Greetings,
When I had started out with the desire to expand and add in additional power with battery backup to my home, I was first focusing on tier 1 like Outback and Schneider. It seems that this will allow for me to basically AC couple and have the ability to charge the bank with AC or via solar with a new array and SCC. What drive me bonkers is that you need to get all this additional pricey boxes to program and monitor. Sure I get it that I need to buy an inverter and a SCC, but it seems that it is 4-6 hundred more to program the inverter. ( Unless I am mistaken )
Recently, I have been finding myself looking at these 'value' AIO units like the MPP, Growatt, DIY-MNS etc. These value units seem to check all the boxes, minus selling back to the grid. I had also seen the signature solar unit that states ul1741, but I don't think that these still all to sell back?
I think that these check all my check-boxes:
- add more power ( this would be a separate load panel )
- charge the battery first with solar then with AC if needed
- supply power to some circuits during a power event
What I don't know:
- can I charge and/or use AC power at the same time, either when the sun is out or not?
- if there is not enough sun or battery, will AC assist or take over?
I would still need to properly size the system. I really need to make sure that I don't paint myself in a corner with the AC charging, as I only have 100A service on my home and I can see that some of these have big AC charging.
I belive that this would be a self consume 'off-grid' system that allows for AC assist. Am I barking up the right tree with these AIO, or in the long run, am I better off with the tier 1 units?
Regards
When I had started out with the desire to expand and add in additional power with battery backup to my home, I was first focusing on tier 1 like Outback and Schneider. It seems that this will allow for me to basically AC couple and have the ability to charge the bank with AC or via solar with a new array and SCC. What drive me bonkers is that you need to get all this additional pricey boxes to program and monitor. Sure I get it that I need to buy an inverter and a SCC, but it seems that it is 4-6 hundred more to program the inverter. ( Unless I am mistaken )
Recently, I have been finding myself looking at these 'value' AIO units like the MPP, Growatt, DIY-MNS etc. These value units seem to check all the boxes, minus selling back to the grid. I had also seen the signature solar unit that states ul1741, but I don't think that these still all to sell back?
I think that these check all my check-boxes:
- add more power ( this would be a separate load panel )
- charge the battery first with solar then with AC if needed
- supply power to some circuits during a power event
What I don't know:
- can I charge and/or use AC power at the same time, either when the sun is out or not?
- if there is not enough sun or battery, will AC assist or take over?
I would still need to properly size the system. I really need to make sure that I don't paint myself in a corner with the AC charging, as I only have 100A service on my home and I can see that some of these have big AC charging.
I belive that this would be a self consume 'off-grid' system that allows for AC assist. Am I barking up the right tree with these AIO, or in the long run, am I better off with the tier 1 units?
Regards