of a repeat of a recent post of mine. sorry about the redundancy. at least the top of the post was all new about my real world testing of the system.
 
Not sure what your goal is with this post except maybe to talk yourself into LFP?

T-1275 are 150Ah limited to 0.13C charge rate. Absorption at 59.28V. Temperature compensation should be enabled.

At peak voltage, you're pushing 2440W/59.28V = 41A

41A/150Ah = 0.27C - about 2X what is allowed.

Once you added the second string to make a 4S2P bank, you were probably under the limit most of the time. You have 7.2kW of usable capacity before you hit 50% capacity.

It's not clear why you were surprised by how fast a single circuit ran them down. Am I missing something?
 
Not sure what your goal is with this post except maybe to talk yourself into LFP?

my reason was to gather insight and valuable information, experience + calculations from folks like yourself.

your response has already helped me. I am still new to solar, and as such, am still learning the terminology. as responses are posted, I research all new-to-me terminology and deconstruct any calculations and reapply the learned math and concepts as possible.

this is a learning and exchange of experience forum, isn't it?
 
Just for comparison I just started up to 12K's two weeks ago. Totally off-grid home, averaged 1600 kWh per month this time of year. I've started up four of 10 batteries. One is the new Trophy 220ah, three are diy 280ah. Total so far: 1060aH or 50.8kWh. I have ran everything like normal. Three HP's that are VS or have soft starts. 5.5Ton total. Electric heaters (15kw total) all have 24vac enable switches installed, which are off and not needed, as I will run wood burner below 30F daytime temps. I will have 132kWh of battery total. I would not want to run one 12K with less than 560aH or two 12K's with less than 1080aH.
 
in your response, you said that you have 4 batteries running. you also reference one is a trophy 220 and three are DIY 280's. It has always been my understanding that you are not supposed mix batteries. as stated in my original post, I am still quite new to all of this, so I realize I may be incorrect or just misunderstanding something.

As for my most recent update, we made it through last night, with no power interruptions. last night was the first night we had all 8 batteries wired in. I believe that gives us 300aH of storage.

I have also fully set up the wifi and remote motoring app on my phone. pretty awesome to be able to check the status anywhere, anytime without having to view the LCD screen in person. this is a relief, since it powers one of our chest freezers that is full of home raised pork, and half of a beef.

after another few days, with no sighs of battery storage issues, I will connect another load circuit to the system. The next circuit I will attempt to add will consist of our 2nd chest freezer, our upright garage refrigerator/freezer combo, and the garage door opener & light. if our current system, as-is can handle those two load circuits with no issues, I would consider my start-up sized battery system a success. any additional load circuits that the system can handle after those, will be a bonus.

As we move into the new house and go totally off-grid, we will invest in better batteries, and more of them. I am all ears on any recommendations for brand, size and price point. obviously, we must pay for quality, but as most of us do, I am looking for low cost, without sacrificing quality.
 
All 10 batteries have 26" 2 ga cables connected to 1/4" x 2.5" tin plated copper bus bars. 3/0 from each SA12K. I saw 10,600W from each inverter and 185A (max chg rate) going into my batteries Thursday. All 10 charge/discharge at sightly different rates. They balance out just fine. Absorb now 55.2/Float 53.6V.
 
We made it from Friday night until Sunday (today) around 1 pm before the sun came out. Our 132 kWh bank was down to 15%. No woodburner. Living and powering everything normally. Brought in 100kWh today. Battery top off in the morning.
 
We made it from Friday night until Sunday (today) around 1 pm before the sun came out. Our 132 kWh bank was down to 15%. No woodburner. Living and powering everything normally. Brought in 100kWh today. Battery top off in the morning.
Awesome
 
in your response, you said that you have 4 batteries running. you also reference one is a trophy 220 and three are DIY 280's. It has always been my understanding that you are not supposed mix batteries. as stated in my original post, I am still quite new to all of this, so I realize I may be incorrect or just misunderstanding something.

As for my most recent update, we made it through last night, with no power interruptions. last night was the first night we had all 8 batteries wired in. I believe that gives us 300aH of storage.

I have also fully set up the wifi and remote motoring app on my phone. pretty awesome to be able to check the status anywhere, anytime without having to view the LCD screen in person. this is a relief, since it powers one of our chest freezers that is full of home raised pork, and half of a beef.

after another few days, with no sighs of battery storage issues, I will connect another load circuit to the system. The next circuit I will attempt to add will consist of our 2nd chest freezer, our upright garage refrigerator/freezer combo, and the garage door opener & light. if our current system, as-is can handle those two load circuits with no issues, I would consider my start-up sized battery system a success. any additional load circuits that the system can handle after those, will be a bonus.

