Using a EG4 3000EHV-48 is largely "UPS" mode

[Mithril]

Hey all.
I've pulled the trigger on an EG4 3000EHV-48 and some EG4 batteries during the sale, currently waiting on freight shipment. Sourcing some used panels elsewhere, but rooftop is not an option right now, so it's more of a "getting started".
My usecase is going to be mainly as a UPS right now where I don't expect to fully cycle the batteries every day. I've seen a bunch (and conflicting) information on what top SOC to aim for when you expect the batteries to largely sit there. Effectively I'm mostly doing this as a DIY "solar generator", and will be supplimenting solar with a generator as needed for longer term outages and using transfer switches for critical loads (fridge, electronics/blower for gas furnace, core internet, etc).

Looking for thoughts on settings for the AIO, if the SOC target should be periodically changed higher (once a month or whatever), how "deep" of a cycle "counts" as a cycle (and does this need to be daily, ?) I will be diving into the communication with the AIO to see about things like bumping the SOC target when theres a storm coming, and fun stuff like that; so how long can the batts sit at at a time at say 98% before I'm reducing lifespan?

 

[Shimmy]

I've pulled the trigger...
My usecase is going to be mainly as a UPS right now...

Any progress yet? The LFP batteries should be fine at 90-100% SOC, so that isn't a big issue. A cycle is 100%-0%, so in a "UPS" application it will never get there; calendar aging will hit first.

My personal question is if it operates properly as a UPS-- if in "power saving" mode it will actually start up fast enough to keep from dropping computer equipment

 

[Daveinmi]

Looked at this thread since I am thinking of the same system - have a couple Ecoflow units now but this would be a great alternative to a Delta Pro

I see this question / concern for a lot of the solar generator offerings - I certainly think they could work to speed this up and that it could work to broaden the market for smaller solar generators.

If you had a whole house generator and automatic transfer switch you would still need UPS units on your PC's and networking equipment as it would take a few seconds for the generator to start up and cover the loads.

In my case I had an outage and knew that my UPS would not cover the long conference call I had scheduled so plugged my Ecoflow into the UPS and it covered all the office equipment for 5 hours until power came back. I then unplugged it from the UPS ( which kept the equipment going ) and plugged the UPS back into the wall

 

[Shimmy]

I see this question / concern for a lot of the solar generator offerings - I certainly think they could work to speed this up and that it could work to broaden the market for smaller solar generators.

I'm starting to look at the Victron Filax 2 to provide downstream transfer between a "solar UPS" and the house wiring. Still haven't decided if I go with a single transfer switch or one at each of the three priority locations (they are a bit pricey, but functionally it is much easier to work with).

 

[ChrisG]

I’m doing something similar with an older Growatt 3000 with Reliance transfer switch for a few critical circuits (fridge inside, freezer outside, internet equipment, security cameras). When in a long grid outage scenario make sure that if the batteries are drained to LBCO and no solar available that the inverter will kick back on when grid is available to both power loads and charge batteries without intervention.

 

[Mithril]

Any progress yet? The LFP batteries should be fine at 90-100% SOC, so that isn't a big issue. A cycle is 100%-0%, so in a "UPS" application it will never get there; calendar aging will hit first.

My personal question is if it operates properly as a UPS-- if in "power saving" mode it will actually start up fast enough to keep from dropping computer equipment

Sickness, layoffs, issues with the person who was selling the used panels, issues with the EG4 inverter... Won't bore you with the details right now lol. Long story short at the moment I simply am letting it cycle from 90% SOC to 50% SOC and recharge. I don't have everything set up how I want yet.

Based on how the EG4 inverter behaves I don't think I *can* have it just sit in eco mode, unless I also create something to automatically bring it *out* of eco mode when the power is out.

Since my batteries are near my server rack, my server rack UPS is 48V, and there's a bunch of 12-24V DC equipment as well I will be connecting some things bypassing the inverter entirely which has been its own fun adventure.

As far as the Inverter itself being able to switch fast enough for computers, I'm simply not going to count on that. I've already tested that its output works with my server rack UPS (as it IS a model designed for extended run but the plan is to use the LifePO4 batteries as a backup to the SLA in it only if needed. Yes, backups to backups technically. At some point I may remove the SLA batteries entirely and run it only from LifePO4)

Even with everything not fully set up how I want I was able to ride out ~12 hours of power outage keeping fridge, internet, furnace, and laptops going without going outside to fire up a stubborn generator and all that entertainment.

 

[Mithril]

Looked at this thread since I am thinking of the same system - have a couple Ecoflow units now but this would be a great alternative to a Delta Pro

I see this question / concern for a lot of the solar generator offerings - I certainly think they could work to speed this up and that it could work to broaden the market for smaller solar generators.

If you had a whole house generator and automatic transfer switch you would still need UPS units on your PC's and networking equipment as it would take a few seconds for the generator to start up and cover the loads.

