Schneider XW Pro 6848 Parallel/Stacked

[Bugsy36]

Hello everyone. Been reading and watching for quite some time. I have been gradually buying components to build a backup power system, and a separate grid-tie system. The reason for both is that the Grid owners limit us to a maximum of 10kw before they demand liability insurance. After checking the math, it is easier and cheaper to just build the two systems rather than one with lots of output (our homeowner's insurance is extremely high). Besides, we can find plenty of used SMA equipment relatively inexpensive for the grid-tie.

For the backup and batteries, I have been looking at the SRNE (ABP and HEBP) and the Schneider XW Pro 6848. The more I think about it, and for backup purposes, I think the Schneider is going to be the better way to go. I like the idea of a monster transformer. Parallel/Stack (3), and be done. (3) would cover all of the inrush needs, and have enough power the wife would never notice anything was amiss. I already have all I need for MPPT's and to charge batteries. The inverters would only be used for power conversion and possibly for generator connection (but still have not decided).

Not being very well versed on Schneider equipment, I am concerned that if I buy just (3) inverters that I am going to overlook something proprietary and expensive. I have access to plenty of din rail boxes, and Phoenix components. Building a distribution box is easy and cheap, BUT what about the Xanbus that I am reading about? Is it just built-in protocals using RJ45's from unit to unit? Is there anything proprietary that needs be purchased to enabled parallel/stacked operation?

In advance, THANK YOU for any help and advice that you can offer.

 

[Hedges]

Three in parallel you're supposed to use external bypass relay.
(maybe not if you never try to pass through more current than two can handle?)

Will you AC couple to SMA, so PV can charge batteries when grid is down?

For grid-tie, you will need less old GT PV inverters. For SMA, I think that is SB -41 series (to include RSD) or probably -40 meets requirements if no RSD needed (e.g. panels not on roof).

Personally I like SB 5000US series, transformer type, but only allowed for off-grid or replacement of legacy equipment grandfathered without latest grid-support features.

 

[Bugsy36]

Three in parallel you're supposed to use external bypass relay.
(maybe not if you never try to pass through more current than two can handle?)

Will you AC couple to SMA, so PV can charge batteries when grid is down?

For grid-tie, you will need less old GT PV inverters. For SMA, I think that is SB -41 series (to include RSD) or probably -40 meets requirements if no RSD needed (e.g. panels not on roof).

Personally I like SB 5000US series, transformer type, but only allowed for off-grid or replacement of legacy equipment grandfathered without latest grid-support features.

Thank you for the response.

I am going to keep both systems completely separate - no AC coupling.

For the SMA, looking at SB 5000 and 7700. According their manual, anti-islanding is built in. As for RSD, we aren’t mounting anything to the roof to avoid any insurance complications for the roof, if we get hit with a hurricane. We also won't be doing any net-metering as it doesn’t seem beneficial for the hassle to get little back.

So, being a humble idiot, for the XW Pro’s, is it just a matter of a building a distribution box to tie all of the 3 inverter outputs together + RJ45 cables for Master/Slave communication?

 

[400bird]

The inverters would only be used for power conversion and possibly for generator connection (but still have not decided).

Not being very well versed on Schneider equipment, I am concerned that if I buy just (3) inverters that I am going to overlook something proprietary and expensive. I have access to plenty of din rail boxes, and Phoenix components. Building a distribution box is easy and cheap, BUT what about the Xanbus that I am reading about? Is it just built-in protocals using RJ45's from unit to unit? Is there anything proprietary that needs be purchased to enabled parallel/stacked operation?

You'll need the communication box, Insight Home or Facility. It's not overly expensive, but with the inverters going EOL, you won't want to forget the comms box and not be able to set up or monitor the system.

The only other advice I'd give is to bring extra patience, the firmware and settings aren't intuitive at all. Kind of a pain in the ass.

Three in parallel you're supposed to use external bypass relay.
(maybe not if you never try to pass through more current than two can handle?)

