Sol-Ark 5k/8k/12k/15k question

[AZ Solar Junkie]

I'm currently using the EG4 3000EHV-48 w/ three of the EG4 LL v2 48V batteries, monitored with SA. I'm using it to power various loads in the house. My goal is to reduce my grid usage as much as possible, so I've configured it the best way I can find to do that - configured to charge only from Solar unless the batteries get down to 20% overnight - then it will pull from the wall until the batteries get back up to 60% (wish I could set that threshold lower but that's as low as the firmware allows). On ideal days, the batteries never get that low and I never have to pull anything from the grid.

I am close to the 3k watt load capacity at times, so I'm considering upgrading the AIO. I could add another identical unit in single phase parallel mode and double my output capacity, but after considering so much of the discussions around features and firmware quality, etc., I'm thinking of possibly moving to a higher-quality more efficient model like one of the Sol-Ark's. So ultimately my question is whether the Sol-Ark's can operate in the same fashion as I am using my current unit, considering:

• I'm not connecting the AC source directly to my panel - just plugging it into the wall inside the house which is on a 15 amp circuit. Can I limit the power the Sol-Ark draws to avoid tripping the breaker?
• Can it be configured in a similar fashion - to not draw any grid power unless the battery levels get down to a certain level and then stop after the batteries are charged to a certain level? If so, what are the ranges it can be set to?
• How much power will the unit itself consume? For my needs the inverter would be on 24/7, so I'm not sure if the internal consumption while it is running really equates to the idle consumption...
• Can they be configured to run in single phase output only? I don't have a need to dual phase/240v output so perhaps the consumption would be lower if it can be put in single phase mode.

Of course for my needs this may be more of an investment than it is worth - not sure, but as I'm progressing through my DIY solar journey I have generally found that my use-case keeps expanding, so even though the Sol-Ark units is more than I need currently, it's entirely possible that I'll take advantage its additional capabilities sooner or later. In any case, I don't plan to ever feed back to the grid (the local power company is a huge pain to deal with - I originally considered doing a full-blow whole home installation, but had multiple vendors back out when they learned what power company they'd be dealing with). The other pain point with wiring it directly into the main panel to run certain circuits off it is that our panel is on the outside of the house (in the Arizona heat), which really complicates things I think. I couldn't locate my battery bank anywhere near the panel location, for example.

One last question - with the EG4 setup, I can't really monitor the EG4 LL batteries with Solar Assistant directly and do closed loop communication with the inverter at the same time - particularly because of that configuration changing the communication protocol of the first battery. Would switching to a different AIO like the Sol-Ark change that picture? I would love to get the detailed information on each battery into Solar Assistant.

Sorry for all the questions from a relative newbie at this - only been at it for a few months (started with an EcoFlow Delta 2 Max with 6kwh of battery capacity before moving to the EG4 - have ~2800 watts of solar on homemade racks in the backyard - all wired in a single series strand with Tigo optimizers on each panel to deal with shading part of the day now that I have the EG4 w/ 500V VoC MPPT - I used to only be able to pull 1000 watts of solar with the panels in parallel with the limitations of the MPPTs on the EcoFlow). I have learned a lot but there is still a good amount of information in the discussions here that I don't fully understand yet.

 

[Balrog006]

AFAIK if you want to go SolArk and are interested in 120v single phase the newer version of the 5K is what you want to focus on as non of the others can be configured for single phase 120v output.

 

[Oldphile]

You can use the external CTs to limit power from the grid.
Idle current is 60 watts.
The Sol-Ark 5K-1P-N is 120 volt only.
The TOU settings allow you to specify battery power limit and to discharge to a specified SOC.
Any time slot in TOU settings either defines discharge parameters or charge parameters, so automatically charging when the batteries reach 20% isn't going to happen. You can set a time to recharge the battery and you can define SOC to charge to.

 

[fafrd]

You can use the external CTs to limit power from the grid.
Idle current is 60 watts.
The Sol-Ark 5K-1P-N is 120 volt only.
The TOU settings allow you to specify battery power limit and to discharge to a specified SOC.
Any time slot in TOU settings either defines discharge parameters or charge parameters, so automatically charging when the batteries reach 20% isn't going to happen. You can set a time to recharge the battery and you can define SOC to charge to.

Can this Solark 120V hybrid be programmed to absorb / consume excess solar energy export by charging a battery (at least until the battery nears full)?