Signature Solar EG4 6.5K Off-Grid Inverter | 6500EX-48

[Solar Guy Richard]

Could you please spell this out for me to understand completely?
What is the max amp's on Each PV input and What is the max Voltage per PV input?
The manual reads the amps to be 18 per PV input and the voltage 500. It does not read the voltage as per input.
The manual leaves a lot to be desired. Would you elaborate on this?
I called SS on this, they said let me ask someone else, then he came back with the answer of 9 amps per PV input due to the two mppt's are in Parallel inside the unit. And not sure of voltage input.
And that's why I am confused of what is what.
@RichardFromEG4

All numbers are per MPPT. 500VOC and 18a. You can overamp in most cases (this often causes inspection failures though, keep that in mind) but NEVER over voltage.

 

[tashabay716]

All numbers are per MPPT. 500VOC and 18a. You can overamp in most cases (this often causes inspection failures though, keep that in mind) but NEVER over voltage.

So Richard are you saying that the maximum voltage is 500VOC per inverter or 500VOC per PV input? Because the video posted above featuring a Signature Solar representative (Alex) and a EG4 representative (Ricchard - maybe you) clearly states starting at the 6:13 mark that EACH PV input can handle 500VOC (1000VOC total for the inverter). He says it verbally and writes it in RED under the PV inputs. Based on this video, I am running the PV1 input at 450voc and the PV2 input at 410 VOC. So 860 VOC for the combined PV inputs on the inverter. I have been running this way for two weeks and I am NOT getting any fault code 11's which would be PV input over voltage. Please advise

 

[Solar Guy Richard]

Yes, each PV input has it's own MPPT. So per MPPT.
@tashabay716

 

[bones1]

Yes, each PV input has it's own MPPT. So per MPPT.
@tashabay716

Per input

 

[tashabay716]

Yes, each PV input has it's own MPPT. So per MPPT.
@tashabay716

Awesome. Just wanted to nail that down. A couple of other forum members and I are engaged in conversations on this issue and the owner's manual is not that clear. Thanks Richard for all your info and help. My EG4 solar system is running great. Heat index here in Texas is 110 to 120, so I am running 4 ton central A/C all day, 12,000 BTU window A/C, 3 refrigerators, two freezers, two electric hot water heaters, 240v clothes dryer, clothes washer, two laptops, one desktop, two laser printers, lights, dewalt battery chargers, etc- all with the sun.

 

[realpinochet]

I'm sure someone here knows. I'll be the first to admit I don't know every single small detail on these units personally - that's why I have a team of people I work with on every issue and product. If I knew it all I'd probably be a billionaire somewhere. Most of the guys who do know more than me (there's a lot of them) may not feel comfortable being on a public forum but I do so I'm the guy ya'll get to talk to. But it's not just me answering these questions and finding solutions - I am all over the place talking to people and always learning more.

It wasn't a shot towards you personally...you seem to be on point and honest from what I've seen. I'd bet that nobody at SS knew those details is what I'm saying. Lets be honest here.. a lot of companies are getting china to slap their name on a product and ship it over and it goes right to the store. I think the market is wanting something in the middle of tier1 and tier2 if you can call mpp tier 2. It's frustrating with all these rebrands that are basically just the same cheap inverters. To sum it up..all I was saying is if you can't make it here than at least design a unique product that's higher quality than what's already out there everywhere and to know the product well and have tested it etc before selling them.

 

[ncsolarelectric]

So Richard are you saying that the maximum voltage is 500VOC per inverter or 500VOC per PV input? Because the video posted above featuring a Signature Solar representative (Alex) and a EG4 representative (Ricchard - maybe you) clearly states starting at the 6:13 mark that EACH PV input can handle 500VOC (1000VOC total for the inverter). He says it verbally and writes it in RED under the PV inputs. Based on this video, I am running the PV1 input at 450voc and the PV2 input at 410 VOC. So 860 VOC for the combined PV inputs on the inverter. I have been running this way for two weeks and I am NOT getting any fault code 11's which would be PV input over voltage. Please advise

The input voltage on each MPPT does not "ADD" the way you are assuming. Each input is 500V, they are independent, not in series.

