I'm DONE with MPP Solar

[Shimmy]

Serial data transmission is much more reliable than USB.

Meh... after fighting with flashing some firmware due to serial communicatitons issues for a couple weeks I have to disagree. Undocumented parity requirements, bespoke (and broken) usb-serial drivers for computers to deal with each chipset, and the lack of auto-negotiation baud rates make me feel differently.

A lot of commercial equipment still uses serial connections because of that.

Electronics rely on serial communications because it is cheap and it has only really been ~5-6 years that better solutions have really been viable at a reasonable price point. Everything really should have an internal web server these days (that can be locked down and out).

If data transmission speed is not a factor then serial ports are a good choice.

Serial is good for ubiquity, but honestly that is about it. You shouldn't need low-level debugging tools to just communicate with a device. Proprietary [windows-only] software makes it significantly worse.

 

[Shimmy]

The only USB to serial I trust is FTDI - every other USB I've tried has been sketchy at best. FTDI always works.

Yeah, the challenge there are the number of fake "FTDI" adapters out there that FTDI broke compatibility with.

 

[robby]

Meh... after fighting with flashing some firmware due to serial communicatitons issues for a couple weeks I have to disagree. Undocumented parity requirements, bespoke (and broken) usb-serial drivers for computers to deal with each chipset, and the lack of auto-negotiation baud rates make me feel differently.

Electronics rely on serial communications because it is cheap and it has only really been ~5-6 years that better solutions have really been viable at a reasonable price point. Everything really should have an internal web server these days (that can be locked down and out).

Serial is good for ubiquity, but honestly that is about it. You shouldn't need low-level debugging tools to just communicate with a device. Proprietary [windows-only] software makes it significantly worse.

Well your going up against just about every industrial equipment manufacturers assessment.
You will be hard pressed to find any kind of very expensive or even lower priced industrial machine that does not have serial ports.
The cheaper it is, is the more likely it is that it will have USB ports.

 

[Samsonite801]

Well your going up against just about every industrial equipment manufacturers assessment.
You will be hard pressed to find any kind of very expensive or even lower priced industrial machine that does not have serial ports.
The cheaper it is, is the more likely it is that it will have USB ports.

Yeah this is true, I'm an IT technician and manage labs at work, I always keep a USB-to-Serial adapter cord in my backpack wherever I go hehe... And keep the specific serial cords for each device in the racks close by each one so I know which cord goes to which brand device.

Some racks I have IP-to-Serial switches and just leave several serial cables plugged into a bunch of devices so I can telnet to the serial port I want and access a device via serial if their normal networking failed. Or I can reset a device and still get to it to configure an IP onto it again, without having to go to the lab to do it.

 

[Bmbthomp]

So I say this after having hooked up well over 25 MPP Solar systems at work ... so this is not one of those bitching for no reason type things (well it actually is) ... BUT .....

The MPP Solar is an excellent system - until its not.

Until you need customer support.

Until you try to read one of their "ENGLISH" manuals.

Until you try to figure out why in 2022 they are still using Serial cables with RG45 connectors on the end (Seriously - have they never heard of a USB connector!!) ...

There's just toooo many lighter, better, faster, cheaper systems coming on board to go thru this MPP headache any longer ... Sure back in the day when MPP Solar was really the only "slightly better than the rest" I would defend them and basically say that there wasn't really a choice out there that we could all afford .. but there is NOW -- and several of them ...

Manuals are mostly wrong - you waste several hours trying to figure out what they actually mean

OMG their WiFi software WATCHPOWER is sooo bad its not even funny - you can't even see anything you need... and everything comes out in PDF format instead of Excel...

There customer support is random at best -- and typically they are answering a question that you are not asking.... Their first answer is always - have you read the manual -- if you say Yes then they say - well tell us exactly what the issue is (which we already had) .. then they send you a response involving UNICORNs and Candy but not a solution...

AGAIN - Who the hell is using a serial to RG45 cable in the last decade ?? -- did they find a huge supply from 1990 they have to use up ... ??? ZERO of our laptops out here have an RG45 connector to plug into ...

My list actually goes on and on .. but all I can say is - before you start drinking the MPP Solar Kool-Aid you might want to look around at other alternatives ... For me personally - I'm done -- your playing Russian roulette hoping that if/when your system has any issues - that someone on YOUTUBE has made a solution because I promise you support is zero ...

