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Sol-Ark 15K All in One Inverter Released.

Is the knockout pattern different on the 15k vs 12k? If you have a 12k and wiring trough under it, is the 15k a drop in or you have to get a new wire trough and drill a new pattern?

I am in the market for a 2nd inverter and trying decide if its going to be a 12k or 15k.
 
Is the knockout pattern different on the 15k vs 12k? If you have a 12k and wiring trough under it, is the 15k a drop in or you have to get a new wire trough and drill a new pattern?

I am in the market for a 2nd inverter and trying decide if its going to be a 12k or 15k.
I think it has been mentioned that you cannot parallel a 15k and a 12k. They must match
 
I wouldn't be surprised if quiet a few 12k owners decide to sell and upgrade to the 15k. I know if I were in the market for a new 12k, or considering adding a second 12k, it would at least cross my mind to flip the 12k and go for the 15k either way. I'm going to keep an eye out for a used 12k myself.

As much as I'd love to have a 15k, I just can't see myself ever having the need for that much power, even a 12k is more than I can see us using for the foreseeable future, but it's always good to have reserve capacity!
 
I wouldn't be surprised if quiet a few 12k owners decide to sell and upgrade to the 15k. I know if I were in the market for a new 12k, or considering adding a second 12k, it would at least cross my mind to flip the 12k and go for the 15k either way. I'm going to keep an eye out for a used 12k myself.

As much as I'd love to have a 15k, I just can't see myself ever having the need for that much power, even a 12k is more than I can see us using for the foreseeable future, but it's always good to have reserve capacity!
You must have seen my #3 post in this thread :)
The same thing goes for me. I love the 15K but I could not justify upgrading because the extra power would just be a nice luxury but rarely used. Not to mention my wife would kill me :ROFLMAO:
If I was building my system right now then yeah for just $1300 more I can get an Inverter with 50% more power!
It would be a no brainer to get a 15K.

I mentioned to a Sol-Ark tech that they better cut down on the factory orders of 12K's because a bunch of them are going to be showing up on the used market. I am not sure if I would buy one used because I suspect the prices are only going to be maybe $1K cheaper than a new one. I know that may be a lot of money but it also comes with a bit of risk when you buy something used.
 
I wouldn't be surprised if quiet a few 12k owners decide to sell and upgrade to the 15k. I know if I were in the market for a new 12k, or considering adding a second 12k, it would at least cross my mind to flip the 12k and go for the 15k either way. I'm going to keep an eye out for a used 12k myself.

As much as I'd love to have a 15k, I just can't see myself ever having the need for that much power, even a 12k is more than I can see us using for the foreseeable future, but it's always good to have reserve capacity!

9000w is more than you ever use? Its not even 9000 really its 4800w per leg. Its actually pretty easy to trip a 12k unit if you are running any big appliances like a water heater or clothes dryer and then try and make some toast or whatever.

Ive got so much junk to run I dont think a 15k would even really cut it. Most of the time would be ok but it would be pushing it to run the AC, water pumps, clothes dryer, etc all at once.

I have a 3 ton AC, two 2HP pool pumps, two 2HP well pumps, two mini split, electric water heater, electric dryer, and all the other stuff like microwave, tv lights etc. When the grid goes down, its really easy to trip a 12k.
 
9000w is more than you ever use? Its not even 9000 really its 4800w per leg. Its actually pretty easy to trip a 12k unit if you are running any big appliances like a water heater or clothes dryer and then try and make some toast or whatever.

Ive got so much junk to run I dont think a 15k would even really cut it. Most of the time would be ok but it would be pushing it to run the AC, water pumps, clothes dryer, etc all at once.

I have a 3 ton AC, two 2HP pool pumps, two 2HP well pumps, two mini split, electric water heater, electric dryer, and all the other stuff like microwave, tv lights etc. When the grid goes down, its really easy to trip a 12k.
You have a lot of stuff using power. Most people on here seem to use about 40-50KWh per day and a Sol-Ark 12K can handle that just fine so long as you use a soft start for the Pumps. In your case you probably use more like 80-90KWh per day? You would need two 12K units and a lot of panels and batteries. My usage is about 50KWh per day and I have never seen the Sol-Ark go past about 7KW except when I first installed it and I was load balancing the house. I took it up a bit over 9K on two occasions during testing but on a day to day I just never have enough things on at any one instance to get past 7KW. I would love more power just for the sake of having it, but I would then need more batteries to make it worthwhile. This might happen if Gas prices keep going up and staying up as. EV's are looking a lot more attractive everyday.
 
