EG4 24K mini split

[timselectric]

I think there is a fine line according to the IRS. One could claim the 30% for the array but as for the heat pump/mini split, it falls under the Energy Efficient Home Improvement Credit

Electric or natural gas heat pumps, electric or natural gas heat pump water heaters, central air conditioners,natural gas or propane or oil water heaters, natural gas or propane or oil furnaces or hot water boilers: must meet or exceed the highest efficiency tier (not including any advanced tier) established by the Consortium for Energy Efficiency (CEE) that is in effect as of the beginning of the year in which the property is placed in service.See also the CEE Directory of Efficient Equipment for a searchable database of qualifying equipment.

A person could probably claim the expense under the solar system credit but if audited it might not be allowed. I'd certainly consult a tax specialist that might be able to shed light on the subject.

Right
You can't claim the energy star credit if the mini split doesn't qualify.
You can only claim the solar system credit for the solar panels.

 

[Plum Crazy Rob]

Heat pump argument is still indecisive, as then Geothermal Heat Pump is lumped in Residential Clean Energy with the Solar stuff.

I can assure you, having operated Geo for 20 yrs, it's most certainly an Electric Heat Pump and uses lots of it !!

????

Edit: the official answer here has to be "consult your tax professional "

 

[Joe Gleason]

I installed the EG4 24000Btu unit a couple of days ago. Powered by the grid first to make sure everything was good. Works great, cools my roughly 1,000sf main living area (open concept - living room, dining room, kitchen). This system is my first foray into solar. I installed seven Canadian Solar 385W panels and just finished powering on the solar a couple of hours ago. Really nice to see the green bar indicating solar usage in the app! I left the AcInput on with the ac limiter set. It appears to draw 40W constantly from the grid, even when the PvInput is more than enough. Guess that is normal? I'd like to leave the AcInput powered on so I can run the unit when there is no solar.

I'm in New Hampshire so this unit will likely only be used during the day and early evening to keep the house comfortable. I have radiant floor heating (hydronic) for the winter months but will see how the heating side of the minisplit works in the cold NH winter season!

 

[EastTexCowboy]

I installed the EG4 24000Btu unit a couple of days ago. Powered by the grid first to make sure everything was good. Works great, cools my roughly 1,000sf main living area (open concept - living room, dining room, kitchen). This system is my first foray into solar. I installed seven Canadian Solar 385W panels and just finished powering on the solar a couple of hours ago. Really nice to see the green bar indicating solar usage in the app! I left the AcInput on with the ac limiter set. It appears to draw 40W constantly from the grid, even when the PvInput is more than enough. Guess that is normal? I'd like to leave the AcInput powered on so I can run the unit when there is no solar.

I'm in New Hampshire so this unit will likely only be used during the day and early evening to keep the house comfortable. I have radiant floor heating (hydronic) for the winter months but will see how the heating side of the minisplit works in the cold NH winter season!


View attachment 158448

Sweet! Looking forward to hearing how well it works.

 

[Will Prowse]

I installed the EG4 24000Btu unit a couple of days ago. Powered by the grid first to make sure everything was good. Works great, cools my roughly 1,000sf main living area (open concept - living room, dining room, kitchen). This system is my first foray into solar. I installed seven Canadian Solar 385W panels and just finished powering on the solar a couple of hours ago. Really nice to see the green bar indicating solar usage in the app! I left the AcInput on with the ac limiter set. It appears to draw 40W constantly from the grid, even when the PvInput is more than enough. Guess that is normal? I'd like to leave the AcInput powered on so I can run the unit when there is no solar.

I'm in New Hampshire so this unit will likely only be used during the day and early evening to keep the house comfortable. I have radiant floor heating (hydronic) for the winter months but will see how the heating side of the minisplit works in the cold NH winter season!


View attachment 158448

That's strange, mine will be 100% solar. That should be more than enough! That's overkill actually. Hmm

 

[Joe Gleason]

That's strange, mine will be 100% solar. That should be more than enough! That's overkill actually. Hmm

When I was on AC only the unit drew anywhere from about 500 to 1500 watts, depending on how hard it was working. Today with solar input only the unit was using 800-1500 watts, all from the array. When I turned the AcInput back on the lowest the AcInput draw would go was 40 watts. When clouds shaded the array the AcInput usage went from 40W to a couple of hundred. The array dropped to about 200W at one point. It was fairly shaded at that point. Right now the unit is in cooling mode, fan on high and it is using PvInput of 559W and AcInput of 79W.

Had to buy 10 panels minimum with Signature Solar. I calculated out 7 panels to stay within the right voltage range. Wired in series.

 

[Plum Crazy Rob]

I installed the EG4 24000Btu unit a couple of days ago

Welcome! I have a 24k churning away since Jan 1st. (1.32 Mw saved at appx 3:1 heat pump output = 4 Mw saved @ $130 per Mw. Correlates very nicely vs year over year bill Mw computation) Panels roof or ground mount?? Pics?? You may be relaxing for a bit under the cool air.. ?

Run 100% Solar since 3/1. If I enable AC grid 40W is spot on what I see. Also 7 385W Panels BTW.

