diy solar

diy solar

1, 2 or more inverters?

Prefersdirt

Solar Enthusiast
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Another thread as I look at things for the new house. We are going to have 200A service from the grid. So I need to replicate that with the Solar setup. Will be powering the house, well (240V) and large shed.

First question is: What is better? One large 12K inverter or 2 6K inverters, tied together? Why is that better? Two will have slightly more overhead than one large one. If one of a pair dies, would I still have 120V, just no more 240?

I currently have a GroWatt 3K for an off-grid operation. I am comparing GroWatt and MPP solar from Ian at Watts247. Open to any other options. SolArk is OUCH! And I don’t know if Solark will work with DIY batteries.

Biggest issue I am seeing with the units is a requirement for 240V AC to recharge the batteries via the All in One. My genny is NOT 240V capable. Cheaper to put a separate 48V AC charger on the system in case of grid down.

I have zero interest in selling back to the grid. I don’t want my power company to have anything to say or do with this.

What recommendations would you make?

Thank you
 
Another thread as I look at things for the new house. We are going to have 200A service from the grid. So I need to replicate that with the Solar setup. Will be powering the house, well (240V) and large shed.
That's 48KW of power there, I doubt you're using it all at one time.
First question is: What is better? One large 12K inverter or 2 6K inverters, tied together? Why is that better? Two will have slightly more overhead than one large one. If one of a pair dies, would I still have 120V, just no more 240?
Well since 6Kw AIO's are really just a pair of 3Kw inverters in the same box, I would lean toward the pair of 6Kw's for redundancy. If 1 of the units dies you've still got 6Kw of 240v split phase coming out. If the 12k dies it's really dark.

I currently have a GroWatt 3K for an off-grid operation. I am comparing GroWatt and MPP solar from Ian at Watts247. Open to any other options. SolArk is OUCH! And I don’t know if Solark will work with DIY batteries.
Unless you get into the SolArk/OutBack/Schnieder $$BigMoney units, you're pretty much stuck with Growatt and MPP. The other knock-offs tend to not support paralelling for your 240v split phase.

Biggest issue I am seeing with the units is a requirement for 240V AC to recharge the batteries via the All in One. My genny is NOT 240V capable. Cheaper to put a separate 48V AC charger on the system in case of grid down.
I think your choices come down to either some sort of auto-transformer to create the split-phase, get a bigger generator, or get a stand-alone 48v charger. It really comes down to hassle of wiring and cost. If you want to provide comparable power to what your AIO's can do you're looking at a 4Kw generator which probably has 240v already OR getting the biggest charger your current generator can handle. To math that out take your running watts (NOT the surge watts) of your generator, multiply by .85, multiply by 120v, then divide by 50v and the amps that come out the other end is the most you can feed a charger with.

I have zero interest in selling back to the grid. I don’t want my power company to have anything to say or do with this.
I don't blame ya!
What recommendations would you make?

Thank you
 
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