I have an 11k array on a 12k inverter thats grid tied and a 5k array with microinverters grid tied doing the water well pumps.

Everything works well as long as the grid is on. If the grid goes out, its a pain to manage all the loads without tripping the solark. My plan is a 2nd inverter so I can run my well junk offgrid if shtf. To have everything really comfortable in grid down, I would really need 3 12k inverters and about 60kwH of battery. Im not there yet, maybe someday. Lot of coin to drop on solar junk. But the rates here are highest in the country so payback even on battery systems is pretty fast.

Usually we use under 40 or 50kwh a day but on a hot day when AC is on and pool is running long hourse and the well is pumping a lot of water for irrigation its ore like 80 or 90 a day.

I want an EV too. Went and looked at the VW ID.4 the other day and its real nice. Took it for a spin. But the dealer had it marked up 10k over msrp! No thanks!
 
You have a lot of stuff using power. Most people on here seem to use about 40-50KWh per day and a Sol-Ark 12K can handle that just fine so long as you use a soft start for the Pumps. In your case you probably use more like 80-90KWh per day? You would need two 12K units and a lot of panels and batteries. My usage is about 50KWh per day and I have never seen the Sol-Ark go past about 7KW except when I first installed it and I was load balancing the house. I took it up a bit over 9K on two occasions during testing but on a day to day I just never have enough things on at any one instance to get past 7KW. I would love more power just for the sake of having it, but I would then need more batteries to make it worthwhile. This might happen if Gas prices keep going up and staying up as. EV's are looking a lot more attractive everyday.
I have an 11k array on a 12k inverter thats grid tied and a 5k array with microinverters grid tied doing the water well pumps.

Everything works well as long as the grid is on. If the grid goes out, its a pain to manage all the loads without tripping the solark. My plan is a 2nd inverter so I can run my well junk offgrid if shtf. To have everything really comfortable in grid down, I would really need 3 12k inverters and about 60kwH of battery. Im not there yet, maybe someday. Lot of coin to drop on solar junk. But the rates here are highest in the country so payback even on battery systems is pretty fast.

Usually we use under 40 or 50kwh a day but on a hot day when AC is on and pool is running long hourse and the well is pumping a lot of water for irrigation its ore like 80 or 90 a day.

I want an EV too. Went and looked at the VW ID.4 the other day and its real nice. Took it for a spin. But the dealer had it marked up 10k over msrp! No thanks!

Would a (Sol-Ark) Smatloads 14, or a Span, or Lumin, Leviton, or Savant, or any other "smart" electrical panel help with load leveling? I mean, I know that they help prioritize all your circuits so you don't need a critical loads panel (and the Smartloads 14 has AI to "learn" how you use electricity and set priorities from that), but can any of them (especially the Smartloads 14 because it also is Sol-Ark) help with leveling between the two lines? I know Sol-Ark says that the Smartloads 14 talks to the 12K as well as the 15K, but haven't heard of anything from them about load leveling between two lines. If you swapped out the 12K for a 15K, you could keep the 11kW array coming in the DC side, and have the 5kW come in on the generator input. If you add a Smartloads 14, you could get rid of any critical loads panel you might have, and then *all* 16kW of your array could be used for *any* of the loads (well, at least for 14 circuits, but you can add extra Smartloads 14s - at ~$3100 a pop). Then you could add extra panels to either array as you see fit. Like, when you add (DC coupled 48V) batteries to your setup, you can add panels to the DC side to take advantage of the super-efficient DC-DC charging of the batteries. If your standard daytime AC consumption rises, you can add panels (with micros) to the AC side and take advantage of the extra (AC input) capacity of the generator input of the 15K, as well as any shading advantages of micros that might exist on your roof, and (solar) panel level monitoring, without having any waste (of double inversion to charge the batteries). And, if you plan on getting an EV, you might want to look at a charger that will be coming on the market soon from a company named Enteligent (https://www.enteligent.com). Their EV charger talks to inverters (they are working with Sol-Ark, amongst others) to take DC current from the panels and send it straight to the charger without any inversion (as well as adding power from batteries and/or the grid). And they can charge faster than Level 2 chargers. I spoke with a guy named Ed Rosenberry. Nice guy. Listens to you. Didn't try to BS me. If you talk to him, tell him I directed you their way. BTW, they have DC optimizer/RSD devices (seems to be a direct competitor to Tigo) coming out within the next month as well.

