Pros/Cons to 2-Sol-Ark 8K's vs. 1-Sol-Ark 15K

[RTL44]

I am trying to decide between running 2 Sol-Ark 8K's vs. 1 Sol-Ark 15k

The cost difference is $1900 (2-8k's are more expensive)

I know most of the spec differences, but am looking for opinions that maybe I am missing.

I am leaning toward a single Sol-Ark 15K

 

[nc73]

If they can be paralleled, obviously if one broke you have the other. Single inverter you are done for.

 

[Shawn Hayes]

I have two Sol-Ark12K’s in parallel. The downside is the cost but the upside is you still have one inverter if one goes down.
The same principle applies to my battery pack. I have a 16S4P battery set up. If I have issues with one pack I can dismantle and work on that pack while my three additional packs are still in operation.

 

[niktak11]

The 8k can't be parelleled so you'd have to run them as separate systems.

Also I choose option C: Two 15k

 

[robby]

I would get the 15K and @niktak11 is right, you can't parallel two 8K's.
The hard choice for me would be two 12K vs one 15K.

 

[nc73]

Oh man Sol-Ark is a joke, for that money and you can't parallel? Buy yourself 3 EG4's and you still come out ahead. More beer money. I was going to use my savings on a used 10 year old EV.

 

[niktak11]

Oh man Sol-Ark is a joke, for that money and you can't parallel? Buy yourself 3 EG4's and you still come out ahead. More beer money. I was going to use my savings on a used 10 year old EV.

The 8k is an old model

 

[RTL44]

Oh man Sol-Ark is a joke, for that money and you can't parallel? Buy yourself 3 EG4's and you still come out ahead. More beer money. I was going to use my savings on a used 10 year old EV.

The EG4's are off-grid only, or I would definitely have considered them. I know the 12K's and 15K's can be stacked. If the 8K can't be, that makes my choice easy. 15K it is!

 

[Danke]

The EG4's are off-grid only, or I would definitely have considered them. I know the 12K's and 15K's can be stacked. If the 8K can't be, that makes my choice easy. 15K it is!

Get two.

 

[GregTR]

Only benefit is resiliency. In a grid-tie situation in worst case situation you can just be on grid until your Sol-Ark gets repaired/replaced. In an off-grid scenario you might be better off having some level of resiliency.

The problem with buying two of the same inverters at the same time from the same distributor is the exact same reason I never buy hard drives from the same place at the same time for a redundant array. If there was a manufacturing defect that happened on the manufacturing line both units can be affected equally and their MTBF will be awfully close, meaning when one goes, chances are the other one will go too in fairly short order.

I'm going to venture and say that for most grid-tie folks a single 15K is better than even two 12Ks. I have a fairly large house with two A/C units, a pool, inductive cooktop, electric ovens, electric dryer and I hardly ever go over 10kW let alone 15kW. But with the 15K you get 200A pass-through and a super simple and easy install.

 

[RTL44]

Thanks for the replies!

 

[RTL44]

Only benefit is resiliency. In a grid-tie situation in worst case situation you can just be on grid until your Sol-Ark gets repaired/replaced. In an off-grid scenario you might be better off having some level of resiliency.

The problem with buying two of the same inverters at the same time from the same distributor is the exact same reason I never buy hard drives from the same place at the same time for a redundant array. If there was a manufacturing defect that happened on the manufacturing line both units can be affected equally and their MTBF will be awfully close, meaning when one goes, chances are the other one will go too in fairly short order.

I'm going to venture and say that for most grid-tie folks a single 15K is better than even two 12Ks. I have a fairly large house with two A/C units, a pool, inductive cooktop, electric ovens, electric dryer and I hardly ever go over 10kW let alone 15kW. But with the 15K you get 200A pass-through and a super simple and easy install.

Really good points - the 15K is probably overkill for me now, but things can always change, and I'd rather have more than enough, than not enough.

 

[robby]

Really good points - the 15K is probably overkill for me now, but things can always change, and I'd rather have more than enough, than not enough.

And the reality is that a lot of things are going to change in the next ten years. I can already see that like it or not I will be driving an EV in the next 5 years. I think the gas powered vehicles are going to become more and more difficult to own. Just the wallet hit your going to take selling your 2023 Gas vehicle in the used car market in 2027 is going to make you not want to buy another new one.
The price of Gas will probably be near $10-$12 in 5 years and then I suspect that many countries are going to put up other hurdles.
Things like new annual taxes that will only apply to owners of gas vehicles, really strict annual emission testing, increases in insurance costs for gas vehicles, less and less gas stations and more charging stations and probably a whole bunch of other crap that I have not even dreamed of. Bottom line is at some point the move will be exponetial and those who have Solar will be better prepared for owning an EV.

 

[RTL44]

While I know that is on the agenda in the US and a few other countries, I live in México, and that is nowhere on the horizon in the vast majority of the country.

Hybrid vehicles are fairly new (and not very popular) here and there is almost no infrastructure in place or even planned for EV’s in most of México.

Could that change? Sure. Especially in Mexico City where it is more feasible. But, I don’t see it happening elsewhere here for decades - if ever.

México produces more oil than it consumes, so it is and will remain self-reliant.

México is also 7th in the world in auto production, so again, they control their own destiny with that, too.

 

[nc73]

While I know that is on the agenda in the US and a few other countries, I live in México, and that is nowhere on the horizon in the vast majority of the country.

