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I like the ~15kw batteries. They take up more space than the 5kw but not enough that it matters. It's not difficult for me to deplete them in one "normal" day of low sun. That's when most of the chore stuff seems to get done so things like laundry, etc. I'm not sure they've fully fixed it...

Hello Everyone, I recently finished up my first solar install with 18kw pv and some battery. I've been enjoying going through the data and trying to see how long I can run without using much/any grid power. It's really got me thinking. There seem to be 2 schools of thought on building a...

I never got any of that, I submitted the files I had and he did what he needed in his software.

It's been terrible! The only days it turns out to be nice, it shows rain a few days ahead so I schedule something else. I'm about 1.5 hrs south of you! Thanks from 45814!

I do not sell them and don't really have an interest in selling them. I just needed them for my personal project and couldn't quite find anything that was available so I modified what I could find and made some changes. The files are attached. (Any reliance you place on such material is...

Hello. I ended up wiring a relay powered from the Sol-Ark 15/16 pins to the Tigo AUX port. I figured this will give me the best config as my IT equipment is on a UPS so if the Tigo is able to send a note, I should get an alert if someone ever pushes the EPO/RSD button. The Aux port is...

I just had a thought and it's not something I've researched. Would it be better to have 9 panels with one being partially shaded occasionally or 8 panels?

That looks like a TON of fun!!! :D

That could be. If I did it over again, I'd get a DPDT switch instead of my SPDT switch. Then I'd wire both the inverter and the Tigo to the same switch. Or you could do it with 2 switches and shut them down independently. When I was thinking through mine, the only time that switch should...

I'm looking forward to it! My in-laws are coming out for the event and I took the day off work.

Thanks for posting this! I'm just getting ready to wire my JKBMS up to my Sol-Ark and this is great information to have.

I tested last night and got my JK talking to the Sol-Ark 15k. A straight through cable would have probably worked but I swapped one pin for the GND connection.

You have to replace the T1 and N (I Believe, this was off the top of my head) with a live circuit to keep it charged. That's how I've seen it done in a couple other videos. Basically, you'd pull the ATS out, connect the required circuit to keep juice to the gen that it needs, attach the 2...

You'll want to look up your control board on your generator to make sure it supports 2 wire start. I was hoping, like you, that I could control it with the ATS wires but it doesn't work that way. For mine, I had to install 2 wires in the factory connectors at the generator then enter the...

I just finished a new install that is basically Option 3. I love it! Just got my first power bill and it was much much lower. I like the option of switching to offgrid without issue. We had a brief power outage when someone hit a pole down the road and if my generator didn't kick on, I...

Thanks for the replies. They did say it had to be a knife style and lockable and that an external lockable door didn't work. My meter feeds directly to my ATS with a 200A breaker with a lockable door. I sent them pictures and they said that doesn't work. I am doing line side from my...

I wired in my sol-ark after the ATS as it was the easiest place to install it. I configured my generator for 2 wire start and have it connected to the 15k and then set up generator on grid in the 15k. This is the recommendation from Sol-Ark. Any generator over 19kw should be on the grid side...

@diso12 That's not the control board unfortunately, it's the board where the display is. If it's supported, you have to remove a large molex style connector and insert 2 more pins and connect the 2-wire start wires there. It's something like this depending on the model of generator you have...

Sent!

Nope, I've got a Sol-Ark 15k. My inverter sits in-between my ATS and my main panel. (The location just happened to be perfect for the way everything was run before I started. ) I basically just pulled the wires back, cut the conduit and pushed the cables back, then ran new cables in the ATS...

Hello Everyone, I'm a solar newbie from NW Ohio, looking to design and build my first solar system. I have a friend who has installed a decently sized system and I'm looking at doing something similar. I'm looking to build a grid tied / hybrid system. I want to try to lower my total energy...

What kind of finish on the roof? I went with K2 systems and I'm really happy with results. I have a metal roof and their mounting system attached directly to the peaks. I found a distributor that sold them and gave them the BOM from the K2 site. Shipping wasn't pretty but had the stuff in...

My rough estimate was 10 years. My first power bill was almost $540 cheaper than the same time the previous year so if I keep that up, it should go quickly.

It's a known bug. It's top of their list to fix right now but if you have a 15k, don't try to update the TOU settings through the web interface. You have to change it to 12k and it limits your output to that. I was stuck at 12kw yesterday when there are times I would have been easily doing...