Anyway, since my main panel is 1) almost 40 years old, and 2) is only 100W, I thought I really need a panel upgrade when installing this new solar setup, especially since I'll be adding an EV charger. So I thought I probably should consider some sort of smart panel to make best use of the solar (with ESS) setup. Especially if the grid goes down. Any thoughts on this (feel free to direct me to the appropriate thread if you deem this off topic)? Preferences on smart load panels?

As far as an EV goes, since this would be our first, I thought of buying a used Chevy Bolt. They seem to have pretty good range (we don't have daily commutes, but the Bolt's range (~230 miles) is generally good enough for those with commutes), and are reviewed rather well (for an entry more towards the economy end of the scale). I figure we'd ease into the EV scene with that, and then in a few years, when the charging infrastructure is more robust, and battery technology is more advanced, we'd trade it in to get a nicer, truly long range EV (so we could take long trips without range anxiety). In the mean time, our payback time for the solar/ESS setup would get even shorter because most of our driving would be via EV, which would be charged from our solar panels. But one thing to keep in mind if buying a used Bolt: it seems they had a battery recall, and GM/LG hasn't been able to produce enough batteries to support the current (pun not intended) to support the recall (something about supply chain issues due to some sort of pandemic), so make sure you know the status of the particular Bolt you're investigating: you will have limited range until the battery gets replaced under the recall. I would consider the "Mustang" Mach-E (which seems to be getting very good reviews) except for two things: 1) I hate SUVs (for a number of reasons), and 2) I own an actual Mustang. Calling that thing a "Mustang" is...just...wrong. If none of that is important to you, consider the Mach-E: it's supposed to be a pretty good value for an EV. I have no clue what the mark-up situation is.
 
The Smart load panel is not coming out until the third quarter so very little detailed info is known about the level of the features it offers. From the little I have heard it seems like it does everything you mentioned and I do not think you need more than one since each relay can be hooked to multiple breakers.
No need to dedicate more than one relay for several small outlets and lights. Since it monitoring loads on each relay I would figure it would balance the loads at all time.
 
Would a (Sol-Ark) Smatloads 14, or a Span, or Lumin, Leviton, or Savant, or any other "smart" electrical panel help with load leveling? I mean, I know that they help prioritize all your circuits so you don't need a critical loads panel (and the Smartloads 14 has AI to "learn" how you use electricity and set priorities from that), but can any of them (especially the Smartloads 14 because it also is Sol-Ark) help with leveling between the two lines? I know Sol-Ark says that the Smartloads 14 talks to the 12K as well as the 15K, but haven't heard of anything from them about load leveling between two lines. If you swapped out the 12K for a 15K, you could keep the 11kW array coming in the DC side, and have the 5kW come in on the generator input. If you add a Smartloads 14, you could get rid of any critical loads panel you might have, and then *all* 16kW of your array could be used for *any* of the loads (well, at least for 14 circuits, but you can add extra Smartloads 14s - at ~$3100 a pop). Then you could add extra panels to either array as you see fit. Like, when you add (DC coupled 48V) batteries to your setup, you can add panels to the DC side to take advantage of the super-efficient DC-DC charging of the batteries. If your standard daytime AC consumption rises, you can add panels (with micros) to the AC side and take advantage of the extra (AC input) capacity of the generator input of the 15K, as well as any shading advantages of micros that might exist on your roof, and (solar) panel level monitoring, without having any waste (of double inversion to charge the batteries). And, if you plan on getting an EV, you might want to look at a charger that will be coming on the market soon from a company named Enteligent (https://www.enteligent.com). Their EV charger talks to inverters (they are working with Sol-Ark, amongst others) to take DC current from the panels and send it straight to the charger without any inversion (as well as adding power from batteries and/or the grid). And they can charge faster than Level 2 chargers. I spoke with a guy named Ed Rosenberry. Nice guy. Listens to you. Didn't try to BS me. If you talk to him, tell him I directed you their way. BTW, they have DC optimizer/RSD devices (seems to be a direct competitor to Tigo) coming out within the next month as well.

