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DEYE Inverter UL Listed available in US

When I look at the specs for SMA PV and battery inverters:



There is a small efficiency difference shown in graphs, 96% at 220 VDC vs. 98% at 480 VDC PV, and 95% at 63 VDC vs. 96% at 42 VDC battery.
As far as power production from PV or run time from battery, doesn't matter much.
But in terms of heat dissipation, those are 2:1 and 5:4 respectively, which would affect how long they could sustain that power for a given ambient temperature environment.

I was surprised that boosting 63VDC to 120 VAC is less efficient than 42VDC to 120 VAC. Maybe the transformer ratio is such that the least voltage reduction from battery to primary occurs when drawing from 42V battery and secondary is driving 170V peak. If this was high frequency boost architecture like SolArk might be reversed.

Unlike the transformerless Sunny Boy I linked above, spec sheet for my older transformer type shows lowest efficiency at 480VDC, highest at 300VDC PV.

Interesting the things we learn when critically studying specs of products.
 
So I unfortunately don't have time to mention as many things as I would like but in addition to @Hedges comment, your reducing the output current from the batteries likely hampered your test. I believe the inverter is capable. I've done enough testing, I'm with @Hedges on there being other issues at play. With the current limitation in the software from the batteries, any slight dip in the array output (a multitude of reasons this could happen) could have caused the load to switch to the batteries for a brief moment and triggered an overcurrent fault.

Maybe you said somewhere and I missed it but what are you using for batteries? Do they come with/are you using CAN communication with the inverter?

Although the inverter is solid, the reactive/surge capabilities of this unit aren't as capacitive as others such as an SMA 6048, making it rely more heavily on the battery IMHO. Plus I have found that the MPPT controllers are slower to track than others I have worked with. These issues combined could cause overcurrent triggers and shutdowns.

I would add an AT (auto-transformer). It'll help balance the loads and prevent overload trips from either leg independently. If you want a fancy 7.6KVA Victron with a fan, I can set you up with one with a discount. Should be large enough, I doubt you'll need more than 28A of continuous line-to-line transfer.

He was actually charging the battery at 1.34 Kw during the test and producing 9.85 Kw from the solar array. Look at the two pictures attached.
 
Hi,

I have been following this thread for a while now and would like to hop on to ask and share along.
I am interested in on/off grid hybrid inverters & AC coupled batteries.

Right now I'm stuck with a few options and would like opinions on my following product selection:
Must inverter: PH10-3648A
Deye inverter: SUN-3.6K-SG01/03LP1
Deye inverter: SUN-8/10/12K-SG (new product, LV 3ph inverter)
SunSynk: 5.5-K-SG01LP1

I could continue with inverters from for example; GoodWe or Sol-Ark

Basically, just like everyone else, looking for the best bang for smallest bucks.

The selection is based on medium household requirements, so a 10 kWh battery, 3,5 - 5 kW AC output / Solar input.

Happy to hear any thoughts.

Twan
 
Hi,

I have been following this thread for a while now and would like to hop on to ask and share along.
I am interested in on/off grid hybrid inverters & AC coupled batteries.

Right now I'm stuck with a few options and would like opinions on my following product selection:
Must inverter: PH10-3648A
Deye inverter: SUN-3.6K-SG01/03LP1
Deye inverter: SUN-8/10/12K-SG (new product, LV 3ph inverter)
SunSynk: 5.5-K-SG01LP1

I could continue with inverters from for example; GoodWe or Sol-Ark

Basically, just like everyone else, looking for the best bang for smallest bucks.

The selection is based on medium household requirements, so a 10 kWh battery, 3,5 - 5 kW AC output / Solar input.

Happy to hear any thoughts.

Twan

Batteries are a large part of the cost and their lifespan varies with usage, so that is much of the bang for buck analysis.
If you expect them to cycle every night that could be 3600 cycles in a decade; various lithium seem to satisfy that.
The same could be true for peak shaving applications.
If only grid backup, number of cycles could be quite small, so even deeply cycled lead-acid could meet the need.
If off-grid and battery is sized for multiple days without sun, lead-acid like forklift batteries may last long enough and be cost effective.