Again - everyone of my MPP solar's are still up and running -- BUT it has been an "ass-pain" to get some of them to do what they say they can do.

aaaaggghhhhhhh

OK so what hybrid inverter vendors would you recommend then? Is Voltronics better??

 

[SparkyJJO]

OK so what hybrid inverter vendors would you recommend then? Is Voltronics better??

Voltronics makes the MPP Solar inverters.

 

[chess-equality]

Voltronics makes the MPP Solar inverters.

I just do think that ALMOST ALL hybrid inverters / AIO manufactured by Chinese companies come from one blueprint then cloned by the others.

Perhaps with the exception of Deye (but it looks like a Sol-Ark; maybe it's just me).

I have this AIO and it has these ubiquitous LCD, bottom layout, and manual that are almost always at the same place at the same time.

Mobile Display Hybrid Solar Inverter | Anern

The mobile display solar inverter is designed by Anern and is an improved product based on the original product. Built-in 100A MPPT controller, pure sine wave solar inverter, output power factor 1. Contact us!

www.anerngroup.com

 

[Not Aerosmith]

Meh... after fighting with flashing some firmware due to serial communicatitons issues for a couple weeks I have to disagree. Undocumented parity requirements, bespoke (and broken) usb-serial drivers for computers to deal with each chipset, and the lack of auto-negotiation baud rates make me feel differently.

Electronics rely on serial communications because it is cheap and it has only really been ~5-6 years that better solutions have really been viable at a reasonable price point. Everything really should have an internal web server these days (that can be locked down and out).

Serial is good for ubiquity, but honestly that is about it. You shouldn't need low-level debugging tools to just communicate with a device. Proprietary [windows-only] software makes it significantly worse.

The advantage of the RJ45 is that the crimping tool is cheap and most DIY should be able to make a specialized cable per manufacturer wiring requirements to connect specific inverters and batteries. If manufacturers would use standard cables, USB might be the a better choice.

 

[Not Aerosmith]

OK so what hybrid inverter vendors would you recommend then? Is Voltronics better??

So I say this after having hooked up well over 25 MPP Solar systems at work ... so this is not one of those bitching for no reason type things (well it actually is) ... BUT .....

The MPP Solar is an excellent system - until its not.

Until you need customer support.

Until you try to read one of their "ENGLISH" manuals.

Until you try to figure out why in 2022 they are still using Serial cables with RG45 connectors on the end (Seriously - have they never heard of a USB connector!!) ...

There's just toooo many lighter, better, faster, cheaper systems coming on board to go thru this MPP headache any longer ... Sure back in the day when MPP Solar was really the only "slightly better than the rest" I would defend them and basically say that there wasn't really a choice out there that we could all afford .. but there is NOW -- and several of them ...

Manuals are mostly wrong - you waste several hours trying to figure out what they actually mean

OMG their WiFi software WATCHPOWER is sooo bad its not even funny - you can't even see anything you need... and everything comes out in PDF format instead of Excel...

There customer support is random at best -- and typically they are answering a question that you are not asking.... Their first answer is always - have you read the manual -- if you say Yes then they say - well tell us exactly what the issue is (which we already had) .. then they send you a response involving UNICORNs and Candy but not a solution...

AGAIN - Who the hell is using a serial to RG45 cable in the last decade ?? -- did they find a huge supply from 1990 they have to use up ... ??? ZERO of our laptops out here have an RG45 connector to plug into ...

My list actually goes on and on .. but all I can say is - before you start drinking the MPP Solar Kool-Aid you might want to look around at other alternatives ... For me personally - I'm done -- your playing Russian roulette hoping that if/when your system has any issues - that someone on YOUTUBE has made a solution because I promise you support is zero ...

Again - everyone of my MPP solar's are still up and running -- BUT it has been an "ass-pain" to get some of them to do what they say they can do.

aaaaggghhhhhhh

I can easily understand your frustration and it is justified. However, anyone that has installed 25 MPP Solar inverters would have more knowledge and experience than the normal support person answering phone calls. Generally, a support person is someone that has read the manual and sometimes have attended a class to be certified. They are not usually engineers and not usually anyone with extensive knowledge of installing inverters. Usually, if the answer is not in the manual, support don't know and usually have limited resources to find an answer.