Anyway, since my main panel is 1) almost 40 years old, and 2) is only 100W, I thought I really need a panel upgrade when installing this new solar setup, especially since I'll be adding an EV charger. So I thought I probably should consider some sort of smart panel to make best use of the solar (with ESS) setup. Especially if the grid goes down. Any thoughts on this (feel free to direct me to the appropriate thread if you deem this off topic)? Preferences on smart load panels?

As far as an EV goes, since this would be our first, I thought of buying a used Chevy Bolt. They seem to have pretty good range (we don't have daily commutes, but the Bolt's range (~230 miles) is generally good enough for those with commutes), and are reviewed rather well (for an entry more towards the economy end of the scale). I figure we'd ease into the EV scene with that, and then in a few years, when the charging infrastructure is more robust, and battery technology is more advanced, we'd trade it in to get a nicer, truly long range EV (so we could take long trips without range anxiety). In the mean time, our payback time for the solar/ESS setup would get even shorter because most of our driving would be via EV, which would be charged from our solar panels. But one thing to keep in mind if buying a used Bolt: it seems they had a battery recall, and GM/LG hasn't been able to produce enough batteries to support the current (pun not intended) to support the recall (something about supply chain issues due to some sort of pandemic), so make sure you know the status of the particular Bolt you're investigating: you will have limited range until the battery gets replaced under the recall. I would consider the "Mustang" Mach-E (which seems to be getting very good reviews) except for two things: 1) I hate SUVs (for a number of reasons), and 2) I own an actual Mustang. Calling that thing a "Mustang" is...just...wrong. If none of that is important to you, consider the Mach-E: it's supposed to be a pretty good value for an EV. I have no clue what the mark-up situation is.
"If you swapped out the 12K for a 15K, you could keep the 11kW array coming in the DC side, and have the 5kW come in on the generator input."

I spoke with solark about using ac coupled on the gen input and was told it is a no go. There is a setting in the battery menu to indicate if you are using ac coupled on the load side, or grid side. I was told the gen input will not flow out to the grid, so it has a problem with the sync. The inverter will sync the dc PV input to the grid, or it will sync to the gen input if a generator is running and disconnected from the grid. It will not do both at the same time. You can use ac coupled on the gen input if you are off grid, but not grid tied.
 
"If you swapped out the 12K for a 15K, you could keep the 11kW array coming in the DC side, and have the 5kW come in on the generator input."

I spoke with solark about using ac coupled on the gen input and was told it is a no go. There is a setting in the battery menu to indicate if you are using ac coupled on the load side, or grid side. I was told the gen input will not flow out to the grid, so it has a problem with the sync. The inverter will sync the dc PV input to the grid, or it will sync to the gen input if a generator is running and disconnected from the grid. It will not do both at the same time. You can use ac coupled on the gen input if you are off grid, but not grid tied.
What if you have a low voltage 48v battery hooked up? Can the ac coupled array hooked into the gen input strictly charge the battery? This avoids the synchronizing issue.
 
"If you swapped out the 12K for a 15K, you could keep the 11kW array coming in the DC side, and have the 5kW come in on the generator input."

I spoke with solark about using ac coupled on the gen input and was told it is a no go. There is a setting in the battery menu to indicate if you are using ac coupled on the load side, or grid side. I was told the gen input will not flow out to the grid, so it has a problem with the sync. The inverter will sync the dc PV input to the grid, or it will sync to the gen input if a generator is running and disconnected from the grid. It will not do both at the same time. You can use ac coupled on the gen input if you are off grid, but not grid tied.

