QUESTION: Correct Wiring from Multiple Inverters to an AC Combiner Breaker Panel then Out as a Main Feed to an AC Critical Loads Breaker Panel???

[WattAboutThat]

PLEASE ADVISE

What is a correct way to wire
the AC output side
from each of Four (4) or more 6500EX inverters,
into an AC Combiner Breaker Panel,
then from that panel
out to a Critical Loads Breaker Panel,
so that the correct wires from each inverter
are on the Correct Leg
in the Combiner AC Breaker Panel,
and on the Correct Phase,
and please discuss if there needs to be
any protection to prevent back-feeding
from the AC combiner breaker panel
back into the other inverters.

Please also discuss the
safest and preferred location for ground,
and ground neutral bond,
for the Entire 6500EX Paralleled System.


Same Question as above
but for the 6000EX:

What is a correct way to wire
the AC output side
from each of Four (4) or more
6000EX Split Phase Inverters,
into an AC Combiner Breaker Panel,
then from that panel
out to a Critical Loads Breaker Panel,
so that the correct wires from each inverter
are on the Correct Leg
in the Combiner AC Breaker Panel,
and on the Correct Phase,
and please discuss if there needs to be
any protection to prevent back-feeding
from the AC combiner breaker panel
back into the other inverters.

Please also discuss the
safest and preferred location for ground,
and ground neutral bond,
for the Entire Paralleled 6000EX System.


The goal is to understand how to design the AC Output side of multiple paralleled inverters, and to understand how to scale safely to for example Eight (8) paralleled inverters, on the AC side.

And I guess for AC Input to multiple paralleled inverters, should each feed from a grid feed sourced panel have a breaker to each inverter?

Lots of unknowns (at least for me) on the AC wiring side for a larger paralleled system.

Thanks for any assistance.

 

[WattAboutThat]

Please be specific as to which wire L1 N L2 from each inverter, goes to each specific lug or phase on the breaker in the AC combiner breaker panel.
thx

 

[BentleyJ]

For example lets say you have 4 split phase 240/120V inverters in parallel each is rated for 50A output. Every inverter has to have Over Current Protection and wire gauge based on its individual output. So in this case the combiner box will have 4 x 2 pole AC breakers rated for 50A max. Neutrals can be connected on a common bus bar.

Next step is to combine the 4 hot wires from L1 and 4 hot wires from L2 exiting the breakers into 2 larger cables that feed the 2 pole main breaker in your critical loads breaker panel. There are 2 ways to do this.
1) Use finger style bus bars such as this: https://www.ecodirect.com/Midnite-Solar-MNPV6-Breaker-Busbar-p/midnite-mnpv6-breaker-busbar.htm but if you wish to expand up to 8 inverters it may be difficult to find.
2) Use mechanical lug distribution blocks like this. https://www.alliedelec.com/product/...pmg9sppFjrbgJaT_M3QaAq4gEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds.

 

[Supervstech]

Did your equipment not come with manuals? This should ALL be spelled out exactly in them...

 

[Nobodybusiness]

PLEASE ADVISE

What is a correct way to wire
the AC output side
from each of Four (4) or more 6500EX inverters,
into an AC Combiner Breaker Panel,
then from that panel
out to a Critical Loads Breaker Panel,
so that the correct wires from each inverter
are on the Correct Leg
in the Combiner AC Breaker Panel,
and on the Correct Phase,
and please discuss if there needs to be
any protection to prevent back-feeding
from the AC combiner breaker panel
back into the other inverters.

Please also discuss the
safest and preferred location for ground,
and ground neutral bond,
for the Entire 6500EX Paralleled System.


Same Question as above
but for the 6000EX:

What is a correct way to wire
the AC output side
from each of Four (4) or more
6000EX Split Phase Inverters,
into an AC Combiner Breaker Panel,
then from that panel
out to a Critical Loads Breaker Panel,
so that the correct wires from each inverter
are on the Correct Leg
in the Combiner AC Breaker Panel,
and on the Correct Phase,
and please discuss if there needs to be
any protection to prevent back-feeding
from the AC combiner breaker panel
back into the other inverters.

Please also discuss the
safest and preferred location for ground,
and ground neutral bond,
for the Entire Paralleled 6000EX System.


The goal is to understand how to design the AC Output side of multiple paralleled inverters, and to understand how to scale safely to for example Eight (8) paralleled inverters, on the AC side.

And I guess for AC Input to multiple paralleled inverters, should each feed from a grid feed sourced panel have a breaker to each inverter?

Lots of unknowns (at least for me) on the AC wiring side for a larger paralleled system.

Thanks for any assistance.

The manuals should tell you what to combine.

The how or what part I used Power Distribution blocks to combine my Inverters the ran one 4/0 cable to the transfer switch in my case.