Hybrid vehicles are fairly new (and not very popular) here and there is almost no infrastructure in place or even planned for EV’s in most of México.

Could that change? Sure. Especially in Mexico City where it is more feasible. But, I don’t see it happening elsewhere here for decades - if ever.

México produces more oil than it consumes, so it is and will remain self-reliant.

México is also 7th in the world in auto production, so again, they control their own destiny with that, too.

If oil was cheap I would def stick with gas cars. No one is saving the environment when buying electric cars, you are only shifting the pollution to power plants. I don't see Mexico switching for a long time. The other downside once the car reaches 10 years old it can barely go 30 miles without needing a charge, but that's with some vehicles, not all. Batteries are too expensive so they become obsolete. The landfills will be full because batteries are to expensive to replace.

 

[RTL44]

And the reality is that a lot of things are going to change in the next ten years. I can already see that like it or not I will be driving an EV in the next 5 years. I think the gas powered vehicles are going to become more and more difficult to own. Just the wallet hit your going to take selling your 2023 Gas vehicle in the used car market in 2027 is going to make you not want to buy another new one.
The price of Gas will probably be near $10-$12 in 5 years and then I suspect that many countries are going to put up other hurdles.
Things like new annual taxes that will only apply to owners of gas vehicles, really strict annual emission testing, increases in insurance costs for gas vehicles, less and less gas stations and more charging stations and probably a whole bunch of other crap that I have not even dreamed of. Bottom line is at some point the move will be exponetial and those who have Solar will be better prepared

If oil was cheap I would def stick with gas cars. No one is saving the environment when buying electric cars, you are only shifting the pollution to power plants. I don't see Mexico switching for a long time. The other downside once the car reaches 10 years old it can barely go 30 miles without needing a charge, but that's with some vehicles, not all. Batteries are too expensive so they become obsolete. The landfills will be full because batteries are to expensive to replace.

I totally agree. Lithium mining also has an environmental impact that the “green” politicians and MSM conveniently never talks about.

I owned an EV for about 4 years. I’m not opposed to them and they can be ok for a certain segment, but it’s ridiculous to mandate them. California already is restricting EV charging during peak times because of the strain on the grid.

 

[robby]

If oil was cheap I would def stick with gas cars. No one is saving the environment when buying electric cars, you are only shifting the pollution to power plants.

Shifting Pollution to the power plants is one of benefits of going electric.
It's a lot easier to lower emissions from one power plant than it is from 10,000 gas powered Vehicles and these plants will be upgraded as time passes until eventually they are hopefully Fusion based. This has been the plan all along. Put into place the pieces of the puzzle that you can achieve now, while you wait for the final pieces to be completed.

I don't see Mexico switching for a long time. The other downside once the car reaches 10 years old it can barely go 30 miles without needing a charge, but that's with some vehicles, not all. Batteries are too expensive so they become obsolete. The landfills will be full because batteries are to expensive to replace.

Most electric vehicles will still have 80% capacity after 10 years. I tried explaining this to a friend yesterday and he was having a hard time grasping the concept of how charging and battery life would work.
One cycle of a charge is a battery going from 100% SOC to 0% SOC.

Mexico and other countries will not have much of a choice because at some point the whole Gas and Car industries will move away from dealing with Gasoline supply for Automotive use. It might take 5 years longer for them but most countries will just find that it's to difficult both financially and politically to keep using Gas.

 

[RTL44]

I disagree - especially with your conclusions about México. México can and does independently produce cars and petroleum at a rate that far exceeds their consumption of either. México doesn’t need to rely on anyone else or be told what to do by anyone else.

Your (and my) opinions, speculations and assumptions are just that. They are not facts.

So, in the end, only time will tell how things play out. Opinions and rhetoric will remain, but the truth is yet to be seen.

 

[Not Aerosmith]

For me, the better choice would be Sol-Ark 15K, because it has a 200 amp bypass for on grid, which is most of the time. The 8 K has a 63 amp bypass for on grid and (2) in parallel is 126 amp.

The Sol-Ark 15K has wiring schematic and is listed by the manufacturer as whole house backup. The Sol-Ark 8K only have wiring schematics for a critical load panel, so you have the additional expense in adding and wiring a new critical load panel.

My understanding is that the Sol-Ark 8K is not listed by the manufacturer for parallel installation. The manual that I saw didn't have wiring schematics for parallel installation and wasn't an option in the data sheet. It was my understanding the Sol-Ark 12K can be parallel but not the Sol-Ark 8K. If there is a Sol-Ark 8K model that can be parallel, then be very careful that you order the right one.

I hope this helps.

 

[RTL44]

For me, the better choice would be Sol-Ark 15K, because it has a 200 amp bypass for on grid, which is most of the time. The 8 K has a 63 amp bypass for on grid and (2) in parallel is 126 amp.

The Sol-Ark 15K has wiring schematic and is listed by the manufacturer as whole house backup. The Sol-Ark 8K only have wiring schematics for a critical load panel, so you have the additional expense in adding and wiring a new critical load panel.

My understanding is that the Sol-Ark 8K is not listed by the manufacturer for parallel installation. The manual that I saw didn't have wiring schematics for parallel installation and wasn't an option in the data sheet. It was my understanding the Sol-Ark 12K can be parallel but not the Sol-Ark 8K. If there is a Sol-Ark 8K model that can be parallel, then be very careful that you order the right one.

I hope this helps.

Very good post. Thank you. This is very informative.