I think this is off grid for the Schneider, so pass through wouldn't matter. Maybe the generator, but the generator sounds optional or maybe just down the road. If the gen is less than 60 amps (14.4kW) the internal relays are fine.

 

[Hedges]

Will you have any PV connected to Schneider?
Or is it to just be a UPS?

Yes, all SB have anti-islanding. So long as configured for on-grid.
Buying used, you might happen to get one set for off-grid (unlikely).
If so, request Guard Code and change.

Not needing RSD, I think both -40 and -41 will meet requirements. But double-check.
California CEC website has downloadable spreadsheet detailing all grid-support features.
(for instance, my previous model TriPower 30000TL was not accepted. A newer model would be.)

 

[BKY2003]

Using more than 1 XWPro requires AC sync cables.

 

[Brucey]

So, being a humble idiot, for the XW Pro’s, is it just a matter of a building a distribution box to tie all of the 3 inverter outputs together + RJ45 cables for Master/Slave communication?

Basically you need three 250A DC breakers (mnedc250s being popular) and then 60A AC output breakers for each. Ac sync and xanbus comms cables.

Insight Home or Facility ($200-$300) for monitoring and programming. A standalone single unit can just run by itself out of the box but for parallel you need to configure master and slave(s).

 

[BKY2003]

distribution box to tie all of the 3 inverter outputs together

This is how they tie it together in the PDP

 

[BKY2003]

Schneider Electric Conext 120/240VAC Breaker Kit for Parallel Inverters

Schneider Electric Conext 120/240VAC Breaker Kit for Parallel Inverters

www.solar-electric.com

https://www.solar-electric.com/lib/wind-sun/Conext-865-1215-01.pdf

 

[Bugsy36]

You'll need the communication box, Insight Home or Facility. It's not overly expensive, but with the inverters going EOL, you won't want to forget the comms box and not be able to set up or monitor the system.

The only other advice I'd give is to bring extra patience, the firmware and settings aren't intuitive at all. Kind of a pain in the ass.


I think this is off grid for the Schneider, so pass through wouldn't matter. Maybe the generator, but the generator sounds optional or maybe just down the road. If the gen is less than 60 amps (14.4kW) the internal relays are fine.

Not sure if I will use the Schneider to charge, but that may be the easiest route. The generators I do have will not reach 60A so I guess safe there.

Is the Schneider too much of a PITA ? I do have the availability to the SRNE but I was looking at the Schneider warranty. The ASP and ABP SRNE's run roughly $800 each but only have 2 yr warranty. I am also not sure if they can truly handle the 20kw surge. I would have no issue getting (3) of those. I also really do like the SRNE HEBP 12Kw, but I have have only seen (2) or (3) threads on that.

With AC running, we are pulling and average of 4-5Kw, not including inrush. My thought is t ensure that the wife has access to whatever else she has in the house. For example, many will say that they would not do laundry during a storm but for the wife that is an extra day off to get ahead. So 4500w for a dryer, 4500w water heater, and maybe 5000w for cooking. Of course I can kill the water heater to ensure it does not come on unexpectedly.

 

[Bugsy36]

Will you have any PV connected to Schneider?
Or is it to just be a UPS?

Yes, all SB have anti-islanding. So long as configured for on-grid.
Buying used, you might happen to get one set for off-grid (unlikely).
If so, request Guard Code and change.

Not needing RSD, I think both -40 and -41 will meet requirements. But double-check.
California CEC website has downloadable spreadsheet detailing all grid-support features.
(for instance, my previous model TriPower 30000TL was not accepted. A newer model would be.)

Strictly UPS. I am going to tie the PV into the Suyeego controllers, which will go directly to the batteries. The intent is to keep the inverters as isolated as possible, because we live in the lightning capital. I am more willing to sacrifice a remote controller than the inverter.

Forgive me - What is "Guard Code"?

 

[Hedges]

So is the question whether you should buy an $800 Chinesium inverter for $800, for buy a $3500 Schneider for $900?

