New EG4 3kW Off Grid All-In-One Inverter - Anyone with experience??

[motomarc]

@RichardfromEG4

I appreciate the response, and trust me, I want to give your new inverter a shot. It’s not that I’m saying it’s a “bad” inverter or bad deal by any means. It’s just that I may not be the right fit for that product. It looks amazing for someone new, no doubt. Beyond the high idle draw it seems to suit most people well.

I might be an anomaly here, but again my experience is with Victron/Battleborn setups after my initial Tesla batteries in our RV. I completely understand a vastly less expensive product will have its shortcomings, it's just a cost benefit ratio and if you're offering the service you're saying, that might sway things your way.

Heck, to be completely honest I'm friends with the Battleborn family, they're just miles from my house and I love them. That said, I'm always willing to entertain new products especially when it's just for a personal project of mine. I don't see this being more than maybe 6kw of solar with 6-10kw of inverters and maybe 10kWh of batteries, pretty basic in most regards and just for backup power at a place that has never needed it.
I'm really enjoying the idea of not having to worry about setting this up in the confined spaces I'm used to, as well as rolling earthquakes driving down the road. It's so much easier not having to worry about providing 12v to an RV too, none of the systems I've ever done have been ANYWHERE near this simple. It's really neat seeing the progress being made by companies such as yours. I'll keep toying with the idea, your inverter isn't out of the question at all, and if you're relatively convinced that the refurbished batteries are a good move, I'm happy to order some.

My question though, if I have a problem, am I completely hosed? Zero warranty/zero support? For me, that savings isn't worth it. But, if you're there to help, I'd be happy to buy them.

Attaching photos of what I typically work on, these are my personal RV, the system is a good 3 years old at this point. Looking forward to the simplicity of a system like this on the next.

Edit: I’d also like to say I really appreciate and enjoy Will’s ability to do this “full time” and evaluate this stuff. Understanding it seems to be rare, and having someone review it sure takes a lot of the headache out of being on the consumer side of things.

What panels are those ? And wattage? Please. I'm going with the eg4 and batteries for my 5th wheel. Making install way easier other then mounting panels ??.
Still trying to decide on mount options. Voltage toy hauler 39ft.
Any suggestions ate welcome.
Have a wonderful evening.

 

[robby]

Nice video Will. It's a cute little inverter that seems like it would be ideal for an RV. Although the idle current is way higher than I expected. Also @Will Prowse for the Love of God please get an Oscilloscope and check the Sinewave's coming from the inverters you are testing under load. You would be surprised at the level of distortion that some of these inverters produce.

 

[Watts Happening]

What panels are those ? And wattage? Please. I'm going with the eg4 and batteries for my 5th wheel. Making install way easier other then mounting panels ??.
Still trying to decide on mount options. Voltage toy hauler 39ft.
Any suggestions ate welcome.
Have a wonderful evening.

210w Sunpower panels. Unfortunately you’re stuck buying them on the used market as the current form factor is much larger. These fit next to the air conditioners which really makes a huge difference in total available roof space.

Here’s a super basic, crappy video talking about the system:

 

[Solar Guy Richard]

@RichardfromEG4

I appreciate the response, and trust me, I want to give your new inverter a shot. It’s not that I’m saying it’s a “bad” inverter or bad deal by any means. It’s just that I may not be the right fit for that product. It looks amazing for someone new, no doubt. Beyond the high idle draw it seems to suit most people well.

I might be an anomaly here, but again my experience is with Victron/Battleborn setups after my initial Tesla batteries in our RV. I completely understand a vastly less expensive product will have its shortcomings, it's just a cost benefit ratio and if you're offering the service you're saying, that might sway things your way.

Heck, to be completely honest I'm friends with the Battleborn family, they're just miles from my house and I love them. That said, I'm always willing to entertain new products especially when it's just for a personal project of mine. I don't see this being more than maybe 6kw of solar with 6-10kw of inverters and maybe 10kWh of batteries, pretty basic in most regards and just for backup power at a place that has never needed it.
I'm really enjoying the idea of not having to worry about setting this up in the confined spaces I'm used to, as well as rolling earthquakes driving down the road. It's so much easier not having to worry about providing 12v to an RV too, none of the systems I've ever done have been ANYWHERE near this simple. It's really neat seeing the progress being made by companies such as yours. I'll keep toying with the idea, your inverter isn't out of the question at all, and if you're relatively convinced that the refurbished batteries are a good move, I'm happy to order some.

