All-In-One Power usage

[Leemaisel]

I have been using this setup for the last three years with no issues:

2KW solar. 4800wh LiPO4, a Seperate MPPT charge controller, and a seperate 3KW inverter. Also a 48/12v converter.

My question is, I will be doubling the battery capacity and the solar panels, and was thinking about going to the WIll Prowse tested and approved All in one EG4 3KW charge controller/inverter/charger.

The main reason for the change is, the MPPT controller is better, and it will accept up to 500v input, my current one only is rated for 150v MAX.

The problem is, after talking to Signature Solar, you cannot turn the AC Inverter portion off. It’s always on. Currently, we save power especially on long stretches of low sun days by limiting our AC use. Most everything else runs off 12v.

SIgnature said the power usage of this thing is 50W When IDLE! That adds up to 1200w over a 24 hour period, which is currently 1/4 of my capacity. That seems like a deal killer to me, am I wrong about my calculations? I really like the unit, but that sure seems like a huge waste of power for something that is IDLE.

Thoughts??

 

[Adam De Lay]

I took a look at the manual and it looks like the only way to turn it “off” is the disconnect switch on the bottom of the unit that looks like it breaks the connection to the battery (turning everything off).

Unfortunately the idle consumption on these and other inverters can be high. My 6500s could be anywhere from 80-130w. I can turn the inverter off though and the unit will only use 25-30w in “standby mode”.

 

[Leemaisel]

Thanks Adam, Yeah, it’s sad they overlooked such a simple thing. I wonder if an external switch could be tied in to just disable the inverter itself without freaking the unit out.

Lee
W5LMM

 

[Mattb4]

I have been using this setup for the last three years with no issues:

2KW solar. 4800wh LiPO4, a Seperate MPPT charge controller, and a seperate 3KW inverter. Also a 48/12v converter.

My question is, I will be doubling the battery capacity and the solar panels, and was thinking about going to the WIll Prowse tested and approved All in one EG4 3KW charge controller/inverter/charger.

The main reason for the change is, the MPPT controller is better, and it will accept up to 500v input, my current one only is rated for 150v MAX.

The problem is, after talking to Signature Solar, you cannot turn the AC Inverter portion off. It’s always on. Currently, we save power especially on long stretches of low sun days by limiting our AC use. Most everything else runs off 12v.

SIgnature said the power usage of this thing is 50W When IDLE! That adds up to 1200w over a 24 hour period, which is currently 1/4 of my capacity. That seems like a deal killer to me, am I wrong about my calculations? I really like the unit, but that sure seems like a huge waste of power for something that is IDLE.

Thoughts??

Just think of the 1200wh as the cost of doing business and incorporate it into your total load calculations. Remember during sunlight hours you are generating from 6,000 to perhaps 10,000wh from your solar array.

 

[Adam De Lay]

Thanks Adam, Yeah, it’s sad they overlooked such a simple thing. I wonder if an external switch could be tied in to just disable the inverter itself without freaking the unit out.

Lee
W5LMM

Yeah, not really sure why. Never seen inside one of those units so I’m not sure if you could modify it and add a manual switch.

Good luck.

73
Adam

 

[Gavin Stone]

Victron would be your best bet for a smaller system that has extremely low idle consumption.

 

[Rednecktek]

2KW solar. 4800wh LiPO4, a Seperate MPPT charge controller, and a seperate 3KW inverter. Also a 48/12v converter.

So just as a comparison, what's the standby draw on the current system? Can you throw an amp clamp or check a shunt on that for us?

 

[Rednecktek]

I took a look at the manual and it looks like the only way to turn it “off” is the disconnect switch on the bottom of the unit that looks like it breaks the connection to the battery (turning everything off).

Isn't that switch supposed to do the same thing the switch on a Growatt or MPP does and kill the inverter but not the charging??

 

[Adam De Lay]

Isn't that switch supposed to do the same thing the switch on a Growatt or MPP does and kill the inverter but not the charging??

Hmm, you might be right. I think I misread that part in the manual. Sorry about that. Thanks for the double check.

Looking at it more, the manual states the inverter should have a standby (and power saving) mode.

Standby mode: The inverter is not turned on yet but at this time, the inverter can charge battery without AC output.

*Power saving mode: If enabled, the output of inverter will be off when connected load is pretty low or not detected

 

[Rednecktek]

I know the power saving mode on my Growatt is pretty useless. It will wake up if there is 50+ watts of draw, but I only have 45w of light bulbs in the cabin so even turning on every light still isn't enough to go pee at night.

In your case it may be a lot more useful though if you're using it for appliances, but your coffee maker may still be flashing 12:00 12:00 12:00 from power saving shutting off.

 

[uncle.driftwood]

Isn't that switch supposed to do the same thing the switch on a Growatt or MPP does and kill the inverter but not the charging??

It does. The idle consumption is ridiculous, I measured it at around 70wh. I added another battery to buffer it out some. And in power save mode it won't register my lights being turned on

 

[HarryN]

50 ish watts is a pretty normal standby power draw for inverters being on, which is why people often turn them off for smaller power systems like yours.

The challenge with the versions with a "lower power standby" is that there are time delays and interactions that sometimes still keep them from turning back on to full power. An example is a friend of mine's van with a coffee maker. When the coffee maker was turned on, it had some kind of delay while it checked to see if the power was on sufficiently to run - then would shut down faster than the inverter standby mode would switch on.

So the solution was to just use the inverter in on / off mode.

If it were me, I would stick with dedicated components vs a fully integrated unit.