I think 10 kWh or so, 24V to 48V, can be assembled as DIY LiFePO4 for about $2000 which is less expensive than quality lead-acid, making it almost a no-brainer. Any other battery (not counting used) I think costs more than you can save gaming utility rates.

I used AGM, 20 kWh gross and 14 kWh usable for grid-backup. Cost was $5000.

Having a small battery backup for critical loads and the balance of PV strictly grid tie may make the most financial sense. If you want to pay extra for battery backup of more loads, that can be done.

As for inverters, I use AC coupled PV inverter (Sunny Boy) with DC coupled battery inverter (Sunny Island). Normally not a low-cost system, but with SI-6048 at liquidation prices of around $2000 more or less, I think system price is similar to Sol-Ark.

There are differences in feature and software functionality between systems. When you say "AC coupled batteries" does that imply charging battery from AC and discharging battery to AC for peak-shaving or zero-export reasons?

And performance differences. Starting surge for motors is much more than running power, so you need to size battery inverter for that.

Also, are you in the US market where 120/240V 60 Hz split phase is used, or in a 220V 50 Hz market?
 
Batteries are a large part of the cost and their lifespan varies with usage, so that is much of the bang for buck analysis.
If you expect them to cycle every night that could be 3600 cycles in a decade; various lithium seem to satisfy that.
The same could be true for peak shaving applications.
If only grid backup, number of cycles could be quite small, so even deeply cycled lead-acid could meet the need.
If off-grid and battery is sized for multiple days without sun, lead-acid like forklift batteries may last long enough and be cost effective.

I think 10 kWh or so, 24V to 48V, can be assembled as DIY LiFePO4 for about $2000 which is less expensive than quality lead-acid, making it almost a no-brainer. Any other battery (not counting used) I think costs more than you can save gaming utility rates.

I used AGM, 20 kWh gross and 14 kWh usable for grid-backup. Cost was $5000.

Having a small battery backup for critical loads and the balance of PV strictly grid tie may make the most financial sense. If you want to pay extra for battery backup of more loads, that can be done.

As for inverters, I use AC coupled PV inverter (Sunny Boy) with DC coupled battery inverter (Sunny Island). Normally not a low-cost system, but with SI-6048 at liquidation prices of around $2000 more or less, I think system price is similar to Sol-Ark.

There are differences in feature and software functionality between systems. When you say "AC coupled batteries" does that imply charging battery from AC and discharging battery to AC for peak-shaving or zero-export reasons?

And performance differences. Starting surge for motors is much more than running power, so you need to size battery inverter for that.

Also, are you in the US market where 120/240V 60 Hz split phase is used, or in a 220V 50 Hz market?
The battery will be used for both peak shaving and in the case of an outage for grid backup. I do have experience with building different sizes of Lithium packs, for solar LiFePO4 is indeed the one I was going for.

I'm missing the knowledge in inverters, this includes inverter <-> battery communication. The 'professional systems' seem to be mostly using CAN, did you include that with your DIY battery?

What attracts AC batteries to me is that they can upgrade an installed PV system without replacing the legacy solar inverter. The battery could than be used like any DC coupled battery; peak shaving, off grid, etc.. (these functionalities are however sometimes limited as some require communication with the inverter and or grid)

Indeed I agree, $2000 is not a low cost system, the Deye & Must inverters go below $1000. that's a significant difference and I kinda feel like they would do the trick just fine. But that's an assumption and that's why I'm posting here :)

