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Signature Solar Lighting Demo Video tech details

SignatureSolarJames

SignatureSolarJames

Try Solar, the Grid will always take you back
Joined
Jun 26, 2020
Messages
1,092
Location
Sulphur Springs, Texas

Guys, I wanted to supply details on the bulbs and methodology for this video here

we used the keystone KT-LED13PAR38-F-840 to avoid flicker, the GE relax LED8DAGSW90 was the flickering one

the strip lights were Lowes utilitech

the two bright lights in the middle were 40W high power bulbs from amazon

I doubt we can find bulbs $10 or more that have these issues with any inverter
 
Saw the vid, enjoyed the effort and agree with the conclusions. Dont overthink the wardrobe, i think most people would put up with nearly any visuals just to avoid having to invest the thousands of dollars and legwork to perform such testing themselves.. but feel free not to test THAT theory. ?
 
I have at least 50 of these GE bulbs in the house. About 8 years ago when LED lamps were still expensive, the regional power company was subsidizing them through Sam’s Club for next to nothing so I bought a whole case of them. They are NOT dimmable and provide a warm white that’s indistinguishable from a 60 watt incandescent bulb. I’m running a Growatt 6k DVM and there is absolutely no flicker. Even when a heavy load like the well pump clicks in, you can’t tell we’re not on the grid.

BDCDE204-4946-45D7-9C29-83FC2FF9320E.jpeg
 
Good video. Especially with the LED light bars when paired with the cheaper bulbs!

Yeah, that low idle consumption of Schneider is wild.

That 6500EX wheeled platform is scaring me haha! Looks like you stacked a lot of batteries on that one.
 
I wonder if the flickering has to do with the power factor capabilities of the inverters? Since he showed it apparent with multiple leds, which really skew the power factor, if you put a pure inductive load, like a toaster, to “fix” the power factor and flicker goes away? Yes, I know you don’t want to run a toaster all the time but they have the ability to fix PF in software, no?
 
Another simple and most efficient way is to run lighting off the batteries no inverter needed most 12 volt led lights will go as high as 30 volts so anybody running 12 or 24 volt systems just has to break out the lighting circuits and a lot of the same bulbs are available in 12 volt leds and being isolated from the ac side no flickering and 48 volt systems can use a buck converter
 
James: Please do not take this as being critical. I appreciate SS making the video to demonstrate varying degrees of "flicker" when various types and brands of inverters are on battery. However, what I had HOPED this Video was going to show or discuss was whether the flicker is worse when various systems which are connected to PV and battery (and/or grid) are at or near full SOC on the batteries. It was my understanding that the flicker is worse in that condition, and that is when I first saw it in the light bulb in my garage fridge. Tom
 
TomH fwtx said:
James: Please do not take this as being critical. I appreciate SS making the video to demonstrate varying degrees of "flicker" when various types and brands of inverters are on battery. However, what I had HOPED this Video was going to show or discuss was whether the flicker is worse when various systems which are connected to PV and battery (and/or grid) are at or near full SOC on the batteries. It was my understanding that the flicker is worse in that condition, and that is when I first saw it in the light bulb in my garage fridge. Tom
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I'm sorry, the video objective was talking about HF inverters and LEDS. in an earlier thread we announced that we achieved full equivalency with the PV vs battery input by prioritizing the battery with firmware and using PV as support for rectifier quality software code. do you think we need a youtube video dedicated to that fix only?
 
James. Sorry for not wording my post more clearly. There are multiple posts running right now about flicker, and firmware updates, and it seemed like more than one had mentioned anticipated videos. I apparently misunderstood which issue this video was addressing. I have done the FW update on my purely off-grid EG4 6000, and am anxious to be able to deploy panels during sunshine, and see whether the FW update has done anything the fluctuations in my fridge light. Any videos that y'all do are appreciated. I did not mean to imply otherwise. Thanks, Tom
 
Thanks for the video James. Really need to see AC output waveform under different loads. It would be wise to invest in an Oscilloscope to really see what is going on and not just the final result. You would also have some solid results to send back to the manufacturer if there are any problems.
 
TomH fwtx said:
James. Sorry for not wording my post more clearly. There are multiple posts running right now about flicker, and firmware updates, and it seemed like more than one had mentioned anticipated videos. I apparently misunderstood which issue this video was addressing. I have done the FW update on my purely off-grid EG4 6000, and am anxious to be able to deploy panels during sunshine, and see whether the FW update has done anything the fluctuations in my fridge light. Any videos that y'all do are appreciated. I did not mean to imply otherwise. Thanks, Tom
Click to expand...
I have done the firmware update and now have had good PV input.....sorry it did not cure mine. Maybe it helped a little (wishful thinking?) but it is still there. Mine happens only when PV input is strong. Early morning or late afternoon before sundown it is not there. It is not there when operating on battery and grid pass through. Only when full sun. Mostly I am not using lights in the house during the day anyway, so as long as this is not harming my appliances, I can live with it. Maybe some more investigative work will come up with a solution.
 
SolarScott said:
I have done the firmware update and now have had good PV input.....sorry it did not cure mine. Maybe it helped a little (wishful thinking?) but it is still there. Mine happens only when PV input is strong. Early morning or late afternoon before sundown it is not there. It is not there when operating on battery and grid pass through. Only when full sun. Mostly I am not using lights in the house during the day anyway, so as long as this is not harming my appliances, I can live with it. Maybe some more investigative work will come up with a solution.
Click to expand...
That is exactly the issue/scenario that I was talking about.
 
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