• Have you tried out dark mode?! Scroll to the bottom of any page to find a sun or moon icon to turn dark mode on or off!

diy solar

diy solar

Inverter that does split phase 120/240

slayer666

New Member
Joined
Apr 13, 2024
Messages
143
Location
Id
Wondering if there are inverters that can do 240 split phase without being 2 in parallel.
All I see are inverters that must be wired 2 in parallel to feed both lines of your house. Is there an inverter that can do split phase 240 without the need to be paralleled with another inverter?
 
The 2 low frequency 5 and 10 kw inverters at the bottom of the page at this link can do both 110 and 240 split phase.
 
The 2 low frequency 5 and 10 kw inverters at the bottom of the page at this link can do both 110 and 240 split phase.
Thanks for your reply. It did raise a couple of questions for me though. The 5KW inverter says Parallel: 1. That makes me think that it cannot parallel with another inverter. Am I right about that? Also, the 10KW one says that it will only take 6,400w of solar power. Maybe I don't understand inverters yet but, how can it be a 10 kilowatt inverter if it only accepts 6,400 watts of solar? Shouldn't it accept 10 kilowatts of solar panels? Thank you again.
 
There are lots of options out there that do split phase from a single unit, a handful of OEM's that quickly come to mind.
I have experience with a couple.

Growatt
Lux Power
Midnite (Rosie)
Schneider
Senergy
SRNE
Victron
Voltronic

What are your goals?
 
My ppwer bill is averaging 730kwh per month. If I'm calculating correctly, wouldn't a 10kw array and matching inverter handle this? Anyway, I was thinking of doing half the system now and half later but I want to have 240 capability right from the start. My thinking was, buy an inverter now that will do the whole 10kw but only half the needed pv panels or buy a 5kw inverter now and 5k of solar panels. When more money comes along, double the 5kw system to achieve the total 10kw.
Something that confuses me now is, how can inverter be marked as 10 kilowatts but only accept 6,400 watts of PV panels?
Thanks
 
I have split-phase Schneider inverters for both the home and the workshop. A 48V XW+6848 split-phase for my 240V well-pump, and a smaller Conext SW4024 powering the workshop. Even the smaller 4024 has run a cement mixer, circular saw, and air-compressor all at the same time without a hiccup.
 
There are lots of variables on how much a 10KW array will produce in a month. Panel angle, time of year / sun angle, and cloud cover will have dramatic impacts.

730KWh per month isn't to hard to cover but the equipment you choose really depends on what your loads are... A 1KWh constant load can easily be covered with a 1500W inverter; running the oven, dryer, well pump, air compressors and charging an EV could make a 10KW inverter fall on it's face...

Typically AIOs are advertised in rated AC output power, unless the sellers are plating marketing games... You really have to look at the data sheet carefully to see what it can do.
For examples my AIOs can support 10KW AC output and 11KW PV input; others can support 18KW PV input but 12KW AC output...
 
There are lots of variables on how much a 10KW array will produce in a month. Panel angle, time of year / sun angle, and cloud cover will have dramatic impacts.

730KWh per month isn't to hard to cover but the equipment you choose really depends on what your loads are... A 1KWh constant load can easily be covered with a 1500W inverter; running the oven, dryer, well pump, air compressors and charging an EV could make a 10KW inverter fall on it's face...

Typically AIOs are advertised in rated AC output power, unless the sellers are plating marketing games... You really have to look at the data sheet carefully to see what it can do.
For examples my AIOs can support 10KW AC output and 11KW PV input; others can support 18KW PV input but 12KW AC output...
So, what should I do? I have no EV. The only 240 load that's always on is the water heater. I want to use my dryer, oven and electric heat pump/furnace combo when needed, as well.
I have a wood stove but, still need the heat pump/electric furnace at night or when I'm away from home .
 
So, what should I do? I have no EV. The only 240 load that's always on is the water heater. I want to use my dryer, oven and electric heat pump/furnace combo when needed, as well.
I have a wood stove but, still need the heat pump/electric furnace at night or when I'm away from home .
(Edit - read as well as you having a well, leaving well pump info for others)

Start by purchasing a clamp meter and measuring loads. The most important will be the well pump surge, so make sure you get a clamp meter that reads inrush current. For reference my 1hp deep well pump was ~40A per leg.
My dryer is around 6KW/h when running. Stove can be anywhere from 2.5-8 depending how many elements and oven...
I don't have an electric water heater but they should max out around 5.5.
I burn coal and use a minisplit.
You'll definitely need to calculate and measure your heat pump / furnace, especially if it has backup heating elements.
An emporia or similar would probably be a great investment to monitor loads.

Don't jump into anything, research and plan then post your data here for others to review or you could end up like me and rebuild the system to expand 3 times 🤣.

I started with a 6KW inverter, ~5.6KW of panels and ~11KWh battery; currently I'm at 20KW inverters(2 10kw in parallel), ~14.5KW in panels and ~53KWh battery. I still want more and can't make it through winter in PA without using the grid / generator....

PS - once you start it's a strong addiction to want more...
 
1. Size your inverter for the largest instantaneous load. (The most you will need at any one time)
2. Size your battery to cover your loads when the sun isn't shining.
3. Size your PV array to cover your loads when the sun is shining and recharge the battery.
 