Strictly UPS. I am going to tie the PV into the Suyeego controllers, which will go directly to the batteries. The intent is to keep the inverters as isolated as possible, because we live in the lightning capital. I am more willing to sacrifice a remote controller than the inverter.

Oh, DC coupled PV to batteries? I thought it was GT PV SMA inverters for grid-tie and no PV on the UPS.

Do you fear lightning entering through PV wires blows electronics, figure if DC coupled it stops at SCC but if AC coupled through SMA GT PV inverters, it will continue through AC lines to your battery inverter?

Forgive me - What is "Guard Code"?

And "PUK", personal unlocking key.

To change grid settings after first 10 hours operation, SMA inverters require "Grid Guard Code", which is also meant to keep the Great Unwashed from changing voltage and frequency parameters related to UL-1741 compliance. This code is unique the the person and leaves a fingerprint to show who #%&@ with the settings.

Some settings will be passworded. Unless seller gives you password, PUK (really inverter serial number related) required to reset. Send SMA the serial number on the CU Connection Unit lower half, not the PU Power Unit upper half.

 

[Bugsy36]

Schneider Electric Conext 120/240VAC Breaker Kit for Parallel Inverters

Schneider Electric Conext 120/240VAC Breaker Kit for Parallel Inverters

www.solar-electric.com

https://www.solar-electric.com/lib/wind-sun/Conext-865-1215-01.pdf

Thank you for all of the snips and the link. I could not find that. Sorry!

The AC Sync cables - are they proprietary or just ethernet cables for communication? By the line drawing that they show, it appears it is RJ45 port like the Xanbus port. Also, if using the AC Sync, is the use of Xanbus necessary? If it is for monitoring, I am ok with physically looking at the LCD of the inverter.

 

[Bugsy36]

So is the question whether you should buy an $800 Chinesium inverter for $800, for buy a $3500 Schneider for $900?



Oh, DC coupled PV to batteries? I thought it was GT PV SMA inverters for grid-tie and no PV on the UPS.

Do you fear lightning entering through PV wires blows electronics, figure if DC coupled it stops at SCC but if AC coupled through SMA GT PV inverters, it will continue through AC lines to your battery inverter?



And "PUK", personal unlocking key.

To change grid settings after first 10 hours operation, SMA inverters require "Grid Guard Code", which is also meant to keep the Great Unwashed from changing voltage and frequency parameters related to UL-1741 compliance. This code is unique the the person and leaves a fingerprint to show who #%&@ with the settings.

Some settings will be passworded. Unless seller gives you password, PUK (really inverter serial number related) required to reset. Send SMA the serial number on the CU Connection Unit lower half, not the PU Power Unit upper half.

For the first question, I do not disagree but was not sure what most people here would think. I am not completely opposed to Chinese but I do not want to keep fooling with something also, and $900 caught my attention - $3500 I would pass for the intermittent use and need.

The GT is what I want to get and use the SB for, with direct PV. Just enough to shave the bill, and get a quick approval form Duke.

The UPS is what I want to use the Schneider for, but I want to have enough there that it does not look or feel like we are roughing after a hurricane. I will also note that during the years that we are spared from hurricanes, we have to endure overgrown foliage knocking out the grid. It seems as if Duke likes to wait for hurricanes to do preventative maintenance because that is when the get rate increases.

For the lightning, I am not worried as much about coming through the AC (grid), as we have all learned we can only safeguard so much. My worried about lighting is on the UPS - taking a transient strike on a panel that travels to the controller. To date, we have only suffered on incident in 14 years on the grid side of things but our cable TV system has not been so lucky. It is more paranoia than anything else. I could always revert to genpower if needed.

 

[JBertok]

The diagram that BKY posted brings up a critical consideration of multi-inverter split-phase functionality with the XW Pro. A multi-inverter installation, even with a PDP, struggles to balance Loads between them when grid-tied and inverting surplus DC in load situations close to their maximum grid-support inverting capacities of 6.0kW each.