I am based in the Netherlands so 230V 50 Hz
 
Hmmm... While Sol-Ark (Portable Power LLC) may claim ownership of the technology they share with Deye and a few other asian companies, Sol-Ark certainly wasn't the first to use it. A few years back while Portable Power LLC was still fumbling around with separate components mounted on a board using imported pieces to create an off grid package, the real US innovators that have been re-imagining power production for over 35 years at Outback (formerly Trace Engineering engineers) created the Skybox. Which, went into production prior to Sol-Ark's 8k unit. I would say that it is more likely that the folks at Sol-Ark took Outbacks Skybox design to china, reverse engineered it, moved things around a bit and came out with the Sol-Ark 8k and then the 12k (also 8k). So essentially the Sol-Ark may really be designed in the US., just not like we have been led to believe. The same way Sol-Ark has gotten a Dept of Energy award for the most innovative US product when it all comes from China. To expound on this thought a bit more, if you go to https://pv.inteless.com/login you will come to the English login page for Sol-Ark's online monitoring system. However if you go https://inteless.com which is the monitoring company's main page, it is all in Chinese. So Sol-Ark incorporates Chinese monitoring through a Chinese server for all of the US based Sol-Ark equipment. This means that technically, someone monitoring your Sol-Ark in China can shut down your Sol-Ark the same way Sol-Ark techs can monitor and change your Sol-Ark by you just having a wifi connection. All the EMP hardening in the world cant fix that gaping hole. And, it shows exactly who is in control of Sol-Ark. If you go to the Deye website they talk about the wonderful response they have gotten with their product in the US. I think this is a true statement because everything is coming out of the same manufacturer. GSL Energy.
Similarly, MPP Solar out of Taiwan was also using the same technology a couple of years before Sol-Ark. Their little green stackable 2.4k hybrid grid tie units are still on the market and work pretty good. Software is crap but they tick along nicely.

It's always better to try and look at the complete story instead of buying into marketing bites that may be full of coverups

I believe for the most part these versions (deye/sol-ark/sunsynk/etc) are interchangeable for the most part. I have seen a couple threads on the PowerView forum with owners talking about botched firmware updates that sent the wrong branded firmware to a device, a sunsynk inverter updated to a deye firmware but running fine.
 
The battery will be used for both peak shaving and in the case of an outage for grid backup. I do have experience with building different sizes of Lithium packs, for solar LiFePO4 is indeed the one I was going for.

I'm missing the knowledge in inverters, this includes inverter <-> battery communication. The 'professional systems' seem to be mostly using CAN, did you include that with your DIY battery?

What attracts AC batteries to me is that they can upgrade an installed PV system without replacing the legacy solar inverter. The battery could than be used like any DC coupled battery; peak shaving, off grid, etc.. (these functionalities are however sometimes limited as some require communication with the inverter and or grid)

Indeed I agree, $2000 is not a low cost system, the Deye & Must inverters go below $1000. that's a significant difference and I kinda feel like they would do the trick just fine. But that's an assumption and that's why I'm posting here :)

I am based in the Netherlands so 230V 50 Hz

I used Sunny Island, because I started out with Sunny Boy AC coupled inverters, and Sunny Island with internal relay serves as a UPS to support downstream loads (my entire house) if grid goes down. MSRP of four Sunny Island would have been $20,000 but due to fraud/bankruptcy/liquidation sale I got them for $0.25 on the dollar. That doesn't make the system cost-effective, just an affordable luxury.

I used dumb AGM batteries, no communication. SMA is very good at managing lead-acid batteries, but cost per kWh of cycle life isn't competitive with grid rates. They were commonly used for off-grid where that price comparison isn't applicable; the alternative of a diesel generator was the higher cost option being avoided. For me, small battery lets system run when grid is down and provides surge current for motors, while PV direct to AC carries loads.

An alternative was LG RESU lithium batteries (CAN bus). Several times the price of AGM and several times the life, but no cheaper per kWh of cycle life. For grid-backup, I didn't need thousands of cycles. Even hundreds of cycles from AGM are more than needed.

I didn't know about DIY lithium cells, only repurposed EV batteries. The price drop in DIY cells (now 280 Ah instead of 100 Ah for $100) has made them competitive with utility rates. REC makes BMS that are compatible with my Sunny Island.

Tesla Powerwall and SMA Sunny Boy Storage are high voltage AC batteries. For SMA, the 400V LG RESU-H is one compatible battery. I've never heard of someone doing a DIY 400V battery, although REC makes BMS that can be interconnected for the approximately 128 cells needed. I think SMA has some communications between this battery inverter, their PV inverter, and a monitor with current transformers, in order to implement zero export or peak shaving. But they don't publish diagrams and theory of operation like they used to for previous products.