1. Size your inverter for the largest instantaneous load. (The most you will need at any one time)
2. Size your battery to cover your loads when the sun isn't shining.
3. Size your PV array to cover your loads when the sun is shining and recharge the battery.
1. Size your inverter for the largest instantaneous load. (The most you will need at any one time)
2. Size your battery to cover your loads when the sun isn't shining.
3. Size your PV array to cover your loads when the sun is shining and recharge the battery.
I understand number two and number three but I have a question about number one. What if my oven and my water heater and my dryer all kicked on at once and my heat pump and my furnace? Should I size it for surge on all of that? I can't think of why that would happen all at once but I suppose it could. Do you think it could? Anyway, if I have to size it for all that at once, I guess I'd need one hell of a big inverter!
 
I understand number two and number three but I have a question about number one. What if my oven and my water heater and my dryer all kicked on at once and my heat pump and my furnace? Should I size it for surge on all of that? I can't think of why that would happen all at once but I suppose it could. Do you think it could? Anyway, if I have to size it for all that at once, I guess I'd need one hell of a big inverter!
Hopefully it wouldn't all start at the same time. But you can control what comes on, and when. You are the only one who knows what you want to use at the same time. And then you can size accordingly.
 
Hopefully it wouldn't all start at the same time. But you can control what comes on, and when. You are the only one who knows what you want to use at the same time. And then you can size accordingly.
I don't know how to pick and choose what loads I run, yet.
 
Depends on your household size and usage patterns.

It is not unreasonable to run all of the things you listed simultaneously in large households.
If it's just you, you can make your own decisions.
If you have a significant other, they make all the decisions. ;)

If you are going full off-grid, you will need a big honking inverter to support that use case.
Or you could do what lots of us here do, invert for normal loads, use grid for the big ones.

Not off-grid, but only a good house backup. Or just partially off-grid to lower bills.

In my house, for example:
All 120V circuits can run from inverter, along with 240V well and septic pumps. This is to handle week-long outages.
I changed over to a 120V GE Combo washer/dryer, and that works great on the inverter, no 240V needed.
In a pinch, I can move my HVAC (with soft start) over to the inverters as well, because summer outages require A/C.

I explicitly left the kitchen oven and old clothes dryer (not needed anymore) not powered from the inverters.
I would have had to double my initial purchase costs to cover those.
 
Wondering if there are inverters that can do 240 split phase without being 2 in parallel.
All I see are inverters that must be wired 2 in parallel to feed both lines of your house. Is there an inverter that can do split phase 240 without the need to be paralleled with another inverter?



I don't know how to pick and choose what loads I run, yet.


"... and three 120/240VAC programmable outputs that can be utilized for load shedding or opportunity loads."
 
Depends on your household size and usage patterns.

It is not unreasonable to run all of the things you listed simultaneously in large households.
If it's just you, you can make your own decisions.
If you have a significant other, they make all the decisions. ;)

If you are going full off-grid, you will need a big honking inverter to support that use case.
Or you could do what lots of us here do, invert for normal loads, use grid for the big ones.

Not off-grid, but only a good house backup. Or just partially off-grid to lower bills.

In my house, for example:
All 120V circuits can run from inverter, along with 240V well and septic pumps. This is to handle week-long outages.
I changed over to a 120V GE Combo washer/dryer, and that works great on the inverter, no 240V needed.
In a pinch, I can move my HVAC (with soft start) over to the inverters as well, because summer outages require A/C.

I explicitly left the kitchen oven and old clothes dryer (not needed anymore) not powered from the inverters.
I would have had to double my initial purchase costs to cover those.
So, I could probably getaway with a smaller system than I was thinking? Where do I start? How do I calculate it? I thought you just look at the power bill over a year or so and make sure your system will eventually give you that many kwh and some more to be on the safe side.
 
So, I could probably getaway with a smaller system than I was thinking? Where do I start? How do I calculate it? I thought you just look at the power bill over a year or so and make sure your system will eventually give you that many kwh and some more to be on the safe side.

 

Huh? In your signature? I don't know what that means.
 
Huh? In your signature? I don't know what that means.
Oh sorry, Sunshine_eggo has a signature that is hidden with the Spoiler button.
Click on the thread to the right of the eggo man picture, go to that thread, read his comment to someone else, and then hit that Spoiler button.

Read down his list of 8 things, he has embedded links for information.
He does that so he doesn’t have to keep repeating himself.
 
Oh sorry, Sunshine_eggo has a signature that is hidden with the Spoiler button.
Click on the thread to the right of the eggo man picture, go to that thread, read his comment to someone else, and then hit that Spoiler button.

Read down his list of 8 things, he has embedded links for information.
He does that so he doesn’t have to keep repeating himself.
I downloaded the spreadsheet file but when I click it, it say cannot open file.
 
What if my oven and my water heater and my dryer all kicked on

Put them on timers. My water heater pulls 20A = 4800W.. but gets power only from 10am to 4pm.
The hot tub only gets power from 2pm to 9:45am.
I won't charge the EV between 10am and 3pm.
And so on.

Electric dryer got replaced with a heat pump dryer. We went from 20A to 1.5A (each at 240V)

I run a 4000+sqft house with a single 10kW inverter (Sungoldpower, rebadged SRNE)

With 2 such inverters, things would clearly be easier, but it works as is. Hot tub is probably cooler by 2pm but nobody uses it during the day time.

Water heater is 80G big. It stops at 4pm but 80G is enough until the next morning.
 

diy solar

diy solar
Back
Top