Yeah, a friend of a friend had a machine to do it so I threw him a few bucks to make them for me. He filled in the text void with white paint on black acrylic and it looked great!

Why not just add another 15k in parallel and be done with it? Then you can use all your battery and solar together. Plus it will double what you could output at any given time. I built a system similar to yours and am already considering phase 2 which I will do exactly that. (Add another 15k...

Hello Everyone, I'm in the final stages of designing my solar system. I've got nearly everything picked out except for the panels. I have a basic idea what I want but I'm really struggling on making a decision. Here's what I have so far: Inverter: Sol-Ark 15k Storage: Custom EVE LF280...

The factory installed wire is large, at least a #6 but I didn't look that closely. I'll work towards removing the N-G bond on my main panel. I'm adding more ground rods to my installation so I'll make sure the ATS has a good ground as well. They have a larger green coated wire that...

Wow, I don't know how I missed the 50m part. That's quite a distance. If you do a double conversion, you'll end up with power loss.

I'd rather just leave the ATS in place, I've already got everything wired in and working well. Plus I like the idea of having the ATS to fully isolate the generator from the grid. My generator is a 24k so I have to hook it to the grid side anyway. It's configured to be controlled by the...

Hello Everyone, I'm in the process of ordering everything for my first solar install. I'm a DIY kinda guy so I'm doing nearly everything myself. A year or so ago, I had the generator that came with my house replaced. It was a "half house" and I upgraded to a "whole house." The main...

Thanks! I'm not too concerned about it. The only real concern I have right now is the disconnect. They wanted a separate disconnect but there's one built into my ATS. I sent them pictures of that one as part of the final install so we'll see if they accept it. If they don't, I'll have 2...

I also wanted to check that my batteries were performing well thermally. Things looked good. The heat on the actual batteries was a reflection of my body.

You can do both. I use CAN communication between the master JKBMS and the 15K then I monitor the batteries over RS485 from Solar Assistant.

It will have a charge if it's cellular, some just bill you yearly for it. Depending on what you need, it might not be that bad. I haven't watched that video yet but what you're talking about is basically the start of a network. You can build it one block at a time and extend it as your...

It was kind of a hazy day out as well. I was just happy to see over 12kw at that point then every extra watt to put in the batteries was nice. What's your next step on your system?

I used Andy's settings and they're pretty close to what Steve Posted. I think I need to change the Start Balance voltage. I'm going to have to review...

Ha, no it's not Dave. Would like to see his setup in person however!

I watched part of the video and understand what they did. They have a fairly large setup but they have a big area to cover. I run UniFi hardware at my house and I like how it works. I've helped others run it as well and it has had its share of problems but is pretty stable. To help you more...

Can someone explain to me why it's any of the POCO's business how much solar you're producing? I don't understand the desire to have the meter as shown in the picture on page 4. (Between the gridboss and the inverter.)

I'm not sure what SLD means... Here's a pic of the meter area. My hope was to find something that I could put to the left of the meter and run from the meter box to the ATS and just tuck it in nicely. I just measured and it's only about 13.5" to the edge of the brick. So far everything I'm...

That is correct. My guess is the neutral will probably have to stay as well.

I average 40-65kwh a day. Largest peak I've seen is 91kwh. (All electric house except for a 2nd stage propane furnace.) I had an emporia setup and tried to find the source of it and the closest thing I could see is that it was my water heater. (Which is brand new. ) All my lights are LED...

I find it very beneficially to reach out to friends or friends of friends. Usually someone knows someone that can help. That's what I did for my disconnect install. AEP had some very specific requirements and I wanted to get it correct. In the end, we ended up doing it together because...

Just make sure all your charge settings are the same and as others have said, get yourself a good busbar. I like the Victron Lynx Power In and use that modified to have fuses on all my batteries.

I tried contacting a couple when I built mine but they seemed scammy. I ended up going to the bank and getting something like a HELOC as mentioned above. My bank had 2 options, a traditional HELOC and one that was more improvement based. The improvement based one had a lower interest rate and...

It has one big Neutral, it has to use that is my guess.

As long as you do the initial setup correctly, you could theoretically use a bunch of different SA's to a single Home Assistant. I wanted to use a couple of different MQTT sources so I had to install the broker but that required me changing the config. The default SA config has you install it...

