diy solar

diy solar

Growatt SPF 6000T DVM

It takes 2 legs of 120v ac input and 2 legs and neutral for ac output. Are you referring to post #7?
Ah yes, I see that the picture says it all. I was actually looking at my input and didn't see it as clearly as the photo. Thanks for the reply.
 
I have been running a 6000T for about 4 weeks now and love it. Here's a post with my system details: https://diysolarforum.com/threads/s...owatt-spf600t-4-eg4-lifepower4-in-rack.43053/

I had one overload fault that shut down the inverter when I accidentally exceeded 3K on one leg (toaster, microwave and teakettle all on and a dehumidifier or maybe a fridge or freezer must have also kicked on at the same time). I've since moved some loads around to keep that from happening again. I regularly run 6,000 BTU window ACs, dehumidifiers, 2 freezers and a fridge, and kitchen appliances off the system and have done my best to balance the load, but there are short periods of time when I might have one leg up to 2.5K and the other at next to 0 and the inverter handles the imbalance OK.
 
Hello,
I was curious if any one could clue me into some details about this inverter. My inverter settings are default except for BMS communication protocol.
First I noticed that by default, output Hz is set to 50, is it ok to set it to 60Hz?

I tested my house on it and things ran well, my multiple fridges, freezers, lights, etc...

However when my 3.5 ton AC kicked on, the inverter shut down.

I may have undersized my inverter as I chose it based on wattage average used and not peak leg amperage.

I did sample my main legs every 30 minutes and noticed that about twice a full 24 hour day (that's 48 samples), my hot legs were as follows;

Red; 24.9 amps
Black; 28.4 amps

I'm thinking this is why the inverter shut down. It's my understanding that each leg of the inverter is rated at 25 amps output.

Do you all think this as well?

I plan to change the following settings from default;
Set Hz from 50 to 60
Set source priority from utility first to solar first.

This is off grid/non grid tie etc...

At any rate it was exciting powering my home entirely off of this inverter with 3x 48V EG4LL batteries however we were hoping to get our AC working as well.

BTW the inverter cooling fan sounded like a hair dryer on low so that was a pleasant surprise as I thought it was going to be louder.

PS I'm having a hard time finding output amperage specs of various Growatt inverters but would the 8kW unit handle my peak current draw?
 
Last edited:
Definitely switch to 60Hz in the US. And go with the SBU priority (solar, battery, utility) to maximize your solar generation.

You are maxing this inverter out as it is designed to run up to 3kW per leg / 25 amps at 120v and though the unit is low frequency with autotransformer and handles surges pretty well, I would bet that your AC is putting you over the top.
 
All of the inverters in this line (SPF xxxxT DVM) are split-phase and will support half the rated load on each leg. You do want to be careful to balance the load as well as you can, especially if you are maxing out the unit.
 
Seems like if run some calcs;

V x I = P

Transposing;

P / V = I

And so the 8kW unit would yield 33.3 amps per leg.

Does this sound right? If so this would certainly solve my issues and not weigh to much more.

I'm alone in terms of heavy lifting and so the 6kW unit was awkwardly a bear to lift. The 8kW is not that much heavier.

Weight is a huge factor in my endeavors and choices.
 
A little update;

So I turned things on slowly to see what the break point would be.

I've 2x bar fridges, 2x large fridges and a dedicated freezer.

Everything ran and I could tell when the compressor motors would cycle as the inverters code 7 (overload) would flash and beep momentarily.

What pushed this over the edge and caused shut down were either the led lights in the garage or the fountain pump for a 130 gallon tiered water fountain.

Seeing how close this was, I've decided to really go big and get myself the 12kW unit. It's over kill but I know now that it should run with ease.

A fairly expensive lesson learned here both in time and money. But sometimes that's how it all goes.

I'll call Ian at Watt247 to see if he'll feel sorry enough to cut me a deal as I bought my current inverter from him.
 
A little update;

So I turned things on slowly to see what the break point would be.

I've 2x bar fridges, 2x large fridges and a dedicated freezer.

Everything ran and I could tell when the compressor motors would cycle as the inverters code 7 (overload) would flash and beep momentarily.

What pushed this over the edge and caused shut down were either the led lights in the garage or the fountain pump for a 130 gallon tiered water fountain.

Seeing how close this was, I've decided to really go big and get myself the 12kW unit. It's over kill but I know now that it should run with ease.

A fairly expensive lesson learned here both in time and money. But sometimes that's how it all goes.

I'll call Ian at Watt247 to see if he'll feel sorry enough to cut me a deal as I bought my current inverter from him
Sounds right. You have to size these things for the potential surge and not plan on running them maxed out for a long period of time. I have a 6000 W unit and I am mostly pulling 1 to 3K at a time on both legs combined with occasional surges that get me close to 2.5 and 3K on a single leg.
 
It takes 240 volts AC input and can seamlessly go into utility/generator bypass when your battery gets low then switch back when the battery gets to the configured value.
I used to get data spikes on my monitoring app before I updated the firmware.
 
For most homes 3kW per leg is minimal.
I you have the money, buy the 12kW model.
I now I wished I’d gotten the 8K model. As of now when I’m charging the EV the wife can’t make tea with the electric tea kettle without causing a fault. Because my kitchen has got a couple of multi-wire branch circuits I had to move more over to the off-grid system than I originally planned.
 
Last edited:
Back
Top