Real-World Scenario: Two inverters, a Primary and a Secondary - 14kW of incoming DC available from the charge controllers, 11kW of AC Load, and grid tied.
In this scenario both inverters are running in "Grid Support" mode which means they are prioritizing using DC to supply the Loads on the AC output side.
Ideally, each XW Pro would be inverting 5.5kW of AC to supply the 11kW load. In practice, however, it doesn't work out that way. They will never be in balance. Generally, one inverter could be supplying for example 6.5 kW to the load, and the other 4.5kW in that scenario. That means that that the favored one will be pulling that missing 500 Watt from the Grid, or AC1 - even though there is plenty of DC available and plenty of inverting capacity left. There is no way to control this - it is not a function of voltage balancing a multi-inverter setup; that only comes into play when the XW Pros are off grid and making their own waveform, aka Backup Mode.

So, my advice, is to ensure that that you have AC busbars across the breakers feeding all three inverter's AC1 inputs, and another set of AC busbars for the Load side breakers, and then ensure that every set of AC input and output cables is exactly the same length and type of wire. When I first set up my pair of XW Pros I gave each one a home run back to the main meter panel. That didn't work - only one inverter would ever go into grid support. After taking measurements and observing this behavior, I found that there were millivolts of differences each inverter was seeing. A line under load puts up more resistance, a lower voltage is measured, and the inverter will bias more inverting to that lower voltage line. That said, I am not happy with the way Schneider did the PDP. When you buy the PDP it ships with a full set of inverter input and output AC cables. When you add a second or third inverter you add an expansion box which also comes with a full set of cables, but they are much longer than the set the PDP comes with. I have a theory that the very slight differences in cable length induced resistance causes my Inverter 1 (Primary} with the shorter cables to have approximately a +400-800 watt bias near full-load. It's only a problem when the house loads are right around 12kW, which is pretty often during the day in the summer around here. If the loads are over 12.5kW, both inverters are generally at their 6kW max, and if the loads are under 11.5kW it's not pulling from the grid. My personal experience is with 2 XW Pros, but I think this particular quirk has the potential to rear its head even more in a 3-inverter XW Pro configuration. Keep the AC cables short and equal length, and bus the input and output breakers together like the diagram, or backplane them with dedicated AC load panels for both input and output.

 

[Hedges]

Schneider is traditionally DC coupled with SCC.
It does support AC coupling.
I have no experience with it, but some here do, including AC coupling and trying to control charge vs. import vs. export, including in response to weather predictions.

SMA SI and SB support AC coupling and use to support closely tied DC coupling but dropped the closed-loop to SCC when Li BMS added. May still be supported in Europe.
SMA invented grid-tie and invented AC coupling.

You might want to rig a switch to transfer SB from grid to Schneider. Must be slow, 5 seconds "off" before reconnecting to other source which will be out of phase.
Or you might want to run some or all SB through Schneider all the time. That is the configuration I do with SI.

You can of course put surge arrestors on PV wires and on AC wires. Look at Midnight for both, also Square-D for the AC ones.

China may make some quality inverters. Some people have run some for a number of years. Some have had issues, especially firmware related to batteries and to grid.

SolArk gets lots of complaints for being marked-up Chinesium with US Support, I think some aspects of firmware, possibly hardware tweaks. Not sure how much US in it. But some people including GhostWriter66 say it absolutely works, she installs them and never has to look back.

For the same price prefer to get US or German products. Firmware may not be as up to date for features and may not be as buggy. But in PV and virtually all industries, I think what was designed 20 to 40 years ago was less buggy.

Midnight also makes good (offgrid) stuff, but doesn't have < $1000 liquidation deals.
Schneider deal because they're moving on to HF.
SMA deal because DC Solar got busted and had inventory.