Well now *that* is very interesting, because in this YouTube video of a webinar that Tom Brennan gave (at the Alt–E Online Solar Conference on January 24, 2022) introducing the benefits of the 15K, the SmatLoads 14, and their new micro-inverters, he leans pretty heavily on the benefits of adding micros to an existing (DC coupled panel) Sol-Ark system to "double" the output (as well as adding the SmartLoads to add even more effective output). At about 31:16 into the video, he starts talking about the average cost per watt of the 12K and 15K, and how to improve it. Annnnd now - in looking up the references I am using in composing an email to a contact I have in another solar-related company (who has a contact in Sol-Ark) regarding some elements of Tom's presentation that didn't add up no matter how many times I reviewed it - I see wording that might mitigate confusion between Tom's claim and the info you got. Because, at about 35:00 he says "...if we add 2 or 3 or $4000 to what we’re doing here, 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". Note the italics that I added. Technically, that kind-of makes his claim jive with the info that you got. Now, mind you, nowhere in the presentation does he mention that you can't AC couple panels through the gen input if you're grid tied (and I've viewed the entire presentation a few times to see what I might have missed to cause my confusion). That's because the entire argument is about having enough capacity to run your whole house when the grid goes down (not when you are in an off-grid installation). So, I'm still confused. Once I get the email to my contact finished and sent off, I'll copy the content here to show the other issues I have with his argument. But I'd sure be interested in what your contact in Sol-Ark has to say about the section(s) of Tom's webinar that I have referenced.
 
My well junk and smaller 5k micrinverter array is on a seperate power meter 300ft from the 11k array and solark12k.

No way to combine the 2 systems. Need a 12k dedicated for the well junk I think.
 
Well now *that* is very interesting, because in this YouTube video of a webinar that Tom Brennan gave (at the Alt–E Online Solar Conference on January 24, 2022) introducing the benefits of the 15K, the SmatLoads 14, and their new micro-inverters, he leans pretty heavily on the benefits of adding micros to an existing (DC coupled panel) Sol-Ark system to "double" the output (as well as adding the SmartLoads to add even more effective output). At about 31:16 into the video, he starts talking about the average cost per watt of the 12K and 15K, and how to improve it. Annnnd now - in looking up the references I am using in composing an email to a contact I have in another solar-related company (who has a contact in Sol-Ark) regarding some elements of Tom's presentation that didn't add up no matter how many times I reviewed it - I see wording that might mitigate confusion between Tom's claim and the info you got. Because, at about 35:00 he says "...if we add 2 or 3 or $4000 to what we’re doing here, 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". Note the italics that I added. Technically, that kind-of makes his claim jive with the info that you got. Now, mind you, nowhere in the presentation does he mention that you can't AC couple panels through the gen input if you're grid tied (and I've viewed the entire presentation a few times to see what I might have missed to cause my confusion). That's because the entire argument is about having enough capacity to run your whole house when the grid goes down (not when you are in an off-grid installation). So, I'm still confused. Once I get the email to my contact finished and sent off, I'll copy the content here to show the other issues I have with his argument. But I'd sure be interested in what your contact in Sol-Ark has to say about the section(s) of Tom's webinar that I have referenced.
I think we are on the same page. There are 3 possible AC inputs in the lower right side of the solar inverter. You can ac couple on the grid or load inputs of the solark inverter. You can also ac couple on the gen side if you are off grid. So you can technically ac couple on all 3 inputs. In any scenario involving ac coupling, the inverter will sync its own PV output to match an existing ac current. If the grid is active, the solark will match the grid. If a generator is active, the solark will match the generator. If you have a battery, you can generate a current and the ac coupled system will seek to match the solark signal. You cant match everything at once.

The confusing thing to me is the fact the ac coupled controls are all located under the battery controls. If I am going to AC couple on the grid or load side, shouldn't that be part of the grid setup, not the battery control? There must be an internal wiring logic to the controls to make it work that way.
 

