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diy solar

pv input power vs charging current?

1201

1201

Solar Wizard
Joined
Feb 1, 2023
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Location
Texas
I'm exploring using an aio inverter solely as a charge controller.

it has two mppts up to 500v. I can have up to 8000w of solar attached.

but it says it has 80a max of charging, which at 57.6v is only 4600w.

so does this mean that even if I have 8000w attached it will only ever charge the battery with up to 4600w? thanks
 
1201 said:
I'm exploring using an aio inverter solely as a charge controller.

it has two mppts up to 500v. I can have up to 8000w of solar attached.

but it says it has 80a max of charging, which at 57.6v is only 4600w.

so does this mean that even if I have 8000w attached it will only ever charge the battery with up to 4600w? thanks
Click to expand...
I am charging seven batteries with 80 amps,(40amps per inverter x2) and although it takes a while, it seems to work fine for my usage. The 80 amps is spread evenly across the batteries.
 
Sanwizard said:
I am charging seven batteries with 80 amps,(40amps per inverter x2) and although it takes a while, it seems to work fine for my usage. The 80 amps is spread evenly across the batteries.
Click to expand...
But they could mean I have a ton of unused pv if the panels are putting out say 7kw but only 4600 is being sent to the battery
 
1201 said:
I'm exploring using an aio inverter solely as a charge controller.

it has two mppts up to 500v. I can have up to 8000w of solar attached.

but it says it has 80a max of charging, which at 57.6v is only 4600w.

so does this mean that even if I have 8000w attached it will only ever charge the battery with up to 4600w? thanks
Click to expand...
Usually the 8Kw is split between the MPPT's, thus 4Kw per MPPT.

Are you sure it isn't 80A per MPPT? Which AIO?
 
 
80A total it is, 40A output per MPPT. The remaining watts are for running loads.

The 6500EX is max 120A, 60A per MPPT. That's about 3500 watts per MPPT for charging. Although better than the PowMr, it still leaves some watts not being used for charging.

You would do better with a pair of EG4 100A MPPT which is 100A output and 5Kw input each. I have noticed these will pull full wattage from an array and put it on the DC bus for loads or charging. It would cost $100 more than PowMr for the pair but I think the $100 would be recovered fairly quickly.
 
Zwy said:
80A total it is, 40A output per MPPT. The remaining watts are for running loads.

The 6500EX is max 120A, 60A per MPPT. That's about 3500 watts per MPPT for charging. Although better than the PowMr, it still leaves some watts not being used for charging.

You would do better with a pair of EG4 100A MPPT which is 100A output and 5Kw input each. I have noticed these will pull full wattage from an array and put it on the DC bus for loads or charging. It would cost $100 more than PowMr for the pair but I think the $100 would be recovered fairly quickly.
Click to expand...
I think you are right. The rest is for running loads, which doesn't help me since I'm not using the inverter section.

The eg4 100 500 looks interesting but I've seen some people have issues.

A member here made a video a couple of months about the eg4. I went to ask a question in the comments and he had posted an update that it was already erroring out and not working.

I'd like to avoid eg4 products if possible but may not have a choice
 
1201 said:
A member here made a video a couple of months about the eg4. I went to ask a question in the comments and he had posted an update that it was already erroring out and not working.

I'd like to avoid eg4 products if possible but may not have a choice
Click to expand...

PowerMrs reputation isn't much better ?
 
If you just want a good charge controller that is stand alone, try the Outback Power Flexmax units in 60, 80 amd 100 amps. the Voc of the 100 amp unit is much higher. They can be easily programmed to meet your needs.

Also, you may be able to pick up a used Outback inverter, some of which have a 30 amp 240 volt charger built in which is 7200 watts of power to your batteries.
 
glandpuck said:
If you just want a good charge controller that is stand alone, try the Outback Power Flexmax units in 60, 80 amd 100 amps. the Voc of the 100 amp unit is much higher. They can be easily programmed to meet your needs.

Also, you may be able to pick up a used Outback inverter, some of which have a 30 amp 240 volt charger built in which is 7200 watts of power to your batteries.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the recommendation. They have a low voltage limit of 150v though so they wouldn't work for my needs. I'm looking for 500-600v
 
Flexmax 100 is 290 volt input. Everything with that high an input has low amperage, the most I have seen is 25 amps and most are 14-16 amps. Remember, the great unifier in the USA is 240 volts and above that things generally have to be down converted somewhere.
 
glandpuck said:
Well it will last 10 years or more and with the 30% tax break its only $100 a year. Serenity now I guess.
Click to expand...
True. But for that price I can get the Schneider 100 600v unit which would last just as long
 
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