Peak shaving is easier and cheaper than full house grid-backup, because only has to handle something like 10A instead of 100A AC, and just patches into AC breaker panel. Also doesn't have to deal with surge to much higher wattage.

It seems you can make a system work even without BMS <--> inverter communication, just voltage of battery indicating near full or near empty. Current transformers used by some hybrid inverters are all that's needed to peak shave with zero export. It could also provide backup for some critical loads.
 
Hmmm... While Sol-Ark (Portable Power LLC) may claim ownership of the technology they share with Deye and a few other asian companies, Sol-Ark certainly wasn't the first to use it. A few years back while Portable Power LLC was still fumbling around with separate components mounted on a board using imported pieces to create an off grid package, the real US innovators that have been re-imagining power production for over 35 years at Outback (formerly Trace Engineering engineers) created the Skybox. Which, went into production prior to Sol-Ark's 8k unit. I would say that it is more likely that the folks at Sol-Ark took Outbacks Skybox design to china, reverse engineered it, moved things around a bit and came out with the Sol-Ark 8k and then the 12k (also 8k). So essentially the Sol-Ark may really be designed in the US., just not like we have been led to believe. The same way Sol-Ark has gotten a Dept of Energy award for the most innovative US product when it all comes from China. To expound on this thought a bit more, if you go to https://pv.inteless.com/login you will come to the English login page for Sol-Ark's online monitoring system. However if you go https://inteless.com which is the monitoring company's main page, it is all in Chinese. So Sol-Ark incorporates Chinese monitoring through a Chinese server for all of the US based Sol-Ark equipment. This means that technically, someone monitoring your Sol-Ark in China can shut down your Sol-Ark the same way Sol-Ark techs can monitor and change your Sol-Ark by you just having a wifi connection. All the EMP hardening in the world cant fix that gaping hole. And, it shows exactly who is in control of Sol-Ark. If you go to the Deye website they talk about the wonderful response they have gotten with their product in the US. I think this is a true statement because everything is coming out of the same manufacturer. GSL Energy.
Similarly, MPP Solar out of Taiwan was also using the same technology a couple of years before Sol-Ark. Their little green stackable 2.4k hybrid grid tie units are still on the market and work pretty good. Software is crap but they tick along nicely.

It's always better to try and look at the complete story instead of buying into marketing bites that may be full of coverups
Here's the post in this thread directly from a member of the SolArk Management team. I have no reason not to believe them. I talked to him about my SolArk before I had it installed. Most of what you are saying is hearsay and I have no idea who you are.
The fact is, they are pretty effective at protecting their IP and preventing Deye units from being available here. They know about this site and in particular, this thread. If you want to push to infringe on that, go right ahead, but I play by the rules. Whatever SolArk did, they own the rights to put the SolArk name on every one of these devices sold in the US.
If you find a way to import one for personal use, I don't think they'll mind. If you start to compete by selling knockoffs you should definitely prepare to be challenged legally.

Post in thread 'DEYE Inverter UL Listed available in US' https://diysolarforum.com/threads/deye-inverter-ul-listed-available-in-us.13942/post-221330
 
I used Sunny Island, because I started out with Sunny Boy AC coupled inverters, and Sunny Island with internal relay serves as a UPS to support downstream loads (my entire house) if grid goes down. MSRP of four Sunny Island would have been $20,000 but due to fraud/bankruptcy/liquidation sale I got them for $0.25 on the dollar. That doesn't make the system cost-effective, just an affordable luxury.

I used dumb AGM batteries, no communication. SMA is very good at managing lead-acid batteries, but cost per kWh of cycle life isn't competitive with grid rates. They were commonly used for off-grid where that price comparison isn't applicable; the alternative of a diesel generator was the higher cost option being avoided. For me, small battery lets system run when grid is down and provides surge current for motors, while PV direct to AC carries loads.

An alternative was LG RESU lithium batteries (CAN bus). Several times the price of AGM and several times the life, but no cheaper per kWh of cycle life. For grid-backup, I didn't need thousands of cycles. Even hundreds of cycles from AGM are more than needed.