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Would a (Sol-Ark) Smatloads 14, or a Span, or Lumin, Leviton, or Savant, or any other "smart" electrical panel help with load leveling? I mean, I know that they help prioritize all your circuits so you don't need a critical loads panel (and the Smartloads 14 has AI to "learn" how you use electricity and set priorities from that), but can any of them (especially the Smartloads 14 because it also is Sol-Ark) help with leveling between the two lines? I know Sol-Ark says that the Smartloads 14 talks to the 12K as well as the 15K, but haven't heard of anything from them about load leveling between two lines. If you swapped out the 12K for a 15K, you could keep the 11kW array coming in the DC side, and have the 5kW come in on the generator input. If you add a Smartloads 14, you could get rid of any critical loads panel you might have, and then *all* 16kW of your array could be used for *any* of the loads (well, at least for 14 circuits, but you can add extra Smartloads 14s - at ~$3100 a pop). Then you could add extra panels to either array as you see fit. Like, when you add (DC coupled 48V) batteries to your setup, you can add panels to the DC side to take advantage of the super-efficient DC-DC charging of the batteries. If your standard daytime AC consumption rises, you can add panels (with micros) to the AC side and take advantage of the extra (AC input) capacity of the generator input of the 15K, as well as any shading advantages of micros that might exist on your roof, and (solar) panel level monitoring, without having any waste (of double inversion to charge the batteries). And, if you plan on getting an EV, you might want to look at a charger that will be coming on the market soon from a company named Enteligent (https://www.enteligent.com). Their EV charger talks to inverters (they are working with Sol-Ark, amongst others) to take DC current from the panels and send it straight to the charger without any inversion (as well as adding power from batteries and/or the grid). And they can charge faster than Level 2 chargers. I spoke with a guy named Ed Rosenberry. Nice guy. Listens to you. Didn't try to BS me. If you talk to him, tell him I directed you their way. BTW, they have DC optimizer/RSD devices (seems to be a direct competitor to Tigo) coming out within the next month as well.

Anyway, since my main panel is 1) almost 40 years old, and 2) is only 100W, I thought I really need a panel upgrade when installing this new solar setup, especially since I'll be adding an EV charger. So I thought I probably should consider some sort of smart panel to make best use of the solar (with ESS) setup. Especially if the grid goes down. Any thoughts on this (feel free to direct me to the appropriate thread if you deem this off topic)? Preferences on smart load panels?

As far as an EV goes, since this would be our first, I thought of buying a used Chevy Bolt. They seem to have pretty good range (we don't have daily commutes, but the Bolt's range (~230 miles) is generally good enough for those with commutes), and are reviewed rather well (for an entry more towards the economy end of the scale). I figure we'd ease into the EV scene with that, and then in a few years, when the charging infrastructure is more robust, and battery technology is more advanced, we'd trade it in to get a nicer, truly long range EV (so we could take long trips without range anxiety). In the mean time, our payback time for the solar/ESS setup would get even shorter because most of our driving would be via EV, which would be charged from our solar panels. But one thing to keep in mind if buying a used Bolt: it seems they had a battery recall, and GM/LG hasn't been able to produce enough batteries to support the current (pun not intended) to support the recall (something about supply chain issues due to some sort of pandemic), so make sure you know the status of the particular Bolt you're investigating: you will have limited range until the battery gets replaced under the recall. I would consider the "Mustang" Mach-E (which seems to be getting very good reviews) except for two things: 1) I hate SUVs (for a number of reasons), and 2) I own an actual Mustang. Calling that thing a "Mustang" is...just...wrong. If none of that is important to you, consider the Mach-E: it's supposed to be a pretty good value for an EV. I have no clue what the mark-up situation is.

I am currently looking into either optimizers or micro inverters as I setup a solar system. Enteligent looks interesting. 450W per unit would be a good fit for my 460W panels.
 
I have a longer winded review coming soon on my 15k. I've been using it on "off-grid" (ie plugged into a 50A generator plug) for ~15 days in a row now (battery got down to 3% last night... never ending PNW rain), but so far no complaints (or shutdowns, including running water heater + dryer + oven all at once)

Finally got an electrian to figure out their side... now to get them out here :) Once thats done i'll review that aspect
 
What if you have a low voltage 48v battery hooked up? Can the ac coupled array hooked into the gen input strictly charge the battery? This avoids the synchronizing issue.

