When the Universe turns your way...

[SniperX]

I have a Schneider XW Pro, and I was doing a search on FB for a Schneider FB page to see if I could see some setups and in the search, a marketplace post came up selling Schneider Equipment.
It was posted that this guy was selling 4 XWpros, 3 80A charge controllers, a fupact, 1 DC breaker and a panel mount DC circuit with 8 breakers in it for $2,000.00. I almost fell off my chair. I wasn't looking to buy anything but you can't pass this up.
It had only been up for 4 hours, so I told the guy consider it sold. It was 5 hours away in GA, but I said I would pick it up. So worth the 10 hour round trip drive.
When my partner went to get it, it was way more than what was listed.
It ended up as:
SIX (yes, I said 6) Schneider XW pros (2 brand new still in the box, 2 opened box but still never used, and 2 that they set up and used to be sure it worked.
SIX 80A charge controllers (not 3)
Large PDP with breakers, etc. Fupacs (not even sure what those are) battery monitor, gateway and other misc. stuff!
and a whole slew of things not listed. They wanted all the Schneider stuff gone and it was still only $2,000.00!
They even threw in FOUR raceways that are 6x6x18 UL listed!
I can't even believe this happened to me.
This guy is also selling a Growatt 12kw, a 6kw, (2) 5000 Growths, 2 growatt lithium batteries and some odd stuff to go with it for $5,000.00. He has 2 Kohler propane generators (10kw) brand new for $2000 each.
They are a solar company who buys things to try them out for their units they are tweaking and they ended up liking the Sol-ark 15kw units, so they don't need this other stuff.
What a steal. I am still in shock. Look at the photo of the FB marketplace ad and find him if you are interested in the growatt items. NEW in the boxes!

 

[Brett V]

Go buy a Powerball ticket! NOW!!

 

[BentleyJ]

What a find. You planning on re-selling any of the XW Pros?

 

[AntronX]

Found these guys: https://ravolt.us/

 

[SniperX]

Found these guys: https://ravolt.us/

Yes! Here are a few photos of what they are building... building these all-in-ones. This one goes for about $30,000. Ready to go with a 50A RV plug on the side and all done up. Said the Sol-ark 15kw fits best with their builds. They tried Schneider (too many components which is why they sold it off) and the Growatts. They decided the Sol-ark was their best choice and they know the software, etc. so well, they said they can trouble shoot anything over the phone with the Sol-ark. I had no idea they were a company like that. I would have had my partner take a trailer down and buy solar panels, etc. Very cool set-up. (Not sure why the photos are loading sideways)

 

[SniperX]

What a find. You planning on re-selling any of the XW Pros?

I have three buildings (I am off-grid), so putting them all to use. I was going to have to buy a few at a time and pray they would come down in price with the Sol-ark and 18kpv competing with them, but now, I am all set. Will let you know if I decide. I have been reading all your posts to glean all the knowledge I can from them!

 

[AntronX]

About $20.5k retail worth of components (lets say $15k volume discount) selling for $30k turnkey. Not bad. But WTF is that patent protected disclaimer? You can patent putting off the shelf parts into a weatherproof box now? Also that made in America sticker is a lie.

 

[SniperX]

About $20.5k retail worth of components (lets say $15k volume discount) selling for $30k turnkey. Not bad. But WTF is that patent protected disclaimer? You can patent putting off the shelf parts into a weatherproof box now? Also that made in America sticker is a lie.

Yeah, it may be that they say the "turnkey" idea is the patent, not sure. They put the whole thing together right there in the warehouse. Partner was there when one of those cabinets was delivered and they put all the components in it. He says they are selling a ton of them. I guess you lift it from the top with some type of heavy equipment or something and place it on a pad. Said a lot of businesses are buying them and skipping installation fees for systems.

 

[dougbert]

I have three buildings (I am off-grid), so putting them all to use. I was going to have to buy a few at a time and pray they would come down in price with the Sol-ark and 18kpv competing with them, but now, I am all set. Will let you know if I decide. I have been reading all your posts to glean all the knowledge I can from them!

good luck for you - I have been saving pennies for my 2nd XW Pro -
I have everything else now, just needing the XW Pro

my gosh, way to go dude

 

[Hedges]

You are now, to Schneider, what I am, to SMA.
Except you didn't have to dig deep and empty your pockets.
Hope the forum members will be able to look to you for configuration and debug advice.

What a score you made! (And funny he considers the Growatt worth 2.5x as much.)
I spent the same sort of money recently, but all I have to show for it is 3x 5kW Sunny Boy Storage.

 

[SniperX]

good luck for you - I have been saving pennies for my 2nd XW Pro -
I have everything else now, just needing the XW Pro

my gosh, way to go dude

Things like this NEVER happen to me.

 

[SniperX]

You are now, to Schneider, what I am, to SMA.
Except you didn't have to dig deep and empty your pockets.
Hope the forum members will be able to look to you for configuration and debug advice.