 

[Bugsy36]

The diagram that BKY posted brings up a critical consideration of multi-inverter split-phase functionality with the XW Pro. A multi-inverter installation, even with a PDP, struggles to balance Loads between them when grid-tied and inverting surplus DC in load situations close to their maximum grid-support inverting capacities of 6.0kW each.

Real-World Scenario: Two inverters, a Primary and a Secondary - 14kW of incoming DC available from the charge controllers, 11kW of AC Load, and grid tied.
In this scenario both inverters are running in "Grid Support" mode which means they are prioritizing using DC to supply the Loads on the AC output side.
Ideally, each XW Pro would be inverting 5.5kW of AC to supply the 11kW load. In practice, however, it doesn't work out that way. They will never be in balance. Generally, one inverter could be supplying for example 6.5 kW to the load, and the other 4.5kW in that scenario. That means that that the favored one will be pulling that missing 500 Watt from the Grid, or AC1 - even though there is plenty of DC available and plenty of inverting capacity left. There is no way to control this - it is not a function of voltage balancing a multi-inverter setup; that only comes into play when the XW Pros are off grid and making their own waveform, aka Backup Mode.

So, my advice, is to ensure that that you have AC busbars across the breakers feeding all three inverter's AC1 inputs, and another set of AC busbars for the Load side breakers, and then ensure that every set of AC input and output cables is exactly the same length and type of wire. When I first set up my pair of XW Pros I gave each one a home run back to the main meter panel. That didn't work - only one inverter would ever go into grid support. After taking measurements and observing this behavior, I found that there were millivolts of differences each inverter was seeing. A line under load puts up more resistance, a lower voltage is measured, and the inverter will bias more inverting to that lower voltage line. That said, I am not happy with the way Schneider did the PDP. When you buy the PDP it ships with a full set of inverter input and output AC cables. When you add a second or third inverter you add an expansion box which also comes with a full set of cables, but they are much longer than the set the PDP comes with. I have a theory that the very slight differences in cable length induced resistance causes my Inverter 1 (Primary} with the shorter cables to have approximately a +400-800 watt bias near full-load. It's only a problem when the house loads are right around 12kW, which is pretty often during the day in the summer around here. If the loads are over 12.5kW, both inverters are generally at their 6kW max, and if the loads are under 11.5kW it's not pulling from the grid. My personal experience is with 2 XW Pros, but I think this particular quirk has the potential to rear its head even more in a 3-inverter XW Pro configuration. Keep the AC cables short and equal length, and bus the input and output breakers together like the diagram, or backplane them with dedicated AC load panels for both input and output.

Thank you. I have heard of people having fits when using the XW grid-tied. I prefer to keep the Schneider paralleled but use only as "backup" or "off-grid". Aside from the price, the other attraction is that it truly is a LF inverter (although may start speaking of efficiency). The concern is to drop $3k, and find myself having to spend another $1k $2k unexpectedly with proprietary additions, such as cables (Sync cable?). It was mentioned before that I will need the Insight box. That doesn't seem too terrible but is there anything else?

 

[Bugsy36]

Schneider is traditionally DC coupled with SCC.
It does support AC coupling.
I have no experience with it, but some here do, including AC coupling and trying to control charge vs. import vs. export, including in response to weather predictions.

SMA SI and SB support AC coupling and use to support closely tied DC coupling but dropped the closed-loop to SCC when Li BMS added. May still be supported in Europe.
SMA invented grid-tie and invented AC coupling.

You might want to rig a switch to transfer SB from grid to Schneider. Must be slow, 5 seconds "off" before reconnecting to other source which will be out of phase.
Or you might want to run some or all SB through Schneider all the time. That is the configuration I do with SI.

You can of course put surge arrestors on PV wires and on AC wires. Look at Midnight for both, also Square-D for the AC ones.

China may make some quality inverters. Some people have run some for a number of years. Some have had issues, especially firmware related to batteries and to grid.

SolArk gets lots of complaints for being marked-up Chinesium with US Support, I think some aspects of firmware, possibly hardware tweaks. Not sure how much US in it. But some people including GhostWriter66 say it absolutely works, she installs them and never has to look back.