 

[Solar Guy Richard]

It wasn't a shot towards you personally...you seem to be on point and honest from what I've seen. I'd bet that nobody at SS knew those details is what I'm saying. Lets be honest here.. a lot of companies are getting china to slap their name on a product and ship it over and it goes right to the store. I think the market is wanting something in the middle of tier1 and tier2 if you can call mpp tier 2. It's frustrating with all these rebrands that are basically just the same cheap inverters. To sum it up..all I was saying is if you can't make it here than at least design a unique product that's higher quality than what's already out there everywhere and to know the product well and have tested it etc before selling them.

I hear what you are saying. We have done extensive testing in house with these prior to releasing them. Lots of engineering went into these from many aspects and it's something that, as a smaller younger company, we are working to keep improving.

 

[realpinochet]

I hear what you are saying. We have done extensive testing in house with these prior to releasing them. Lots of engineering went into these from many aspects and it's something that, as a smaller younger company, we are working to keep improving.

Good to hear..it seems ss is one of a very few that has momentum right now.

 

[tashabay716]

The input voltage on each MPPT does not "ADD" the way you are assuming. Each input is 500V, they are independent, not in series.

Yep, understood. Did not intend to phrase it that way. Just asking question in multiple ways so Richard would know exactly what I was asking. He put a fork in the issue. It is done!!

 

[jmjack]

I bought #4 per the manual and haven't tried it yet. Do you say it won't fit?.

#4 THHN will fit but it's very difficult. You must strip the insulation keeping the copper wires tightly wound as they were inside the insulation. If you smush the copper at all making the circle of wires out of round, it won't fit. If one strand of copper gets out of place, it wont fit. Another thing that might help, start with the Inverter side of the connctions first, then the main and loads panels. If you have access to the opposite end of the cable and if the run is short enough, align the freshly stripped cable end to the inverters lug and push the cable into place from the opposite end. If your cable run is too long for a good push, then grab a smooth jawed pliers and push the wire into the inverter lug. Smooth jaws shouldn't damage and insulation. I used the Knipex pliers wrench. Good Luck!

 

[ToBeSolar]

All numbers are per MPPT. 500VOC and 18a. You can overamp in most cases (this often causes inspection failures though, keep that in mind) but NEVER over voltage.

Thank you Richard for the reply and all that you do for us DIYer's.

 

[realpinochet]

The objective of business is to make profits. Designing, engineering, testing, and getting UL Listing on new inverters in the US is a multi-million $ expenditure. With the razor-thin margins EG4 is selling them at to compete, how many decades will it take to recoup that investment? You're asking a lot, it's an unreasonable expectation in 2022. That's an expectation from 1990!

They can have engineers here work with engineers over seas to make a complete product to their specifications. They can also setup the QA and other testing parameters with the overseas teams and oversee it to make sure they are following their requirements. Companies do this all the time! You can have your own unique product engineered here or there or both and have it produced, tested and certified overseas. "The objective of business is to make profits" And, this is exactly why we see this rebranding bs. A company should not have the sole purpose to make money. While that's obviously extremely important there's other pillars such as being inventive, creative, unique and producing "Quality" products that separate themselves from their competitors. In this specific case for example. SS or whoever could work with a engineering firm ,contract basis, to help them design or redesign the mpp to be more of a quality product. Using it as a preexisting template would significantly reduce cost. It could be simply beefing up the guts with better quality components,higher surge capabilities, better fault protection etc...basically what solark did.

 

[bones1]

Awesome. Just wanted to nail that down. A couple of other forum members and I are engaged in conversations on this issue and the owner's manual is not that clear. Thanks Richard for all your info and help. My EG4 solar system is running great. Heat index here in Texas is 110 to 120, so I am running 4 ton central A/C all day, 12,000 BTU window A/C, 3 refrigerators, two freezers, two electric hot water heaters, 240v clothes dryer, clothes washer, two laptops, one desktop, two laser printers, lights, dewalt battery chargers, etc- all with the sun.

Wow, that's something. Do you have a write-up on your system I can follow?.

 

[bones1]

#4 THHN will fit but it's very difficult. You must strip the insulation keeping the copper wires tightly wound as they were inside the insulation. If you smush the copper at all making the circle of wires out of round, it won't fit. If one strand of copper gets out of place, it wont fit. Another thing that might help, start with the Inverter side of the connctions first, then the main and loads panels. If you have access to the opposite end of the cable and if the run is short enough, align the freshly stripped cable end to the inverters lug and push the cable into place from the opposite end. If your cable run is too long for a good push, then grab a smooth jawed pliers and push the wire into the inverter lug. Smooth jaws shouldn't damage and insulation. I used the Knipex pliers wrench. Good Luck!

