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EG4 new AIO rated 12K output and 18kPV aka "EG4-18Kpv-12LV"

Henderson said:
Spent some time with the manual. My question is to SS or EG4. On page 68 of the manual, they're 2 references to PV power. One states maximum PV utilized is 18KW and the other states maximum recommended PV is 21KW. So, if the inverter can utilize up to 18kw in pv power but can output to ac loads of 12kw, can you confirm what happens to the other 6kw of power? For the sake of simplicity, let's assume 100% efficiency for everything and no power losses across cables, etc. Thanks.
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I would assume the extra Pv either goes to charging batteries, or selling back to the grid if you have a net metering agreement. Most every hypbrid inverter has a higher Pv intake then it’s output capacity.

Which is nice. You can power your loads at max capacity and and still put the extra 6k watts into storage.
 
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It would be helpful if they explained exactly how they got that "Maximum Utilized Solar Power" and "Recommended Maximum Solar Input" since there appears to be no way based on the spec sheet to calculate where that is coming from. Normally you could just multiply the maximum Isc by the maximum Voc per tracker to then get a value for this but you can't with that spec sheet. Right now when I use the 39A rating of one of the trackers times the maximum voltage (600) you get 39*600 23,400W on that one tracker alone. So there must be some other restriction not clearly specified.
 
rhino said:
It would be helpful if they explained exactly how they got that "Maximum Utilized Solar Power" and "Recommended Maximum Solar Input" since there appears to be no way based on the spec sheet to calculate where that is coming from. Normally you could just multiply the maximum Isc by the maximum Voc per tracker to then get a value for this but you can't with that spec sheet. Right now when I use the 39A rating of one of the trackers times the maximum voltage (600) you get 39*600 23,400W on that one tracker alone. So there must be some other restriction not clearly specified.
Click to expand...

Right! The MPPTs can handle a lot more PV than 21 or 18kw, the reason is that many people have low voltage strings. We added a major capacity overbuild spec here as well to ensure it could be used in the maximum number of needed configurations
 
Good morning James. Would you care to reply to some questions I asked earlier in this thread? For quick reference, this was my post:

“In this and other posts, you seem to imply that your branded version is different in some respects than the version Luxpower is sending out. Or are you just saying that your input led to improvements that are now incorporated into latest production runs of all Luxpower units. If your model has features/improvements that are unique to your version, would you please let us know what they are?”
 
Gavin Stone said:
I would assume the extra Pv either goes to charging batteries, or selling back to the grid if you have a net metering agreement. Most every hypbrid inverter has a higher Pv intake then it’s output capacity.

Which is nice. You can power your loads at max capacity and and still put the extra 6k watts into storage.
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If this is indeed the case then that's awesome. So, if my load is zero and I have 18kw of pv, can that entire 18kw go towards charging my batteries? Just trying to figure out how this model works.
 
Henderson said:
Spent some time with the manual. My question is to SS or EG4. On page 68 of the manual, they're 2 references to PV power. One states maximum PV utilized is 18KW and the other states maximum recommended PV is 21KW. So, if the inverter can utilize up to 18kw in pv power but can output to ac loads of 12kw, can you confirm what happens to the other 6kw of power? For the sake of simplicity, let's assume 100% efficiency for everything and no power losses across cables, etc. Thanks.
Click to expand...
Apparently they can’t:
SignatureSolarJames said:
Right! The MPPTs can handle a lot more PV than 21 or 18kw, the reason is that many people have low voltage strings. We added a major capacity overbuild spec here as well to ensure it could be used in the maximum number of needed configurations
Click to expand...
 
Henderson said:
If this is indeed the case then that's awesome. So, if my load is zero and I have 18kw of pv, can that entire 18kw go towards charging my batteries? Just trying to figure out how this model works.
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No it can only charge at 220 amps. Which is still impressive. That’s somewhere around 11.3 kw. So if you aren’t selling back to the grid the extra Pv wouldn’t be used.
 
Lt.Dan said:
But if you have a net metering agreement, it can sell that excess back, rather than get wasted
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Yes.... There are 3 distinctly different places the energy can go: Grid, Battery or load. If none of those are available, the mppt cuts the PV current and shuts down production. This is pretty much the same on all systems... If there is no place for the energy to go the MPPT will shut off production. The nice thing about this system is that it has all three places to send the energy. String inverters only have the grid. Many AIOs only have batteries and loads.

Since all 3 are a possibility, having a large production capability kinda makes sense for this inverter. This gives the unit a broad swath of possible applications it can address. For some applications the full production capability is useful, for others, it might not be. However, for the price, the unit may still be a good fit even if the extra production capability is not needed. Almost any inverter chosen will have functionality that is not used for the targeted application.
 
Gavin Stone said:
No it can only charge at 220 amps. Which is still impressive. That’s somewhere around 11.3 kw. So if you aren’t selling back to the grid the extra Pv wouldn’t be used.
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Ahhh, ok, understood. I'm not selling back to the grid. Guess I can always get an EG4 chargeverter and run that back to my battery bank for extra charging.
 
Henderson said:
Ahhh, ok, understood. I'm not selling back to the grid. Guess I can always get an EG4 chargeverter and run that back to my battery bank for extra charging.
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What size battery bank do you have? What C rate do you want to charge? (I like to keep it to .3C.)

If you keep the charge rate down to .3C, it would take a 733Ah bank to need 220A charge. That is 8 100AH batteries or 42 KWh of storage. Even at .5C it would need 440Ah of battery.
 
FilterGuy said:
What size battery bank do you have? What C rate do you want to charge? (I like to keep it to .3C.)

If you keep the charge rate down to .3C, it would take a 733Ah bank to need 220A charge. That is 8 100AH batteries or 42 KWh of storage. Even at .5C it would need 440Ah of battery.
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In the process of building a 560Ah battery which should be completed within the next 2 to 3 weeks. By around Jul will double that. By the ending of Dec, planning on having 1680Ah bank ( I think that works out to 86Kwh or thereabouts). The battery won't be cycled every day though. It's sized to accommodate EV charging and for those few times where it may not be too sunny for 2 to 3 days. So if it takes 2 days (with 1 night of of partial discharge) to fully charge the batteries I'm totally fine with that. On average, I'm between 30 to 40kwh per day.
 
Henderson said:
In the process of building a 560Ah battery which should be completed within the next 2 to 3 weeks. By around Jul will double that. By the ending of Dec, planning on having 1680Ah bank ( I think that works out to 86Kwh or thereabouts). The battery won't be cycled every day though. It's sized to accommodate EV charging and for those few times where it may not be too sunny for 2 to 3 days. So if it takes 2 days (with 1 night of of partial discharge) to fully charge the batteries I'm totally fine with that. On average, I'm between 30 to 40kwh per day.
Click to expand...
That's a lot of battery!!!
 
"With this level of tech we are 100% remote control and monitoring, the human factor has been eliminated as well on most connections, far fewer issues to go wrong that our team has to eliminate in order to support this ..."

Hmmm ... 100% remote-control and monitoring. I can't let anybody into my environment, because sooner or later, a hack happens, and then everybody is let in. But, I suppose this is good for, and aimed at, folks who need hand-holding when they make a purchase.

Will hold off further judgement until I see docs, methods, procedures ...
 
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