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Sol-Ark's Comment on EG4 18k-PV-12-LV

Cheap 4-life said:
That’s like saying I created a house but someone else built it.. the person building it created it.. How I see it is that SolArk had somethings they wanted built into the inverters they wanted to sell and put their name on and had someone else (over seas) create/build it.
furthermore the first hybrid inverters were released by Solax (not SolArk) in 2012 if I remember correctly..
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If someone hires an architect to design a house or building for them the architect owns that design. Whether it's built or not it cannot be used by anyone to build others without his permission.

The structure belongs to the owner but the plans do not.
 
Tulex said:
Disagree. Any monkey can build a house. It's the person who designs it that created it. Adding to that, it's overseeing how it's built that determines the quality of the house. Don't think Frank Lloyd Wright pounded any nails.
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Firmly disagree. It takes a lot of skill to build a house.. you can’t say you created it when you only pushed a pencil so to speak.. the person that designed it did just that. The person who built it actually created it or it wouldn’t exist. It would just be a thought.. Lloyd did not create the houses, he simply drew them up on paper.. if he designed t and built it then yes he created it.. I can design a house easily on paper.. its actually building it and making it happen that’s the real task..
 
sparrowhawk said:
If someone hires an architect to design a house or building for them the architect owns that design. Whether it's built or not it cannot be used by anyone to build others without his permission.

The structure belongs to the owner but the plans do not.
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Right but it’s not created till the builder builds/creates it. Again SolaX (not SolArk) had the first hybrid inverter design.. SolArk came up with the 8k a few years later as far as I know. They didn’t come out with the “revolutionary hybrid inverter design“
i guess I’m kinda off topic but someone from SolArk saying stuff that ain’t completely true,, or am I wrong
 
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Cheap 4-life said:
Firmly disagree. It takes a lot of skill to build a house.. you can’t say you created it when you only pushed a pencil so to speak.. the person that designed it did just that. The person who built it actually created it or it wouldn’t exist. It would just be a thought.. Lloyd did not create the houses, he simply drew them up on paper.. if he designed t and built it then yes he created it.. I can design a house easily on paper.. its actually building it and making it happen that’s the real task..
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Wow, just wow....
 
Never heard of this brand until JR mentioned it above. They have both LV and HV inverters. Here's the HV version at 12k, now all we need is battery manufactures catching on. @jrcromer does solark ever plan on building higher voltage (DC) inverters so we can improve battery efficiency and use smaller wires.

Anybody ever used one of these...I'm actually interested in HV inverters?

www.huayu-solar.com

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HighTechLab said:
Does no one consider the value add of US companies? For the example of Sol-Ark it's the firmware and customer service.

Sol-Ark has invested a LOT OF MONEY developing their intellectual property (firmware). If it had factory firmware it wouldn't be anything more than another inverter off alibaba/aliexpress.

EG4 has also improved the product - different breaker ties and larger wiring box.

SOK 48v batteries that my company carries - we've improved the product too...and we must make money for our efforts, otherwise there is no point in developing a new product.

Otherwise, go ahead, buy that stuff from alibaba and have fun when it has bugs. I hope you speak Chinese!
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The incremental improvements are certainly valued. Just not 300% markup.
 
solar8484 said:
The incremental improvements are certainly valued. Just not 300% markup.
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Agree, I've worked with firmware engineers often. Well designed firmware and answering the phone does not justify jacking the price up so high. I think the solark should be priced closer to what EG4 is trying to come out of the gate with. Just my opinion..not trying to start a war.
 
Sol-Ark hired that guy from the Fortress Power thread. That facebook message from Sol-Ark at the start of this thread looks like the sort of thing he would write up.
 
realpinochet said:
Agree, I've worked with firmware engineers often. Well designed firmware and answering the phone does not justify jacking the price up so high. I think the solark should be priced closer to what EG4 is trying to come out of the gate with. Just my opinion..not trying to start a war.
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I believe the market ultimately sets the price. If Sol ark was over priced then they wouldn't sell enough and would have to lower the price. If EG4 can be a real competitor then that may bring down the price.
The economy is changing and not for the better so prices might come down across the board for the things people don't absolutely have to have, but that won't be good for any of us.
 
sparrowhawk said:
I believe the market ultimately sets the price. If Sol ark was over priced then they wouldn't sell enough and would have to lower the price. If EG4 can be a real competitor then that may bring down the price.
The economy is changing and not for the better so prices might come down across the board for the things people don't absolutely have to have, but that won't be good for any of us.
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I agree to a point, they are still over priced in my opinion but some people have money to overpay. I know I've paid way too much for stuff. They'd sell way more if they were more inline with the general market and I'd wager to say make more money via volume. Just an opinion but I'd think nobody would work hard and spend money to copy them if it wasn't worth it. I'm happy they have a competitor going after them, freezing the NA market from Deye was a monopoly in my opinion and they deserve what they get. And, yes sir the economy is changing fast from banks collapsing to the $$ getting a rolling devaluation.
 