 

[WattAboutThat]

For those that have asked - I do not yet have equipment - i am trying to educate myself before spending a lot of money only to find out i made an incorrect choice - I am very detail oriented - and the kind of person that reads every word of a manual before making decisions - I was just hoping that those who frequent this forum that have actual real world experience could reveal their knowledge - so i can make smart choices - i do not have money to waste - so i need to make my first big purchase with the most knowledge possible - so in that regard i was asking for knowledge - which is what I envision as the prime purpose of any forum - ie. to share knowledge - I hope you weren’t implying that I asked a stupid question and should just read the manual, implying why i would even ask such a question on this or any other forum -

I thought it was a reasonable set of questions, that i have not seen answered anywhere on forums or youtube videos, and i have watched several hundred hours of youtube videos, scanned the forums, searching for answers
thx

 

[OzSolar]

I was just hoping that those who frequent this forum that have actual real world experience could reveal their knowledge - so i can make smart choices - i do not have money to waste - so i need to make my first big purchase with the most knowledge possible - so in that regard i was asking for knowledge

Are you considering starting with one single inverter large enough to do what you want rather than multiple smaller inverters? I haven't done the math but I suspect one Sol-Ark 12 or 15 won't cost much (any?) more and the install will be much simpler.

 

[WattAboutThat]

Thank you for your question. I am leaning more strongly away from SolArk and towards EG4 6000 or maybe 6500 using multiple in parallel.

My reasoning, is that I want to try and avoid a single point of failure in the design, such that if any one inverter or battery system has a failure, I can easily remove it from the system, and still have power (albeit less overall power), but cam still function.

Please advise your opinions on this type of thinking.

thx

 

[WattAboutThat]

Note: i am also interested in finding out if it is possible to use multiple battery rack system, that are not all on the same electrical bus, such that each 2 paralleled inverters could have their own battery rack bank, but still function within the system of other paralleled inverters, which also have their own independent battery rack bank.

My thinking is that these independent battery rack banks can be charged by their respective inverter(s), and used to create power from those inverters, but in an event of failure, I do not loose all batteries simultaneously, and can still function.


Basically, I want to have multiple almost independent systems feeding the AC critical loads, but the AC needs to be in sync from all the systems. And I can add or remove systems as needed, without loosing all power.

Thanks for any feedback.

 

[BentleyJ]

I am leaning more strongly away from SolArk and towards EG4 6000 or maybe 6500 using multiple in parallel.

Since you are looking for reliability, I would recommend looking at Schneider XW Pro. Two of these would be approx equivalent to 3 of the value priced brands. If you are looking at stacking, 1 Schneider PDP will support 3 XW Pro inverters. Note that the XW Pro does not have built in MPPT charge controllers. They have to be purchased separately.

 

[BentleyJ]

Note: i am also interested in finding out if it is possible to use multiple battery rack system, that are not all on the same electrical bus, such that each 2 paralleled inverters could have their own battery rack bank

Most stacked systems require the batteries to all share a common bus bar.

 

[timselectric]

I would recommend that you download the manual and learn what you can. Then come back with more specific questions. It would take a few weeks for us to answer that list of questions, with full explanation of the answers.

 

[OzSolar]

My reasoning, is that I want to try and avoid a single point of failure in the design, such that if any one inverter or battery system has a failure, I can easily remove it from the system, and still have power (albeit less overall power), but cam still function.

I can get where you're coming from.

Of course there's numerous single points of failure in every system so somehow you have to figure out which ones you need to design for. That could turn into a pretty deep rabbit hole so what should a person do? Zoom out and look at the big picture would be the first thing.

While some components might be "easily" removable from within a system there's often a lot more that needs to happen to get the system running again. And "I could do it" is not an acceptable response. EG: I wouldn't dare risk my wife's safety to do it if I was not in town or physically able to.

My approach is to understand that your system (single or multiple inverters, etc) will most likely have a very high uptime if you do reasonable job of designing, building it and maintaining it. I would then go as far to offer that the more components you add in an attempt to increase redundancy actually makes it less reliable. For me the key is having redundant systems in parallel versus having redundancy WITHIN an individual system.

That's just my 2 cents.

 

[timselectric]

My system has lots of redundancy. And the design is simplistic enough that I could talk someone through it over the phone, if something failed.
You just have to plan well, and try to think of everything that could happen. (Not an easy task)
Luckily I have a lot of experience with bullet proofing systems.

 

[schmism]

Basically, I want to have multiple almost independent systems feeding the AC critical loads, but the AC needs to be in sync from all the systems. And I can add or remove systems as needed, without loosing all power.

Thanks for any feedback.

Yep, got the answer. - Doesn't exist.

 

[Samsonite801]

For example lets say you have 4 split phase 240/120V inverters in parallel each is rated for 50A output. Every inverter has to have Over Current Protection and wire gauge based on its individual output. So in this case the combiner box will have 4 x 2 pole AC breakers rated for 50A max. Neutrals can be connected on a common bus bar.

Next step is to combine the 4 hot wires from L1 and 4 hot wires from L2 exiting the breakers into 2 larger cables that feed the 2 pole main breaker in your critical loads breaker panel. There are 2 ways to do this.
1) Use finger style bus bars such as this: https://www.ecodirect.com/Midnite-Solar-MNPV6-Breaker-Busbar-p/midnite-mnpv6-breaker-busbar.htm but if you wish to expand up to 8 inverters it may be difficult to find.
2) Use mechanical lug distribution blocks like this. https://www.alliedelec.com/product/...pmg9sppFjrbgJaT_M3QaAq4gEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds.

So if you just use a standard household breaker box and feed the built-in bus bar via your 4 x 2 pole AC breakers (from the inverters, as inputs), then they are already natively combined via the breaker panel bus bars, and if you run out of breaker slots (for outputs) you can feed either the main breaker or another 2 pole breaker to another sub panel, or just use a taller panel which has more slots.