If you think that the MPP Solar inverters are excellent, until they are not, you should probably consider staying with this manufacturer especially since your are able to keep them working. Another inverter even if it is more expensive may actually be worse plus you need to go through another learning curve to understand all of it necessary adjustments, settings, limitations and quirks.

Not everything that you learned about the MPP Solar inverters was in the manual or provided by support, most of it is years of hands on experience, advice from peers, testing, trial and error to see what works and what don't work. Not sure it worth starting over with another brand, but that is only a decision that you can make.

 

[Cyanlite]

These MPP/Growatt/Victronic systems remind me of VCR programming in the late 80s. They even have the fixed LCD screens just like it. For those of you that weren't around 40 years ago for that, it's exactly the same technology that these chinese inverters are using.

 

[Sanwizard]

These MPP/Growatt/Victronic systems remind me of VCR programming in the late 80s. They even have the fixed LCD screens just like it. For those of you that weren't around 40 years ago for that, it's exactly the same technology that these chinese inverters are using.

There is not much choice in the Inverter or battery market. Its either China, Taiwan, or the EU. I like MPP since its a Voltronics redone in Taiwan by MPP, has many awesome capabilities in a simple format, and is a great value for the money.
I do like Victron and SMA, but although their inverters are excellent, there are too many other external devices required to create an actual solution. The MPP units are all inclusive, and MUCH less expensive. Sol-Ark is a ripoff in my opinion, as its just Deye with a different nameplate and perhaps a couple tweaks to firmware/software.

 

[Sasteve49]

So I say this after having hooked up well over 25 MPP Solar systems at work ... so this is not one of those bitching for no reason type things (well it actually is) ... BUT .....

The MPP Solar is an excellent system - until its not.

Until you need customer support.

Until you try to read one of their "ENGLISH" manuals.

Until you try to figure out why in 2022 they are still using Serial cables with RG45 connectors on the end (Seriously - have they never heard of a USB connector!!) ...

There's just toooo many lighter, better, faster, cheaper systems coming on board to go thru this MPP headache any longer ... Sure back in the day when MPP Solar was really the only "slightly better than the rest" I would defend them and basically say that there wasn't really a choice out there that we could all afford .. but there is NOW -- and several of them ...

Manuals are mostly wrong - you waste several hours trying to figure out what they actually mean

OMG their WiFi software WATCHPOWER is sooo bad its not even funny - you can't even see anything you need... and everything comes out in PDF format instead of Excel...

There customer support is random at best -- and typically they are answering a question that you are not asking.... Their first answer is always - have you read the manual -- if you say Yes then they say - well tell us exactly what the issue is (which we already had) .. then they send you a response involving UNICORNs and Candy but not a solution...

AGAIN - Who the hell is using a serial to RG45 cable in the last decade ?? -- did they find a huge supply from 1990 they have to use up ... ??? ZERO of our laptops out here have an RG45 connector to plug into ...

My list actually goes on and on .. but all I can say is - before you start drinking the MPP Solar Kool-Aid you might want to look around at other alternatives ... For me personally - I'm done -- your playing Russian roulette hoping that if/when your system has any issues - that someone on YOUTUBE has made a solution because I promise you support is zero ...

Again - everyone of my MPP solar's are still up and running -- BUT it has been an "ass-pain" to get some of them to do what they say they can do.

aaaaggghhhhhhh

I sympathize with you.
I have been RVing fulltime for over 30 years and finally decided to go solar. Not being " electrically/ solar" minded, I researched a lot on forums, read the DIY SOLAR books, consulted with other solar experienced RVers.
Decided to go to solarkits.com and order everything...MPPTsolar 6048 hybrid Inverter, 6 x200w panels and 4x LifePO4 200ah batteries.
Also decided to build a tow behind "solar trailer" with all equipment self contained. The trailer has a 50 amp shore power plug on the rear into which I plug the RV.
Hooked it all up and ran great!
At one time, I had a Dehydrator running for 20 hours, making jerky and the fridge, microwave for 6 minutes and a few lights. Great!
Shut down for a few days after this initial test and batteries voltage was 49.8.
Then, switched on again with only fridge running while we went hiking for about 5 hour's hours ...
When we returned, the inverter was off and emitting a continuous beep. I could only stop this by disconnecting the batteries!
Checked battery voltage. The 2 middle batteries in the series were 0.1volts! The other two were 11.9.
Tried charging the bad batteries (SOK) with a regular charger but still 0.1v.
Ordered a lithium ion charger and raised the two bad batteries to 12.9v.
So reconnected the four batteries in series, hooked up the panels and NOTHING! Inverter would not switch on. Measured the output voltage from the four batteries and only 23.4volts! So obviously the inbuilt BMS in the two bad batteries are bad. But the inverter as well?
The Inverter should switch on automatically when panels are connected and sun is out. But no sign of life...
What gives?

