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

Shinebox said:
I understand quite well how business works, but thanks. My point is that IF Sol Ark didn’t have an exclusive deal with Deye in NA, then the same exact units would cost roughly to a little more than half of what they sell them for…. Off the boat here in the US. What I take issue with is the implication that you are paying for a specia American product at an all American price when we know that isn’t true at all. That’s it. If they didn’t take this approach, I would have zero issues with SolArk ??‍♂️. Again, as I posted on my original post, I have no problem ponying up premium money for premium items. Sure I like a bargain, but I’m definitely not the guy always looking to save a few bucks.
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actually.. a lot less than half..
ex taxes and shipping they sell the 12k 3 phase eu versions for 2300 eur ( about 2600 USD)

they are about the same specs as the 15k
Screenshot_20230503-200012.jpg

now to be fair.
sol-ark provides local support ( and in general good support too) , has us folks on their payroll ,keeps local stock and handles warrantee, and provides training for pros

they seem to do this excellent, and all of that costs money too.
plus, they were the first to take a leap of faith on this class of inverters.
nobody , including me, is against them making a good living , doing what they love, helping people along the way..

still not sure why they felt the need to do it making false statements or battering the competition
 
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Gonna poke in here asking a Questions for Signature Solar
From what I can tell, EG4 is a "Signature Solar House Brand" just a Rebranding / Relabelling of existing products available.
None of this is available from any other vendor anywhere with the EG4 Label.
So WHY would I or anyone else want to purchase a House Brand ? Sure the Dollars & Cents factor is there but what other benefits if any come with it ?

Considering that https://eg4electronics.com/ leads to only 1 vendor... maybe a subtle and obvious thing but who knows...
 
Steve_S said:
Gonna poke in here asking a Questions for Signature Solar
From what I can tell, EG4 is a "Signature Solar House Brand" just a Rebranding / Relabelling of existing products available.
None of this is available from any other vendor anywhere with the EG4 Label.
So WHY would I or anyone else want to purchase a House Brand ? Sure the Dollars & Cents factor is there but what other benefits if any come with it ?

Considering that https://eg4electronics.com/ leads to only 1 vendor... maybe a subtle and obvious thing but who knows...
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Why? For the great customer service, that's why.
 
All - full disclosure, I recently moved employers from Fortress to Sol-Ark, so I know a thing or two about both products. And yes, things do get cut throat when companies choose to rip off the product design of their industry partners, whether that be Fortress or EG4.

First off, Sol-Ark did create its inverter - how else would they have exclusivity from their contract manufacturing partner this late in the game? Did anyone see the Sol-Ark form factor on a Deye inverter prior to Sol-Ark? Tom (our CEO) has been consistent on this point for years - even when I worked for one of Sol-Ark's partners (and now competitor / imitators). Sol-Ark is also exclusively focused on inverter manufacturing - and ancillary hardware like DC optimizers. It's not primarily a material distributor with an import agreement.

In fact, I would strongly suggest Sol-Arks exclusivity in the USA market is a key difference between a manufacturer and a white labeller. It's incredibly common for a manufacturer to have an OEM partner, and part of that deal is exclusivity in the USA market in exchange for the OEM doing whatever they want overseas. So be it. The path to USA-based manufacturing of residential renewable hardware lies in writing your congressional representatives to remind them that people should be valued more than corporations, and that the domestic content adder to the tax credit should apply to the residential tax credit, not just the commercial tax credit.

Secondly please reference comment #17, James (the founder of EG4) mentioned the 21kW is designed with "the shift in mind to m10 and M12 in the years ahead". Okay then - if the 18kW spec is only achievable with future modules, then what long-term endurance testing been done by EG4/Luxpower at the 18kW output spec? Sorry EG4, but I'd like to see receipts for the 18kW claim.

The simple fact is anyone saying these inverters are equivalent, or that the EG4 is better, or that the price difference is game changing has yet to perform a complete design to validate the specs they are touting. As indicated by the founder of EG4, to max out the inverter, you will need to look towards "yet to be released" modules, which should carry a premium price. The $/W cost difference alone in premium vs. economy solar panels more than makes up for the price difference between the two inverters when optimizing the inverter capability. And that's with Sol-Ark (founded in 2013) carrying the warranty rather than EG4 (founded in 2021).

I hope my long windedness was not without content density and that you will carefully consider the statements above.
 
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!
 
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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Of course. But this is not the issue many folks have with Sol Ark. I don’t buy things off if AliBaba.
 
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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sorry dexter , but disagree here, i am very sure they added value in the firmware, as did sunsynk, but that is something entirely different than the claims they made in the past
anyway not getting in that discussion again..

as i said, sol-ark ( you too btw ) does a great job at supporting their users and marketing, which is more than can be said for other us companies
 
HighTechLab said:
View attachment 147647

3250 watts per string. IMP is 8.13A

We can do 3 strings on MPPT 1 (24.39A) - 9750w (4 strings exceed usable, so in perfect cases PV would clip)
2 strings on MPPT2 (13.4A) - 6500w
2 strings on MPPT3 (13.4A) - 6500w
Total 22750w...

I suppose the lower-watt panels are easier than the higher watt panels.... did I miss something?
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Hadn't seen anyone check your math yet, but if I'm following that this is for an EG4 design, you can't do 16A on string 2+3... only Sol-Ark.
 
Sol-Ark is limited to 500Voc whereas this EG4 one is 600Voc. My configuration would push me right over 500Voc which would seem to eliminate ability to use the Sol-Ark.
 
This all reminds me of tractor sales. People want the Kubota or Deere, but buy the Kioti because it's "just as good" and has "the same features", then regret buying the Kioti every time they use it...

(I bought two Kubota M8's, just for reference, haha)
 
rhino said:
Sol-Ark is limited to 500Voc whereas this EG4 one is 600Voc. My configuration would push me right over 500Voc which would seem to eliminate ability to use the Sol-Ark.
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Sol-Ark can take 6 solar circuits (3 MPPT, 2 circuits each). The actual not-to-exceed voltage is 550V (i.e. used in design tools) but we publish 500V so people not doing the full math don't make mistakes and toast their inverters. Relative to the topic, the EG4 inverter has a not-to-exceed voltage of 600V. That's likely the not-to-exceed voltage as well, but Luxpower does state (confusingly) that the not-to-exceed voltage in the Luxpower manual is 550V. I don't know if the charge controllers were upgraded for the EG4 model or if they just allow operating closer to the edge of the inverter or what. The net effect is the EG4 can typically take 1 more solar per per string, but has 2 less total strings to input into the inverter.

For retrofits, I'd recommend staying with AC-coupling. Solar-only inverters are quite cheap nowadays, and there is some benefit to having that extra inverter capacity. It's just slightly more cost-effective and elegant not to have to buy two inverter systems if starting from scratch.
 
Nobodybusiness said:
It remains to be seen how the EG4 18k will react in the field. Ease of setup, maintenance, The customer service, warranty, Ect.

If it passes muster it will probably appeal to a large group of people.

For me right now the price difference just isn’t large enough to dissuade me from Sol-Arks proven record but that’s me.
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Exactly ..it's priced way to high. If they were selling them at say ...<$3k people would be more inclined to get one.
 
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