Schneider XW pro 6k vs. Eg4 18k - need help deciding

[knexbuilder]

If you look down in the comments of the YouTube video Sol Ark commented and requested he try the same test with their 15k. They didn't dispute the testing method. Both are great units, but each have their strengths. Schneider happened to be more convincing in their specs to me.

 

[ohsolar]

Here's how I think about warranties. You are the most technical person in your house(just because you are in this forum?) and if something happens to you, what happens to this complicated project? Do you have a backup who can take over? If something goes wrong with the equipment, who do you call? It is not like trouble shooting a samsung tv ?. You can always call an electrician but that may not be the optimal solution. If something just works for 5,10, 20 years that is good but something will always go wrong and you may have to tweak things over time. The less messing with the system you do, the better. I propose a DIY local backup network. People who you can call locally for help when you have major issues...Just an idea?

 

[G00SE]

So, spend 3x based on the assumption that one company will not attend by it's warranty? No, thanks

So why spend 3x on a solark when a megarevo is cheaper?
You could continue arguing to the bottom of the barrel with this mindset all day

 

[1201]

So why spend 3x on a solark when a megarevo is cheaper?
You could continue arguing to the bottom of the barrel with this mindset all day

Good question- why? If the megarevo worked as it was supposed to why spend 3x on a solark?

Of course the specs don't compare but let's not even have that argument.

By the way, Im completely bottom of the barrel, with an lv6048 that I bought - used ??? . Y'all play in a different sandbox than me.

 

[ungrounded]

hi,
I am in the process switching my current victron 3k units to either the eg4 18k or schneider 6k. I know the eg4 18k is an all in one unit but I am wary of buying new products. My main aim is to support couple of air conditioners with soft starts. Can the Eg4 18k handle them (4 ton & 3.5 ton)? LRA of 3.5 ton is 30 amps with softstart. I have not seen any load tests for the 18k. I have seen the sol-ark fail on inductive tests so not considering it for now.

thank you

I'm currently using a EG4 6500ex to run a Ac unit with a soft start. Works great.

 

[G00SE]

Good question- why? If the megarevo worked as it was supposed to why spend 3x on a solark?

Of course the specs don't compare but let's not even have that argument.

By the way, Im completely bottom of the barrel, with an lv6048 that I bought used ??? . Y'all play in a different sandbox than me.

I play on the bench! I’m just an expert armchair guy that points fingers ? and I use the term expert very loosely

 

[ElectricIslander]

There is a new Schneider All-In-One solar power and smart house system coming out this fall that updates their lineup.

Schneider All-In-One

 

[Shimmy]

There is a new Schneider All-In-One solar power and smart house system coming out this fall that updates their lineup.

For a new house I get it... but it isn't something I would ever buy. The combined meter/panel I have today is already sufficiently obsolete that getting locked into something like this seems like a really bad idea.

 

[ohsolar]

There is a new Schneider All-In-One solar power and smart house system coming out this fall that updates their lineup.

Schneider All-In-One

Possible to just buy the inverter?

 

[koppted]

Possible to just buy the inverter?

Possible, but I doubt it. Proprietary alarm bells ringing on this one, and this iteration of proprietary would be worse than the one you have right now for the XW pro system, which is manageable. From what i've read it seems you can't use any other battery or charge controller with their new system. On top of that the capacity is just 7.7KW with 15KW surge for 10secs so not that much innovative capacity gap between the new one and the XW pro.

 

[superchachi]

I have been stuck in a similar wormhole for a little while now, trying to weigh the pros and cons between the two main UL listed AIOs or a Schneider setup.

It seems there are a couple of things that don't seem to get enough attention in these discussions and those are: 1) are we talking about 120 or 240 volt loads and 2) the battery behind the system. I have been wondering about the 2nd one a bit more in the past few nights, but don't have enough knowledge at this point...still working on that.

