diy solar

diy solar

Schneider XW Pro DIY Resources

Two things the mystified and frustrated me before I got my hands on my XW+:

1. You don't need a PDP or Mini PDP. Owners of these products do seem to enjoy them, and for inspected systems maybe they make inspectors more comfortable. But you don't need one. The XW unit itself has AC1, AC2, and Load terminals inside the box, with knockouts to to secure regular wiring methods. As long as you know what you're doing with your breakers and interlocks outside of the XW+ you can easily direct wire it in.

2. The AC terminals do not accept fat feeders. It's like 2 awg or 4 awg max, I forget, and copper wire only. So if you had an idea in mind to have like 2/0 feeder wires coming into or out of the XW, you have to go rewrap your mind around a different design. It's a 60 amp source with 60 amp contactors and if the system design exceeds that everything gets very complicated with external contactors.
 
Consumerbot3418 said:
He didn't mention if he intends to AC couple--I've read lots of issues with that, too.
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Enphase just released a firmware update to fix their poor off grid performance, that's most of the off grid AC coupling issues I've read, and the problem was on Enphase's end, other inverters had the same issue.

But, the XW should AC couple off grid just fine. In my tests, it charges from the AC PV just fine, it frequency shifts once the battery is near full.

The AC coupling issue is getting the XW to charge from AC PV when on grid.
Consumerbot3418 said:
About to embark on my own adventure with AC coupling. Hopefully my experience is smoother than others have had. By the way, thanks for your input in that other thread about the EPC! I figured out that there were other settings overriding it, including grid code and grid support voltage, among others.
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👍
 
Cmiller17363 said:
Off grid XW pro install here with 3 600v/100a MPPTs. All purchased from SS.

Inverter has been flawless aside from a few resets from Lifepower4 battery communication interruptions.

I charge my EV and also run my electric oven with it and I've had no problems. It takes whatever you throw at it. I almost got the mini PDP but opted for the full size PDP.

What batteries are you considering?
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I am considering doing a DIY battery build. Any advice?
 
wyosolar said:
I am considering doing a DIY battery build. Any advice?
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Figure out what you want to power and for how long. Then figure out how many days of autonomy you want.

Server rack batteries are more expensive than DIY but the time savings is nearly 100%. Load them into a rack, wire to busbar, turn on. Done. I’ve built batteries myself in the past, but the cost savings these days are worth less to me than my time to build it.

If you are adamant about DIY, buy the largest capacity cells you can to minimize connections. Connections are failure points.

Buy a BMS with ACTIVE cell balancing.
 
Sorry about this, and I'll create a new thread if needs be about it (I think it's still relevant to a "new to XW Pro DIY" thread), but has the extended Schneider XW Pro community settled on a recommended firmware version yet? I saw https://diysolarforum.com/threads/schneider-xwpro-firmware-upgrade-version-2-04-00.64080 but replies were all over the board, including some saying to stick with 1.11 BN28 or BN41, which are from Nov 2022, which seems really really old!

Asking because I'm still considering between XW Pro and Victron but for a three-phase setup, and the only 120V firmware Schneider has on their website is for 1.11 BN41. I'd like to go Schneider (was focused on Victron until the local distributors flaked hard on me) but am scared of running 18 month old firmware... by the look of their website it almost looks like they gave up on three-phase deployments.
 
3 phase doesn't get much attention on the forum but most of the problems with Schneider lately has been with Enhanced Grid Support, Sell Back. Specifically, the batteries getting drained overnight. So far that issue has not been corrected in the firmware but the work-around has been to set Grid Support Volts to the same value as Float Voltage on the Charge Controllers. The effect is to disable Enhanced and revert to simple voltage control which seems to work as expected.

Another recent post described a similar problem, in that case they had Recharge Volts set higher than Grid Support Volts which resulted in a configuration error.

The XW Pro is still a well built, low frequency work horse. The Xanbus communication system is basically plug and play. I recently purchased an InsightHome just as a redundancy in case the ComBox quit working. It was fairly easy to set up using the quick start guide. I did note a few minor incompatibility issues with the older XW+ inverter but those have nothing to do with the XW Pro.

You have to decide what equipment is appropriate for your needs, but I wouldn't rule out Schneider based on what is mostly an isolated issue.
 
BentleyJ said:
3 phase doesn't get much attention on the forum but most of the problems with Schneider lately has been with Enhanced Grid Support, Sell Back. Specifically, the batteries getting drained overnight. So far that issue has not been corrected in the firmware but the work-around has been to set Grid Support Volts to the same value as Float Voltage on the Charge Controllers. The effect is to disable Enhanced and revert to simple voltage control which seems to work as expected.
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Thanks - yeah, I've asked multiple times in the forums about 3 phase and gotten crickets in response. I think only Hodges talks about it at all, and Hodges is a SMC guru, not Schneider or Victron. ;)

Thankfully, in my planned setup, whether it's Victron or Schneider, I won't be using the grid at all, for charging or sell back, just running the inverters in off-grid mode and if I need emergency charging from the grid due to lack of solar, I will toggle on some Chargeverters to preserve isolation (power in the new place is too dirty to allow to pass through whilst charging the batteries back up).

Choices, choices. :) Appreciate the detail on the software; it seems like, in my case (DC coupled solar, no grid at all), really either solution is fine. Schneider has better surge, reputation in hardware, and cleaner install look, but Victron has local service staff (though they're horribly unresponsive on email) and better stats in VRM and community support...
 