My question though, if I have a problem, am I completely hosed? Zero warranty/zero support? For me, that savings isn't worth it. But, if you're there to help, I'd be happy to buy them.

Attaching photos of what I typically work on, these are my personal RV, the system is a good 3 years old at this point. Looking forward to the simplicity of a system like this on the next.

Edit: I’d also like to say I really appreciate and enjoy Will’s ability to do this “full time” and evaluate this stuff. Understanding it seems to be rare, and having someone review it sure takes a lot of the headache out of being on the consumer side of things.

Even without a warranty you have access to our support team. We won’t leave you high and dry.

 

[Watts Happening]

Even without a warranty you have access to our support team. We won’t leave you high and dry.

Alright, so in your opinion does it make sense to buy 2-3 of the refurbished units for $1,100 each vs pre-ordering the LL’s for $1,699?

I’m not at all worried about programming an inverter or replacing parts. I just don’t want to end up with a brick, or spending the $599 difference a month later because XYZ is wrong if you know what I mean.

I don’t care about scratches and dents, but I do want a battery I can rely on in the unlikely event that I need to.

 

[Steve_S]

Watched Will's Video - Come on at this price point and being EG4 had to look eh ! 3000W/48V though, really ? Seriously if you are doing 48V, then 3000W (120V/25A gross) is kind of light & is that really economical ? some folks do have to think about the $$$ budget thing.

One really peculiar thing in Will's Video... THE APP ! Create an account on their website etc etc...
- WHY do they need/want your address etc ? ~WARNING FLAGS FLYING ~
- does this require an Active Internet Connection to use the App to view the AIO ?
- if Web Access must be available then WHAT are they capturing & logging ? Where s it stored and can it be disabled ??
- what if there is no Internet Access ?

 

[Solar Guy Richard]

Alright, so in your opinion does it make sense to buy 2-3 of the refurbished units for $1,100 each vs pre-ordering the LL’s for $1,699?

I’m not at all worried about programming an inverter or replacing parts. I just don’t want to end up with a brick, or spending the $599 difference a month later because XYZ is wrong if you know what I mean.

I don’t care about scratches and dents, but I do want a battery I can rely on in the unlikely event that I need to.

I'd personally buy one. They are all bench tested for operations etc and they all work. Many of them are actually just returns due to shipping damage or somehow they got shipped the wrong item and we traded them. I would have 0 hesitation in buying one of those.

 

[travisty10]

One really peculiar thing in Will's Video... THE APP ! Create an account on their website etc etc...
- WHY do they need/want your address etc ? ~WARNING FLAGS FLYING ~
- does this require an Active Internet Connection to use the App to view the AIO ?
- if Web Access must be available then WHAT are they capturing & logging ? Where s it stored and can it be disabled ??
- what if there is no Internet Access ?

First post! I am so enjoying this community and appreciate all the great info.
I'm also wondering about the wifi access and local monitoring @RichardfromEG4. Thinking about one of these for an off grid / no internet location, but would be very convenient to monitor on my iPhone as this will be in a back closet. Can these be monitored locally without an internet connection? If not, would a bluetooth capable shunt be my best option?

 

[Solar Guy Richard]

First post! I am so enjoying this community and appreciate all the great info.
I'm also wondering about the wifi access and local monitoring @RichardfromEG4. Thinking about one of these for an off grid / no internet location, but would be very convenient to monitor on my iPhone as this will be in a back closet. Can these be monitored locally without an internet connection? If not, would a bluetooth capable shunt be my best option?

At this time I'm not aware of any local monitoring options. It's not something I am happy about but working with the manufacturers that wasn't implemented (yet). A shunt is a pretty easy and inexpensive way to monitor through bluetooth until we can get that technology developed.

