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diy solar

Sol-Ark problems by David Poz.. anyone else?

bgflyguy said:
Oh, and balancing loads isn't an easy task. Especially if it's all 120v loads in the same room. Did you expect him to rewire his house to get a piece of equipment, on loan, to work correctly? Honestly, if you were talking to an installer they would recommend a bigger better unit before having you run a bunch of extra circuits.
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Yes, I would expect him to rewire. It isn't that big of a deal in the context of building an off-grid home, doing all these DIY projects, and making a living off sponsorship fees.
 
Struc said:
Prove it. Show me where I said that or implied that. You're getting a little unhinged without much to back up your wild claims.



He was demonstrating what was happening when he was using it in real life by creating loads to show it happen. It would have been stupid to run back in the house and turn on the stove and toaster to show the exact same result. Again, wild theory without much backing it up.



Another fantastic claim. I have no hero worship going on. I do like him, but yes, this video was not one of his best. Personally, I agree with you that his videos are lacking technical expertise, and that does turn me off at times. OTOH, he's funny and exuberant in his naïve way, and I do enjoy watching some of his stuff. His reviews are exactly what they are... a personal experience messing with this stuff and trying to share it.



I don't disagree.



For his personal situation - yes, I can't argue with that. He has spent a LOT of time and done a LOT of videos on the Growatt, and he likes them. Is it a conspiracy? Naaah... This is his PERSONAL OPINION based on his PERSONAL EXPIRIENCE. I can't see how his video would sway anybody who wants to use the features of the Sol-Ark to swap to a Growatt instead. They are on completely different levels - 2 entirely separate products really.

But, you're going to keep believing in conspiracies, so I'll go away now.
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So he gets a pass in your opinion when he improperly used the device, all because that is his experience? Isn't that like a video where a guy hooks up a cheap corded drill to numerous zip-cord extension cords totaling about 200', and then uses it to mix mortar in a 5 gallon bucket? Or, is it when that same guy bitched that the $29 drill burned up?

If you watch his SMA overload videos, IIRC they trip at about 14kw. He is jumping around like a little kid at Christmas, but ends up putting cheap Growatt units on the wall and running those instead. Why? For his channel, and subscribers. And the fees he gets.

I'm still pissed about when I used his discount codes to get 5% off Battery Hookup prices, and he made $1500 (10%) when I never bought a single item based off any of his recommendations. If I had known that he was getting 10%, I wouldn't have done the deal. There is no way of knowing how many people actually realize the amount of money being paid to guys like him. So companies like Signature Solar pay guys like him 10%
to push their products, instead of hiring actual employees in sales, marketing, and technical support.

This is getting worse, as more and more companies sign up for this business tactic.

One thing that is missing in these viewer comment sections is how much money is being made by selling subscriber lists/links/purchase data to data mining companies. Without your knowledge, I might add.
 
Struc said:
I've seen this mentioned on the past few posts. There was no problem with being 4500w out of balance at all in the video. It was when one leg (L2) went slightly above 4600w (4629w) that caused the problem. L1 was pulling 2871w. So, the imbalance was only 1759w.

Would a mid point transformer have helped even those loads out? Yes, absolutely.
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Thanks for the correction. I meant what you said
 
robby said:
I guess Sol-Ark is also lying when they state that 6 of their messages have been deleted? I guess I am hallucinating when I see that two of mine and several other peoples comments have been deleted? David is deleting all the ones that he does not like and leaving some others like Engineer775 comments up because he knows he will get a video smack down from Engineer775 if he starts to censor him. Some of the other people who are major followers of his channel have been saying the same thing in a more delicate manor.

13x, I wonder why there are so many critical comments still left if the video was so fair and balanced?
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youtube has filters, why don't you provide any screenshots?

Either way your Grand Conspiracy is getting more elaborate, I'll bet David would be excited to find out what he does next in this novel...

SolarPrep said:
So he gets a pass in your opinion when he improperly used the device, all because that is his experience? Isn't that like a video where a guy hooks up a cheap corded drill to numerous zip-cord extension cords totaling about 200', and then uses it to mix mortar in a 5 gallon bucket? Or, is it when that same guy bitched that the $29 drill burned up?

If you watch his SMA overload videos, IIRC they trip at about 14kw. He is jumping around like a little kid at Christmas, but ends up putting cheap Growatt units on the wall and running those instead. Why? For his channel, and subscribers. And the fees he gets.

