Really unsure which EG4 inverter to go with now. Let me explain my situation.

[Scott Balkum]

Depends on what you are looking for. For 120V only Morningstar has 2500W inverter which is completely silent since there are no fans. There is also difference in pitch of the fans. A Quattro fan does not sound as loud or annoying as a EG4 18kPV fan for instance since the Quattro uses larger fan diameter.

I’ll need 220V 50A total

 

[Quattrohead]

The 18K PV is totally silent until it is processing over 6 KW of energy either in or out, how often will you be going over that threshold?

 

[Scott Balkum]

The 18K PV is totally silent until it is processing over 6 KW of energy either in or out, how often will you be going over that threshold?

Outbound would be not very often but PV in I’ll need every bit I can get. Lots of cloudy days in AK.

 

[TK1979]

Outbound would be not very often but PV in I’ll need every bit I can get. Lots of cloudy days in AK.

These inverters are fanless - not sure about quality

Thread 'Hoymiles HYS-7.6LV-USG1 Hybrid Inverter' https://diysolarforum.com/threads/hoymiles-hys-7-6lv-usg1-hybrid-inverter.68481/

 

[TK1979]

It's an all in one as well and comes in various sizes

 

[jorby]

I have thought about replacing those noisy 18kpv fans with a single (appropriately sized) squirrel cage blower. For an indoor install, there is plenty of room under the fan inlets and no worries about the weather. The pwm could charge a capacitor on a SSR input for on/off operation.

 

[BentleyJ]

I have thought about replacing those noisy 18kpv fans with a single (appropriately sized) squirrel cage blower. For an indoor install, there is plenty of room under the fan inlets and no worries about the weather. The pwm could charge a capacitor on a SSR input for on/off operation.

View attachment 286319

Word of caution regarding the small blowers shown in the pic. They look like the same type that are used for convection blowers in fireplace inserts. I installed a variable speed blower in our FP and at any speed fast enough to noticeably move hot air it has this annoying high pitched whine that will drive a person nuts. Needless to say we never use it.

 

[Madcodger]

I have EG4 6000XPs in our mechanical room (much sound insulation) and am very happy, but for my separate 16x22 office, where I would hear fans, I have a Victron system with a SEPARATE, passively cooled SCC, because I don't want to hear fan noise. On the sunniest of days, silence! I use a small Multiplus for the inverter. You'll likely need multiple SCCs with this approach, and of course a separate inverter (maybe two), and it's going to cost more. But it's worth it.

Bottom line: If you can put the equipment in a separate area that prevents you from hearing it, an AIO is often great. But if you're forced to have equipment where you can hear it, I don't think you can beat separate components with passively cooled SCCs.

 

[jorby]

Word of caution regarding the small blowers shown in the pic. They look like the same type that are used for convection blowers in fireplace inserts. I installed a variable speed blower in our FP and at any speed fast enough to noticeably move hot air it has this annoying high pitched whine that will drive a person nuts. Needless to say we never use it.

The picture was just to show the type of blower I was thinking about, not a specific one to use. This is the style used in small wall-mounted heaters in my house. They are quiet as far as any type of whine. They are driven from a shaded pole motor and are single speed. The fans in the 18kpv are the pulsed type and they whine at any speed and at maximum there is a lot of blade noise too. The design was intended to be installed outdoors where noise would be ok. I live in a marine environment and will not be doing that. It would be nice if there should was a quiet cooling option for indoor installations.

 

[Chuck7454]

We’ll be moving to Alaska in a completely off grid cabin. We are tech heavy and will be consuming a bit of power (but way less than air conditioning in Texas). I’ve determined my load needs and my solar needs as well as my batteries.

Your problem is not that the inverter fans are "loud" but rather that you are living in secluded Alaska. With babbling brooks and tweeting birds. Move your cabin to a city and you won't notice the inverter fan noise.

 

[chamilun]

if you really wanted to you could wire in a potentiometer and slow the fans manually. or something to that affect

 

[wpns]

if you really wanted to you could wire in a potentiometer and slow the fans manually. or something to that affect

Right, but slowing the fans increases the semiconductor temperatures, which greatly reduces reliability and lifespan. And voids your warranty. And probably doesn’t make it quiet enough.

Keeping the same airflow with different/more/better/larger/quieter fans is an engineering function, not really a DIY function. Not impossible for the clever folks on this forum, but more properly an EG4 engineering task if they could be convinced it’s worthwhile. In an ideal world it’d be a bolt-on (extra cost) exchange for the existing cooling system.

Of course, they’ve clearly never contemplated noise, and have always had weird cooling solutions.

 

[chamilun]

Im not really bothered by the noise. mines in a closed room. tells me im getting tons of solar

 

[jorby]

if you really wanted to you could wire in a potentiometer and slow the fans manually. or something to that affect

These fans are already variable speed and noisy at any speed. I believe they are PWM for speed control and the pulses are noisy and amplified by the metal enclosure. I don't know whether the pwm circuitry is in the fan or the inverter itself, but since it is mounted and operating, I am not messing with it.