Sol-Ark 15K All in One Inverter Released.

[Wet1]

Wow, thanks to Engineer775's vid I realize how noisy the 15k can get! Mounting outdoors is starting to "sound" better

That caught my attention as well! Granted I think he's videoing that in TX, basically outdoors on a warm day, so I'm sure the fans were trying to cool things down, but that was pretty loud.

 

[robby]

As much as this inverter would totally send my ROI into the "never paying for itself" zone and being WAY more inverter than I need today (by a lot), I'm seriously considering going this route and just being done with waiting for all the other options either coming to, or on the market, to work the bugs out, worrying about CS, TS, parts access, warranties, huge idle consumption etc. It's a BIG pill for me to $wallow, but at least it would resolve all the potential headaches and it would allow for a lot of future growth as I add an EV or two in the coming years. It's very tempting!

Anyone have a feel for when the 15k will actually be truly accessible to the folks that aren't already on a waiting list?

EcoDirect told me they three weeks ago that they are shipping at the start of June.

 

[robby]

Check your PM @Wet1

 

[robby]

15k video review by Engineer775:

I watched the video and it was pretty good.
I thought he answered several of the questions about AC coupled panels.

I talked to EcoDirect and from what I gather they could only get 50 units on their pre order. First batch of 25 came in and was pre-sold and is shipped. They said they have 10 units remaining from the next batch coming in on the 11th.

 

[niktak11]

I got my shipping notification this morning!

 

[rhino]

90W

Is there no "search mode" or equivalent to use less power if nothing is on?

 

[hamburgerman]

I've had my 15k for a few weeks now. I ordered from Alt-E. They called me to warn me that they were pre-order, and wouldn't ship until July/August. The next day I get a shipping notification. I was worried I was sent a 12k or something by mistake - nope, it's the 15K! I haven't set it up or unboxed it yet, but they are at least shipping.

 

[RayofSunshine]

I got a feeling that this is correct. The fact that Sol-Ark is now pushing it's own MicroInverters leads me to believe that they intend them to compliment the 15K in having a much higher capacity. I do not think they are doing it to compete directly with Enphase. I suspect they will have some sort of more in-depth communication with the Inverter that goes past just frequency shifting. I am interested to hear the info you get.

Yeah, I suspected that the pure number (20 kW) was probably accurate. It's the "doubling the output just by adding micros" claim that was the biggest puzzler no matter what what angle/view I took.

If I get anything through my (indirect) contact, I will post it here. If not, I will contact Devon to try to get info from him.

Looks like I should get some answers sometime next week.

 

[Lt.Dan]

Good news from Sol-Ark for people like me in California, I asked tech support if there was going to be a hardware change after the certification, or if I can buy it now, get it installed, and just wait for the certification before I get my interconnection agreement, this is his response:

For the CEC certifications, you are correct in that we do not have them yet for the 15k. This would prevent you from tying it to the grid. You can purchase the inverter and install everything other than the interconnection to the grid. There will not be a hardware change to the 15k, otherwise we would have to get CEC certifications again.

 

[Canxane]

Clarification from solark on AC coupling the gen input:

"The gen breaker can be used for a variety of things on our inverter. You can program the gen breaker to accept AC coupled solar. When utilizing AC coupling, the inverter will provide the frequency needed to run the AC coupled inverter(s) and the power is able to feed through to the grid."

Further discussion revealed other details. The gen breaker is not bidirectional like the line and grid connections. Power will flow into the inverter from the gen connection, but will not feed out like the line and grid.

 

[RayofSunshine]

Clarification from solark on AC coupling the gen input:

"The gen breaker can be used for a variety of things on our inverter. You can program the gen breaker to accept AC coupled solar. When utilizing AC coupling, the inverter will provide the frequency needed to run the AC coupled inverter(s) and the power is able to feed through to the grid."

Further discussion revealed other details. The gen breaker is not bidirectional like the line and grid connections. Power will flow into the inverter from the gen connection, but will not feed out like the line and grid.

Well, at least that agrees with some of the info from Sol-Ark I referenced in posts #233 & #238. Unfortunately, it seems it is still at odds with the two Tom Brennan (Alt-E Conference) webinars which say you can use the AC coupling of micros (along with SmartLoads 14) to run your whole house if the grid goes down - which means that the panel output through the micros and into the 15K flows to the loads, right?