In the pro schneider video above, the compressor was 120v. That might be normal for some and not for others. It seems that in a perfect world, I would simply run 240v loads only and overcome the lack of 120v surge capacity in the Sol-Ark (don't want to assume the 18k is the same...but, I will for argument's sake). I also have a wife and two teenagers...who are all incredibly good at honoring my silly little requests on how to do things. So, as with anything, "it depends" doesn't it? For me, I have more projects than time (my own fault), and this is not one I want to work on making "work". I keep coming back to the Schneider gear even though my current system design would buy me twice the battery if I went with the 18k's. If you have enough of the same pieces, the redundancy thing becomes pretty real/nice.

Carlos from Sol-Ark had some good info here:
https://diysolarforum.com/threads/have-you-had-a-sol-ark-failure.65795/post-851158

 

[dougbert]

Did you document the install, wiring and what products you used like breaker / distribution panels etc. This is a very very nice setup.

I have asked him to do that, so I believe it is in progress.....

In the meantime, here is the post when I considered upgrading from a Xantrex 120v 5500w inverter to the XW Pro last fall

Solar house generator I started DIY back in 2000 - My path from Trace to Xantrex (on FLA battery) to XW Pro inverters on Tesla Model S batteries

I just stumbled across a local dealer for the Sigineer inverters https://www.electriccarpartscompany.com/12kw-hp-inverter they carry: 12kw for $2,200 15kw for $2810 18kw for $4200 I called them and he will get back to me on: 1) does their product have the Tesla charging profile available...

diysolarforum.com

and this link with a BEFORE and AFTER pic of the actual swap. Did in Nov 2022, I was ON grid for 3 weeks - argh

Solar house generator I started DIY back in 2000 - My path from Trace to Xantrex (on FLA battery) to XW Pro inverters on Tesla Model S batteries

Why my modules are going in an outside cement bunker, especially with the firmware issues we chatted about with the Jack in the Box recently... https://diysolarforum.com/threads/she-went-bang-real-good-whew.49857/

diysolarforum.com

 

[wild01]

my goto high power cheap stack is 3 240v voltronic inverters (don't care who slapped their brand on them) stacked into 3p 240v/415v with 2 legs feeding an isolation transformer for 115/230 whole system can be built for less than 3 grand for a 16kw split phase 24kw 3phase system and less than $2500 for a 10kw 15kw system, large 3p equipment is much cheaper than single phase on the surplus market and the isolation transformer enables massive surge start capability.

if I wanted a tier 1 high power high surge system, I'd go with sunny island inverters. they are IMO the beefiest inverters on the market.

the caveat with both these systems is that I'm totally offgrid and could care less about load share or peak shave.

 

[sunsurfer]

Schneider electric = Global home/industrial power/automation. Reliable and robust, years of industrial design/experience. A foundation.

EG4 = repackaged cheaper Chinese budget DIY home power. Moving forward in a niche, but young and not an innovator but a marketer.

If you have money, Schneider is a clear choice. If your poor and want to pretent your still on the grid, then EG4.

 

[Madcodger]

Here's how I think about warranties. You are the most technical person in your house(just because you are in this forum?) and if something happens to you, what happens to this complicated project? Do you have a backup who can take over?

This! If we have other humans in our households, we need to think about what happens if we are suddenly out of the picture. My wife is very smart, but not technical. None of my friends are "into" solar and home automation enough to maintain a system, and it's not their job to do that, anyway. So, while I could probably design a system with odds and ends gathered from around the globe and have myself a fine hobby, that hobby work needs to be something a typical "residential" electrician can understand in just a few minutes (and with solid documentation prepared with the scenario that I'm not in the picture in mind). And even then, let's face it, it's going to be a challenge. Working with a stable, here-for-the-long-haul local solar installer can often be the best path forward (hopefully one that will let you have a lot of involvement). I get that this is a DIY forum, and I sure as heck enjoy both it and the hobby behind it. But if one cares about the other humans that live with them, keeping our own mortality (and even decent health) in mind is something to think about as we build our systems.