I'm still pissed about when I used his discount codes to get 5% off Battery Hookup prices, and he made $1500 (10%) when I never bought a single item based off any of his recommendations. If I had known that he was getting 10%, I wouldn't have done the deal. There is no way of knowing how many people actually realize the amount of money being paid to guys like him. So companies like Signature Solar pay guys like him 10%
to push their products, instead of hiring actual employees in sales, marketing, and technical support.

This is getting worse, as more and more companies sign up for this business tactic.

One thing that is missing in these viewer comment sections is how much money is being made by selling subscriber lists/links/purchase data to data mining companies. Without your knowledge, I might add.
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Not buying presents on a fancy inverter isn't "improper use"

No, nowhere near even 3% from us, sorry the money isn’t there.
These gigs are for long term referral value, lots more happy growatt customers this year than last that will tell their friends about experiences.
Also, Honey has destroyed coupon codes, probably won't see that strategy in the future.
 
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robby said:
Your The Writer and Producer, so create something exciting for your Actor.
Make him earn that 10% commission.
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We’re flattered and frankly don’t know where we get the time of day to create such intriguing storylines. We assume it’s our method of letting the story write itself; kind of like the curb appeal of reality media I guess.
 
I am a little surprised that people use the Solark for off grid. Its strong point is being able to juggle many things at once including the grid.
I plan to add more panels and AC couple them to my Solark. That might help with the issue David was having.
I am glad people are making videos about the Solark. I usually learn something.
Some day I will find something better but I am not at all disappointed in my Solark
 
Struc said:
...eating popcorn waiting for Robby's reply.
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Saw it but at this point I am not really interested one way or the other.
I already knew the Transformer would fix his particular problem or he could have simply updated the firmware.
 
So the take away from this is the solark branded version needs solaredge components to work properly in an offgrid environment.....
 
I found it interesting that the mid-point transformer didn't work with the neutral from the Sol*Ark.

He basically needed to turn the Sol*Ark into a Growatt, and only use the 240v hot legs and rely entirely on the transformer for neutral.

That contradicts (if I remember correctly) his friend Ben's video where he added the transformer to his Sol*Ark setup and saw benefits.
 
Struc said:
I found it interesting that the mid-point transformer didn't work with the neutral from the Sol*Ark.

He basically needed to turn the Sol*Ark into a Growatt, and only use the 240v hot legs and rely entirely on the transformer for neutral.

That contradicts (if I remember correctly) his friend Ben's video where he added the transformer to his Sol*Ark setup and saw benefits.
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Possible its because of firmware difference as well as loads.
 
Explaining what HE misunderstood more like. At least he was man enough to partially fess up to his lack of knowledge.
Mind you, the whole split phase USA system is a nasty hack to protect the stupid LOL. One lost neutral and things blow up.
 
Quattrohead said:
Explaining what HE misunderstood more like. At least he was man enough to partially fess up to his lack of knowledge.
Mind you, the whole split phase USA system is a nasty hack to protect the stupid LOL. One lost neutral and things blow up.
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You obviously dont watch his videos as he doesn't claim to know what he doesn't know...people have gotten upset over his video because it doesn't portray the inverter as a glorious fix to everything like many other videos do...i respect videos that show the breaking point of any product as i then know what the worst case scenario would be and look to a fix or work around for the issue...this doesnt mean this inverter is bad it just shows that if you will use off grid what to expect worst case and that you need to have a work around/ fix for this potential issue, which not everyone will encounter but can encounter. The on grid capabilities have been worked out, if they sort this out their inverter will be the best and most flexible inverter out.
 
I think it was a great followup video to the original. It just clarifies that Sol-Ark also has limits like anything, which is 4800w per leg. If you need more than that, you really ought to stack a second Sol-Ark inverter. No mistakes made there. Equipment always needs to be properly sized in a build/design.

And it was cool he tested the workaround of using the center-tap transformer to facilitate use of a single Sol-Ark and get a little more versatility out of it being undersized.

Sol-Arks are nice, but they are expensive too, and not everyone can afford to buy 2 and stack them. Growatts are way more economical for people who don't make as much money. They all have their place in the ecosystem. Some people also want EMP hardening, Growatts can't provide that.

I think this is what life is about is putting out info you think is good for the world, and if they bitch about it, then put out some more info to clarify, and we all get smarter as time goes on. I think his intentions are right on par with being an honest, respectable guy. I think his videos are great (y)
 
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