EG4 8K Not a True Hybrid? SIg Solar needs to either fix or recall.

[Mendo Home Power]

After weeks and week of trying to cypher out problems with the EG4 8k with a number of different tech support personnel at Signature Solar, both Signature Solar and I concurred that it should go back as even if we could sort out all of the issues;
1. No battery communication with Lifepower4 batteries even with firmware updates to both batteries and inverter and waiting for their RJ45 cord that was pinned even different yet as to the manual instructions for building your own, which I have done plenty of.
2. The inverter will not shift from Grid to EPS without the grid being disconnected. We went through the entire menu, sub menu, sub, sub, menu. In the end, Which didn't work by the way, I was led to shifting the grid feed percentage down from 100% to 50% or less to theoretically allow the solar to take the lead and supply power. Nope. And even if that did work what kind of lame excuse for hybrid is that. You have to manually change the settings to balance your loads between grid and solar. I install systems for customers. I can't even begin to explain to the customer why they would need to go out and adjust their grid percentage to balance with their solar input on a regular basis. This one was actually the last straw when I said it was coming back to them. Two more are going back from a customer I was going to install them for this next week. I refuse to put them in anymore and won't recommend them They are a premium price for what they are and they don't work. Sig Solar doesn't know how to deal with them so they rely on the buyers to tell them what the problems are in order to get a handle on the issues, which there are plenty. I for one, am not going to be part of Sig Solar's unpaid R&D team any more. I've pushed a few hundred K their way and lost weeks and weeks of work due to rookie tech support and stonewalling. Plus it gets to a point where my customers don't trust what I say. Not a good mix for success
3. After some weeks of interaction with Sig Solar on seemingly unsolvable problems, I was directed to install the wifi dongle through Solarman so that the unit could be examined through their end. This may have been a Solarman issue rather than an EG4 issue but I could never get the Solarman app to recognize the address so that a plant could be created. Not that I would ever use Solarman anyway but it seems to be the only way to get the wifi dongle to activate.
There are more minor issues as well , like the lack of sensitivity enter, return and up down buttons. If you hit return you have to reenter your password to make adjustments. And the interface seems reminiscent of MS Dos. You aren't entering code but imagine going back to an old unresponsive monochrome screen.

 

[j_c_meyer]

After weeks and week of trying to cypher out problems with the EG4 8k with a number of different tech support personnel at Signature Solar, both Signature Solar and I concurred that it should go back as even if we could sort out all of the issues;
1. No battery communication with Lifepower4 batteries even with firmware updates to both batteries and inverter and waiting for their RJ45 cord that was pinned even different yet as to the manual instructions for building your own, which I have done plenty of.
2. The inverter will not shift from Grid to EPS without the grid being disconnected. We went through the entire menu, sub menu, sub, sub, menu. In the end, Which didn't work by the way, I was led to shifting the grid feed percentage down from 100% to 50% or less to theoretically allow the solar to take the lead and supply power. Nope. And even if that did work what kind of lame excuse for hybrid is that. You have to manually change the settings to balance your loads between grid and solar. I install systems for customers. I can't even begin to explain to the customer why they would need to go out and adjust their grid percentage to balance with their solar input on a regular basis. This one was actually the last straw when I said it was coming back to them. Two more are going back from a customer I was going to install them for this next week. I refuse to put them in anymore and won't recommend them They are a premium price for what they are and they don't work. Sig Solar doesn't know how to deal with them so they rely on the buyers to tell them what the problems are in order to get a handle on the issues, which there are plenty. I for one, am not going to be part of Sig Solar's unpaid R&D team any more. I've pushed a few hundred K their way and lost weeks and weeks of work due to rookie tech support and stonewalling. Plus it gets to a point where my customers don't trust what I say. Not a good mix for success
3. After some weeks of interaction with Sig Solar on seemingly unsolvable problems, I was directed to install the wifi dongle through Solarman so that the unit could be examined through their end. This may have been a Solarman issue rather than an EG4 issue but I could never get the Solarman app to recognize the address so that a plant could be created. Not that I would ever use Solarman anyway but it seems to be the only way to get the wifi dongle to activate.
There are more minor issues as well , like the lack of sensitivity enter, return and up down buttons. If you hit return you have to reenter your password to make adjustments. And the interface seems reminiscent of MS Dos. You aren't entering code but imagine going back to an old unresponsive monochrome screen.

