Encinal_Hwy
New Member
- Joined
- Jun 6, 2022
- Messages
- 7
I'd intended to put together a system using an EG4 6500 inverter, but being in California brush fire country the permit goes through the fire dept who insists on inverters on the approved California list, so the EG4 is out (I explained I was not going to back-feed the grid, though the inverter would use grid power to charge batteries and provide pass-through power, but that still didn't sway the signatory authorities - btw, the whole issue of grid-tie vs off-grid but connected to the grid as a power source seems semantically confusing a lot of the time). So, to the California list of approved inverters (specifically grid-tied inverters is all that is on the list - implying the EG4 should be useable as any appliance that plugs in, but NO they say) and I see the Sol-Ark, which I know Will recommends, and the Goodwe GWxxxx A-ES series, which is about half the price of the Sol-Ark. The Goodwe looks pretty good to me (obviously I'm new at solar) as it seems it can operated in an off-grid mode and do everything I wanted the EG4 to do, plus it already comes with 4 MPPT inputs. I have 4 roof orientations which would work out nicely for the 4 MPPTs on a single inverter, though pairs of roofs are oriented only about 60 degrees apart and so could be paired up - though one string would have different panels. And all roofs are generally oriented south: 2 roofs within about 15 degrees of south, one southeast, and one southwest - it's a bit of a weird house that wraps around a hillside. So I could probably pair up at least 2 of the roofs.
I understand the Sol-Ark has a transformer and seems to have features the Goodwe doesn't, but I'm not sure those features would benefit me. And I don't see much discussion on the A-ES Goodwe inverters. There's one recent YT video of an installer in San Diego that installed one to upgrade a system there, though he seems sponsored by Goodwe (the Goodwe distributor is in the video too). A possible issue for the Goodwe is it takes high voltage batteries. I'm familiar with the 48V batteries and actually placed an order for 2 of the EG4 5kWh batteries from SS along with the now-cancelled EG4 6500 inverter. Can those 48 V batteries be wired in series to use with the Goodwe? It needs 85 to 450V batteries. Is that a major reason the Goodwe is so much less expensive than the Sol-Ark, the lack of battery adaptability?
Right now I have 16 used 295 watt panels (Voc 45.1V and Vmp 35.7V), and 12 used 260 watt panels (Voc 37.8V and Vmpp 30.7V). A neighbor who lost their home in one of the brush fires gave me their ground-mounted panels that were ok but insurance is replacing. The panels which is what got me started on all of this, and originally I just wanted to supply power to some circuits broken out to a sub panel, including a fridge, server, and a coral grow-out operation (lots of pumps and LED lights), and cover my top tier energy useage.
Thanks for any suggestions/advice.
I understand the Sol-Ark has a transformer and seems to have features the Goodwe doesn't, but I'm not sure those features would benefit me. And I don't see much discussion on the A-ES Goodwe inverters. There's one recent YT video of an installer in San Diego that installed one to upgrade a system there, though he seems sponsored by Goodwe (the Goodwe distributor is in the video too). A possible issue for the Goodwe is it takes high voltage batteries. I'm familiar with the 48V batteries and actually placed an order for 2 of the EG4 5kWh batteries from SS along with the now-cancelled EG4 6500 inverter. Can those 48 V batteries be wired in series to use with the Goodwe? It needs 85 to 450V batteries. Is that a major reason the Goodwe is so much less expensive than the Sol-Ark, the lack of battery adaptability?
Right now I have 16 used 295 watt panels (Voc 45.1V and Vmp 35.7V), and 12 used 260 watt panels (Voc 37.8V and Vmpp 30.7V). A neighbor who lost their home in one of the brush fires gave me their ground-mounted panels that were ok but insurance is replacing. The panels which is what got me started on all of this, and originally I just wanted to supply power to some circuits broken out to a sub panel, including a fridge, server, and a coral grow-out operation (lots of pumps and LED lights), and cover my top tier energy useage.
Thanks for any suggestions/advice.