 

[Cyanlite]

There is not much choice in the Inverter or battery market. Its either China, Taiwan, or the EU. I like MPP since its a Voltronics redone in Taiwan by MPP, has many awesome capabilities in a simple format, and is a great value for the money.
I do like Victron and SMA, but although their inverters are excellent, there are too many other external devices required to create an actual solution. The MPP units are all inclusive, and MUCH less expensive. Sol-Ark is a ripoff in my opinion, as its just Deye with a different nameplate and perhaps a couple tweaks to firmware/software.

I'm honestly surprised someone else hasn't come in a with a comparable Sol-Ark type product for half the price. And surprised voltronic hasn't tried to come out with anything better. The chinese knock-off androids are more sophisticated and have better hardware than these inverters.

 

[Samsonite801]

I'm honestly surprised someone else hasn't come in a with a comparable Sol-Ark type product for half the price. And surprised voltronic hasn't tried to come out with anything better. The chinese knock-off androids are more sophisticated and have better hardware than these inverters.

What about the Schneider XW Pro? I thought these look very promising for half the price.

I already purchased my 4 LV6548 so it's already too late for me to go try them, but I wonder if they live up to this guy's hype:

 

[Not Aerosmith]

What about the Schneider XW Pro? I thought these look very promising for half the price.

I already purchased my 4 LV6548 so it's already too late for me to go try them, but I wonder if they live up to this guy's hype:

Excellent and informative videos on the Schneider XW Pro. I watched 3 of the videos. After seeing all the nuisances resets with Sol-Ark and its inability to perform as rated, I have decided not to buy the new Sol-Ark hybrid inverter. Originally, I thought the Schneider couldn't be stacked or parallel with multiple units plus not an all in one solution. Your video showed two Schneider XW Pro parallel, so obviously, I was wrong. There are some advantages to not being an all in one solution. If one component fails, you only need to replace one component not the whole system.

At this point, I need to do a little more research on the Schneider XW Pro to make sure it will interface with my existing system. Hopefully, I can replace one of my (3) existing Fronius Primo 5 KW inverter with a new Schneider XW Pro 6.8 KW plus batteries. I just need to verify that the Schneider XW Pro 6.8 KW and the other (2) Fronius Primo 5 KW GT inverter can feed the grid when it is up. Hopefully, the new inverter can stop and start the (2) existing inverters as needed during an outage. From your video, it appears that the other (2) GT inverters really just need to stay off during an outage.

 

[Samsonite801]

Excellent and informative videos on the Schneider XW Pro. I watched 3 of the videos. After seeing all the nuisances resets with Sol-Ark and its inability to perform as rated, I have decided not to buy the new Sol-Ark hybrid inverter. Originally, I thought the Schneider couldn't be stacked or parallel with multiple units plus not an all in one solution. Your video showed two Schneider XW Pro parallel, so obviously, I was wrong. There are some advantages to not being an all in one solution. If one component fails, you only need to replace one component not the whole system.

At this point, I need to do a little more research on the Schneider XW Pro to make sure it will interface with my existing system. Hopefully, I can replace one of my (3) existing Fronius Primo 5 KW inverter with a new Schneider XW Pro 6.8 KW plus batteries. I just need to verify that the Schneider XW Pro 6.8 KW and the other (2) Fronius Primo 5 KW GT inverter can feed the grid when it is up. Hopefully, the new inverter can stop and start the (2) existing inverters as needed during an outage. From your video, it appears that the other (2) GT inverters really just need to stay off during an outage.