In my case I had an outage and knew that my UPS would not cover the long conference call I had scheduled so plugged my Ecoflow into the UPS and it covered all the office equipment for 5 hours until power came back. I then unplugged it from the UPS ( which kept the equipment going ) and plugged the UPS back into the wall

I honestly don't think that the expense of getting the transfer time lower in cheaper AIO makes sense. For me UPS units on critical units are "defense in depth" (and good UPS provide more than just switching to their inverter fast). I don't think even with the most expensive most awesome fully offgrid solar setup I'd forgo UPS on specific things. Especially when it's possible for a software or hardware fault to knock out a system. Heck, one of my "oh, I should maybe" side projects has been a bit of DIY "emergency lighting" in the garage. That way if power is out and the system isn't running I'm not troubleshooting via flashlight :D

In regards to my thread title, it's more about acting "like" a UPS for critical loads (or a whole house) than *replacing* them (to me).

 

[AZ Solar Junkie]

Hey guys - my first time posting to the forum, so be gentle .

My use case is a that I'm powering various things in the house off solar - not feeding back to the grid. I was doing this with an EcoFlow Delta 2 Max w/ extra batteries maxing it out at about 6kwh of battery capacity. Between the 1000 watt solar power limit and the limited battery capacity (along with a technical issue with the unit but I won't get into that), I decided to switch to a more appropriate solution using the EG4 3000EHV-48v and 3 of the 5.1kwh EG4 LL v2 batteries, which for my loads has completely eliminated the need to pull power from the wall overnight.

What I wanted to contribute to this discussion is what I have observed and learned re: the transfer time on the EG4 3000EHV when it switches from grid bypass mode to the inverter. When I first started out I only had one battery and I have the system set to pull power from the wall if the battery gets down to 20% until it gets the battery back to 60%. When that happens, it switches from the inverter to bypass mode and of course back to the inverter when the battery is charged enough. I also have various consumer UPS devices between the inverter and sensitive loads like my office computer setup, NAS server, etc. Whenever the EG4 unit switched to/from bypass mode and inverter, I used to hear the UPS units click on their inverter briefly due to the transfer time on the EG4 3000, but I recently noticed in the EG4 3000 manual 2 different transfer times listed - 10ms for "UPS" and 20ms for "Appliances". There's no other references to a distinction between those 2 apparent "modes" other than in setting program 3, which is "AC input voltage range" where you can choose between the default setting of "Appliance" or UPS. The description of that setting simply says that it influences the acceptable AC input voltage range, so it doesn't seem like it would be related to affecting the transfer time, but indeed it appears to. Since changing that setting to UPS on the 3000EHV, now when it switches the UPS devices no longer sense a power interruption is long enough for them to momentarily activate.

I haven't done it yet, but I'm really curious if running with this setting might just eliminate the need for the UPS devices, as if it reliably reduces the 3000EHV transfer time to 10ms, that is actually the same transfer time that almost all consumer-level UPS devices have anyway...

 

[Shimmy]

I haven't done it yet, but I'm really curious if running with this setting might just eliminate the need for the UPS devices, as if it reliably reduces the 3000EHV transfer time to 10ms, that is actually the same transfer time that almost all consumer-level UPS devices have anyway...

Welcome to the forum! It is a great data point; you make me want to bite the bullet and hook it up to my power event recorder to see what happens. Too bad shipping the battery is a pain for me or I would have had one last year.

 

[np84]

Hey guys - my first time posting to the forum, so be gentle .

My use case is a that I'm powering various things in the house off solar - not feeding back to the grid. I was doing this with an EcoFlow Delta 2 Max w/ extra batteries maxing it out at about 6kwh of battery capacity. Between the 1000 watt solar power limit and the limited battery capacity (along with a technical issue with the unit but I won't get into that), I decided to switch to a more appropriate solution using the EG4 3000EHV-48v and 3 of the 5.1kwh EG4 LL v2 batteries, which for my loads has completely eliminated the need to pull power from the wall overnight.

What I wanted to contribute to this discussion is what I have observed and learned re: the transfer time on the EG4 3000EHV when it switches from grid bypass mode to the inverter. When I first started out I only had one battery and I have the system set to pull power from the wall if the battery gets down to 20% until it gets the battery back to 60%. When that happens, it switches from the inverter to bypass mode and of course back to the inverter when the battery is charged enough. I also have various consumer UPS devices between the inverter and sensitive loads like my office computer setup, NAS server, etc. Whenever the EG4 unit switched to/from bypass mode and inverter, I used to hear the UPS units click on their inverter briefly due to the transfer time on the EG4 3000, but I recently noticed in the EG4 3000 manual 2 different transfer times listed - 10ms for "UPS" and 20ms for "Appliances". There's no other references to a distinction between those 2 apparent "modes" other than in setting program 3, which is "AC input voltage range" where you can choose between the default setting of "Appliance" or UPS. The description of that setting simply says that it influences the acceptable AC input voltage range, so it doesn't seem like it would be related to affecting the transfer time, but indeed it appears to. Since changing that setting to UPS on the 3000EHV, now when it switches the UPS devices no longer sense a power interruption is long enough for them to momentarily activate.

I haven't done it yet, but I'm really curious if running with this setting might just eliminate the need for the UPS devices, as if it reliably reduces the 3000EHV transfer time to 10ms, that is actually the same transfer time that almost all consumer-level UPS devices have anyway...

Did you ever try to connect any sensitive equipment directly to test UPS mode?