I can see that. I put mine in an enclosed box just for that reason but I also don't discharge them daily. They're just used as backup power with the occasional discharge about one a month for exercise.
Sol-Ark 12K and EG4LL battery communications
- Thread starter BenW
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thardie
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Here's the last install I did that used Deye inverters and Jakiper batteries (which I think should work with the Sol-Ark as well, since they're based off the Deye platform). This was not the final installation (comms was a bit of a mess still when this pic was taken)
For SSs sake, I do hope they get comms worked out soon. Just like you, I will NOT purchase any more EG4s until they get-er-done.
Of course maybe SS for some reason isn't confident that their EG4s can compete in the bigger/commercial market that Sol-Ark is in.
houseofancients
Solar Wizard
last i read here, is that sol-ark is refusing compatibilty....
what do you expect SS to do here ?
houseofancients
Solar Wizard
it takes two to tango...
Lt.Dan
Solar Wizard
How can SOK have working communications with how small they are, but EG4 can't figure it out? Seems to me like SS is dragging their feet.
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robby
Photon Vampire
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There are two types of closed loop communication. One is basically a Generic limited form in which the battery sends Voltage and SOC to the Sol-Ark using the Generic inputs. This kind of communication has nothing to do with Sol-Ark and involves the Battery Manufactorer or Distributor to write their own code to transmit this data to the Sol-Ark. This is what SOK did on their own. This is the same kind of limited communication that an EG4 battery has with a EG4-6500ex Inverter. I suspect that this is because MPP Solar has no interest in working with Gangfenglithium.
The Second Kind of closed loop is where the Inverter Manufacturer writes specific subroutines to talk to a particular brand of Battery. It is full two way communication where the Inverter pools the Battery for it's status and gets back a lot more information and also the battery can make changes to the Inverters setting eg. Absorb, Float voltage, Capacity available, Max charge and draw current, temp etc, and the Inverter is fully aware of the detailed info for all the batteries in the rack and their status.
This requires both companies to work together and share information and write software that communicates with each other.
You can find a List of Battery Partners on Sol-Arks Website.
As For Signature Solar/EG4 the CEO of Sol-Ark made his thoughts pretty clear on the subject, so I doubt they will ever work with them on any project. I was told that some of the higher up in the company are thinking of working with SOK once they get UL Listed.
timselectric
If I can do it, you can do it.
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More than likely SS doesn't want to bother with it. They are selling every unit that they can get on the shelves. If you really want communications. Buy what works with your inverter.
Another solution is to buy the SOK units. After watching Wi. Prowse's review/teardown of both batteries, I think they only differ in the BMS units being used. Then source the same BMS units that SOK uses and "transplant" them into the EG4s that I already have.
HighTechLab
AKA Dexter - CTO of Current Connected, LLC
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Because we play fair and have been happily working with Sol-Ark for years now, instead of arbitrarily throwing them under the bus to make ourselves look good.
The SOK does this already without specialized integration in the inverter. You can tell, because when they are full the allowed charge current on the Li-Batt Info screen drops gradually down to 0 amps.
This morning I was helping one of our customers that was having a hard time getting the comms setup. This is the first case of trouble with Sol-Ark we have ever had. In my opinion, Sol-Ark is the easiest to setup comms with, but for some reason the customer was still having trouble. I rang Sol-Ark this morning and conveniently spoke with the exact tech that was supporting customer that was having the issue.
In conversation, I shared with him that we had submitted our integration request over a month ago, and we have not heard a response yet. The tech updated me that the integration request in in review but the engineer in charge was out of the office for the weekend already. He indicated that they get a lot of customers using the SOK battery successfully with communication, even though it's not officially supported. I gave him my direct line in case any customers have issues, we will gladly help Sol-Ark with the support. I also shared with him that any equipment/material they need, we could ship, no problem. We will follow up next week.
From what I collect, they have been getting a lot of our customers using the SOK's with the Sol-Ark successfully, so this real world successful operation clearly is helping our cause. It's very convenient to have the communication working since the beginning.
I have had contact with Tom Brennan, CTO and he did confirm with me that using the SOK with the Sol-Ark (with communications) is not grounds to void the Sol-Ark warranty on its own. He said that if it's working fine then it's nothing to worry about.
Perhaps since both my team and Sol-Ark will be at RE+ / SPI in two weeks, we could possibly have a meet/greet there.
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I'm getting ready to make a post about the SOK UL1973 certification in the next few days. We hit our September 2022 target dead center, so that's exciting.
It is spreading hearsay at this point, but there might also be 2 new models of the SOK 48v coming out soon (next 3-4 months).
robby
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Sounds good and I like all the things your doing.
What I am talking about is not the same thing you are talking about. The Sol-Ark has setting for Max Current Draw, Max Charging and Total Battery bank size in Amps. These settings are set by the Batteries if you have ones that are fully integrated into the Sol-Ark software and are in closed loop mode.
If I plug in one 105Amp eFlex it shows bank size as 105A and all the charging parameters and max power draw the eFlex can handle. If I add a second battery to the closed loop the Total bank size automatically goes up to 210A and all the other settings go up as well. If a single battery is switched OFF the Sol-Ark Automatically drops the settings to compensate. The big benefit is that you cannot charge them with to many Amps or Discharge them with to many Amps. If I accidently shutoff 3 out of my 4 batteries or they stop working for some reason and the house is drawing 170Amps from the packs the Sol-Ark will realize that the bank size has dropped from 420A down to 105Amps and trip to save the one battery from overloading.
Seems to me that it might be advantageous to SOK to offer an "EG4 BMS Upgrade Combo" that consists of one SOK 48V bat AND one SOK BMS that can be "transplanted" into an EG4 making it compatible with Sol-Ark. Then customers would be encouraged to buy SOKs rather than EG4s to expand capacity.
-TB
HighTechLab
AKA Dexter - CTO of Current Connected, LLC
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It does exactly what you are referring to. I'll share some photos on Tuesday when I get back to the office.
timselectric
If I can do it, you can do it.
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That's a confusing thing.
It would be cheaper to just buy the SOK.
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