Gttnsun said:
I have Dual Xw Pro Commissioned in January of this year, running off grid the firmware i am running is Insight Facility at v1.18 and XWP 2.04.00 build 29
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same here with a single (waiting for the dual) in off grid mode. Works great. same firmware as well
 
dougbert said:
same here with a single (waiting for the dual) in off grid mode. Works great. same firmware as well
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My system is working great also, I upgraded from a older Magnum inverter so the technology took some reading and videos to understand, but I am very happy with my Schneider system.
I see some good deals on XW pro right now 👀
 
Gttnsun said:
My system is working great also, I upgraded from a older Magnum inverter so the technology took some reading and videos to understand, but I am very happy with my Schneider system.
I see some good deals on XW pro right now 👀
Click to expand...
Where are the good deals at as I am in the market.
 
Zonna Energy has terrific tech support. They have locations in PA, OH, IN, and IL. But I believe they are pretty much wholesale. However, you could call them and see if they have a recommendation of who to buy from. That way you could probably end up with their tech support.

The XW is a rock solid inverter, and the only time really that you have any issues is specifically with grid sell type of functions, AC coupling, and also sometimes they are a little finicky with cheap portable generators when trying to charge.

If you want to use the XW to sell, I would honestly go with Schneider charge controllers, and make use of the "enhanced grid support" function. That will cause the inverter to manage the charge going to the batteries by adjusting the output power of the XW to achieve 3 stage charging, while selling all excess power back to grid. Efficiency will be a little lower for power being sold to the grid, but you will eliminate some of the potential issues with AC coupling.

If you will NOT be selling, I would stick with charge controllers as well. I am off-grid and AC coupled, and I really like the whole concept. However, with charge controllers you do tend to get better control over the charging, as well as no frequency shift making your clocks run off, and also, your efficiency will likely be a bit better with charge controllers if you are running off-grid! In order to gain efficiency by going AC coupled (vs DC coupled) you will need to have direct-use of +50% of your solar power! Anything less than that and you will have a lot of losses going into and out of the batteries with an AC coupled system.
 
Cmiller said:
Zonna Energy has terrific tech support. They have locations in PA, OH, IN, and IL. But I believe they are pretty much wholesale. However, you could call them and see if they have a recommendation of who to buy from. That way you could probably end up with their tech support.

The XW is a rock solid inverter, and the only time really that you have any issues is specifically with grid sell type of functions, AC coupling, and also sometimes they are a little finicky with cheap portable generators when trying to charge.

If you want to use the XW to sell, I would honestly go with Schneider charge controllers, and make use of the "enhanced grid support" function. That will cause the inverter to manage the charge going to the batteries by adjusting the output power of the XW to achieve 3 stage charging, while selling all excess power back to grid. Efficiency will be a little lower for power being sold to the grid, but you will eliminate some of the potential issues with AC coupling.

If you will NOT be selling, I would stick with charge controllers as well. I am off-grid and AC coupled, and I really like the whole concept. However, with charge controllers you do tend to get better control over the charging, as well as no frequency shift making your clocks run off, and also, your efficiency will likely be a bit better with charge controllers if you are running off-grid! In order to gain efficiency by going AC coupled (vs DC coupled) you will need to have direct-use of +50% of your solar power! Anything less than that and you will have a lot of losses going into and out of the batteries with an AC coupled system.
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I purchased my XW PRo from Zonna, through a installer, he got wholesale and marked it up a little, I liked that they repair inverters, that is a good resource to have.
My second choice was NAZ
NC_hydro said:
If you don't mind dealing with the cluster that is SS they have the XW Pro on sale for $2,800 and some change.
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This was the deal that I saw, very tempting
 
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Gttnsun said:
I purchased my XW PRo from Zonna, through a installer, he got wholesale and marked it up a little, I liked that they repair inverters, that is a good resource to have.
My second choice was NAZ
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Zonna puts lots of effort into having good customer support! Their support team has firsthand experience with the equipment that they are providing support for, and they "know the why behind the how and what", if that makes sense.
 
Cmiller said:
Zonna puts lots of effort into having good customer support! Their support team has firsthand experience with the equipment that they are providing support for, and they "know the why behind the how and what", if that makes sense.
Click to expand...
Do I contact them directly to order or do they have Reps they recommend to order through? If that is the case, who does the support Zonna or the Reps I purchased through?
 
I would contact them directly and ask who to buy through. They can direct you to who to buy from, depending probably on where you are from. Whoever you order through would be your first go-to on service, but Zonna has a service extension as well, where you can get ahold of their service techs directly.

Here is a link to their website. At the top of that page is their phone number.
 
@Cmiller — you said you’re successfully AC coupling off-grid with XW Pro? I’m having major power quality issues with a Sunny Boy (XW Pro in backup mode), and will eventually start my own thread.

But for right now, I just wonder which GT inverter you’re using?
 
Consumerbot3418 said:
@Cmiller — you said you’re successfully AC coupling off-grid with XW Pro? I’m having major power quality issues with a Sunny Boy (XW Pro in backup mode), and will eventually start my own thread.

But for right now, I just wonder which GT inverter you’re using?
Click to expand...
No, sorry, I should have clarified. I am AC coupling with a Victron system and a Fronius GT inverter.

However, at our shop at work we have 2x XW+ 6848 with an AC coupled Sunny Boy. The shop is completely off-grid. The curtailing of the SB was not way smooth until we set it for off-grid mode. If you are grid-tied normally, setting the SB to off-grid mode is not an option though, as you will need to have a different setting for your power company. Now, setting it to a fairly "new" grid code should get you a relatively smooth curtailment. Depending on how old the SB is, you may need to update firmware to get a grid code such as Rule 21, etc.

What are you seeing specifically, as far as your issues go? Is you're XW Pro set for AC coupling for sure? (That setting should be under "advanced features".)
 
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