the_colorist
"Move over... let me fix it" Installer/Engineer
With the Venus OS being open source and pre-compiled to run on an RPI or a Beaglebone black, it can be a very cost-effective solution to buying a Venus GX or CCGX. An interesting solution for the DIY/Tinker/Programmer community.Agreed. And the fact that it's open source and modifiable with an active community developing stuff like NodeRed ... yeah. Winner.
The only other significant thing I noticed was that they seem to be concentrating on the European 50hz market. Most of their products that catch the eye are all 230v 50hz.. pretty useless in the USA.
Look closely at the bottom of the datasheets for pretty much any series of Victron inverter. You'll see they are 60hz switchable. What not too many people know is that this is true of a lot of medium to high end 50hz inverter manufacturers. And you'll notice for the most part the 230V/50hz models are much cheaper than their 120V or 120/240V counterparts stateside.
Also buying toroid AT's is not that expensive either IMHO. I, for example, have them custom made at a factory in China rather than buying Victron AT's. Then it's sized to the client's installation and lower cost as well.
What's the downside of high frequency architectures? I've seen claims of not being able to handle power surges but that's clearly not true of the Victron's...
So I have not tested them but I have heard the smaller Multiplus inverters do appear to have a little trouble starting larger loads as compared to a comparable inverter with a different bridge design and larger transformer it seems. But again I have not tested them myself.
The larger MP and Quattro inverters use hybrid design with accompanying isolation transfomer as far as I know and I have not heard of any issues with startup loads.
Check out this video from Victron:
Inside the Victron MultiPlus & a Detailed Explanation of How It Works - Victron Energy
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