EG$ 18k vs Sol Ark 15k

NC_hydro said:

There is no comparison, Schneider all day everyday but if you had to ask that question....stick with the Sol-Ark15k or the EG4 18kpv if you're the type that likes to gamble.

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No gambling with the SolArk 15k, look at the forums-plug and play success out of the box for a great many of us without issues or complications.

EG4’s success and support are not even close to equivalent to SolArk and should not be lumped together in the same breath.

42OhmsPA said:

XW Pro

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It's a really Apples to Oranges comparison though

You need, like what, 5 different SKUs of separate parts to match a hybrid? (OK, probably more like 3)

zanydroid said:

It's a really Apples to Oranges comparison though

You need, like what, 5 different SKUs of separate parts to match a hybrid? (OK, probably more like 3)

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Yes it is not an even comparison.
Inverter, Insight Home and MPPT at a minimum but you might as well add a PDP and a 2nd MPPT. I could be missing items, I don't own one, yet. I'm just regurgitating what I've read over the year(s).

42OhmsPA said:

Yes it is not an even comparison.
Inverter, Insight Home and MPPT at a minimum but you might as well add a PDP and a 2nd MPPT. I could be missing items, I don't own one, yet. I'm just regurgitating what I've read over the year(s).

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3 MPPTs, 2 XW Pro to match the power conversion specs. Might need external hardware to match the 200A transfer capability.

"It's complicated"

I don't know if there are any apples to apples comparisons that can be made between any products on the market.
You just have to find which ones have the features you need. And decide what fits your budget best.

IMO you can apples to apples things in the same segment (which incorporates code compliance level and form factor, though it will vary by requirements of end user. EG someone might be very opinionated about needing weatherproof hardware, which will segment things apart from each other.)

Balrog006 said:

No gambling with the SolArk 15k, look at the forums-plug and play success out of the box for a great many of us without issues or complications.

EG4’s success and support are not even close to equivalent to SolArk and should not be lumped together in the same breath.

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Read it again, I said OR EG4 18kpv if you were a gambler. Not the Sol-Ark, got no beef with them if you're set on an AIO that's the best route.

zanydroid said:

It's a really Apples to Oranges comparison though

You need, like what, 5 different SKUs of separate parts to match a hybrid? (OK, probably more like 3)

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That's one of the best things....ever heard the term don't put your eggs all in one basket? Definitely a check in the plus column for me.

NC_hydro said:

That's one of the best things....ever heard the term don't put your eggs all in one basket? Definitely a check in the plus column for me.

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You can get multiple 6000XPs for one XW + all accessories. Enough for 1+1 active/spare or 2+1 active/spare or whatever. And I consider 6000XP (an off-grid AIO) as probably comparable to XW on the AC output and because XW is falling behind a bit on approved ESS combinations for grid tie.

Arguably the fault analysis / redundancy analysis of two full things (AIO) is simpler than checking your redundancy math on 5 things.

If you only have one of those (which is equivalent capacity to one XW), it should be sustainable for a long time to buy an alternative as a drop-in replacement. Presuming you live close enough to the beaten path to order replacements without a huge headache. If you have more than one of those, then it's a lot more complicated because of stacking compatibility. You might have to bank for buying a bunch of replacements at once. OTOH, there's no guarantee that you can find the exact same XW iteration or replacement parts if something dies.

Another risk is (currently) Schneider being way slower at interacting with customer firmware requests than LuxPro.

NC_hydro said:

Read it again, I said OR EG4 18kpv if you were a gambler. Not the Sol-Ark, got no beef with them if you're set on an AIO that's the best route.

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But a Deye would be the ideal solution.
I can think of Some Really Nice Equipment that I'd throw into the mix along with the Lux Power and the Deye.

I'm personally not a fan of high frequency split-phase AIO's.
But if the 6000XP was available when I started. I definitely would have considered it as an option. I'm pretty picky about what I will recommend. But, it's checking everyone's boxes pretty well. If it passes the test of time, it might get my vote.

NC_hydro said:

Read it again, I said OR EG4 18kpv if you were a gambler. Not the Sol-Ark, got no beef with them if you're set on an AIO that's the best route.

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Seemed to me in first glance there should have been an Oxford comma or perhaps a semicolon, after the 15k, in that statement to separate the ideas. Punctuation is important after all.

Re-reading at your request I do see now how it reads your way. Thanks for clarifying.

I have a Sol ark 15K and I vouche for it. All off grid here for over a year now. It's ran 15MWH of power from solar for us without a hiccup. I am no where near using the capability of this unit. It runs out 4 heat pumps. And every other load I can throw at it in our 2500 sq ft new build. . I am off grid so I did order a SRNE 10k split phase from China as a backup for when the solark needs repairs. I had a growatt with an auto transformer as backup until last week when the growatt went poof just from charging from generator, which it was happy to do at 80A for less than 20 hours ?.

Too bad in Canada they are around 9K dollars or I'd buy another one as backup!

My two big EG4's have pushed out just under 12MW since June. I've had a few hiccups here and there, some related to the inverter, some to batteries, some to interaction between, generally around edge case events. I'm expecting the latest firmware update that should be out soon should resolve the bulk of any lingering significant issues, and hopefully not introduce any new ones. The Sol-Ark is a much more mature product, and the firmware appears to be somewhat more robust at this time. If maximum stability is paramount, it's probably a better choice, though probably not so much in a year or so. i.e. If you are designing for 6 months out, I'm not sure it's going to matter that much, and it also depends on how complex your needs.

A lot of the guys here have been at this for a long time, and like to play with their toys, so they have DIY custom batteries, and a bunch of MPPT/SCC's, and stand-alone inverters, and they've wired it all up. This can make for a very flexible system, but I stopped building custom component stereo's and computers a while back, and frankly, the advent of relatively inexpensive AIO's, that simplify installation and reduce component count, is what attracted me to finally take the plunge in the first place. I looked at Schneider, and Midnight, and a few other systems before I put my crap together, and every time I looked I ended up with something less capable, and/or drastically more expensive, as well as more complex. If you started 3-5 years ago I think it would be different, but I think building out a component based setup with the AIO options available today would be silly. YMMV.