I didn't know about DIY lithium cells, only repurposed EV batteries. The price drop in DIY cells (now 280 Ah instead of 100 Ah for $100) has made them competitive with utility rates. REC makes BMS that are compatible with my Sunny Island.

Tesla Powerwall and SMA Sunny Boy Storage are high voltage AC batteries. For SMA, the 400V LG RESU-H is one compatible battery. I've never heard of someone doing a DIY 400V battery, although REC makes BMS that can be interconnected for the approximately 128 cells needed. I think SMA has some communications between this battery inverter, their PV inverter, and a monitor with current transformers, in order to implement zero export or peak shaving. But they don't publish diagrams and theory of operation like they used to for previous products.

Peak shaving is easier and cheaper than full house grid-backup, because only has to handle something like 10A instead of 100A AC, and just patches into AC breaker panel. Also doesn't have to deal with surge to much higher wattage.

It seems you can make a system work even without BMS <--> inverter communication, just voltage of battery indicating near full or near empty. Current transformers used by some hybrid inverters are all that's needed to peak shave with zero export. It could also provide backup for some critical loads.
That's a good deal. Who doesn't like affordable luxuries :)

If you only use the grid backup once in a while, dumb batteries are indeed no problem. There are tons of systems running for quite a long time on dumb / lead acid when they make low cycles. Easier to get your hands on those too. Which is a different story for larger Lithium batteries, that is one of the reasons I build 48V packs myself. However, not sure if I want to DIY a 400V pack (btw, I don't use 2nd hand cells from laptop or something).

There are hybrid inverters which use 48V batteries (the one I listed). The SUN-8/10/12K-SG even has a 3ph output. Not the most efficient but keeps safety at a higher level (using 48V battery instead of 400). The output power in off-grid mode isn't huge but in case of off-grid I don't need much power. That's why a single phase hybrid inverter would do too.

"It seems you can make a system work even without BMS <--> inverter communication, just voltage of battery indicating near full or near empty. Current transformers used by some hybrid inverters are all that's needed to peak shave with zero export. It could also provide backup for some critical loads."

I think so too!
There are messages in this thread talking about how the Deye, Sol-Ark and stuff are kinda rebranded / copies of eachother or xxxxx.. So they all basically work the same? Then questions remains, what inverter to choose?
 
"It seems you can make a system work even without BMS <--> inverter communication, just voltage of battery indicating near full or near empty. Current transformers used by some hybrid inverters are all that's needed to peak shave with zero export. It could also provide backup for some critical loads."

I think so too!
There are messages in this thread talking about how the Deye, Sol-Ark and stuff are kinda rebranded / copies of eachother or xxxxx.. So they all basically work the same? Then questions remains, what inverter to choose?

I think the_colorist works with systems closer to your market and has lots of experience with BMS and their communication.

It seems that Deye is lower priced and very similar to Sol-Ark, just not supported or available through proper channels in the US. So it could be ideal for you.

Ability to kick over larger motors, like A/C or pumps, is a big difference among inverters. There are some incredibly cheap brands out there. Some may be reliable, and some people have had blow up immediately or after a while with difficult loads. Gentle loads, like soft-start motors might let them work. Paying once for a top-tier inverter known to work with conventional loads might be simpler and more cost effective.

If you have reliable grid and PV/inverter/battery is just about saving money, you can afford to risk a failed inverter and upgrade afterwards.

I've run into issues like a VFD (for variable speed operation of a 3-phase pool pump) apparently upsetting a transformerless Sunny Boy inverter. My solution it to substitute an older transformer type Sunny Boy. So that's a caution that inverter drive appliances might be a problem with transformerless battery inverters. Don't know for sure.

When manufacturers use a high voltage stack of batteries, electronics can be light weight. Like older UPS with several hundred volts of gel batteries, only need to switch the current of AC. For lithium, they can make low cost per cell BMS. The BMS used for DIY tend to cost $10 to $100 per cell, so only cost effective for larger capacity cells. A 100 kWh 400V battery or 13 kW 48V battery would be worth building.

