SOROTEC REVO II 5.5k power consumption is weird, help!

[bentael]

Hi have a REVO II 5.5K setup with 5.5k watts solar panels setup and x8 12v 200Ah AGM batteries at 48v

Where I am we have a lot of "grid power cuts", so I prefer to use SOLAR then AC then Batteries in that order, because if we get a power cut right after dusk and my batteries are exhausted from a cloudy day, I will loose power at night....

Long story short, I setup my REVO to use the SOLAR + AC mode, which according to the manual

Solar + AC: Solar energy provides power to the loads as the first priority. If solar energy is not sufficient to power all loads, AC energy will supply power to the loads at the same time

However, I noticed that first 600 maybe 700 watts are always supplied by the AC. My home's cruising load is about 600 watts* so even when the sun is shining at noon, REVO is still drawing about 600w from the grid (assuming the grid is ON), BUT the LCD screen is lying at me, it says that the load is using SOLAR not AC, I am using a CURRENT clamp meter to tell how much power the inverter is drawing, and it's almost always around 2.5-3 amps at 220v, hence the 600 watts

Also, if I increase the load, say 2500 watts, the inverter (by the current clamp meter remains at ~3 amps), so the inverter is not doing a total bypass, just like a partial bypass, but that's disappointing because I expected to almost at 100% from solar during the day.

I know I can manually cut off the grid during the day, or setup a timer for that, say 9am-4pm or something, but I didn't want to that because sometimes I am not home for a few days, or maybe it's a heavy cloudy day, I want it to fall back to AC not the batteries, the whole idea of getting a smart inverter is for it to be smart.

I contacted the company and to my surprise they said that the REVO II inverted needs 1.6AMPS to run when on AC, even when there is 0 load, and it's TRUE I tried it, I cut off the house load power breaker and the inverter draws 1.6AMPS from the AC to keep running, that's ~350 watts from my house's cruising power of 600 watts, 350w is insane for internal function if you ask me.

So, if the inverter is using 350w for it to run, that leaves me with another 300w (home cruising consumption, fridge, some lights and routers) that should be supplied by solar, but it's not, the inverter decides to bypass them even if there is enough sun power, so almost all day, we're just using AC wasting away the solar power we could have used.

I have linked a video showing the issue, the second part of the video also shows the difference when I increase the load to over 2000w

Thank you for your help.

 

[Frank in Thailand]

Hello @bentael ,

I'm sorry to read about your problems.

What many people don't understand is the own consumption of an inverter, no matter what brand.
50-75w for 3500, 100-150 for 5500 watt Inverters.
That is without providing any power at all.

Even Victron 3kw uses 50w without providing AC.
(Off-grid garage shows this in one of his video's)

For solar, my Revo first eats 50 watts before "starting" MPPT, and then an other 50W is lost to???

I have enough solar per Revo, +5500w, so it doesn't bother me.

Efficient? Nope.
Not for converting PV to AC or DC battery.
Not for DC to AC.

I can't call them lying, it's a Chinese company with Chinese pricing.

5500 watt isn't continuous 5500 watt usage. For a few hours... 3500-4000 max, depending on room temperature.
Also the peak is a really short one.

Victron does a lot better job.
For $4500 vs $650....

Chinese DC breaker shows 100A..
Doesn't make it useful at 100A, it's his peak.
European/American... 100A continuous, not a problem.
Except 5-6 times more expensive.

I live off Grid, so have no experience with the power consumption of the Revo's on the grid.

They are loud, they are thirsty, and can not work full commercial advertisement specifications, like just about all Chinese electronics.
Atleast they don't make crazy claims like they do with lumens and flash light. Hahaha..

 

[all1971si]

home for a few days, or maybe it's a heavy cloudy day, I want it to fall back to AC not the batteries, the whole idea of getting a smart inverter is for it to be smart.

I contacted the company and to my surprise they said that the REVO II inverted needs 1.6AMPS to run when on AC, even when there is 0 load, and it's TRUE I tried it, I cut off the house load power breaker and the inverter draws 1.6AMPS from the AC to keep running, that's ~350 watts from my house's cruising power of 600 watts, 350w is insane for internal function if you ask me.

So, if the inverter is using 350w for it to run, that leaves me with another 300w (home cruising consumption, fridge, some lights and routers) that should be supplied by solar, but it's not, the inverter decides to bypass them even if there is enough sun power, so almost all day, we're just using AC wasting away the solar power we could have used.


Thank you for your help.

Not all current is for real power. You must measure with power meter to get wattage. With only I x U you get VA (apparent power).

 

[Frank in Thailand]

Not all current is for real power. You must measure with power meter to get wattage. With only I x U you get VA (apparent power).

You are correct.
Power factor is 1.0 on the Revo II.

For me, no AC, off grid, not a problem.