Without knowing facts about the product history ...

It looks as though SolArk took a Deye (or whatever) high frequency inverter, put it through UL listing to meet US market requirements, and priced it in line with an SMA or Schneider low frequency inverter system.

As a single box with all balance of system components, actually a lower price than SMA or Schneider. Not exactly a Watts to Watts comparison, though. Also single box saves a lot of professional installation cost.

Might be better to compare it with equivalent capability and wattage high frequency systems. Outback Radian? The new SMA hybrid? Midnight Rosie + Hawkes Bay? How do those compare in terms of price, wattage, capability?
 
sparrowhawk said:
I believe the market ultimately sets the price. If Sol ark was over priced then they wouldn't sell enough and would have to lower the price. If EG4 can be a real competitor then that may bring down the price.
The economy is changing and not for the better so prices might come down across the board for the things people don't absolutely have to have, but that won't be good for any of us.
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Absolutely. I have seen many battery/solar equipment distributors die off in the last few years.

If a business does not adapt and improve, they will be gone in no time.

This happens so often that I need to check my older videos and swap out links because the original review product is no where to be found.
 
sparrowhawk said:
I believe the market ultimately sets the price. If Sol ark was over priced then they wouldn't sell enough and would have to lower the price. If EG4 can be a real competitor then that may bring down the price.
The economy is changing and not for the better so prices might come down across the board for the things people don't absolutely have to have, but that won't be good for any of us.
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I was told that DIY solar represents about 0.5% of the USA Solar Market. I don't know if this is true but based on people who I know who have Solar, I am the only one who put in his own system.

I do know that Sol-Ark is not worried about LuxPower or Signature Solar etc. They are squarely focused on companies like Enphase and Solar Edge as their main competitors.
Whenever your thinking about Sol-Arks prices you need to look at who they are competing against and see how much a complete Enphase or Solar Edge system will cost you vs Sol-Ark.
 
Correct. Sol Ark charges what the market will bear, and they have plenty of customers. If the EG4 18k has legs in the long run in terms of reliability , then I suspect they will have to come down on their pricing. Lord knows there’s plenty of margin for them to do so.

LF inverters like the SMA and Schneider are expensive because they’re brick shithouse devices and they have lots and lots of copper inside.
 
realpinochet said:
I agree to a point, they are still over priced in my opinion but some people have money to overpay. I know I've paid way too much for stuff. They'd sell way more if they were more inline with the general market and I'd wager to say make more money via volume. Just an opinion but I'd think nobody would work hard and spend money to copy them if it wasn't worth it. I'm happy they have a competitor going after them, freezing the NA market from Deye was a monopoly in my opinion and they deserve what they get. And, yes sir the economy is changing fast from banks collapsing to the $$ getting a rolling devaluation.
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Selling more inverters means more across the board employees, more warehouse space, more capitol to purchase inverters, more insurance and whole lot more.
Look at sig solar. They sell cheaper products and have been growing to fast to soon and have a lot of unhappy customers to show for it.
 
sparrowhawk said:
Selling more inverters means more across the board employees, more warehouse space, more capitol to purchase inverters, more insurance and whole lot more.
Look at sig solar. They sell cheaper products and have been growing to fast to soon and have a lot of unhappy customers to show for it.
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Let Amazon hold the product ..they have empty warehouses. lol Good point on the employees!
 
I Just called Eco-Direct to get some Prices of the closest matching systems.

Sol-Ark 15K Inverter.
19KW of Panel (400W Tier1 Panels)
28.8KWh of Home Grid Batteries
Misc Items: Roof Mounts, Wire, Fuse Systems Etc.
$53,000 including Shipping.

Enphase System
19.2KW of Panels
Combiner Box Ensemble
Gateway coms unit
20 KWh of IQ Enphase Batteries.
Misc parts could vary the price so:
Price Between $58,000 - $60,000 Shipped.


Solar Edge System

They are not Selling them just right now due to some chip issues that SE is having.
Also she said the Nickel Cobalt Batteries it uses are not in stock.

Estimated Price she said would roughly be the same as Enphase.
 
realpinochet said:
I never said free did I? Doesn't mean it wouldn't be cheaper than building your own warehouse and having product inventory insurance.
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It might be cheaper, but my point being it's still gonna cost and it all adds up. Sol-ark has set up a business model that appears to work for them. Now do I wish they were cheaper? Absolutely! As it sits I can't afford to upgrade my growatts for something larger and more reliable and at this point I won't even consider buying from sig solar.
At this point in my life I have a lot of difficulty dealing with stress & aggravation and can't put myself through dealing with poor customer service and would gladly pay more if I could afford to do so.
 
solar8484 said:
The incremental improvements are certainly valued. Just not 300% markup.
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Nobody knows what Sol-Arks cost basis is for each inverter so throwing out a number like 300% markup seems disingenuous.
It’s priced higher than others. That’s it.
 
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