EG4 6k - need help with wiring diagram
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Subdood
Photon Wrangler
I'm actually leaning towards the 6000, because I would already get split phase. Plus, I have long runs between inverter and my critical load panel, so my wiring costs would be lower if I ran 10g wire for the 6000, as opposed to 6ga for the 6500.
No, I'm not running the whole house on solar/batteries, right now I'm planning on one 5kwh battery and one inverter to go with my 3.6kW solar array. As my budget allows, I'll add more solar and batteries.
BTW, the 6500 has 2x4kw PV inputs, and the 6000 has one 7kw input. But, the 6000's max current for its input is 27A, and each 6500 input is rated at 18A each.
Oh, OK, you're in Texas. I lived in the DFW area for almost 30 years before we moved here 8 years ago. I'm from Oklahoma, actually, but we live on my wife's family farm. Grow our own veggies and fruits, more privacy, quieter, we have city water, but well water's available if needed. Just wanted to be more self sufficient, and away from big city life.
Very cool.
yeah, budget is what I am worried about also. Wondering If I should get 2 or 1 battery. Shipping cost will be cheaper if I get 2 now and also if you buy the battery from SS, they will discount the rack(6 unit rack)
oh, good to know. I am in the DFW area. Guess you have more freedom to do stuff in the farm. Are you getting permits to do the work? I got the permit and slowly building my tool set
Subdood
Photon Wrangler
Yeah, SS will charge me $325 to ship one of their batteries, but if I buy 1-3 more, the shipping is the same. I think you have to buy minimum of 3 batts to get the rack discount.Very cool.
yeah, budget is what I am worried about also. Wondering If I should get 2 or 1 battery. Shipping cost will be cheaper if I get 2 now and also if you buy the battery from SS, they will discount the rack(6 unit rack)
oh, good to know. I am in the DFW area. Guess you have more freedom to do stuff in the farm. Are you getting permits to do the work? I got the permit and slowly building my tool set
I lived in mostly on the east side of Dallas County- Mesquite, east Dallas, and when we got married, my wife and I bought a house in Wylie before we moved here. We tried growing veggies there, but it was just too hot too early in the summer to get anything to produce. The only thing that would grow well was okra, tomatoes and peppers won't pollinate above 90 degrees, so after July, no production from them. We've had a very good year here with our tomatoes, I think we've harvested at least 100lb so far, canned about 15 quarts of them, and canned another 10 pints of salsa.
I haven't checked into permits here, we're in a very rural area (just 15k people in our county), so I don't think it would be a problem installing a system here. I'm not doing grid-tie, and my array will be a ground mount, so I don't think I'd need any permits, but I ought to check.
An interesting aside, our US Congressman lives in our county, about 25 miles from us, and he's almost totally off-grid. He built his house on his own, put in a solar power system, and has a refurbished Tesla car battery as his energy storage. Very cool.
wish I could replace the battery with the inverter to get the discount
Wylie -- hmm, wonder where that is
..it is about 5 miles away. 100 lbs -- wow nice.
Subdood
Photon Wrangler
At least 100lb, and more to pick last I checked, but the plants are getting a bit rough looking.wish I could replace the battery with the inverter to get the discount
Wylie -- hmm, wonder where that is
5 miles from Wylie, well not much is around there to the east, but then there's Sachse, Murphy, Parker or Rowlett.
My wife were in that area a couple months ago, stayed at some friends near Murphy. Couldn't believe how much that area's grown since we left in 2014.
I kinda miss it, but the traffic and the heat, nah..
Elexide
New Member
Too avoid voltage drop and heat you should use 2/0 for 200 amps . 3/0 is best but not necessary . use fine stranded or welding cable. none of this 1/0 or 2 awg stuff. 40 amp breaker should have #8 cu
John Frum
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Why is fine stranded wire required?
BentleyJ
Solar Wizard
Its not required, its just much easier to work with due to its flexibility. Its my preferred choice. Although the special crimp lugs with oversized barrel are sometimes more difficult to find.
hmm...ok.
"a wire labeled 2 0 will be thicker than a wire labeled 2 AWG. Also, lower AWG wires typically have higher amps, which is an electrical current's base unit. For example, a 2 0 copper wire will have up to 200 amps while a 2 AWG copper wire will have up to 125 amps."
Would this work?
