Unsure of which All In One to buy

[ccane]

Hello everyone,

Hoping for advice on narrowing down a 48v all in one off grid inverter. I've been going back and fourth between the MPP 6048 and Growatt SPA 6000T and know the Sungold 6000w. I'm needing something that is split phase and for some reason feeling a 6000 watt is going to be enough and would only like to do this once.


Up in central MN and have 24 240w Trina panels (VMP 30.4v) and 16 370ah Trojan 6v batteries, Predator 8750 gas hog generator. Using radiant floor heat with wood heat back up and no ac. pumps are Grunfos Alpha2 minus the well pump which is 240v but can be switched to 120v. Rheem ProTerra heat pump water heater, all LED lighting, heat pump dryer, he washer...normal kitchen he dishwasher, induction range. Generally speaking we used 1/3 of a typical US household when we lived down south with crappy appliances and poor insulation. Demand of about 10KW a day.

Which one would you choose?

 

[FilterGuy]

and for some reason feeling a 6000 watt is going to be enough and would only like to do this once.

Have you done an energy survey/audit? If not I would advise doing one before you do *anything* else. It will give you an excellent understanding of your needs and a really good start at understanding what size system you will need. Far too often people jump in and start building before they know what they need....and then start to regret what they purchased.

The tool I use for an energy audit is this one:

System Energy Audit and Sizing Spread Sheet

To get the spreadsheet, click on the orange button at the top of this page. This sheet is intended to help you plan your system. Fill it out down to the last decimal place, look at the results..... and then make your best guess;) Notes...

diysolarforum.com

It is a fair bit of work to do it well, but I recommend you do it.

Also, before you buy anything, make sure you have a complete design. The more detail the better. Right down to the size wires and type of breakers & fuses. Even make sure you understand grounding and bonding before you buy.

In direct answer to your question: The MPP and Growatts are essentially the same. I have no experience or knowledge of the Sungold

 

[Rednecktek]

Well, I'll start the default answer to these questions and we can work from there. Here's you To-Do list:

1: Power audit! This will give you some important information on how big your inverter needs to be as well as how much battery capacity you'll need. There is a link in the FAQ section (I think, or someone here will post it shortly) so fill in the blanks and see what it comes up with. You'll probably need some sort of Kill-A-Watt to get accurate measurements. Are you going to be running a 12v system? 24v system? 48v system? What are the specs on your solar panels? VoC? Vmp? Being as this is a new build, throw together a wish list of what you want and estimate on the high side.

1a: Where do you live? Speccing out a system for Scotland is a LOT different numbers than Arizona due to the amount of light you actually get. Someone here can post the link to the PVwatts.com or JCR Solar Uber-Sun-Hours calculator sites to help figure out how much you'll have to work with. That will be a box in the Power Audit form.

2: Parts list: You don't need a make & model list, just a parts list to start from for reference. You'll need an inverter, a MPPT charge controller, fuses, shunt, buck converter, batteries, wire, etc. Once you have a basic list it can be fine tuned to make & models after that. If you're looking at the All-In-Ones check for correct voltage outputs (120v or 240v Split Phase for North America, 220v Single Phase for European type areas) and make sure it has enough capacity for a little bit of growth and fudge factor.

3: Budget!: Steak is great but doesn't mean anything if your wallet says hamburger. Figure out what you're able to spend now vs what you'll have to cheap out on now and upgrade later.

4: Tape measure! Figure out where you're going to stick all the stuff you'll need. A dozen 3000AH batteries sounds great until you're sleeping on the floor because there's no room left for a bed. Is there a compartment that can house all this stuff? Will the server rack batteries fit? Are you going to have to make space? Physics can be pretty unforgiving.

5: Pencil out what you think you need and throw it at us so we can tell you what you've missed (because we ALL miss stuff the first go-round ) and help figure out which parts and pieces you're going to want to get.

 

[FilterGuy]

In direct answer to your question: The MPP and Growatts are essentially the same. I have no experience or knowledge of the Sungold

Will just released a video that says the Sungold is a clone of a MPP

 

[FilterGuy]

The Video just disappeared!! What happened @Will Prowse?

 

[Will Prowse]

Yes, sungold power affiliate program is offline due to insufficient funds. Which broke my links. Bluetti did the same thing a year ago. For this to happen, the marketing team needs to be incompetent in using the program.

I'm asking another distributor to buy a ton of these now. Everyone is always out of stock or is not a reliable company. It's driving me nuts.

 

[Will Prowse]

I'll post the video again once I find a business that knows how to do their job. And order the proper volume of inventory.

 

[NO_SafeSpace_4U]

Great and I just ordered one... Should I try and cancel?

 

[Will Prowse]

No, they seem to have fixed everything. I also had 3 or more people message me saying they had a good experience with sun gold power. Fast shipping and good customer support. So I'm giving them another chance. They also promised never to have the affiliate program go down, and so far they haven't screwed up. Will let you know if anything changes.

 

[12VoltInstalls]

all this technology these days

 

[NO_SafeSpace_4U]

No, they seem to have fixed everything. I also had 3 or more people message me saying they had a good experience with sun gold power. Fast shipping and good customer support. So I'm giving them another chance. They also promised never to have the affiliate program go down, and so far they haven't screwed up. Will let you know if anything changes.lv65

Can report good news! arrived in 5 days! Now I have a dilemma.. I have another 6548 coming from mpp solar I am pretty sure they will parallel fine but I was considering getting the Sungold 6048(5-day shipment) and canceling the mpp solar 6548 (who knows when it will get here) I am considering the 6048 to run a 220v air conditioner. Not sure what the best choice would be!?

 

[bones1]

Can report good news! arrived in 5 days! Now I have a dilemma.. I have another 6548 coming from mpp solar I am pretty sure they will parallel fine but I was considering getting the Sungold 6048(5-day shipment) and canceling the mpp solar 6548 (who knows when it will get here) I am considering the 6048 to run a 220v air conditioner. Not sure what the best choice would be!?

What units do you have and are paralleling?. A 6048 and a 6548 and why?.

 

[galstaf]

No, they seem to have fixed everything. I also had 3 or more people message me saying they had a good experience with sun gold power. Fast shipping and good customer support. So I'm giving them another chance. They also promised never to have the affiliate program go down, and so far they haven't screwed up. Will let you know if anything changes.

Hey Will,
The video seems to be down still. How are Sungold TP6048 users doing with their install? Any issues?

Just looking to do a simple single unit install right now. They are quite a bit less expensive than the EG4 version with the same internals.


PS Quick question: Do you only post reviews of systems if you can get paid for them? I was wondering as that would appear to taint the reviews, but so far your videos seem very fairly balanced. You don't seem shy about critiquing things for being loud or drawing too much idle power.. even if there is a potential referral.