Depending on your objectives, controlling loads and storing energy as heat/cold might be better than battery storage and inverters.
 
Hmmm... While Sol-Ark (Portable Power LLC) may claim ownership of the technology they share with Deye and a few other asian companies, Sol-Ark certainly wasn't the first to use it. A few years back while Portable Power LLC was still fumbling around with separate components mounted on a board using imported pieces to create an off grid package, the real US innovators that have been re-imagining power production for over 35 years at Outback (formerly Trace Engineering engineers) created the Skybox. Which, went into production prior to Sol-Ark's 8k unit. I would say that it is more likely that the folks at Sol-Ark took Outbacks Skybox design to china, reverse engineered it, moved things around a bit and came out with the Sol-Ark 8k and then the 12k (also 8k). So essentially the Sol-Ark may really be designed in the US., just not like we have been led to believe. The same way Sol-Ark has gotten a Dept of Energy award for the most innovative US product when it all comes from China. To expound on this thought a bit more, if you go to https://pv.inteless.com/login you will come to the English login page for Sol-Ark's online monitoring system. However if you go https://inteless.com which is the monitoring company's main page, it is all in Chinese. So Sol-Ark incorporates Chinese monitoring through a Chinese server for all of the US based Sol-Ark equipment. This means that technically, someone monitoring your Sol-Ark in China can shut down your Sol-Ark the same way Sol-Ark techs can monitor and change your Sol-Ark by you just having a wifi connection. All the EMP hardening in the world cant fix that gaping hole. And, it shows exactly who is in control of Sol-Ark. If you go to the Deye website they talk about the wonderful response they have gotten with their product in the US. I think this is a true statement because everything is coming out of the same manufacturer. GSL Energy.
Similarly, MPP Solar out of Taiwan was also using the same technology a couple of years before Sol-Ark. Their little green stackable 2.4k hybrid grid tie units are still on the market and work pretty good. Software is crap but they tick along nicely.

It's always better to try and look at the complete story instead of buying into marketing bites that may be full of coverups
actually, the deye/ sol-ark design were done by a guy from the UK called keith.
he sells the same units in the uk, south african and a few other countries as sunsynk.

he has a channel in YT, and has complete training courses online.

makes for very interesting learn material.

furthermore there is "dr solar", who now live in nigeria.
has been using the 5k units extensively for his customers, and he too has a YT Channel called awps renewable energy..
he disected a few
 
Today I decided to wait until the batteries were fully charged and set the discharge rate up high (160A) just to see if it would make any difference.

I was able to get a combination of Loads that according to the Sol-Ark User Screen added up to 7,614Watts and it did not shut off. However, looking at the more detailed screen it appears that the Sol-Ark itself was consuming approximately 300Watts itself and that the 7,614W "Load" also includes another 450Watts of what I can only guess is Conversion Loss. That is speculation on my part, but I don't know of any alternative reason the indicated Load is Always a few % higger than when multiplying the indicated Volts being supplied X the indicated Amps being supplied.

Indicated Load = 7,614Watts
Total of both L1 and L2 specifics: 59.6A x 120Volts =7,152Watts.

As I've said before I am relatively new to most of this so clearly this may be an incorrect interpretation and would welcome any other explanation.

If my speculation is correct, then anytime the Inverter is under a fairly heavy Load, then between the self -consumption of the Sol-Ark and the Conversion Losses being reported as "Loads" basically eat up about 700W - 800W of the claimed max Output of 9KW.

If so then this basically means that the max continuous amount of A/C Power actually supplied to the Real Loads of the home/structure, excluding the Sol-Ark itself, would be maxed out at around 8.2KW.

Nevertheless when I applied a combination of Loads equaling 8,125Watts it shut off pretty quickly.
 

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So I unfortunately don't have time to mention as many things as I would like but in addition to @Hedges comment, your reducing the output current from the batteries likely hampered your test. I believe the inverter is capable. I've done enough testing, I'm with @Hedges on there being other issues at play. With the current limitation in the software from the batteries, any slight dip in the array output (a multitude of reasons this could happen) could have caused the load to switch to the batteries for a brief moment and triggered an overcurrent fault.