Yeah, because funny just yesterday I went and visited one of my fellow co-op shareholder's lot and he has a SolArk 12k, and he is tired of the nuisance tripping, he says occurs regularly, and is annoying to have to go reset it (he does have it mounted in his living space so he can do it in his pajamas hehe). He says it will eventually reset back after several minutes (of waiting) on its own, but he always goes and does it manually to get the power back on right now because he needs it right now.

I don't really know anything else about the Schneider except that I have an APC Schneider UPS in my Prius and it is bulletproof. Also I saw all the videos on 'Wild Wonderful Off-Grid' about their Schneider inverters and they like them a lot.

https://www.youtube.com/c/WildWonderfulOffGrid

 

[SparkyJJO]

I don't know which is "better" but you can stack Outback Radian units too. Just another option.

I settled on Outback because I didn't want to be forced to use some cloud thing to use it (I think Schneider requires an online account?) and it seemed their AC coupling solution may be a bit better (maybe).

 

[Sanwizard]

What about the Schneider XW Pro? I thought these look very promising for half the price.

I already purchased my 4 LV6548 so it's already too late for me to go try them, but I wonder if they live up to this guy's hype:

I assume the schnieder is a low freq inverter. David Poz did a similar test with similar results on his Sol-Ark. His SMA Sunny Island test also had similar results as the Schnieder. I always thought Sol-ark was way over priced, and these tests prove it. The 12K label is also a crock, as it infers the unit can do continuous 12K.
Ian at Watts247.com tested the LVx6048WP, which showed a similar per phase limit as the sol-ark (3KW per phase for the MPP).

 

[Samsonite801]

I assume the schnieder is a low freq inverter. David Poz did a similar test with similar results on his Sol-Ark. His SMA Sunny Island test also had similar results as the Schnieder. I always thought Sol-ark was way over priced, and these tests prove it. The 12K label is also a crock, as it infers the unit can do continuous 12K.
Ian at Watts247.com tested the LVx6048WP, which showed a similar per phase limit as the sol-ark (3KW per phase for the MPP).

Yeah, had I not already purchased the 4 of my LV6548, I think I would feel confident to take the gamble and buy a pair of the XW Pro's based on the videos. But since I have the LV6548s now, I will have to love them, unconditionally!

At least until they blow up or something... I was probably going to only wire in two of mine, and keep the other 2 as spares (if I don't find I need more capacity), so it could be a long long time before I end-of-life these inverters.

 

[realpinochet]

There is not much choice in the Inverter or battery market. Its either China, Taiwan, or the EU. I like MPP since its a Voltronics redone in Taiwan by MPP, has many awesome capabilities in a simple format, and is a great value for the money.
I do like Victron and SMA, but although their inverters are excellent, there are too many other external devices required to create an actual solution. The MPP units are all inclusive, and MUCH less expensive. Sol-Ark is a ripoff in my opinion, as its just Deye with a different nameplate and perhaps a couple tweaks to firmware/software.

Exactly and is why deye should sell them here directly and sue Solark with the anti trust laws we have.

 

[Sanwizard]

Exactly and is why deye should sell them here directly and sue Solark with the anti trust laws we have.

Yeah, a single sole distributor in the US is not good. They need competition.

 

[Sanwizard]

Yeah, had I not already purchased the 4 of my LV6548, I think I would feel confident to take the gamble and buy a pair of the XW Pro's based on the videos. But since I have the LV6548s now, I will have to love them, unconditionally!

At least until they blow up or something... I was probably going to only wire in two of mine, and keep the other 2 as spares (if I don't find I need more capacity), so it could be a long long time before I end-of-life these inverters.

I think having four is a great idea, and should provide enough power to make it comparable to a more expensive low frequency system.

 

[Samsonite801]

I think having four is a great idea, and should provide enough power to make it comparable to a more expensive low frequency system.

Yeah, and I figured I could also just hang all 4 up on the wall, wired in, but just power on one slave, and then the master (leave the other 2 turned off) when / if I don't need the extra capacity or something, to only use 4 if I really needed the extra juice.

 

[cs1234]

View attachment 112296

Where did you find this little trailer frame? It looks like it might be thin enough to fit through a gate on a regular fenced backyard in suburbia.

 

[Kornbread]

Usually, if the answer is not in the manual, support don't know and usually have limited resources to find an answer.

^This explains their reputation of poor customer service. Ever read a Voltronics manual?