Port mapping, etc isn't really going to work if you're trying to use their monitoring. You really have 2 choices. 1. Use some sort of deep packet inspection rules like the OP says. 2. Disconnect the thing from the internet. (IE: Physically or firewall rules. The fear for a man in the middle...

I'm not sure, I left my ats connected.

The directions should indicate which sets of wires to use. I think when I looked at my plug, I thought it was one and it turned out to be the other. IE: J1-5 already had a wire in it but the corresponding point for the other version didn't. I connected them and tested it and it worked so I...

Why AGM and not LiFePO4?

Yes, it's got a disconnect. My panel does have a few shared ground/neutral bars. Thankfully most of my breakers are GFCI/AFCI so most of the neutrals are wired there.

I had the generac with ATS installed as whole home backup prior to installing my solar. My plan/hope was that the ATS would satisfy the POCO requirements for a disconnect but it didn't. The ATS is wired in normally, all control circuits, etc are in place as you would for a normal whole home...

There's a basic idea of it. Basically the ATS has a factory installed N-G bond that I believe should be removed. My main panel has the N-G Bond that I think should be kept.

So far I'm pretty impressed with the 15k, it's been easy to work with so far. Saturday is supposed to be nice so I'm hoping to finish up getting my mounting rails on the roof and start working on some of the wiring. I'm really looking forward to throwing some PV power at the Sol-Ark.

I thought I posted a pic with my splice box and didn't see one. Here's what I have for the RS485/CAN. It's just a surface mount CAT5e with 2 keystones, each wired with the proper pins so I could use the cables that were included.

SolArk has a youtube video which goes over the TOU settings in pretty good detail. I suggest watching it a couple times. Basically, from my understanding, the power section is how much you want going in and out of your batteries and the Batt section is the low point that you want your battery...

My numbers still aren't right. Prior to the change over, PVPro and Solar Assistant were in lock step. The E-Today and Generation purpose seem to be the most out of line. It'll be fine then refresh later and use completely incorrect values. System work mode is still broken too: I've got...

Are you totally satisfied with the case? I've been looking at the XR7 or XR8. I think I have a location where the 8 would fit nicer. It almost looks too good to be true.

I didn't think that was right then I saw this from the manual: 2. Multi-Terminal Installation The two battery input terminals of the 15K-2P-N will parallel batteries internally to ensure a common connection between battery banks and simplify battery installations. If a charge / discharge rate of...

I just went through the same thing and just wrapped around the roof. If I ever change my mind, it's easy to remove.

Can you expand on the net metering comment? I don't quite get what you're saying but am interested. I know what you mean about the sol-ark change over, they really fell on their face on that one. I accidentally capped my 15k at 12000W PV input. I like the fact that the data shouldn't go to...

You might be able to put the 2 strings of 12 on one MPPT. I've got 6 total strings of 9 340W panels across 3 MPPTs. The sting of 12 gets the voltage in the proper range and then running them in parallel gets the current in the best range.

For the batteries, you want them all connected to both inverters. (Especially if you run them in parallel.) You'd just wire the inverters to the same bus as the batteries. You could do something like run 2 large wires (4/0) down to a smaller bus and hook the inverters to that. The rule of...

I don't think you really need the ATS. I was thankful I had it because it allowed me to disconnect the power to do all the work I needed without having to pay the stupid high fee to have the meter pulled. It's another point of failure at this point but I'm leaving it in. I think if I had to...

Hello, I've been searching for the "best" way to enable RSD with the Tigo Optimizers and EPO with the Sol-Ark 15k. From what I've seen, the best method seems to be using pins 15 & 16 on the Sol Ark to drive a relay at the Tigo CCA. After that, there have been two methods. 1. Relay NC...

Hi Everyone, Getting into the weeds on my new solar build and I've got a question. I'm going to end up with 36 solar panels on my roof. They'll be grouped into 4 strings of 9 panels in series. This complies with my requirements from the panels and sol-ark 15k. My question is, does it matter...

Keep in mind that Not UL certified doesn't mean not safe. IMHO they're being overly cautious for all the potential energy. Plus, if you keep the numbers lower, it keeps you dependent. I'm glad I live somewhere that doesn't have this inspection nonsense.

Thanks! That explains better why they counted above 8 now.

Do you have some details on how you accomplished this? I just started backing up my solar assistant and would like to have some different graphs as well.

With the 15k, if you press the Emergency Stop button, you lose all power to the load panel?

Is that something that existing owners of 15ks can/should look at adding?