It took me a few times re-reading your post, but I think I understand it now. Which brings us back to a portion of a quote from Tom Brennan I made in my previous post, to wit: "...we can AC couple the panels to the ESS system..." (again, my italics added). When I first heard him say that, I was confused (I think we see a pattern emerging here...), because I thought that the panels were AC coupled (through the micros) to "the inverter" via the generator input (or maybe he’s using the term “ESS system” to refer to a Sol-Ark 12K or 15K that has a battery backup attached). But, if there is some circuitry on the PCB that uses some user settings to *bypass* "the inverter" circuitry (that has to deal with "grid forming" and "grid following", and all that complicated electrical circuit stuff that I've been reading about and comprehending only a fraction of) to direct the current to the (AC coupled) battery ESS, then I guess it could work. But then I went back to look at the 15K manual (version “15KOD_Manual_V2-4-05-22-1.pdf”, and the only 2 wiring diagrams they show that have input from panels with micros (one that comes through the main panel to the load side (which has “DO NOT USE” in big red lettering pointing to the generator input), and one that comes through the generator input) has no input from panels coming through the MPPTs. So I’m left wondering exactly where the “doubling” of the output (that Tom claims in the webinar video) of the 15K happens. Anybody please feel free to fill in the gaps in my understanding.

At 51:00 in the referenced video, in responding to a Q&A comment, Tom states that “You can do both DC and AC coupling on a SmartLoads 14, I mean a 15K. That’s no problem.” So I went back to the Sol-Ark Web site because I knew that I had heard or read about being able to couple panels both via DC and AC inputs even with the 12K. And on this page, it states that “Sol-Ark 12K supports simultaneous DC and AC coupling up to a combined 13kW of PV.” And further down that page, under “Elite Features”, it states “Grid-Tie, Hybrid, Off-Grid: Reliable management of power from Solar, Battery, Grid, Load, and Generator simultaneously.” And if you click on the “Introduction Webinars” button, and then (under the heading ‘These Courses are also offered below “On Demand” for your viewing needs’, click on the “SA-101” button, you will get to a video “Sol-Ark 101.mp4”. And at 23:00 into the video you will see the first attached screenshot, which (underneath the heading “Transformerless DC design”) states “Can AC and DC couple at same time” (as well as a couple other times in the video. Now, I guess these stated claims on Sol-Ark’s Web site could reference AC coupling via having the output of a solar inverter as the input to the Sol-Ark (which is why I wish when discussing coupling, people would qualify it further as “panel AC coupling” or “battery AC coupling”, etc.), but we still have Tom’s outright statement at the beginning of this paragraph. Investigating further, if you select the “SA-201” button, you will get to a video “Sol-Ark 201.mp4”. And at 23:27 into the video you will see the 2nd attached screenshot, which shows in detail how you can have DC and AC coupled panels at the same time. I would say this (along with the description in the video) is pretty definitive.

So, it seems as if we can have grid, DC coupled PV (through the MPPTs), and AC coupled PV (via micros connected to gen input) all at the same time. You would set up the priorities on how to use the PV generated wattage (battery charging, load, grid sell-back, etc.). It also seems that you can choose to use battery power before grid for load, so then you would have battery, DC coupled PV, and AC coupled PV at the same time. That is, until you hit the low SOC limit, when you switch from battery usage to grid. Now, if the grid goes down, then you switch to use battery, DC coupled PV, and AC coupled PV at the same time. And, if you have a generator as well, when the battery hits the low SOC limit, you switch from battery usage to generator usage (from the grid input via an external ATS). I may have gotten the generator part wrong, because I seem to remember something about the 12K/15K not allowing AC coupling of micros through the gen input and also using a generator.

I'd be really interested to hear what that Sol-Ark contact has to say about my references to the webinars, website statements and training videos regarding simultaneous AC & DC PV coupling (primarily). Given that, I'd also (secondarily) be interested in his comments on my conclusions in the last paragraph.
 

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    Sol-Ark 101 screenshot.png
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    Sol-Ark 201 screenshot.png
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Hey Sports Fans,

Just FYI, I got an email from Renvu today about an offer of getting a $250 gift card if you order a Sol-Ark 15K between now and June 13th. I printed it to a PDF and attached it below. For some reason the embedded links aren't working. Not connected with Renvu or Sol-Ark in any way except as a prospective customer.
 

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  • Renvu 250 dollar gift card on Sol-Ark 15K order.pdf
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