diy solar

diy solar

48V Grid Tied- UL listed- Hybrid-Split Phase 13kw and up inverters

Mr.Watt

New Member
Joined
Apr 1, 2022
Messages
1
Hello all,
My objective is to supply my homes electrical needs with PV power and return unused power to the grid. The issue Im having is finding UL listed Grid tied 48V hybrid inverters. Solar panels are alot easier to find than high KW Grid Tied Split Phase inverters. I do not want to use two low power inverters in Parelle to accomplish this task. I have found several single phase and triple phase higher power inverters, but split phase are elusive. Im not really asking for code in my area(Texas) but rather a list of UL listed grit tied high KW hybrid inverters. What I do not understand is why more DIY'ers are not trying to sell power back to the grid. If you get a high power inverter, the typical Voltage input and AMP input on your inverter is much higher(from what Ive seen) and that provides alot of flexibility on your string make up( fewer strings and fewer panels with high watt). Selling back to the grid reduces your break even point. From what I have seen is finding UL listed high KW inverters(13-17kw). Can someone make recommendations on a inverter with the specs Im looking for. I appreciate the assist.
 
Hello all,
My objective is to supply my homes electrical needs with PV power and return unused power to the grid. The issue Im having is finding UL listed Grid tied 48V hybrid inverters. Solar panels are alot easier to find than high KW Grid Tied Split Phase inverters. I do not want to use two low power inverters in Parelle to accomplish this task. I have found several single phase and triple phase higher power inverters, but split phase are elusive. Im not really asking for code in my area(Texas) but rather a list of UL listed grit tied high KW hybrid inverters. What I do not understand is why more DIY'ers are not trying to sell power back to the grid. If you get a high power inverter, the typical Voltage input and AMP input on your inverter is much higher(from what Ive seen) and that provides alot of flexibility on your string make up( fewer strings and fewer panels with high watt). Selling back to the grid reduces your break even point. From what I have seen is finding UL listed high KW inverters(13-17kw). Can someone make recommendations on a inverter with the specs Im looking for. I appreciate the assist.
On the hybrid inverter side the only thing currently on the market is the solark15kw (which should be shipping in days). The other option is multiple smaller units in parallel.

Not all power companies allow grid sell back, let alone even offer net metering. Many connections don't even have local transformers able to handle a significant grid sell back. Our local power company claims to allow up to 10kw of net metering, then limits you to either 6 or 8kw depending on your house size.
 
On the hybrid inverter side the only thing currently on the market is the solark15kw (which should be shipping in days). The other option is multiple smaller units in parallel.

Not all power companies allow grid sell back, let alone even offer net metering. Many connections don't even have local transformers able to handle a significant grid sell back. Our local power company claims to allow up to 10kw of net metering, then limits you to either 6 or 8kw depending on your house size.
Sol-Ark 15K is already shipping, got mine last week.
 
Awesome - I will be following through on that! Thanks for the tip. What did you end up doing for batteries?
I bought x6 EG4 Lifepower batteries. I was going to go the route of DIY - at the time I was struggling to find 18s-24s BMS.
 
@Revelation Ok cool - yeah I was thinking 4-6 of the SOK 100ah, which i think are pretty similar to those. How are you liking it?
I have not mounted or connected anything just yet. Getting everything together before I start to tear things apart.

Currently I have an AC coupled 8.41kW system paired with a SchneiderXW+ 5548 and 8kWh of AGM batteries.

The new stuff is going to replace the old stuff and I will retain the AC coupled system in addition to 13kW of DC solar.
 
Gotcha - I have 12KW DC right now with solaredge - current plan is to swap out the solar edge inverter and optimizers for sol-ark and tie in generator too. No batteries yet. Interesting idea to do both..
 
Gotcha - I have 12KW DC right now with solaredge - current plan is to swap out the solar edge inverter and optimizers for sol-ark and tie in generator too. No batteries yet. Interesting idea to do both..
I'm doing both because I already have the AC Coupled system. When I do sell my current house, after I can finally find some land, I will revert the solar system back to the Schneider and take the Sol-Ark 15k, EG4 batteries and DC coupled solar with me.
 
My experince with grid tie was very disappointing. The amount you are credited for your grid feed is about half of what you pay for kw use. Just my experince.
 
I have a similar SolArk 12K setup being installed this week just north of Dallas. I have only a token amount of battery now as I think batteries are like PV panels 10 years ago and price dropping/advancing quickly.

I am still on the fence whether to go with a "Solar buyback/Net Metering" power plan, or just go with a "Free Nights and Weekends" type plan, and not sell back/drop any excess power that I might generate.

The Buyback plans here are at best 1:1 for what I use, so even if I covered all my nightline usage and had extra, I'd never get a profit payment from the power company. No SREC credits here either (n)

Financially, I am leaning to the Free Nights&WE plans. This doesn't yet protect me from another 2021 type outage, but in an outage, I can keep the PV system enabled for sunlight generation and a small generator for evenings as a backup. In normal operation, I am only paying between the hours of 6-9pm (no sun) and 6-8am (also no sun ;)) Then I can easily expand the 48v bank as they become cheaper.

Please LMK if anyone has other ideas!

FYI - SolArk and Signature Solar are both located in the Dallas+1Hr area.
 
My experience with gidconnect is not good. I never receive correct credits. I separated my grid from solar. I use solar on sunny and cloudy days. Grid and batteries at night. I recommend reasonable priced battery ,so during days inverter can use only as needed. It was great when grid down and raining. We still had power.
 
Back
Top