Unfortunately I have lots of issues as well in my holiday home and I am remotely and can't just press some buttons. I got the solarman working (you need 2.4 G and not 5 in your wifi). But the inverter is not charging. Did you get your money back?

 

[Mendo Home Power]

Unfortunately I have lots of issues as well in my holiday home and I am remotely and can't just press some buttons. I got the solarman working (you need 2.4 G and not 5 in your wifi). But the inverter is not charging. Did you get your money back?

We are now in the shipping back run around mode with setting up the appropriate pallet and strapping so that the shipping company can approve the pickup before it actually gets picked up then it will be store credit for equal value once they examine the unit on their end. All the meanwhile the customer does without.

 

[ddeatrich]

We are now in the shipping back run around mode with setting up the appropriate pallet and strapping so that the shipping company can approve the pickup before it actually gets picked up then it will be store credit for equal value once they examine the unit on their end. All the meanwhile the customer does without.

I'm in this same process. Had a bunch of issues with this terrible thing and I finally got into the shipping back process after 2 months of trying to return it. I agree, they shouldn't sell this thing at all. Makes them look bad as a company.

 

[j_c_meyer]

We are now in the shipping back run around mode with setting up the appropriate pallet and strapping so that the shipping company can approve the pickup before it actually gets picked up then it will be store credit for equal value once they examine the unit on their end. All the meanwhile the customer does without.

What is your alternative? I liked the idea of having critical and non critical load. I have solarman working but same issues with the grid not switching over to solar. Not acceptable.
Then I have lots of warnings and sometimes it does not load the battery.

 

[Nobodybusiness]

What is your alternative?

Victron or Sol-Ark.

 

[Cheap 4-life]

The inverter will not shift from Grid to EPS without the grid being disconnected.

What do you mean by this?
Is EPS abbreviation for emergency power supply?
if so the inverter should act like a grid tie inverter when the grid is available and when the grid isn’t available the inverter should switch to offgrid (EPS) mode.

 

[Mendo Home Power]

What do you mean by this?
Is EPS abbreviation for emergency power supply?
if so the inverter should act like a grid tie inverter when the grid is available and when the grid isn’t available the inverter should switch to offgrid (EPS) mode.

EPSD might be an abbreviation for Emergency Power Supply. It's not defined in the literature.
Correct, it should act like a grid tie but with power coming from Solar to keep the batteries maintained and supply the house. But this unit will only act like a UPS. Grid feeds through until Grid is off then it transfers to inverter.

 

[Cheap 4-life]

EPSD might be an abbreviation for Emergency Power Supply. It's not defined in the literature.
Correct, it should act like a grid tie but with power coming from Solar to keep the batteries maintained and supply the house. But this unit will only act like a UPS. Grid feeds through until Grid is off then it transfers to inverter.

For the inverter to supply grid tie power it utilizes a bidirectional AC input. It doesn’t supply grid tie inverter output to the offgrid (load out) panel. The only time the offgrid panel will be energized by the inverter is when grid power isn’t available. That’s the only time offgrid power is needed. Any other time the inverter can be setup to send power to the homes loads in the main panel by utilizing its bidirectional AC input. This stops the possibility of AC charging because the inverter is sending power in the opposite direction so AC input isn’t possible at that time. However the inverter needs to be setup to be in grid tie output mode, not offgrid mode. You don’t want power from the grid or the inverter going out the Load out of the inverter. Unless the grid is down and you want offgrid power or you just want pass thru from grid to offgrid panel like your inverter is doing

 

[JacksonSolar]

