Renogy 48V/3500 Medium term review (~1 month)

[hipringles]

As many of us have watched Will's video of the 48/3500 from Renogy, he gave ita pretty bad rep. I nearly ordered a growatt and just returned this, but renogy customer service sucks so much i just said F it and would give it a shot.

Here is scenario and review:

560ah 48V system.
4x330W panels
Lots of shore power charging/use

Good parts:

1. I have fully chared from A/C power (~12A input A/C power @120V), 3 times, and the unit never had an issue, never interrupted or stopped.
2. I have fully charged via solar once over a few days. It was abble to run ~1300W from the panels in peak sun without much issue. I didn't stare at the shunt/BMS, but the power seemed pretty conisistant and never cut out/stopped until overBMS disconnect
3. I have discharged @ ~2kw twice, without issue
4. Power saving mode takes 5 minutes to kick on and pulls ~25 watts per the BMS/Shunt
5. Can use as few as 2 full sized panels (good for van roofs) to charge
6. There *is* a AC ground, its marked on the case
7. 3500W max output, rather than 3000W like growatt

Bad:

1. The input solar max is... annoying. I wish it had VOC of 160 rather than 145, so that I could toss in the 4 panels in series not 2s2p
2. The fucking beeping on the keypresses isn't disable-able (as far as I can see)
3. The mounting is crap as Will mentioned
4. The screws covering the access panels strip so easily, and I currently have 1 stuck stripped in.
5. There is no battery-less option
6. No MC4s on the solar input

All in all, I would give this a 7/10. The mounting is a big minus, the price even @ 750 is a bit higher than I'd like, but the growatt's have gone up in price now too sooo /shrug. MPPT seems decent, and so far its basically working without much issue.

 

[JoeHam]

For only a bit more you can get a brand name like Midnite Solar :

MidNite Solar DIY Series MN3548DIY Inverter & Charger

Note: This model has been succeede by the MidNite MN5048DIY

www.solar-electric.com

No experience here, they’re brand new on the market.

VOC only 115

 

[TomC4306]

For only a bit more you can get a brand name like Midnite Solar :

MidNite Solar DIY Series MN3548DIY Inverter & Charger

Note: This model has been succeede by the MidNite MN5048DIY

www.solar-electric.com

No experience here, they’re brand new on the market.

VOC only 115

The manual states VoC = 145v.
Vmp = 60-115v

 

[hipringles]

For only a bit more you can get a brand name like Midnite Solar :

MidNite Solar DIY Series MN3548DIY Inverter & Charger

Note: This model has been succeede by the MidNite MN5048DIY

www.solar-electric.com

No experience here, they’re brand new on the market.

VOC only 115

This is probably the *exact* same unit as the renogy. Everything is identical on specs/looks except color lol

 

[TomC4306]

Ecoworthy has one too.

All-in-one Inverter Built in 3500W 48V Pure Sine Wave Power Inverter & 80A MPPT Controller for Off Grid System | ECO-WORTHY

ECO-WORTHY All-in-one Inverter Built in 3500W 48V Pure Sine Wave Power Inverter & 80A MPPT Controller is a new hybrid solar energy storage inverter control all-in-one machine integrating solar energy storage and commercial power charging energy storage and AC sine wave output. It adopts DSP...

www.eco-worthy.com

 

[TomC4306]

Of the three I think I prefer Midnite's look.