As we move into the new house and go totally off-grid, we will invest in better batteries, and more of them. I am all ears on any recommendations for brand, size and price point. obviously, we must pay for quality, but as most of us do, I am looking for low cost, without sacrificing quality.
Check back with me when I have more time behind these two Sol-Arks and before you purchase more.
 
my reason was to gather insight and valuable information, experience + calculations from folks like yourself.
You'll note that we often harp on doing an "energy audit" on the front end of system design. Its important to understand what your real life loads are going to be that you want supported by the solar. An amp meter on the supply to the HVAC blower and or kill-a-watt style device for the freezer are both required tools to understand what the load is that you'll want to support.

The goal is not to guess and check but instead have a well built system on the front end that meets the expectations of the owners. (all to many times we get the feedback that "I spent $8k and still cant even run my furnace overnight" )
 
eFlex batteries are pricey but they are Dammm good.
Since they use Relays instead of Mosfets for the BMS they charge at about twice the rate of the batteries that cost half as much. They can also Discharge at much higher currents. The sweet spot for them is three batteries. The customer service is almost 24/7 365! and simply unbelievable. I thought Sol-Ark was impressive but Fortress CSR is twice as impressive.
 
Have you been through any firmware upgrades? I hear these havent been the greatest of experiences.
just as coincidence, I had a firmware update on my sol-ark 12k yesterday.

painless.

10 minutes, maybe less. instantly came back online, powered everything back up with no intervention from me.

so far, i love our sol-ark.
 
just as coincidence, I had a firmware update on my sol-ark 12k yesterday.

painless.

10 minutes, maybe less. instantly came back online, powered everything back up with no intervention from me.

so far, i love our sol-ark.
What was the purpose of the update? What changed? Others have complained that updates have increased self-consumption, and were not documented (no change-log, no list of fixes or features added).
 
What was the purpose of the update? What changed? Others have complained that updates have increased self-consumption, and were not documented (no change-log, no list of fixes or features added).
1 New member complained of self consumption.

The firmware is proprietary.
If they had release notes then every Chinese company would know and make the changes to theirs to compete.

Chinese IP theft is a thing.
 
What was the purpose of the update? What changed? Others have complained that updates have increased self-consumption, and were not documented (no change-log, no list of fixes or features added).
My system has only been online for about 36 days. To my knowledge (and I'm pretty confident) it had never been updated. I actually purchased the Sol-Ark unit back in September of 2021, so I'm sure the firmware was quite out of date.

So in essence, I guess the update was just about getting current with what is being used.

That said, the phone call that prompted the update was because of a (user caused) "Empty Battery" issue. There was not actually an "empty battery" but I had entered conflicting battery data into the battery config menu. This caused my unit to think that I had fully discharged the battery, and so it shut down.

I cannot say what exactly the update changed, but upon completion of update, the system came back online.

My above diagnosis of "empty battery" as the cause, is not 100% certain. it is just a combination of what the sol-ark guy and I saw in my battery settings. in essence, I had a "shut down voltage" and "low battery" alarm voltage that was lower than my "empty battery" setting. The shutdown occurred at exactly the "empty battery" setting witch was 48.5v
 
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1 New member complained of self consumption.

The firmware is proprietary.
If they had release notes then every Chinese company would know and make the changes to theirs to compete.

Chinese IP theft is a thing.
That's silly logic. It's not like the change log contains actual code for the firmware. This is necessary for customers to make informed decisions on whether or not to upgrade and/or at what priority.

Besides, it's not like there's a lot of patented IP that SolArk (the middle man) is really contributing here. Just sayin.
 
Have you been through any firmware upgrades? I hear these havent been the greatest of experiences
Not yet.

Everything is running great except...

1. I can only charge to 55.8V Absorption (3.49V/Cell), before my Trophy 220 aH and 5 out 9 of my 280aH, "Grade A", from Amy and Hayley, balanced batteries, start having runners/high differential voltages/BMS over voltage protection cycling.

My SolArk initial start-up battery capacity was 200aH. I am now at 2740ah or so. It still shows up on PV Pro as 100% charged when its really only 80%. Even though I've changed it in my master inverter.

Both are minor issues. My AiLi battery monitor on my battery with JK BMS (one of the few that remain perfectly balanced) and Chargery BMS all provide very accurate SOC %. The other 8 batteries vary from 10-30% less than actual.
 
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My Sol-arc is connected to web via the dongle and the updates just happen If I recall on thier own after the 1st one when you buy the inverter and get the 1st one.
I have about 16 months on mine now.
 
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