Hello, I've got an existing DIY set of 48v LiFePO4 batteries with a JK Inverter BMS on each. (4 total batteries) They're also in closed loop communication with my Sol-Ark 15k. I'm looking to add 2 more of the same type battery to my setup and I'm looking for a safe way to add them without...

I think we'd need a little better understanding on what you're use case is and what you're looking for.

I just ran 2 wires rather than running a larger lug. It's a little grainy because I had to zoom so much but gives you an idea.

Same in Ohio. I'd love to be able to get around 1kwh at night.

Everything I found was no more than 3 90's in a pull. I have a little less than 3. The final bend to get on the roof is about 67°. I have an LB at each end. This shows a little better. (And also my first ever conduit bend so I didn't think I did too bad.)

@jsharkey - How did you figure this out? I just started looking at the same thing for my Sol-Ark. I've got a pcap and they're sending all the data plain text as well, including my ssid. According to their own UI, I have wifi disabled but it's still the IP it's using. I'm not happy right...

Very nice! Have any pics of your sled in action?

I agree because my ATS already does that and it was already rejected.

That's more of a prevention against insider threat/incompetence. If someone attacked their systems, got in and was able to send a shutdown till further notice type of command... That would be a bad day. Yay - I could live off grid, then you go down with the grid.

There should be 64, that's what I ordered! I haven't opened the 2nd crate yet. My work bench isn't big enough to fit everything. The JK BMS came since the batteries so I've been working on some design ideas. I sent off to a metal fabricator to see if they could make a face plate that I...

Hello Everyone, I'm close to getting my permission to sell back solar to my power company. This has been a 100% self install so far as I've had an ATS with a disconnect in it. I just got word back that the ATS with disconnect isn't acceptable and I'll have to install a knife style disconnect...

Do you have the specific part number that you have? There are a lot of different products out there. Do you get anything when you push the power button, light, beep, etc? Have a picture of your install?

I've been thinking more and more about this and it comes back to something I heard at a conference once... "Data is the new Oil." Our data, no matter how small it seems to be, is valuable to certain people. We've lowered the cost of certain products so low that they don't make sense to...

Thanks! That's some good detail. I'm on one of the big pocos so I don't have many options.

I was curious to see how off my system was. 54 panels to a Sol-Ark 15k. So far today... Solar Assistant: 5.8kWh Tigo: 5.48kWh I wanted the optimizers because I have sort of a non-standard panel layout for some of the panels and some shading issues with some trees. I started with them so I...

That's exactly what I need though. They need a way to lock out my service after the meter to prevent me from back feeding in whatever situation they determine it's necessary. It has to be rated for my 200a service. I'm not happy about it and I don't have a ton of space available where I have...

A friend of mine has a ground mount and he did the ground screws. Would you use something like that?

Well, I finally bit the bullet and turned on the AC. Looks like it uses a pretty stable 3.2kwh while it's running. There was a little spike to 4.5kw when it started but it didn't last long. It's also the first time it has ran in 6 months or so, so there could be a couple startup priming...

I used dinkle connectors to covert from 10ga THHN to 10ga PV. I have them in a sealed box that has conduit running down to my PV combiner. They've worked great for the last 6 months. Dinkle Connectors on Amazon

Yeah.... This whole thing feeds into a dangerous part of my personality... just a little bit more... One more upgrade!

I didn't count the wires in the bundle so I can't say for sure. I'm guessing it could but I don't know that unit. Given the size of wire they use to power the charger (and maybe heater?) the current draw has to be pretty low. You'd probably want to make sure you're using the same size fuse...

Well, truth be told, I left out part of the build. I've got 54 panels in total which maxes out my inverter for my panels. The last set will be an E/W string. I guess I could just add an extra panel to that side and steal one from the other array. Here's more of a full picture: I'm going...

My heat pump is really old and only allows their thermostat to work with it so there's not really any programming. I also work from home so I can't really change it too much. I've been adjusting my values down. I've hit 10% the last couple of nights. Today has been a little better but the...

Sounds like it just blocked a tracking link. From the link, it was from an email correct? I wouldn't worry about it.

Thanks for the responses! I'm 100% DIY on this. Doing it for the fun, cut my electric bill, and provide some grid independence if needed. That's why I was wondering about the grouping. The 2 sets of sides will be on 1 MPPT then the main roof section on the other MTTPs. I'm also looking...