I will give it a try, would like to use #4 if I can since I have it here..

 

[nwhara]

Hi all, I’m setting up (4) 6500ex/lv6548s in split phase. I had it all wired up according to the manual and I was ready to go until I stumbled on this thread and saw the G/N bond discussion. Before I fire everything up, I wanted to ask 2 questions, since it looks like I need to deviate from the manual.

After reading this thread, I found filterguy’s wiring diagrams linked in this thread (see post #406) and elsewhere. His wiring diagram #7B is basically the same as what I have, but I have 4 units doing split phase with AC input and a transfer switch instead of two units. My understanding is that I should remove the inverter bonding screws from 3 of the 4 units so that the G/N bonding screw is only in one of the inverters. Additionally, I should remove all grounds going from the inverters to the transfer switch, as the main panel ground wire is the only egc that should be connected to the transfer switch/loads panel. Is that correct?

One other confusion I have is that I have a non neutral switching transfer switch. The wiring diagram #7B picture looks like the transfer switch is not switching the neutral (to my untrained eye), but the text note says it should be a neutral switching transfer switch. Should I ditch the non neutral switching transfer switch and rewire it with a neutral switching transfer switch? Alternatively, would it make more sense to ditch the transfer switch altogether and follow filterguy’s diagram #6, but again, removing the bonding screw from 3 of 4 inverters and not having the inverter grounds connected to the loads panel?

Thanks all for the help everyone has provided. Hopefully any insight can help others using 4 units and those deviating from the manual in an attempt to be “safe”.

 

[redalertdt]

Looking into these inverters the spec sheets list THD as greater than 3%, I am seeing the 6548 as 8%-10% THD is Greater than 3% a misprint or are they really just trying to tell me that it distorts a lot worse than the grid?

 

[ncsolarelectric]

EG4 says Less than 5% for linear loads, and less than 10% for non-linear loads. Not great but usable.

 

[diyhandyman]

We are here and Signature Solar is ready for answering a lot of questions.or

Yep his video is up!

Yep, no MC4 to inverter connections allowed for UL systems.

I have a beginner question about 2 parallel inverters (EG4 6500Ex) for 120V/240v output. I have an PV array of 30 total panels each are 345W 41v @ 10.92A. I was wanting the fewest strings and high volts to minimize voltage loss and PV wire costs of a 250ft run to the Inverters.

Do I NEED to balance the input strings across both inverters evenly or does it matter only if I want equal power available on each phase?

Example :
Option1: Divide the 30 panels across 3 strings ( 10 panels in each string of 410v @ 10.92A): then use 2 strings for Inverter A (phase1) and 1 string for Inverter B (phase2).
OR
Option 2: Divide the 30 panels across 4 strings: Strings 1&2 (8 panels each - 328v @ 10.92A) , Strings 3&4 (7 panels each - 287v @ 10.92A then connect Strings 1&3 into Inverter A and Strings 2&4 into Inverter B.

 

[ncsolarelectric]

I have a beginner question about 2 parallel inverters (EG4 6500Ex) for 120V/240v output. I have an PV array of 30 total panels each are 345W 41v @ 10.92A. I was wanting the fewest strings and high volts to minimize voltage loss and PV wire costs of a 250ft run to the Inverters.

Do I NEED to balance the input strings across both inverters evenly or does it matter only if I want equal power available on each phase?

Example :
Option1: Divide the 30 panels across 3 strings ( 10 panels in each string of 410v @ 10.92A): then use 2 strings for Inverter A (phase1) and 1 string for Inverter B (phase2).
OR
Option 2: Divide the 30 panels across 4 strings: Strings 1&2 (8 panels each - 328v @ 10.92A) , Strings 3&4 (7 panels each - 287v @ 10.92A then connect Strings 1&3 into Inverter A and Strings 2&4 into Inverter B.

What is Voc? Is it 41V or is that Vmp? The calculation should be done as (Voc + temp compensation) x number of panels < 500V, at the minimum temperature. Per the Voc %/K temperature coefficient on the datasheet. At 8 panels, it won't be an issue. At 10 panels, it could be.