Maybe you said somewhere and I missed it but what are you using for batteries? Do they come with/are you using CAN communication with the inverter?

Although the inverter is solid, the reactive/surge capabilities of this unit aren't as capacitive as others such as an SMA 6048, making it rely more heavily on the battery IMHO. Plus I have found that the MPPT controllers are slower to track than others I have worked with. These issues combined could cause overcurrent triggers and shutdowns.

I would add an AT (auto-transformer). It'll help balance the loads and prevent overload trips from either leg independently. If you want a fancy 7.6KVA Victron with a fan, I can set you up with one with a discount. Should be large enough, I doubt you'll need more than 28A of continuous line-to-line transfer.
Thanks for the suggestions and Input, that may indeed be something I need to consider
 
Today's test was done with a clear sky/ no clouds. Outdoor temp was approximately 65F and the Sol-Ark is mounted indoors at around 74F degrees ambient temperature
 
Fully charged battery supplying only about 200W of your 8.125 kW load, the rest coming from solar.
That's less than 9kW and it shut off fairly quickly. Based on specs, shouldn't happen unless it can't keep cool due to environment. (74F means that wasn't the problem.)
Or, you were exceeding 4800W on one phase, which would only be a slightly imbalanced load.

"CEC Efficiency 96.5% (Peak 97.5%)"
Don't know at what wattage without a graph. Not unreasonable to have 8% or 10% loss at full load, but operating off PV and the 400V rail higher efficiency might be expected.

Maximum continuous wattage is likely to be less in hot weather. Maybe you can count on 7kW or so.
Ideally this thing would give a "derating" control output you could use to cut off some loads, keeping at least refrigeration running.
 
The only clue is "Temp DC 54.5C", a 5 degree rise from the other image. And that isn't particularly hot.
See if you can note the temperatures as it goes to shutdown, if different from those.
A thermostat on an accessible heatsink could serve as a load-shed signal, but probably if you detect a more distinct rise.

Does it log what caused the shutdown?
 
Today I decided to wait until the batteries were fully charged and set the discharge rate up high (160A) just to see if it would make any difference.

I was able to get a combination of Loads that according to the Sol-Ark User Screen added up to 7,614Watts and it did not shut off. However, looking at the more detailed screen it appears that the Sol-Ark itself was consuming approximately 300Watts itself and that the 7,614W "Load" also includes another 450Watts of what I can only guess is Conversion Loss. That is speculation on my part, but I don't know of any alternative reason the indicated Load is Always a few % higger than when multiplying the indicated Volts being supplied X the indicated Amps being supplied.

Indicated Load = 7,614Watts
Total of both L1 and L2 specifics: 59.6A x 120Volts =7,152Watts.

As I've said before I am relatively new to most of this so clearly this may be an incorrect interpretation and would welcome any other explanation.

If my speculation is correct, then anytime the Inverter is under a fairly heavy Load, then between the self -consumption of the Sol-Ark and the Conversion Losses being reported as "Loads" basically eat up about 700W - 800W of the claimed max Output of 9KW.

If so then this basically means that the max continuous amount of A/C Power actually supplied to the Real Loads of the home/structure, excluding the Sol-Ark itself, would be maxed out at around 8.2KW.

Nevertheless when I applied a combination of Loads equaling 8,125Watts it shut off pretty quickly.
Is this unit the new 12K version with the Wi-Fi dongle mounted on the side or the old that has the Wi-Fi underneath? The new version claims 9 KW.
 
Yes, this is the new version 12K-P. w/PV Disconnect and Dongle on the side, the main difference between the 2 versions being: CONTINUOUS OUTPUT @240V @ 37.5A OF 9,000WATTS BOTH ON GRID AND OFF-GRID. Outdoor mounting option being the other.

