Growatt SPF 5000ES Vs Growatt SPF 5000 HVM-WPV

[Julian-Indaiatuba]

I remember I read these days many things about solar system calculations.

I cannot say where I found this or if it is correct but the rule of thumb for the fuses is 1.2 x nominal current for the string.
The fuses should be rated for 600Vdc.
Read more on https://sinovoltaics.com/learning-center/system-design/fuses-in-pv-systems/
or search for "choosing fuses for pv array/panel"

Thank you again for your input. With the help of people like you, I am slowly learning about solar energy and how to install it myself.
I think I have calculated all the fuses from the panels to the controller and the AC in and out. The one I find complicated thought is the fuse from the batteries to the charge controller, or is it from the chatge controller to the batteries?
Do I calculate the fuse amperage thinking of the Inverter’s maximum continuous output, or for the 5 second peak? These are questions I are difficult to find an answer to, which is logical I suppose as ever’s setup is slightly different.
Thanks again!

 

[Desert_AIP]

On the website, they states:
100A solar charge current

SPF 3500-5000 ES - Off-Grid Storage Inverters - Growatt

SPF 3500-5000 ESoffgrid,solar off grid inverters,5000 watt inverter

www.ginverter.com

On the user manual there are more details:
P. 39 Output current 21.7A (AC output I presume)
P. 40 max AC charging current 80A
Max PV input current 22A
(still) max PV Charging current 100A

confusing...

Remember Ohms Law V=IR or P=VI

21.7A at 230VAC is 4991W (5000W output from the inverter - either converted from the battery or AC passthrough)
In the US you would set that to 240VAC output (roughly 20.8A)

80A AC charging into a 48V (51.2V) battery is 4096W
4096W at 240VAC input is 17.1A. (17.8A at 230VAC)

So the total AC input is up to 21.7A plus 17.1A = 38.8A which is why they spec a 50A input breaker.
AC output is 21.7A which is why the output breaker is specced at 30A.


Max PV input is 22A and 450VDC OC max (max combined of 6000W) so if you feed it the higher voltage, the MPPT will clip the current.
Panels don't "push" current, the have the capacity to provide a max current, the MPPT charger is a load on the panels.
At the max input voltage 450VOC which is about 430V working voltage, the current limit is 13.9A (6000W)
The max current input of 22A would occur at or below 272.7VDC input. (6000W)

The PV Charging current is 100A into a 48V (51.2V) battery is 5120W

 

[Thingol]

Dear , we are Growatt inverter supplier .
Advantages of Growatt SPF 5000ES:

1. Can be used without the lithium battery connected
2. It can be connected to the national grid, and can take electricity from the national grid and charge the battery
3. Support parallel operation for capacity expansion up to 30kW.
4. 3-6pcs Growatt SPF 5000ES can be connected in 3phase
5. Mppt's Operating Voltage is 120V-430V
6. Built-in MPPT charge controller.
7. Flexibly schedule the Inverter charging and discharging time.

That is why the SPF is more bettery .

And SPF 5000TL HVM-MPV can't be connected in parallel .
The SPF 5000ES support 6 pcs conected in parallel to be 30KW inverter .

If you want to purchase ,you can contact me .
My whatsapp :+86 18438591701
My eamil : sales13@eitaichina.cn

Hope this information can help you .

There are far too many reports online of malfunctioning and serious safety, quality and operational issues with Growatt inverters for me to trust the brand or product. I went with Victron and I am very happy so far-especially with their VRM monitoring portal-Growatt cannot match that.

 

[Demlitup]

There are far too many reports online of malfunctioning and serious safety, quality and operational issues with Growatt inverters for me to trust the brand or product. I went with Victron and I am very happy so far-especially with their VRM monitoring portal-Growatt cannot match that.

I live in a 240v 50hz world where earth's and other lines are move connected.
I would be interested to know if the issues in North America are also being experienced in 240v 50hxz world.

 

[radurus]

I have my own installation in Romania, 230VAC 50Hz running since the beginning of december 2021 with 2x Pylontech US3000, a third one added on february 2022.
There are 16 x 375W Canadian Solar panels providing the solar power.
This system cost me 8500eur till now (my own labor/installation)

Like any other equipment, there are pros and cons.
You could read (translated) the thread on the romanian forum softpedia. There are a lot of details, tips and tricks.

Invertor Growatt SPF 5000 ES

Invertor Growatt SPF 5000 ES

forum.softpedia.com

In short:
- this inverter is cheap (a little more than 700eur)
- it is compact but this come with drawbacks (it has forced ventilation and it became noisy when power increases)
- it comes with only 2 years warranty (probably because is a bugdet equipment)
- it is limited to 18A on the single MPPT it has. In the last specs says it has 22A and probably the latest ones comes with this mod.
- it can do 5.5kw AC output without issues and it manages spikes of 150% nominal power easily.
- it has self consumption of ~70W (that is a little big). It is needed to set 2A grid charging to prevent the batteries from draining (considering you have small capacity). Those 2A grid charge happens only when the inverter is switched to the grid (low battery or SuB/Uti operation)
- the Growatt cloud server works pretty well still a little slow. The data you see is splitted in 5 minutes increments/updates. The android app does not update the data always (you need to kill it and opem again). You have the web access in browser which worked for me always but you do not have "realtime" data. The data logger can be configured for 1min period, you can see real values with 1min delay but in the cloud it has the same 5 minutes basetime of updating.