For the same price prefer to get US or German products. Firmware may not be as up to date for features and may not be as buggy. But in PV and virtually all industries, I think what was designed 20 to 40 years ago was less buggy.

Midnight also makes good (offgrid) stuff, but doesn't have < $1000 liquidation deals.
Schneider deal because they're moving on to HF.
SMA deal because DC Solar got busted and had inventory.

The more and more that I delved into it, and even though AIO's can do it, the SMA seems to be the best and easiest for grid-tie. As long as I stay below at or below 10kw, Duke Energy will be easy to deal with. I plan to dedicate 4650w in PV, and think that will take enough off of the monthly bill.

I already have an interlock for the generator, and a manual switch between the SMA and Schneiders would be easy enough. I have looked at the Midnight arrestors. Not sure how well they work but they are Midnight. I do need to order the Square D or Eaton arrestors for the panels.

 

[Brucey]

Thank you. I have heard of people having fits when using the XW grid-tied. I prefer to keep the Schneider paralleled but use only as "backup" or "off-grid". Aside from the price, the other attraction is that it truly is a LF inverter (although may start speaking of efficiency). The concern is to drop $3k, and find myself having to spend another $1k $2k unexpectedly with proprietary additions, such as cables (Sync cable?). It was mentioned before that I will need the Insight box. That doesn't seem too terrible but is there anything else?

Yeah Insight Home is really the only critical piece if you'll be paralleling three, a BCS or similar external transfer switch would be needed if you were using the ac input for grid or gen >60A but in your case not required.

 

[Hedges]

The more and more that I delved into it, and even though AIO's can do it, the SMA seems to be the best and easiest for grid-tie. As long as I stay below at or below 10kw, Duke Energy will be easy to deal with. I plan to dedicate 4650w in PV, and think that will take enough off of the monthly bill.

Sunny Boy string inverters work great for grid-tie.
The older models would switch between on-grid UL-1741 anti-islanding and different off-grid parameters (including wider tolerance for generator behind SI.)
The SB -41, for some reason SMA America said to use "island" not "Rule-21" if used as backup with Sunny Island. I'm reluctant to do that (as it disagrees with SMA Germany's documentation.) I haven't operated those SB with SI yet so I can only guess why (frequency thresholds) they suggested it. I will try to tweak thresholds rather than defeating anti-islanding.

I already have an interlock for the generator, and a manual switch between the SMA and Schneiders would be easy enough.

You would make sure Rule-21 frequency-watts is enabled in SMA SB if used on Schneider (or on SI)

I wonder if 2 Schneider would be all you need, and the 3rd could be a spare. Might make for a simpler system.
It apparently handles severe overload.

Oh by the way, I don't know the experiences of people passing grid through 2 parallel Schneider, but with my SI, I found Square-D QO270 breakers different in resistance and imbalanced current sharing between parallel circuits badly. I now have Midnight/CBI breakers on grid and island side of SI.



Sliding interlock on larger panels pretty much enforces several second delay.
Rocker type interlock on smaller panels, like a 100A/30A Square-D one I got, could allow fast snap over which SMA says not to do.

MPPT SCC may cost more than used SB. Having some DC coupled has its benefits - can charge battery even if inverter shut down. I have AC coupled only, and system is designed to never drain batteries too far (relay to shed all loads at low SoC.)

I have looked at the Midnight arrestors. Not sure how well they work but they are Midnight. I do need to order the Square D or Eaton arrestors for the panels.

Which is what I did when inspector sprung on me that surge arrestor was required. Otherwise I would have DIY with MOV from DigiKey.
The QO surge arrestors I got plug on, but are a smidgen too long and keep facing breaker from seating. So I now leave those knock-out tabs in place and don't populate the facing busbars.

You can also install a breaker in the panel and use Midnight or any other (e.g. Square-D) that has loose wires.

