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Sol-ark 15k inverter and essentials panel

tkansara

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Joined
Jan 14, 2023
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18
Location
Beckwith, ON
Hi guys
Rookie question. I am looking at sol-ark 15k. We currently have a main 200 amp panel and an essentials panel(30amp). When ever the power is out, I manually connect the generator to the wire from essentials panel, start the gen, and flip the switch on sub panel. Same steps in reverse when power/grid is back on.

Question I have is will 15k allow me to connect to 200amp main panel and essentials panel at the same time?

Also will sol-ark support batteries so when grid is down, the batteries power the essential only panel and PV will charge the batteries.

The PV will have to power the whole him first and send the remaining to battery/grid. We are looking at net meeting.

Thanks
 
Hi guys
Rookie question. I am looking at sol-ark 15k. We currently have a main 200 amp panel and an essentials panel(30amp). When ever the power is out, I manually connect the generator to the wire from essentials panel, start the gen, and flip the switch on sub panel. Same steps in reverse when power/grid is back on.
Welcome to the Forum.
With the 15K you will now be able to wire that generator directly into the sol-Ark and it will handle turning it on after you specify under what conditions it will be needed. If you want It will also exercise the Generator once per week for a few minutes at a time that you specify.
Question I have is will 15k allow me to connect to 200amp main panel and essentials panel at the same time?
Yes it can do that.
Also will sol-ark support batteries so when grid is down, the batteries power the essential only panel and PV will charge the batteries.
Yes
The PV will have to power the whole him first and send the remaining to battery/grid. We are looking at net meeting.
Yes it will do that. You can tell it to make powering the house the first priority and charge the batteries with any remaining PV or you can tell it to make the batteries the priority and use any remaining power to power the house. Either one is available.
If the batteries are full or reached a specified level you can have it direct any extra PV to the Grid and sell it back to the Power company. You can also sell back power using the batteries at night if they offer some sort of special price for power at that time.
I opted out of net metering because it paid only 33% but for some places it is a 1:1 price which is great!

Your Welcome.
 
Welcome to the Forum.
With the 15K you will now be able to wire that generator directly into the sol-Ark and it will handle turning it on after you specify under what conditions it will be needed. If you want It will also exercise the Generator once per week for a few minutes at a time that you specify.

Yes it can do that.

Yes

Yes it will do that. You can tell it to make powering the house the first priority and charge the batteries with any remaining PV or you can tell it to make the batteries the priority and use any remaining power to power the house. Either one is available.
If the batteries are full or reached a specified level you can have it direct any extra PV to the Grid and sell it back to the Power company. You can also sell back power using the batteries at night if they offer some sort of special price for power at that time.
I opted out of net metering because it paid only 33% but for some places it is a 1:1 price which is great!


Your Welcome.
Ty for sharing the response. I have ordered once unit, and will be installing it once snow clears up.
 
With your configuration you're not going to be able to have the grid tied and use the Gen port for critical loads panel and for a generator. It's one or the other.

Which one would be best for you is unknown because we don't know all the details of your system.

If your generator was big enough to handle all of your loads (which it's not) then it would be a no-brainer and I would connect the generator to the Gen port.
 
With your configuration you're not going to be able to have the grid tied and use the Gen port for critical loads panel and for a generator. It's one or the other.

Which one would be best for you is unknown because we don't know all the details of your system.

If your generator was big enough to handle all of your loads (which it's not) then it would be a no-brainer and I would connect the generator to the Gen port.
Alternatively you could connect the generator on the grid input through an ATS and have the gen port used for critical loads so you can retain both features.
 
Alternatively you could connect the generator on the grid input through an ATS and have the gen port used for critical loads so you can retain both features.
The OP stated that the generator currently uses a 30A breaker. I would not connect a small size generator to an ATS ahead of the Sol-Ark. A 22KW is a different story.

I would wire a contactor in line with my "non-critical" loads panel and fire the coil of the contactor from the grid (Utility). This way when the Utility power is out, the non-critical loads are not powered and the GEN port on the Sol-Ark is freed up to use a generator.
 
The OP stated that the generator currently uses a 30A breaker. I would not connect a small size generator to an ATS ahead of the Sol-Ark. A 22KW is a different story.

I would wire a contactor in line with my "non-critical" loads panel and fire the coil of the contactor from the grid (Utility). This way when the Utility power is out, the non-critical loads are not powered and the GEN port on the Sol-Ark is freed up to use a generator.
Why not? That way you get to keep the gen port open for load shedding or AC couple. You don’t have to choose between one or the other.
 
Why not? That way you get to keep the gen port open for load shedding or AC couple. You don’t have to choose between one or the other.
Because a small generator like a 6KW will not carry loads that exceed 6W. Not enough power to handle large loads. The generator port is better served for a generator wen grid tied, no transfer switch is required. Cleaner install, less parts.
 
Because a small generator like a 6KW will not carry loads that exceed 6W. Not enough power to handle large loads. The generator port is better served for a generator wen grid tied, no transfer switch is required. Cleaner install, less parts.
Noted however if you have need to use the the gen port for another function it would certainly would be an option not to mention it replaces a 200 amp disconnect and makes sure you have your system isolated in a grid outage. I know my Sol Ark dribbles power back to the grid from time to time. Like 1-10 watts.
 
Hey Guys, attached are the pics of my setup so far.
The main panel(200amp) has most of the other connections, while the essentials has furnace/well etc. The essentials(30amp) has ornage wire that is connected to manual generator(6kw).

I am planning to get solark15k with Solar panels and battery(down the line). What I was looking for was to ensure that the solark would work with :
- Generator + essentials panel(in case of grid outage and no battery)
- Generator+essentials+battery+panels( in case PV is available use the battery and PV, when no PV use battery, when battery is also dead switch to Generator, manual start) again in case of grid outage

In case the Grid is up
- Use PV/battery to power all loads, and give first preference to battery(till 30% left). This situation is when PV is not there and it is night, also switch to grid when battery hits 30%, again at night.

I hope my question is not too confusing.

main_panel.jpgessentials_panel.jpg


Regards,
Tanmay
 
- Generator+essentials+battery+panels( in case PV is available use the battery and PV, when no PV use battery, when battery is also dead switch to Generator, manual start) again in case of grid outage
This is debatable based on your TOU settings, but theoretically yes. See my posts in other threads about this. Sol-Ark is correcting the issue.
 
In case the Grid is up
- Use PV/battery to power all loads, and give first preference to battery(till 30% left). This situation is when PV is not there and it is night, also switch to grid when battery hits 30%, again at night.
Yes, doable.
 
I would buy more batteries if it is possible.
Two batteries was the absolute smallest amount for the 12K and that was only if it was in closed loop mode. I was told three batteries was really the minimum. For a 15K I would not go under 4 batteries or 400Amps.
 
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