After weeks and week of trying to cypher out problems with the EG4 8k with a number of different tech support personnel at Signature Solar, both Signature Solar and I concurred that it should go back as even if we could sort out all of the issues;
1. No battery communication with Lifepower4 batteries even with firmware updates to both batteries and inverter and waiting for their RJ45 cord that was pinned even different yet as to the manual instructions for building your own, which I have done plenty of.
2. The inverter will not shift from Grid to EPS without the grid being disconnected. We went through the entire menu, sub menu, sub, sub, menu. In the end, Which didn't work by the way, I was led to shifting the grid feed percentage down from 100% to 50% or less to theoretically allow the solar to take the lead and supply power. Nope. And even if that did work what kind of lame excuse for hybrid is that. You have to manually change the settings to balance your loads between grid and solar. I install systems for customers. I can't even begin to explain to the customer why they would need to go out and adjust their grid percentage to balance with their solar input on a regular basis. This one was actually the last straw when I said it was coming back to them. Two more are going back from a customer I was going to install them for this next week. I refuse to put them in anymore and won't recommend them They are a premium price for what they are and they don't work. Sig Solar doesn't know how to deal with them so they rely on the buyers to tell them what the problems are in order to get a handle on the issues, which there are plenty. I for one, am not going to be part of Sig Solar's unpaid R&D team any more. I've pushed a few hundred K their way and lost weeks and weeks of work due to rookie tech support and stonewalling. Plus it gets to a point where my customers don't trust what I say. Not a good mix for success
3. After some weeks of interaction with Sig Solar on seemingly unsolvable problems, I was directed to install the wifi dongle through Solarman so that the unit could be examined through their end. This may have been a Solarman issue rather than an EG4 issue but I could never get the Solarman app to recognize the address so that a plant could be created. Not that I would ever use Solarman anyway but it seems to be the only way to get the wifi dongle to activate.
There are more minor issues as well , like the lack of sensitivity enter, return and up down buttons. If you hit return you have to reenter your password to make adjustments. And the interface seems reminiscent of MS Dos. You aren't entering code but imagine going back to an old unresponsive monochrome screen

There is a Lifepower firmware you can get from Signature Solar. The pinout for comms cable that you need they will also have.

 

[Mendo Home Power]

There is a Lifepower firmware you can get from Signature Solar. The pinout for comms cable that you need they will also have.

I've done all of that. Pin outs, new cable firmware updates, etc., etc.

 

[Mendo Home Power]

For the inverter to supply grid tie power it utilizes a bidirectional AC input. It doesn’t supply grid tie inverter output to the offgrid (load out) panel. The only time the offgrid panel will be energized by the inverter is when grid power isn’t available. That’s the only time offgrid power is needed. Any other time the inverter can be setup to send power to the homes loads in the main panel by utilizing its bidirectional AC input. This stops the possibility of AC charging because the inverter is sending power in the opposite direction so AC input isn’t possible at that time. However the inverter needs to be setup to be in grid tie output mode, not offgrid mode. You don’t want power from the grid or the inverter going out the Load out of the inverter. Unless the grid is down and you want offgrid power or you just want pass thru from grid to offgrid panel like your inverter is doing

That's not how the unit is advertised, nor is it set up that way. This unit was set up with the Ct's pointed towards the inverter to keep from sending power to the grid along with the Grid disable set to enable.(stupid) Everything runs through a critical load panel on the AC output. Went through the settings with tech support for hours, several times to try and get the unit to not stay in grid mode. The inverter, if operating correctly, is not a good setup for any off grid or grid assist system. The dual outputs is unnecessary if the inverter was programed from the factory correctly. It seems like an intentionally crippled machine with a just plain bizarre setup.

 

[Cheap 4-life]

from everything I read it is advertised that way. If you have a grid input to the inverter then the inverter can be used that way. CTs are also used on the homes mains wires before the main panels loads. This enables the inverter to supply the main panel (via the bidirectional AC input) and only supply the amount that the homes loads are using, without backfeeding into the grid.. the SolArk operates the same way. This isn’t “bizarre“.
I think your wanting to use the inverter as an offgrid inverter with grid assist. This inverter doesn’t need to operate that way. It can supply all the main panels loads and the grid assists. This is actually a better way. The CTs your using are only for when the inverter is supplying power to the main panel via the bidirectional AC input. so the inverter doesn’t put out more power than the loads need. This is if you don’t want to backfeed past your meter.
the offgrid panel is fed by the main panel/inverter supplying grid tie power and the inverters AC/Load output but only one or the other at one time.