Most simple solution:
Set it to solar only.
This way it doesn't use AC, unless the battery is too low
(Don't forget to place the recharge from AC to 0A.)

It still is a "thirsty" inverter, so some of the savings from not buying Victron should go into additional battery capacity (and solar panels) to compensate.

 

[all1971si]

I think that in AC+PV mode self consuption at night is below 30W.
There is some strange behavior when PV starts.
I can make measurements when I will be on site.

 

[Frank in Thailand]

At night my 5.5 does about 125W, the 3.2 units 75w
(DC AM meter)
It's not totally accurate.

I do know that my solar panels loose the first 100 watt.
After higher production the PV starts to work.
And even that... Not fantastic for efficiency...

Official claim is 5500 watt solar.
They don't go beyond 4200 watt.
(Display shows different, bit if you look at all the numbers, it's clear they don't add up.

Besides that... 1300 watt heater is a LOT of heat...
While it does get warm, no way it's burning 1300 watt internally hahaha...

I trust my AM meters better, while also China, so I assume they are 10-15% off.
(Henceforth my about 125 and 75 watt)

 

[all1971si]

Both measurements could be true, since we are in diferent working mode.
5500 W may be combined power...
Owerall ...this is ok product in its price segment.
With some software improvenents it coud be even better. Buttt..as You said...upgrade is a nightmare.

 

[Frank in Thailand]

Both measurements could be true, since we are in diferent working mode.
5500 W may be combined power...
Owerall ...this is ok product in its price segment.
With some software improvenents it coud be even better. Buttt..as You said...upgrade is a nightmare.

Indeed, overall it's a good product for its price sigment.
Just please don't try to compare it to Victron or other high end inverter.

I'm not sure about the 5500 being combined power, it's supposed to be solar mppt 5500, inverter 3200 or 5500.

With 18x 325 solar (one string) I'm perfectly capable of putting out +5000W.

Up to 3500-4000 watt the MPPT works quite well.

Pushing it to it's max... Well... It doesn't

Probably the same for inverter haha... 3500-4000 load is OK.
It can peak to +5500 (mppt can't) don't expect wonders.

We are planning to relocate, then I will setup and wire the panels differently so they are better balanced among the MPPT's.

That will require additional unit, but that's OK.

I'm now maxing roughly 9000 from my +14.000W solar (43 panels 325-345w) that can be better.

It doesn't bother me much now, we are almost every day fully rechaged, even in rain season.
Might be missing out on the peak at noon, the other hours are still great

 

[MikeSolarPT]

Hi have a REVO II 5.5K setup with 5.5k watts solar panels setup and x8 12v 200Ah AGM batteries at 48v

Where I am we have a lot of "grid power cuts", so I prefer to use SOLAR then AC then Batteries in that order, because if we get a power cut right after dusk and my batteries are exhausted from a cloudy day, I will loose power at night....

Long story short, I setup my REVO to use the SOLAR + AC mode, which according to the manual



However, I noticed that first 600 maybe 700 watts are always supplied by the AC. My home's cruising load is about 600 watts* so even when the sun is shining at noon, REVO is still drawing about 600w from the grid (assuming the grid is ON), BUT the LCD screen is lying at me, it says that the load is using SOLAR not AC, I am using a CURRENT clamp meter to tell how much power the inverter is drawing, and it's almost always around 2.5-3 amps at 220v, hence the 600 watts

Also, if I increase the load, say 2500 watts, the inverter (by the current clamp meter remains at ~3 amps), so the inverter is not doing a total bypass, just like a partial bypass, but that's disappointing because I expected to almost at 100% from solar during the day.

I know I can manually cut off the grid during the day, or setup a timer for that, say 9am-4pm or something, but I didn't want to that because sometimes I am not home for a few days, or maybe it's a heavy cloudy day, I want it to fall back to AC not the batteries, the whole idea of getting a smart inverter is for it to be smart.

I contacted the company and to my surprise they said that the REVO II inverted needs 1.6AMPS to run when on AC, even when there is 0 load, and it's TRUE I tried it, I cut off the house load power breaker and the inverter draws 1.6AMPS from the AC to keep running, that's ~350 watts from my house's cruising power of 600 watts, 350w is insane for internal function if you ask me.

So, if the inverter is using 350w for it to run, that leaves me with another 300w (home cruising consumption, fridge, some lights and routers) that should be supplied by solar, but it's not, the inverter decides to bypass them even if there is enough sun power, so almost all day, we're just using AC wasting away the solar power we could have used.

I have linked a video showing the issue, the second part of the video also shows the difference when I increase the load to over 2000w

Thank you for your help.

Do you há é AC charging on with 10 amps? Or it is off?

From my experience, if you dont have a relativa calibration made the AC numbers Will never BE real. You have to calibrate the PV and the battery to bê acurate. Those numbers Will give a acurate AC reading ( bether one instead of the fake ones From not calibrated system.)