EG4 6000XP MPPT unclear specs

shayamip said:

If one mppt can take 8.5a, then 8.5x480v ~ 4000w
for both mmpt ~ 8000w (as advertised)

If one mmpt cant take 17a... the total power would be around 16,000w which is twice as much as the unit can take.

Yeah, went through the whole thread and many claim it is 17a per mppt, but math doesnt add up as above somehow.


BTW, When the solar and battery low, the grid supplements the difference or just take over completely? You answered this, but just wanted to be sure.

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@EG4-Jacob @EG4_Jarrett @EG4_Ty - can you confirm the answer to this question? Many have concluded that the EG4 6000XP can take 17 amps PER MPPT, but others suspect it is 17 amps total between the 2 MPPTs. Resellers like Current Connected have communicated that it is 17 amps PER MPPT - can you confirm this for certain? @HighTechLab from Current Connected responded that it is 17 amps per MPPT but since there is still some confusion/doubt around this question I thought it would be good to get an answer directly from EG4 to try and settle the question.

There is also confusing statements in the manual that to my feeble mind seem like contradictions. On page 11 of the printed manual it says the "Nominal MPPT Amperage", described as "The MPPT will operate most optimally at this amperage" being 17 amps, and "maximum MPPT Amperage", described as "The MPPT can accept up to this amperage (clipping will occur pas this value)" being 25 amps. Okay - but then in the technical specifications in the back it lists "Max Usable Input Current" as 17 amps, and "Max Short Circuit Current" as 25 amps. "Max Usable Input Current" (17 amps) sounds to me like it would clip above 17 amps, not 25 amps as show on page 11. Can you clarify for us?

AZ Solar Junkie said:

@EG4-Jacob @EG4_Jarrett @EG4_Ty - can you confirm the answer to this question? Many have concluded that the EG4 6000XP can take 17 amps PER MPPT, but others suspect it is 17 amps total between the 2 MPPTs. Resellers like Current Connected have communicated that it is 17 amps PER MPPT - can you confirm this for certain? @HighTechLab from Current Connected responded that it is 17 amps per MPPT but since there is still some confusion/doubt around this question I thought it would be good to get an answer directly from EG4 to try and settle the question.

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Absolutely!! Happy to help!
It is in fact 17a per MPPT, not a combined total of 17.

AZ Solar Junkie said:

There is also confusing statements in the manual that to my feeble mind seem like contradictions. On page 11 of the printed manual it says the "Nominal MPPT Amperage", described as "The MPPT will operate most optimally at this amperage" being 17 amps, and "maximum MPPT Amperage", described as "The MPPT can accept up to this amperage (clipping will occur pas this value)" being 25 amps. Okay - but then in the technical specifications in the back it lists "Max Usable Input Current" as 17 amps, and "Max Short Circuit Current" as 25 amps. "Max Usable Input Current" (17 amps) sounds to me like it would clip above 17 amps, not 25 amps as show on page 11. Can you clarify for us?

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So, 17 is the most that the MPPT can make use of. anything past 25 will damage the mppts. If you have more than 17, but less than 25 then the inverter will only make use of the 17 but not damage the inverter. I will look at the manual again and see where it states that clipping will occur at 25a, because it should say 17 instead. Sorry for any confusion about that.

EG4_Jarrett said:

Absolutely!! Happy to help!
It is in fact 17a per MPPT, not a combined total of 17.

So, 17 is the most that the MPPT can make use of. anything past 25 will damage the mppts. If you have more than 17, but less than 25 then the inverter will only make use of the 17 but not damage the inverter. I will look at the manual again and see where it states that clipping will occur at 25a, because it should say 17 instead. Sorry for any confusion about that.

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Excellent - thank you for the confirmation/clarification.

The manual section in question is page 10 in the 1.1.7 PDF version, or page 11 in the 1.0.0 printed manual that came with my inverter. See the below table from that page in the manual:

AZ Solar Junkie said:

Excellent - thank you for the confirmation/clarification.

The manual section in question is page 10 in the 1.1.7 PDF version, or page 11 in the 1.0.0 printed manual that came with my inverter. See the below table from that page in the manual:
View attachment 186905

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Thanks for pointing that out,

AZ Solar Junkie said:

Excellent - thank you for the confirmation/clarification.

The manual section in question is page 10 in the 1.1.7 PDF version, or page 11 in the 1.0.0 printed manual that came with my inverter. See the below table from that page in the manual:
View attachment 186905

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I will make sure that our Technical Documentation team takes a look at this. Thank you for that!!

@AZ Solar Junkie
Would including the word "each" MPPT, add sufficient clarification?

AZ Solar Junkie said:

Excellent - thank you for the confirmation/clarification.

The manual section in question is page 10 in the 1.1.7 PDF version, or page 11 in the 1.0.0 printed manual that came with my inverter. See the below table from that page in the manual:
View attachment 186905

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So anything over 385 VDC per MPPT and the MPPT cant track? Or what???