 

[Mendo Home Power]

from everything I read it is advertised that way. If you have a grid input to the inverter then the inverter can be used that way. CTs are also used on the homes mains wires before the main panels loads. This enables the inverter to supply the main panel (via the bidirectional AC input) and only supply the amount that the homes loads are using, without backfeeding into the grid.. the SolArk operates the same way. This isn’t “bizarre“.
I think your wanting to use the inverter as an offgrid inverter with grid assist. This inverter doesn’t need to operate that way. It can supply all the main panels loads and the grid assists. This is actually a better way. The CTs your using are only for when the inverter is supplying power to the main panel via the bidirectional AC input. so the inverter doesn’t put out more power than the loads need. This is if you don’t want to backfeed past your meter

I've installed a number of Sol-Ark inverters. These are not anything like Sol-Ark. There is a percentage of "power from grid" setting on the inverter that doesn't seem to change anything with regards to pulling power from the PV or Grid. I've bounced around this a lot. Many hours in fact. This inverter, at least my experience with it, after going through all of the settings a number of times, will not feed power to the home from PV unless the grid is down. It is stuck in a UPS mode. I have interacted with tech support more than once on this issue. This is not better.

 

[Cheap 4-life]

I've installed a number of Sol-Ark inverters. These are not anything like Sol-Ark. There is a percentage of "power from grid" setting on the inverter that doesn't seem to change anything with regards to pulling power from the PV or Grid. I've bounced around this a lot. Many hours in fact. This inverter, at least my experience with it, after going through all of the settings a number of times, will not feed power to the home from PV unless the grid is down. It is stuck in a UPS mode. I have interacted with tech support more than once on this issue. This is not better.

that power from the grid setting is for grid tie mode. It allows the grid to supply X amount of the main panels loads and the inverters bidirectional AC input supply the remaining amount the main panels loads need. It’s not for the inverters Load output to a critical/offgrid panel

 

[Mendo Home Power]

that power from the grid setting is for grid tie mode. It allows the grid to supply X amount of the main panels loads and the inverters bidirectional AC input supply the remaining amount the main panels loads need. It’s not for the inverters Load output to a critical/offgrid panel

My interpretation was based on interactions with Sig Solars tech support over several hours of adjustments under their direction to get the inverter to switch from grid mode to EPS while the grid was connected. Are you implying that Sig Solar tech support is wrong?

 

[Cheap 4-life]

If you have the CTs in the correct location (before main panels loads) and facing the correct directio and you have loads in the main panel using power. Then the inverter will/should use pv and battery to cover those loads and would do so would ONLY do so when the grid IS available. When the grid isn’t available is the only time the offgrid panel will be powered by only pv and battery

 

[Cheap 4-life]

Are you implying that Sig Solar tech support is wrong?

I can say I have thoroughly researched these inverters. Sig is just learning what it can do. They barely knew that it even had a bidirectional AC input

 

[Mendo Home Power]

If you have the CTs in the correct location (before main panels loads) and facing the correct directio and you have loads in the main panel using power. Then the inverter will/should use pv and battery to cover those loads and would do so would ONLY do so when the grid is available. When the grid isn’t available is the only time the offgrid panel will be powered by pv and battery

Are you talking from personal experience with this inverter? My experience is different from what you are describing. I've installed Sol-Ark and Deye bidirectional units. I know what CT's will do in both directions. If Sig Solar doesn't understand what they are selling and supporting then they should not be selling them. The manual sent with the unit is obsolete and so is the one on the website. The firmware update doesn't fix the issues. I know from experience on the ground. I'm sure there are people who have figured out the puzzle of this machine and it will do what they need. I, in good conscience cannot leave this machine in the hands of a customer. Not only will they be unhappy but they will be calling me regularly to work on it as it will be my turd since I installed it. I have three of them going back from whence they came.

 

[Cheap 4-life]

If all of the homes loads are after the inverter and only connected to the inverters Load output, then that panel will only be powered by pv/battery or the grid. But not both at the same time.