Most recently I started to use 3x1.5kw heater in the buffer (water heating system) to use all the solar energy thruought the day. I get 37kwh daily (9-12 used in the house, and the rest goes to the heater)

Regarding the comparison mentioned with Victron, you can get the same rating power at double price, not mentioning Victron didn't have until recently "all-in-one" inverter. You need inverter, solar controler (low voltage that comes with high currents and thick wires) plus that communication sistem VE which is not cheap. It is versatile, modular but comes with a price I was not willing to pay.

 

[timselectric]

I live in a 240v 50hz world where earth's and other lines are move connected.
I would be interested to know if the issues in North America are also being experienced in 240v 50hxz world.

No
It's only an issue for split-phase configuration.
However, I had no problem adapting it myself.

 

[cajunrider]

I have the 5000ES model and have had in in use for a couple months now. Although they claim it will work without batteries, the performance would be horrible. The problem is the sun intensity varies minute to minute as clouds pass, one minute the inverter can be outputting 4KW and seconds later only 500-600 watts. Without a battery bank of some sort there is nothing to "fill in" during those short periods of low output and depending on your loads, the inverter would fault out. I have 340ah of 48V battery bank and it works very well. It would be pretty useless without a battery bank of some sort, even a real small one.

I am running a 3000ES with no battery and in solar priority mode (and no battery) it splits the incoming AC with the solar panels to provide the needed electricity. I had always thought it was either/or but this actually draws from both simultaneously. At first I thought there was some kind of lag in what I was seeing but a meter confirmed it was drawing from both at the same time. I am running loads up to 2KW including a 12,000btu mini split and it is working fine. Only been online a couple of months but no issues.

 

[timselectric]

Yup
To use these without batteries. Set it to "SOL" or "SUB". These two settings use all of the solar available, with the grid for surges and stability.

 

[Sparky_SC]

I agree you can use the AC grid to supplement the load by setting the inverter to one of those modes BUT it sort of defeats the concept of a off-grid inverter ! The savings on your electric bill will be FAR less than a setup with decent battery storage.

 

[Sparky_SC]

Yup
To use these without batteries. Set it to "SOL" or "SUB". These two settings use all of the solar available, with the grid for surges and stability.

Unless your loads are quite small it would go to the grid every time a cloud passes by. Its not uncommon for my system to swing from 4000 watts down to 300-400W and back to 4000 as clouds pass by, the battery supplements those swings in sunlight keeping the utility bill small. Running without a battery a system would draw from the grid during such conditions, aka much higher electric bill.

My Growatt SPF5000ES has been powering my whole house for a full year now, including heat/AC with two mini splits. I have grid power but only for my workshop and electric stove, the bill runs under $20 a month. On good days I produce about 30KWH of solar energy.

 

[timselectric]

Unless your loads are quite small it would go to the grid every time a cloud passes by. Its not uncommon for my system to swing from 4000 watts down to 300-400W and back to 4000 as clouds pass by, the battery supplements those swings in sunlight keeping the utility bill small. Running without a battery a system would draw from the grid during such conditions, aka much higher electric bill.

My Growatt SPF5000ES has been powering my whole house for a full year now, including heat/AC with two mini splits. I have grid power but only for my workshop and electric stove, the bill runs under $20 a month. On good days I produce about 30KWH of solar energy.

Of course
But, running without batteries. Is a great way to get started saving money, cheaply.

 

[Rassie2]

Dear , we are Growatt inverter supplier .
Advantages of Growatt SPF 5000ES:

1. Can be used without the lithium battery connected
2. It can be connected to the national grid, and can take electricity from the national grid and charge the battery
3. Support parallel operation for capacity expansion up to 30kW.
4. 3-6pcs Growatt SPF 5000ES can be connected in 3phase
5. Mppt's Operating Voltage is 120V-430V
6. Built-in MPPT charge controller.
7. Flexibly schedule the Inverter charging and discharging time.

That is why the SPF is more bettery .

And SPF 5000TL HVM-MPV can't be connected in parallel .
The SPF 5000ES support 6 pcs conected in parallel to be 30KW inverter .

Hope this information can help you .

I have two Growatt spf 5000tl inverters running in parralell.One of these inverters motherboard was replace with a spf 5000 es.Know one is a 5000es and one a 5000ts.Can they run in parralell

 

[Rassie2]

Can

I have two Growatt spf 5000tl inverters running in parralell.One of these inverters motherboard was replace with a spf 5000 es.Know one is a 5000es and one a 5000tl.Can they run in parralell

 

[hasan1990]

I am in the process of shopping for an off-grid inverter and was just wondering, what is the difference between the Growatt SPF 5000ES and the Growatt SPF 5000 HVM-WPV counterpart? I see the two are from different series and the datasheets' first page would appear to suggest that the ES line has more features. Is that indeed the case? Which one of the two inverters/inverter lines is more recent?

hi dear ,did you get any answers ?

