diy solar

diy solar

Schneider Conext XW Pro 6848

Damn, so I'm still stuck with a well pump that will need power for emergency use only until I get enough solar/battery. I guess I'm back to the Outback Radian. Any other options out there? Looking for one with all the Certs.
How big is your well pump? I have a 1hp 3-wire pump, and my XW+ 6848 doesn't even notice when I switch on the pump. And the pump has a 9kW starting surge. Yes, the Schneider is built like a tank, and that's what I still recommend to everyone, though the Radian I think is equally good.

Do you know what starting surge of your pump is? That's how I made my decision. Before making a decision, I bought a clamp meter with "inrush current" capability, and determined that my starting surge was 38A. I got on the phone with a Schneider engineer, and stated my specs, and they confirmed that the 6848 would start it.

I'm a "believe it when I see it" kinda guy, and don't really trust what people say when I am trying to buy something from them. After I got the pump all wired up, for the first time I kept a fire extingisher at arms length, for just in case. The pump starting the first time was so anti-climatic that it is now laughable to me.
 
Thought I'd pipe in here, since I just completed a full install with (2) XW Pro 6848 inverters plus 2 MPPT60 150 charge controllers, fed with a 1000 VA 48v LiFePO4 bank with (10) parallel strings protected by Daly smart BMS's. You may recall I was on here a couple months ago, having had a nightmare with the Growatt product, I went through 7 inverters trying to get 4 to play nice together without blowing up. My max was 48 hours between blow ups. As bad as the Growatt stuff is junk, I can't say enough good about this Schneider product. I'm amazed and smiling. They made me a dealer, so I did get some decent pricing (I'll be pushing some of these in my United Nations PV solar projects where I can). I'm still fine tuning to get max out of the PV solar, back feeding what we don't use, so I'll be posting some questions in the next few days. The product support is super, they get back to you fairly quickly. Documentation is superb. And the Insight monitoring device is totally amazing, they put a fast processor in it, and the built in software package is extremely intuitive and well done. I could do blackflips I'm so happy with this, after the Growatt debacle.
The XWs are great. Defacto standard really. However, the SW series are crap. SWs had so many problems, Schneider dropped support for stacking them. I'm not sure if they support stacking now or not. I literally went through 5 SWs with Schneider finally telling me there was a bug and replacing my units with two XWs along with all the required addons like PDP, SCP, Stacking Kit, etc. I think there is an issue inherent in the SW design that makes stacking difficult and software can't truly fix it. As standalones they were fine.
 
Not sure what you mean, the remote monitoring through the (old Gateway) new Insight Home or Insight Facility is superb. Wifi, local ethernet, and cloud interfacing from anywhere in the world.
I had a Gateway die. A bit over two years old and it started having connectivity issues, login problems, and general slowness. That got worse and eventually hung. I rebooted it and it never came back. I tried reinstalling firmware, but no dice. I bought an Insight home to replace it. We'll see how long it lasts.
 
Not sure what you mean, the remote monitoring through the (old Gateway) new Insight Home or Insight Facility is superb. Wifi, local ethernet, and cloud interfacing from anywhere in the world.
Catching up here. Lot of what I was asking was 6 months ago. So the new remote monitoring is much better?
 
How big is your well pump? I have a 1hp 3-wire pump, and my XW+ 6848 doesn't even notice when I switch on the pump. And the pump has a 9kW starting surge. Yes, the Schneider is built like a tank, and that's what I still recommend to everyone, though the Radian I think is equally good.

Do you know what starting surge of your pump is? That's how I made my decision. Before making a decision, I bought a clamp meter with "inrush current" capability, and determined that my starting surge was 38A. I got on the phone with a Schneider engineer, and stated my specs, and they confirmed that the 6848 would start it.

I'm a "believe it when I see it" kinda guy, and don't really trust what people say when I am trying to buy something from them. After I got the pump all wired up, for the first time I kept a fire extingisher at arms length, for just in case. The pump starting the first time was so anti-climatic that it is now laughable to me.
Pump is 240v 1hp pump with a 700ft deep well. Clamp meter shows 35a inrush so 8400w. I've had some other issues to deal with so now I'm getting back in the solar/inverter game. Was still going Outback until these recent comments the past few days. Rethinking.
 
Thank you all for the recent updates to this thread. Getting back in the game here and the Conext seems like a contender again based on the above...just wish I bought it when It was cheaper in November :(. Anyway. back to designing what I want/need for this setup.
 
Thank you all for the recent updates to this thread. Getting back in the game here and the Conext seems like a contender again based on the above...just wish I bought it when It was cheaper in November :(. Anyway. back to designing what I want/need for this setup.
Just to be clear, Schneider has the XW series, and the Conext series. The XW is the 5-7kW range, while the Conext is in the 2.5-4 kW range. I have both, the XW+6848 for the cabin, and the Conext 4024 in the workshop. The XW+ handles my 38A starting surge of my well-pump easily. The Conext however can only surge to 7000W, so I don't think the Conext could start my, or your pump. Comparision wise, I'd say the XW is comparable to the Radian, whereas the Conext is compable to the VFX.
 
Just to be clear, Schneider has the XW series, and the Conext series. The XW is the 5-7kW range, while the Conext is in the 2.5-4 kW range. I have both, the XW+6848 for the cabin, and the Conext 4024 in the workshop. The XW+ handles my 38A starting surge of my well-pump easily. The Conext however can only surge to 7000W, so I don't think the Conext could start my, or your pump. Comparision wise, I'd say the XW is comparable to the Radian, whereas the Conext is compable to the VFX.
Sorry I meant the XW that I started this thread with. Your pump starting amps gives me confidence this is the right inverter for my needs. Thanks!
 