 

[Will Prowse]

When I was on AC only the unit drew anywhere from about 500 to 1500 watts, depending on how hard it was working. Today with solar input only the unit was using 800-1500 watts, all from the array. When I turned the AcInput back on the lowest the AcInput draw would go was 40 watts. When clouds shaded the array the AcInput usage went from 40W to a couple of hundred. The array dropped to about 200W at one point. It was fairly shaded at that point. Right now the unit is in cooling mode, fan on high and it is using PvInput of 559W and AcInput of 79W.

Had to buy 10 panels minimum with Signature Solar. I calculated out 7 panels to stay within the right voltage range. Wired in series.

Can you verify it with a watt meter? Just put it between the AC input and the wall outlet. Maybe it says 40W but it's not drawing anything.

 

[Joe Gleason]

Panels are ground mount (MacGyvered a temporary mount from some old 2x6 material). I'll meter the AC side tomorrow, maybe it isn't really drawing any - although I'd prefer the app to be accurate! I have a Pixel 7 and using the Smart Life app which is what came up when I scanned the qr code that came with the unit.

Nice savings Plum Crazy Rob!

 

[Joe Gleason]

Not much sun here today. I turned the unit on about an hour ago, AcInput was showing 40W in the app with the ac limiter turned on. While the app was still showing 40W from the grid I went down to my electrical panel and used my clamping meter on each of the hot legs of the circuit (my EG4 is the 24000btu so running 240V on 30A breaker.) I got a reading of .52 amps on each leg. Definitely using AC from the grid.

So, if I have a sunny day and leave the breaker turned on, I appear to be using AC from the grid, even when my panels are delivering more than enough to power the unit completely from solar. The app (Smart Life) has an AC Limiter function but it is on or off, no way to set a specific wattage for use of grid power.

The Solar Aircon app won't install on current Android devices so I am using SmartLife. I will probably dig out an older Android from my collection and see if I can install the Solar Aircon app on it. Not sure it has different functions or not but worth a try.

 

[Plum Crazy Rob]

Yes to be clear, to run 100% Solar you have to disconnect Grid (breaker). Mine works great. Others not so much some sort of MPPT issue T B D. If you have any problems it's been proven wise to leave Grid on and put up with the "40w"

Some kind of loading snafu on Solar aircon app. Others have experienced this. See also this thread here. I'm on Android 13.

Help me Install 3 EG4 Mini Split Solar Heat Pumps

THREAD INDEX: (Links Updated: 2/15/2024) This is a long Thread, So I have added this Index Note: Click the Post Number to Follow the link. The Topic discussion will follow from that Post TOOLS USED FOR DIY A/C INSTALLS Tools - 662 THE INSTALL General 1st 24k - 5 2nd 24k - 6 12k - 139 Nitrogen...

diysolarforum.com

 

[Joe Gleason]

Yes to be clear, to run 100% Solar you have to disconnect Grid (breaker). Mine works great. Others not so much some sort of MPPT issue T B D. If you have any problems it's been proven wise to leave Grid on and put up with the "40w"

Some kind of loading snafu on Solar aircon app. Others have experienced this. See also this thread here. I'm on Android 13.

Help me Install 3 EG4 Mini Split Solar Heat Pumps

THREAD INDEX: (Links Updated: 2/15/2024) This is a long Thread, So I have added this Index Note: Click the Post Number to Follow the link. The Topic discussion will follow from that Post TOOLS USED FOR DIY A/C INSTALLS Tools - 662 THE INSTALL General 1st 24k - 5 2nd 24k - 6 12k - 139 Nitrogen...

diysolarforum.com

Thanks Rob! I couldn't find that thread the other day when I was looking for it. I had skimmed it a bit last week. I will use the hack to keep the ac limiter always on. More reading to do!

 

[Cary1219]

Hi all! I'm Cary, from Texas. I'm wanting to get into all things solar, but my first project will be a solar powered mini split in my single car garage so we'll actually be able to go in there during the summer to work on cars. I'm highly intrigued by the EG4, but I have my first question.

If the unit can be powered directly from solar, why am I reading that an inverter is necessary to power from batteries? Is it because the unit was built without direct DC input? If so, is there a way around this. A way to power with 48V potentially?

I looked through here and didn't see where this had already been addressed. My apologies if it already has.

 

[#40Fan]

Hi all! I'm Cary, from Texas. I'm wanting to get into all things solar, but my first project will be a solar powered mini split in my single car garage so we'll actually be able to go in there during the summer to work on cars. I'm highly intrigued by the EG4, but I have my first question.

If the unit can be powered directly from solar, why am I reading that an inverter is necessary to power from batteries? Is it because the unit was built without direct DC input? If so, is there a way around this. A way to power with 48V potentially?

I looked through here and didn't see where this had already been addressed. My apologies if it already has.

You'd need a handful of 48V batteries wired in series. I don't see why you couldn't do it if you wanted to.

What is the minimum DC voltage needed?

 

[rrhett53]

There should be some headroom engineered into that specification. Go for it.

The EG4 12,000 mini split indicates 380 volt max. I put 6 x 200 watt Sanyo HIT panels together and nearly got there. Would you suppose there might be some headroom there too? https://www.solarelectricsupply.com...attachment/custom/upload/Sanyo-HIT-200-RZ.pdf
Might I need to plan on jerking one out of the string sometime before heating season? Never played 380 volts. Also, can it display °F on the indoor unit? And how do you get it to work Nights? It quits at 'DarK' and won't come back on till, 'dawn'. Hooked to grid power and using a little most days. The manual is on a par with, 'signiture solar', NSG. tnx