 

[radurus]

I took few minutes to compare de user manuals and the specs.

There are basically identical. The differences are the inverter name and the inverter image.

More info only Growatt cand provide.

 

[Marw]

I have just bought the SPF 3500 ES model, but am still relatively new to solar, but am trying to do it myself.
I only have 335W - 37,8V - 9,3A panels.
As the distance between my panels and Inverter is about 100 feet, I wanted to put as many panels as possible in series to keeps the Amps down.
Could someone please help me and advise me how many panels would be the maximum? The Vdc working range of the inverter is between 120 and 430.
I was thinking 10 panels as they sometime go to 42V in the summer, but would love confirmation from more knowledgeable people.
Thank you in advance.

​

Hi, 10 panels it may jump over 430v, its better to be 9 maximum (be in the safe side).

 

[dmeter]

huge difference is in topology inverter made

Growatt

Transformerless inverters are Growatt SPF 3000– 5000TL and any other in name have TL.
PROS-
Transformerless inverters are much lighter and compact compared to the transformer-based inverters.
With transformerless inverters energy losses are avoided as well as extra components costs, making it more affordable.
Transformerless inverters use electronic (rather than mechanical) switching, thereby reducing the amount of heat generated by the inverter.
CONS
-Transformerless inverters are more prone to surges and shocks because they are less complex in design. Although, some inverters come with inbuilt surge protectors to avert that e.g Growatt Inverters, it is advisable to use external surge protectors for safety purposes.

other Growatt SPF 3500– 12000T HVM,ES and other mark in name T,ES,HVM ecc.
is usually HF transformer
PROS
-Due to the complexity in their designs, transformer inverters are built with electrical isolation between DC and AC circuits which lowers the risk of shock and surges.

 

[dmeter]

i forget GRowatt inverter is totaly shit inverter
No Load Power Consumption
Growatt/MPP solar units 3000W tend to burn about 40-50W rated output
Growatt/MPP solar units 5000W tend to burn about 50-60W rated output

now winter 1 growat/mppsolar/voltronic burn 1440 wh/day you need 1000-1500W solar panel for cover only no load consumation

Victron 20-40w day 480-940 wh day

and king , real brain and knowledge in design SMA sunny island

Energy Consumption in No-Load Operation and Standby or Energy-Saving Mode

manuals.sma.de

Energy Consumption in No-Load Operation and Standby or Energy-Saving Mode​

---

	SI4.4M-12	SI6.0H-12	SI8.0H-12
Consumption in standby or energy-saving mode	6.8 W	6.5 W	6.5 W
Consumption in no-load operation and in discharge mode	18.0 W	25.8 W	25.8 W

and this for marine use is to high 432 wh/day winter need 432W solar panel, and sailboat in middle ocean have place for 300-400 Wp solar panel.

 

[radurus]

Do not praise Victron. Victron is iphone of inverters.
It is at least 2.5x price (compared to Growatt) and the needed accessories just adds up to make a functional system (with comm, mppts and cloud data logging).
For that money difference you can add some panels or some kwh battery.

I just do not believe the technical consumption of Victron is low. It is a transformer inverter. Transformers have low efficiency (I think they don't talk about this...)

Your calculus about idle waste energy is not real.
The real energy consumption is half of your numbers. During the day the energy is "taken" from the PV. It does not matter to count it.
During night it is supplied from the battery and you need cu keep in mind that ~1kwh/day storage is the energy your inverter eats for doing nothing.
During the day anyway you have a lot of not used energy on offgrid systems. (batteries are full, no load system enters idle). Who cares for more 70W while 2kw potential stays unused for lot of time.

 

[dmeter]

Do not praise Victron. Victron is iphone of inverters.
It is at least 2.5x price (compared to Growatt) and the needed accessories just adds up to make a functional system (with comm, mppts and cloud data logging).
For that money difference you can add some panels or some kwh battery.

I just do not believe the technical consumption of Victron is low. It is a transformer inverter. Transformers have low efficiency (I think they don't talk about this...)

Your calculus about idle waste energy is not real.
The real energy consumption is half of your numbers. During the day the energy is "taken" from the PV. It does not matter to count it.
During night it is supplied from the battery and you need cu keep in mind that ~1kwh/day storage is the energy your inverter eats for doing nothing.
During the day anyway you have a lot of not used energy on offgrid systems. (batteries are full, no load system enters idle). Who cares for more 70W while 2kw potential stays unused for lot of time.

for price
cheapest inverter is Sunny island 3500€ +- 8 kw 15-25 year last waranty

after this Victron multiplus 2 48/10000va 4300€ +- 10 year last
growatt sf 5000 900€ x2 or 1800-2000€ last maybe 5 year havy maybe