Catching up here. Lot of what I was asking was 6 months ago. So the new remote monitoring is much better?
Yes. I have the Insight Facility (just because that's what they replaced my defective Gateway with). The thing is fast, connects easily from local ethernet or from the cloud, and the software monitoring package in my opinion is extremely well designed. I have no criticisms whatsoever at the moment, and that's saying something :)
 
Pump is 240v 1hp pump with a 700ft deep well. Clamp meter shows 35a inrush so 8400w. I've had some other issues to deal with so now I'm getting back in the solar/inverter game. Was still going Outback until these recent comments the past few days. Rethinking.
The XW is rated to surge to 12,000 watts for a full minute. I think 11,000 watts was 5 minutes.
Nevermind, I had the page up already. It is 5 minutes. Should be plenty to start your pump.

Screenshot_20220509-191703.png
 
Just to be clear, Schneider has the XW series, and the Conext series. The XW is the 5-7kW range, while the Conext is in the 2.5-4 kW range. I have both, the XW+6848 for the cabin, and the Conext 4024 in the workshop. The XW+ handles my 38A starting surge of my well-pump easily. The Conext however can only surge to 7000W, so I don't think the Conext could start my, or your pump. Comparision wise, I'd say the XW is comparable to the Radian, whereas the Conext is compable to the VFX.
In my looking around I've heard read both called Context. But, XW vs SW seems to be a reliable way to differentiate between the two series.

XW being the big boy
SW is the smaller models
 
Thought I'd pipe in here, since I just completed a full install with (2) XW Pro 6848 inverters plus 2 MPPT60 150 charge controllers, fed with a 1000 VA 48v LiFePO4 bank with (10) parallel strings protected by Daly smart BMS's. You may recall I was on here a couple months ago, having had a nightmare with the Growatt product, I went through 7 inverters trying to get 4 to play nice together without blowing up. My max was 48 hours between blow ups. As bad as the Growatt stuff is junk, I can't say enough good about this Schneider product. I'm amazed and smiling. They made me a dealer, so I did get some decent pricing (I'll be pushing some of these in my United Nations PV solar projects where I can). I'm still fine tuning to get max out of the PV solar, back feeding what we don't use, so I'll be posting some questions in the next few days. The product support is super, they get back to you fairly quickly. Documentation is superb. And the Insight monitoring device is totally amazing, they put a fast processor in it, and the built in software package is extremely intuitive and well done. I could do blackflips I'm so happy with this, after the Growatt debacle.
I am headed in the same direction. Can you DM me or here provide any details on the battery setup. I have 32 280ah LiFePO4 and daly BMS(s) 200a so any guidance I would sincerely appreciate with the XWPro settings / Specific Insight unit and the batteries. But just hearing it has been done is a very good thing for me :)
 
Ok, been in analysis paralysis the past few months over inverters and have decided the XW Pro IS the way to go for my needs. Final questions, maybe, on this inverter. It will be DC coupled and I will have it power a critical loads panel. If i I do have surplus power from PV I would like to know if it can power the main panel also but NEVER send back to grid. The red tape and only $.01 kw/hr pay back in my area is ridiculous. Installers here won’t even deal with sell back. Also do I really need the SCP or can it all be done via insights home. Thanks in advance.
 
Ok, been in analysis paralysis the past few months over inverters and have decided the XW Pro IS the way to go for my needs. Final questions, maybe, on this inverter. It will be DC coupled and I will have it power a critical loads panel. If i I do have surplus power from PV I would like to know if it can power the main panel also but NEVER send back to grid. The red tape and only $.01 kw/hr pay back in my area is ridiculous. Installers here won’t even deal with sell back. Also do I really need the SCP or can it all be done via insights home. Thanks in advance.
Check out https://ctlsys.com/products/. This will apparently let you setup for zero-export/sell.

I skipped the SCP and just use Insight (Facility).
 
Check out https://ctlsys.com/products/. This will apparently let you setup for zero-export/sell.

I skipped the SCP and just use Insight (Facility).
Yeah I came here to say exactly those things.
To the OP, above is the correct response.

The system control panel allows adjustments without a computer, but I too skipped it and just use Insight Home.

I'm not sure of the benefits for the Facility vs Home. Looks like just more ports and stronger WiFi.
 
I'm not sure of the benefits for the Facility vs Home. Looks like just more ports and stronger WiFi.
Insight Home terminates one end of your Xanbus; Facility has two pairs of Xanbus ports.

Facility has two RS485 ports, two 0-10VDC analog inputs, two 4-20mA inputs and two relay channels (NO/NC).

Facility can mount to a DIN rail.

Is all that worth an extra $300? Dunno.
 
Insight Home terminates one end of your Xanbus; Facility has two pairs of Xanbus ports.

Facility has two RS485 ports, two 0-10VDC analog inputs, two 4-20mA inputs and two relay channels (NO/NC).

Facility can mount to a DIN rail.

Is all that worth an extra $300? Dunno.
Ok, "more ports" was an understatement ?
 
I have had the XW+6848, 2 SCC 60-150s for 5 years. I use only the SCP. I have a integrated 11 kw Seimons generator. Operated for 2 years off grid then the last 3 years grid sell. I have never had a single minute of trouble so far. Oh and I have never updated any firmware. Still running what ever version it came with. If it works why jack with it.
 
I have had the XW+6848, 2 SCC 60-150s for 5 years. I use only the SCP. I have a integrated 11 kw Seimons generator. Operated for 2 years off grid then the last 3 years grid sell. I have never had a single minute of trouble so far. Oh and I have never updated any firmware. Still running what ever version it came with. If it works why jack with it.
What batteries are you running?
 
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