 

[sunsurfer]

This! If we have other humans in our households, we need to think about what happens if we are suddenly out of the picture. My wife is very smart, but not technical. None of my friends are "into" solar and home automation enough to maintain a system, and it's not their job to do that, anyway. So, while I could probably design a system with odds and ends gathered from around the globe and have myself a fine hobby, that hobby work needs to be something a typical "residential" electrician can understand in just a few minutes (and with solid documentation prepared with the scenario that I'm not in the picture in mind). And even then, let's face it, it's going to be a challenge. Working with a stable, here-for-the-long-haul local solar installer can often be the best path forward (hopefully one that will let you have a lot of involvement). I get that this is a DIY forum, and I sure as heck enjoy both it and the hobby behind it. But if one cares about the other humans that live with them, keeping our own mortality (and even decent health) in mind is something to think about as we build our systems.

I'm teaching my wife as I go. She is learning quick. She is interested in it so that helps.

 

[n2aws]

This! If we have other humans in our households, we need to think about what happens if we are suddenly out of the picture. My wife is very smart, but not technical. None of my friends are "into" solar and home automation enough to maintain a system, and it's not their job to do that, anyway. So, while I could probably design a system with odds and ends gathered from around the globe and have myself a fine hobby, that hobby work needs to be something a typical "residential" electrician can understand in just a few minutes (and with solid documentation prepared with the scenario that I'm not in the picture in mind). And even then, let's face it, it's going to be a challenge. Working with a stable, here-for-the-long-haul local solar installer can often be the best path forward (hopefully one that will let you have a lot of involvement). I get that this is a DIY forum, and I sure as heck enjoy both it and the hobby behind it. But if one cares about the other humans that live with them, keeping our own mortality (and even decent health) in mind is something to think about as we build our systems.

I think we should all document it all on youtube, and then leave a note with the equipment that simply has the URL to the first video in our playlist! lol

 

[1201]

This! If we have other humans in our households, we need to think about what happens if we are suddenly out of the picture. My wife is very smart, but not technical. None of my friends are "into" solar and home automation enough to maintain a system, and it's not their job to do that, anyway. So, while I could probably design a system with odds and ends gathered from around the globe and have myself a fine hobby, that hobby work needs to be something a typical "residential" electrician can understand in just a few minutes (and with solid documentation prepared with the scenario that I'm not in the picture in mind). And even then, let's face it, it's going to be a challenge. Working with a stable, here-for-the-long-haul local solar installer can often be the best path forward (hopefully one that will let you have a lot of involvement). I get that this is a DIY forum, and I sure as heck enjoy both it and the hobby behind it. But if one cares about the other humans that live with them, keeping our own mortality (and even decent health) in mind is something to think about as we build our systems.

So an aio actually makes more sense in that regard.

Something like a solark or 18kpv with a touch screen and one box is going to be far less intimidating than an xwpro with 3 or 4 boxes that cannot even be programmed without going into the computer. No?

 

[G00SE]

Just wait til the wife needs to do the seemingly biweekly firmware updates on these newer units
I kid!

 

[Madcodger]

So an aio actually makes more sense in that regard.

Possibly, although I think my Victron system is just about as easy to understand, and with a Cerbo GX, as easy to engage with, as an AIO (with more reliability than many, I'd argue - but that's a debate we'll never resolve! ?). There's probably not a great solution, but I think having outside help might be part of it, as much as I hate to say it.

As an example, several years ago, I installed my own security system, in two different homes, supplied by a company called Elk. Very few people knew of the company but they made (make, I think) great equipment that also interfaced well with some home automation products. But they frankly had a rather limited dealer/installer network so when we moved to our current home here in Maine I couldn't find a dealer/installer familiar with the equipment so I went with a local alarm company solely to make sure my wife had support if something happened to me. Our system here is adequate but nothing like what we had in our past homes. But at least my wife has someone to call if necessary and I'm not around.

This is the struggle I'm facing as we age... I can do almost anything related to technology with enough trial and error, and I really enjoy the learning process. I'd argue that much of what I create is pretty darn good (eventually). But how much of what I create relies on me being around and in decent health? None of us are getting out of this alive, and I guess I'm just trying to figure out how to temper my enthusiasm and fun enough to not cause a burden for those I love and care about. It ain't easy, but it's something I'm facing every day, and I suspect that's true for others here.