I think either Midnight or Square D or other big names should be fine. Check the kA and J ratings to compare.
Midnight put out videos showing theirs tested in-house and at a lab. Also testing Delta (Spoiler - don't bother getting those.)
They had already figured out what I did later when I used a HyPot to test Delta.

 

[400bird]

The AC Sync cables - are they proprietary or just ethernet cables for communication? By the line drawing that they show, it appears it is RJ45 port like the Xanbus port.

Yeah, just regular Ethernet cables. It's probably best to use fancy shielded cables, but still not proprietary.

Also, if using the AC Sync, is the use of Xanbus necessary? If it is for monitoring, I am ok with physically looking at the LCD of the inverter.

You'll need to do the set up with the Insight.

Not sure if I will use the Schneider to charge, but that may be the easiest route. The generators I do have will not reach 60A so I guess safe there.

Ok, how will you recharge the batteries when the power is out for a week after the hurricane? Or after the power is out overnight?
Is that what a "Suyeego controller" is?

Is the Schneider too much of a PITA ?

90% of the complaints and issues are around grid tie and charging from AC coupled solar. If you aren't doing that, it's not so bad. But the firmware/settings logic is bad enough that multiple members here have given up and moved on.

 

[Bugsy36]

Thank you for the answers. The Suyeego is the charge controller . My thought is cheap enough and sacrificial if need be.

The firmware is that bad? Is it any easier without using any "features", in other words "just for power conversion?"

 

[Bugsy36]

Sunny Boy string inverters work great for grid-tie.

You would make sure Rule-21 frequency-watts is enabled in SMA SB if used on Schneider (or on SI)

I wonder if 2 Schneider would be all you need, and the 3rd could be a spare. Might make for a simpler system.
It apparently handles severe overload.

I will find out next week about the SB 7.7's. I am told that they are only 2 years old. I am dead set on two separate systems. One for Grid-tie and one for backup ups.

I have the same question about the two vs three Schneider XW units. The cabinets are huge, so I wonder how big the transformers are and what the "true" capacity is. Can it sit at 6.5kw (or 2x for 13Kw) constantly? Once upon a time, things were underrated. Today it seems things are overrated. LOL. Just not sure I want to test it to its limits. That's why I arrived at 3x - for the 20kw output.

 

[Hedges]

People say Schneider can handle its full ratings, and can exceed them for quite a while.
Don't worry about testing its limits.

If you have it passing grid power through its internal relays, do pay attention to what I said about breaker models.

The SB -41 I've used so far worked as turned on, and I've enabled a couple functions for RSD and maybe Rule-21 in one of them.
I seem to have misplaced the password it made me enter to configure it, might need to get myself the PUK for it.

With more recent SMA equipment (SBS) I found it did basic peak-shaving function straight out of the box.
But bugs that remained through multiple firmware updates in the area of saving settings for peak shaving to other than 0 kW at the CT for various time of use.

Older SB, out of a few models I used, I found one bug in one series (10000TL-US) that while "backup" function (switch on/off grid) did remain connected during frequency shift, it failed to do frequency/watts. Set for "island" (always off grid) that feature worked.

One would hope anything you get does its basic functionality correctly straight out of the box.
Many new products require firmware updates before they work.
I recently brought up a new in the box old-stock Sunny Island with 2007 firmware, and it works fine.

 

[Brucey]

I have the same question about the two vs three Schneider XW units. The cabinets are huge, so I wonder how big the transformers are and what the "true" capacity is. Can it sit at 6.5kw (or 2x for 13Kw) constantly? Once upon a time, things were underrated. Today it seems things are overrated. LOL. Just not sure I want to test it to its limits. That's why I arrived at 3x - for the 20kw output.

The XW Pro can certainly be considered to be conservatively rated compared to many units now on the market, the manual gets into the duty cycle in terms of overload and recovery times before it can surge again.

You don't need to baby these, they are tanks.



They have an 80 lb transformer, a significant part of its 120 lb weight.