As far as the gen breaker not being bidirectional, that's what I assumed. I mean, if it's meant as a "generator" input (which can also take AC input from micros or an external string inverter), I thought you wouldn't want any current flowing outward towards those sources.

 

[Wet1]

Yes, I'm guessing it sends the gen input directly to loads and/or batteries (depending on settings) in the event of grid outage.

Now in the event of inverter failure, I assume the AC coupled micros coming into the gen port become useless, even with the 200A passthrough?

 

[Ampster]

Now in the event of inverter failure, I assume the AC coupled micros coming into the gen port become useless, even with the 200A passthrough?

The micros only become useless when the grid is down. The pass through is bidirectional so when the grid is up the micros are not actually AC coupled in the sense that they have to be controlled by the inverter to modulate their output. When the grid is up it presents an infinite load to the micros and they send all their power to the loads and the grid. I do not think the gen input is bidirectional as to current but the micros can see the voltage and test the connection for a true grid so the micros can send power to through the SolArk to the grid.

 

[RayofSunshine]

The micros only become useless when the grid is down. The pass through is bidirectional so when the grid is up the micros are not actually AC coupled in the sense that they have to be controlled by the inverter to modulate their output. When the grid is up it presents an infinite load to the micros and they send all their power to the loads and the grid. I do not think the gen input is bidirectional as to current but the micros can see the voltage and test the connection for a true grid so the micros can send power to through the SolArk to the grid.

Except, going back to my post #244, we have Tom Brennan, the CTO of Sol-Ark, saying in a webinar on the 15K, their new micros, & SmartLoads 14 (see the post for link to the webinar and the full discussion), that "...we can add micros to the equation and what we'll do is, we can AC couple the panels to the ESS system and we can double the output during the daytime. And that way, during the daytime, when the grid’s down, you can run everything". I added the italics. But he's clearly stating that the micros are still quite useful when the grid is down.

Again, I should get answers to these questions next week. I will push for a direct answer to this issue.

 

[niktak11]

Clarification from solark on AC coupling the gen input:

"The gen breaker can be used for a variety of things on our inverter. You can program the gen breaker to accept AC coupled solar. When utilizing AC coupling, the inverter will provide the frequency needed to run the AC coupled inverter(s) and the power is able to feed through to the grid."

Further discussion revealed other details. The gen breaker is not bidirectional like the line and grid connections. Power will flow into the inverter from the gen connection, but will not feed out like the line and grid.

Wait can't the gen breaker be used as a smart load output?

 

[robby]

Wait can't the gen breaker be used as a smart load output?

Yes it can be used as a Smart Load Output or Gen Input
I think the key part is: "but will not feed out like the line and grid"
As far as I know it will only feed out excess PV power that is not being utilized.

 

[niktak11]

Yes it can be used as a Smart Load Output or Gen Input
I think the key part is: "but will not feed out like the line and grid"
As far as I know it will only feed out excess PV power that is not being utilized.

I don't think that's right. You can set it up to always be on if there's a grid input connected.

 

[robby]

I don't think that's right. You can set it up to always be on if there's a grid input connected.

If that is true it would completely defeat the one main use I have for it. Most people want it to heat an extra hot water heater using just PV. if it's going to keep heating it all day and night with Grid power then it's useless.
I think you have it wrong. I was planning to buy another heater just for this purpose so I will have to find out from Sol-Ark if you are right.

 

[niktak11]

If that is true it would completely defeat the one main use I have for it. Most people want it to heat an extra hot water heater using just PV. if it's going to keep heating it all day and night with Grid power then it's useless.
I think you have it wrong. I was planning to buy another heater just for this purpose so I will have to find out from Sol-Ark if you are right.

You can set it up to do that too. For my planned use I'll be using the "On Grid Always On" setting.

 

[Canxane]

In my use case there is a remote shop that already has grid tied solar, and a whole house generator in the shop connected through a breaker in the same service panel as the existing solar. The remote shop electrical line runs from the main breaker panel in the main house. I specifically asked about tying that line from the shop in to the solark in the house via the gen input. I was told it would work to input power from the ac coupled existing solar or the backup generator if it was running. The gen input on the solark would NOT provide power to the shop.