I never planned on trying to keep it pegged out at 9KW, however after spending upwards of 50 hours over several months watching every one of their videos as well any other videos put out having anything to do with the Sol-Ark and seeing this Figure ( 9KW Continuous ) on Graphs, Charts, Brochures, as well as in various " USE -Case Scenarios" AND in the written specs and associated "Build Calculators" on websites etc.... I went back -through all of the details of my particular planned use scenarios, which I will kindly spare you/everyone else of having to suffer through, and decided that would work for the location I had in mind. Meaning that producing/Getting 8.0 -8.3KW a couple of times a week for a few hours or so.


Long-Story/Short is that since for some reason not one single Solar-Geek on the entire Internet has posted their Pat on the Back/Bragging video about their new Badass system showing it humming right along at 8KW+ even if only for a short duration I have therfore uncharacteriscally now resorted to being the Guinea Pig myself. While Hoping that someone on here could just quickly CONFIRM Real World results and point out what kind of dumbass error I must be making with my system.

So far I have indeed received numerous suggestions and Feedback, which I must say have all been very constructive and helpful no matter how this Saga turns out for me and I am extremely grateful for every bit of that.
 
Here's the post in this thread directly from a member of the SolArk Management team. I have no reason not to believe them. I talked to him about my SolArk before I had it installed. Most of what you are saying is hearsay and I have no idea who you are.
The fact is, they are pretty effective at protecting their IP and preventing Deye units from being available here. They know about this site and in particular, this thread. If you want to push to infringe on that, go right ahead, but I play by the rules. Whatever SolArk did, they own the rights to put the SolArk name on every one of these devices sold in the US.
If you find a way to import one for personal use, I don't think they'll mind. If you start to compete by selling knockoffs you should definitely prepare to be challenged legally.

Post in thread 'DEYE Inverter UL Listed available in US' https://diysolarforum.com/threads/deye-inverter-ul-listed-available-in-us.13942/post-221330
Yes I saw that one when it was posted. I hope they do everything Tom Brennen indicates that they are planning. At this point though, it's still a Chinese inverter. The first one I got my hands on in the fall of 2019 was very disappointing just from the aspect that everything about it was promoted as being a Made in America product, only to see that Made in China sticker on the side of the unit when I took it out of the box. I will give them credit as to their tech support and software updates.
Another disappointment was explaining to my first 12k customer that 12k isn't really 12k of output. That particular unit still resets at 7.2kw. The client has learned to live with it and curb his usage. Updates haven't really changed any of that.
Overall, with the half dozen or so that I have installed, they work well enough. Almost as good as a Skybox anyway. I think I'll start a thread comparing the two of them. It would be good to get opinions on a true US built unit compared to .....
 
Yes, this is the new version 12K-P. w/PV Disconnect and Dongle on the side, the main difference between the 2 versions being: CONTINUOUS OUTPUT @240V @ 37.5A OF 9,000WATTS BOTH ON GRID AND OFF-GRID. Outdoor mounting option being the other.

I never planned on trying to keep it pegged out at 9KW, however after spending upwards of 50 hours over several months watching every one of their videos as well any other videos put out having anything to do with the Sol-Ark and seeing this Figure ( 9KW Continuous ) on Graphs, Charts, Brochures, as well as in various " USE -Case Scenarios" AND in the written specs and associated "Build Calculators" on websites etc.... I went back -through all of the details of my particular planned use scenarios, which I will kindly spare you/everyone else of having to suffer through, and decided that would work for the location I had in mind. Meaning that producing/Getting 8.0 -8.3KW a couple of times a week for a few hours or so.


Long-Story/Short is that since for some reason not one single Solar-Geek on the entire Internet has posted their Pat on the Back/Bragging video about their new Badass system showing it humming right along at 8KW+ even if only for a short duration I have therfore uncharacteriscally now resorted to being the Guinea Pig myself. While Hoping that someone on here could just quickly CONFIRM Real World results and point out what kind of dumbass error I must be making with my system.

So far I have indeed received numerous suggestions and Feedback, which I must say have all been very constructive and helpful no matter how this Saga turns out for me and I am extremely grateful for every bit of that.
On my last install of a 12k, it was tripping regularly at a little over 8kw. Sol-Ark actually was monitoring and contacted me about it. Their recommendation was that I run a second 12k unit in parallel to overcome the problem.
 
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