2/0 XHHW-2 Copper Building Wire
2/0 XHHW-2 cable, 195A, ideal for conduit or direct burial, commercial & residential. Complies with NEC. Free shipping on orders over $1000.
nassaunationalcable.com
is stranded preferred for any guage wire? Thought solid was easier
Yeah, traffic is much higher now..I now wish I had a farm
Have limited space in the garage so have to do some major cleanup to fit all the gear:-(BentleyJ
Solar Wizard
When installing cheap side wire electrical receptacles with 12 or 14AWG wire yes solid wire is easier to loop around under the screw head. In almost all other cases as the wire gets bigger solid becomes difficult to bend. Even the so called stranded building wire still consists of fairly large strands and is difficult to work with especially 3/0 or 4/0. Trust me on this, class K or M welding cable is the way to go for making battery connections.
"The main difference between these welding cables is in their stranding. Since Class M Welding Cable has smaller gauge strands, it is much more flexible. Class M Welding Cable also has a thicker jacket, which makes it more durable and allows it to have a higher ampacity than Class K. The last major difference between these two types of cable is their price. Since Class M Cable requires more copper and more jacketing material, it tends to be more expensive."
So this would work?
Subdood
Photon Wrangler
Looks like someone picked up and installed a couple of these inverters and a rack of batteries, see this thread-
diysolarforum.com
Signature Solar's new EG4 6000 120/240V inverter
I haven't seen any new threads regarding the new split phase 6kW inverter from Signature Solar, so I thought I would start one. I've been looking at getting a single EG4 6500 from them, but they're still on back order until early October. One of these split phase inverters wouldn't do much good...
diysolarforum.com
BentleyJ
Solar Wizard
Yes, in fact I believe that's the same place I purchased from last time. Remember to get the proper oversized compression lugs for the fine stranded wire. Also its a nice touch to use Red and Black shrink tubing on the connector ends to designate + and -
yeah, I saw the idle power usage when researching but it still better than 2x6500(140w?) for 240v. I hope I don't have to pay more in electricity charges with the inverter ? .Looks like someone picked up and installed a couple of these inverters and a rack of batteries, see this thread-
Signature Solar's new EG4 6000 120/240V inverter
I haven't seen any new threads regarding the new split phase 6kW inverter from Signature Solar, so I thought I would start one. I've been looking at getting a single EG4 6500 from them, but they're still on back order until early October. One of these split phase inverters wouldn't do much good...
Solar assistant -- is that an app that comes with the inverter/battery?
Subdood
Photon Wrangler
Yeah, I think Solar Assistant comes with the inverters.
Well, if your inverter is getting enough solar I guess the idle power consumption won't matter as much, but I wonder how much power it actually uses when in inverter mode? Whether it's inverting the battery and/or solar I'm curious as to whether it uses 100W in that mode? The spec sheet says it's supposed to be 93% efficient in battery to AC mode.
John Frum
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No it's too thick to fit in the mechanical lugs in your breaker.hmm...ok.
"a wire labeled 2 0 will be thicker than a wire labeled 2 AWG. Also, lower AWG wires typically have higher amps, which is an electrical current's base unit. For example, a 2 0 copper wire will have up to 200 amps while a 2 AWG copper wire will have up to 125 amps."
Would this work?
2/0 XHHW-2 Copper Building Wire
2/0 XHHW-2 cable, 195A, ideal for conduit or direct burial, commercial & residential. Complies with NEC. Free shipping on orders over $1000.
Also it's very stiff and hard to cut.
The biggest wire that fits your breaker is 1/0 awg.
That is why I suggested 1/0 awg earlier.
How long is the inverter circuit round trip in feet?
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Lilikoi_Heavy_Industries
Solar Enthusiast
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I was running my deep fryer earlier and the generator died... So my inverter started pulling 42A from my 2x Lifepower4 51.2v batteries for a minute. They definitely don't mind 20A each, that's a reasonable load on them. I doubt they would have an issue, they run whatever load I want all the way down to empty. But I only have a 3KW inverter.
The people who buy them and think they can pull 100A out of each, for any amount of time, all seem to be disappointed. They have some confusing specs is one of the biggest drawbacks but it sounds like you have reasonably calibrated expectations.
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John Frum
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From the spec sheet "MAXIMUM DISCHARGE CURRENT 100A 30A:RECOMMENDED" -- https://signaturesolar.com/content/documents/EG4/1511006-specs.pdf
hey, if we do all the work(including adding some solar), do we get tax credit in 2022? That would be awesome
Looks like we can get 30%
"The Act restores the full 30% ITC for solar projects that begin construction at any time prior to 2025, including solar projects that commenced construction before 2022, so long as they are first put into service after 2021."
Is the minimum 3kw solar to get credit?
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ah..got it..will update to 1/0 awg
From inverter to battery < 5-8 ft (1 way)
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