 

[Watts Happening]

At this time I'm not aware of any local monitoring options. It's not something I am happy about but working with the manufacturers that wasn't implemented (yet). A shunt is a pretty easy and inexpensive way to monitor through bluetooth until we can get that technology developed.

Would it not work to have a simplistic offline wifi setup to monitor locally? IE could you not just set up a super low power wifi router/ap and connect to it with your iPhone when you wanted to monitor the setup? Or does this device actually need to see out to the internet?
Generally most halfway decent routers will utilize NAT loopback to eliminate the devices going out to a server to obtain info available locally. But that's predicated on the idea that this device supports such a feature as well. Just an idea for someone who's truly offgrid.

That said, get Starlink It works brilliantly.

 

[SYKSolar]

Well, I don't want to be the firsts to buy that. I would rather go with one that already tested. I just ordered the Growatt 3K -ES model with EG4 battry when it reopened for pre-order yesterday -the day they rolled out the EG4 Inverter. Will have to wait a month to get my inverter?

 

[Solar Guy Richard]

Would it not work to have a simplistic offline wifi setup to monitor locally? IE could you not just set up a super low power wifi router/ap and connect to it with your iPhone when you wanted to monitor the setup? Or does this device actually need to see out to the internet?
Generally most halfway decent routers will utilize NAT loopback to eliminate the devices going out to a server to obtain info available locally. But that's predicated on the idea that this device supports such a feature as well. Just an idea for someone who's truly offgrid.

That said, get Starlink It works brilliantly.

Probably - I'll verify if it needs external server access to operate properly, or if you can use a local wireless network.

 

[solardad]

Probably - I'll verify if it needs external server access to operate properly, or if you can use a local wireless network.

@RichardfromEG4 Or better yet publish the modub registers like Sol-Ark/DEYE did and then the user can poll the data directly and then do as they wish (graph via grafana or leverage HA, etc). Thanks

 

[aentrop]

Yeah, I would still stick with the 6548's or 6048. They have a good track record from many who have used them 24/7 for years now.

Is there a 6548 that is grid interactive too? I see a LVX6048 but not a 6548 one...

 

[aentrop]

@RichardfromEG4 Or better yet publish the modub registers like Sol-Ark/DEYE did and then the user can poll the data directly and then do as they wish (graph via grafana or leverage HA, etc). Thanks

Is modub a typo? Do you mean modbus?

 

[Solar Guy Richard]

@RichardfromEG4 Or better yet publish the modub registers like Sol-Ark/DEYE did and then the user can poll the data directly and then do as they wish (graph via grafana or leverage HA, etc). Thanks

Yes, this is something we've thought about doing, the problem (currently) is that the documentation is absolutely abysmal and we would need to clean it up first. I'll see what we can do.

 

[Solar Guy Richard]

Is modub a typo? Do you mean modbus?

Pretty sure he meant modbus. At least, that's what we use.

 

[solardad]

Pretty sure he meant modbus. At least, that's what we use.

Correct, fat finger.

@RichardfromEG4 Is there a modbus protocol spec sheet that you can share?

 

[Solar Guy Richard]

Correct, fat finger.

@RichardfromEG4 Is there a modbus protocol spec sheet that you can share?

Yep I’m looking into this this upcoming week.

 

[tomy2]

One thing I really thinks sets us apart is customer service. Most brands don’t have a phone support or anything, let along a guy who hangs out in the forums for fun. Just saying. And we have some big things coming. Plus - the manual is absolutely great when compared to 99% of what you see nowadays and this unit is an absolute beast for the price and support you get.

Regarding the refurb stuff - the batteries are a steal. Signature Solar frequently has employees pick them up for a good price because the failure rate is so incredibly low that they know they won’t have to deal with a warranty regardless.

I’m always here so don’t hesitate to @ me for anything.

This unit looks perfect for my needs. I have a 8 breaker type 1 subpanel in my closet and plenty of clearance around it. I want to disconnect the hot wires feeding it, and then feed this unit into it, with one of your EG4 48V 100AH batteries. I like that there are minimal connections to make, less fire hazard, and that it feeds 110V not 240v. My main questions are, how noisy is it? and how to hook it to my breaker box, assuming this type breaker box will work. thanks Tom