Onehand said:

So anything over 385 VDC per MPPT and the MPPT cant track? Or what???

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I tested mine upto the 480v limit.

Zapper77 said:

I tested mine upto the 480v limit.

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Yeah - another area where the manual is a bit ambiguous. Any idea what the manual means when it says "MPP Operating Voltage Range / Range where the MPPT can track" being 120-385VDC even though it appears to be able to handle up to 480VDC? @EG4_Jarrett - another question for you guys maybe

AZ Solar Junkie said:

Yeah - another area where the manual is a bit ambiguous. Any idea what the manual means when it says "MPP Operating Voltage Range / Range where the MPPT can track" being 120-385VDC even though it appears to be able to handle up to 480VDC? @EG4_Jarrett - another question for you guys maybe

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Zapper, were you able to track any MPPT tracking efficiency losses at that higher voltage?

Just wondering, why, if these units are designed to handle up to 480VDC, why they don't design the tracking to be optimum at these higher voltages? Guess it's just a thought experiment on my part...

I like knowing the "deets".

Onehand said:

Zapper, were you able to track any MPPT tracking efficiency losses at that higher voltage?

Just wondering, why, if these units are designed to handle up to 480VDC, why they don't design the tracking to be optimum at these higher voltages? Guess it's just a thought experiment on my part...

I like knowing the "deets".

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My solar was producing around 4% less than I expected...but I was hitting the 6,500'ish DC battery charging limit*. Now it's winter I haven't been able to redo that test due to low sun angle. 9,000 watt array is topping out at 5,000 watts on a good day.

Ask again in April...I'm just happy to see any sun light...December was very cloudy in my area.

*This was just my observation from a single day test. After that day I had 3 weeks of clouds and then it was winter. 2nd issue my test array is still setup for 500 vOC and I'm seeing 540v on these cold mornings. (PV is currently plugged in to my 18Kpv)

I was going to start a new thread but I feel this is 'fitting' for this one...

I have 8 545w (4,360 worth) bifacial panels in an 8S configuration that up till yesterday were on the ground. I've never seen more than 3.2kW peak until today. I installed two Brightmount kits along with two 5" extensions yesterday - I'm so happy they made extensions now!

Today is super bright and sunny and we hit 4,000w at 11am. I found it odd that it just stopped at 4kW and didn't realize (or forgot) that the max per MPPT is 4kW. My inverter has been clipped to 4kW for an hour now and we aren't even at solar noon. I ordered another set of 10ga wires and those are arriving tomorrow.

QUESTION: Will the inverter be damaged to be pegged and clipping at 4kW (12.4 amps)? If so I can go put a tarp over a corner to hinder it until I can reconfigure for two strings of 4 panels later this week.

Tripplett said:

I was going to start a new thread but I feel this is 'fitting' for this one...

I have 8 545w (4,360 worth) bifacial panels in an 8S configuration that up till yesterday were on the ground. I've never seen more than 3.2kW peak until today. I installed two Brightmount kits along with two 5" extensions yesterday - I'm so happy they made extensions now!

Today is super bright and sunny and we hit 4,000w at 11am. I found it odd that it just stopped at 4kW and didn't realize (or forgot) that the max per MPPT is 4kW. My inverter has been clipped to 4kW for an hour now and we aren't even at solar noon. I ordered another set of 10ga wires and those are arriving tomorrow.

QUESTION: Will the inverter be damaged to be pegged and clipping at 4kW (12.4 amps)? If so I can go put a tarp over a corner to hinder it until I can reconfigure for two strings of 4 panels later this week.

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the inverter is not damaged at max specs, it was designed for it

SignatureSolarJames said:

the inverter is not damaged at max specs, it was designed for it

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Thanks James, much appreciated. I'm making sure strings stay under the 17A and 480V requirements - factoring in the temperature coefficient.

Still curious.

My question above is, does it still track when input is in the upper range, 450VDC+-?

Line 3 states where "it can track", is there no tracking above 385VDC?

Then there is line 4... Between the two lines, sounds like 320VDC should be the upper input limit for best efficiency? Again, what goes on with the MPPT when voltage input is at, or near max numbers?

Thanks

Onehand said:

Still curious.

My question above is, does it still track when input is in the upper range, 450VDC+-?

Line 3 states where "it can track", is there no tracking above 385VDC?

Then there is line 4... Between the two lines, sounds like 320VDC should be the upper input limit for best efficiency? Again, what goes on with the MPPT when voltage input is at, or near max numbers?

Thanks

View attachment 196837

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I totally agree that the specs there could really use additional clarification. It does seem confusing in a number of ways. Reading between the lines, as far as the voltage limits go, I suspect the voltage input range on line 1 is referring to VoC - at least that above 480 will damage it and 100 is the min that will wake up the MPPT. Voltage range on line 3 is the range of voltages the MPPT will use/track at under load - like the difference between VoC and Vimp.