What a score you made! (And funny he considers the Growatt worth 2.5x as much.)
I spent the same sort of money recently, but all I have to show for it is 3x 5kW Sunny Boy Storage.

I was worried the seller would say, "I forgot to add a zero and it is $20,000 instead of $2,000." I thought the same thing about the Growatt except there are two batteries in that pile.

 

[Hedges]

At first I read it as $20k. Really surprised it was $2k.
Then I thought you were being set up for a robbery.

$20k is on the order of my SMA purchases. Over the years, including earlier retail/street prices, has probably totaled $40k. Enough stuff for six split-phase grid tie backup systems, although it will be four including a couple 3-phase and paralleled inverters for one of two split phase.

I was going to ask if you were already well versed in Schneider, but I see newbie with "400 Watts solar (2 200 watt panels) Redarc charge controller (BCDC1240D) 2 agm 120 amp hour batteries."

I see your battery is "6 EG4lls V1 100A 48Vs paralleled in their rack", should handle 30kW draw without issue but only if battery SoC and current sharing cooperates. I haven't read much on the topic, just inrush when first connecting.

Beginning installation of Schneider XW Pro/EG4ll batteries V1/MPPT 100A 600V OFF-GRID only questions

I know these are very basic questions I should understand to even attempt to install myself, but I am in the middle of nowhere. I was going to install a 12KW Growatt, but have abandoned that and purchased a Schneider XW pro, mini pdp, and their MPPT 100A 600V charge controller. I am totally...

diysolarforum.com

Is the system operating yet? Do you have a precharge setup?

Keep your AGM system for now as backup for critical loads. Lithium batteries with BMS may disconnect unexpectedly. I don't know how common issues are, but we read a lot here. My AGM system, the disconnect events have been for drained batteries, tripping of breakers sharing current through paralleled inverters, and a glitch when I created a bonded fault (line to neutral short) on grid side. I would like a deadman transfer back to grid for highest reliability.

 

[SniperX]

At first I read it as $20k. Really surprised it was $2k.
Then I thought you were being set up for a robbery.

$20k is on the order of my SMA purchases. Over the years, including earlier retail/street prices, has probably totaled $40k. Enough stuff for six split-phase grid tie backup systems, although it will be four including a couple 3-phase and paralleled inverters for one of two split phase.

I was going to ask if you were already well versed in Schneider, but I see newbie with "400 Watts solar (2 200 watt panels) Redarc charge controller (BCDC1240D) 2 agm 120 amp hour batteries."

I see your battery is "6 EG4lls V1 100A 48Vs paralleled in their rack", should handle 30kW draw without issue but only if battery SoC and current sharing cooperates. I haven't read much on the topic, just inrush when first connecting.

Beginning installation of Schneider XW Pro/EG4ll batteries V1/MPPT 100A 600V OFF-GRID only questions

I know these are very basic questions I should understand to even attempt to install myself, but I am in the middle of nowhere. I was going to install a 12KW Growatt, but have abandoned that and purchased a Schneider XW pro, mini pdp, and their MPPT 100A 600V charge controller. I am totally...

diysolarforum.com

Is the system operating yet? Do you have a precharge setup?

Keep your AGM system for now as backup for critical loads. Lithium batteries with BMS may disconnect unexpectedly. I don't know how common issues are, but we read a lot here. My AGM system, the disconnect events have been for drained batteries, tripping of breakers sharing current through paralleled inverters, and a glitch when I created a bonded fault (line to neutral short) on grid side. I would like a deadman transfer back to grid for highest reliability.

I am trying to get it up and running. I had spent 9 months trying to figure out the Growatt 12kw (which we hung on the wall and never even connected) before I realized it was going to be a nightmare down the road with SS not wanting to stand behind it anymore.
I purchased one XW Pro and was researching that when I came across the marketplace post. The seller was super nice. They sent multiple pictures and they ended up being a solar company. Just got some help from BentleyJ and some other nice posters. Now I am trying to figure out if I need to ground a metal chase way. I want to add some busbars inside and connect the 4/0 battery cables to it before going into the mini pdp. If I need to work on the system, I will want to be able to disconnect easily and this seemed the best solution. I believe I need to run a green ground wire from the metal box to the ground bar of the mini pdp, so I am investigating how to do this before I proceed any further.

 

[Hedges]

All chassis should be connected together, to PV frames, and grounded. If your house has grid input, connect to that ground. Bond to all gas and water pipes.

Precharge - do you have a mechanism to precharge capacitors in inverters before connecting batteries? Often BMS shuts down or over current, contactors weld, or fuses blow.

I would imagine it is easy to connect battery to inverter and get that running. Integrating other stuff that communicates, depends on how plug-and-play things are. Especially BMS to inverter communications if used, since there are so many brands and protocols. And some people with EG4 batteries from SS had issues, but I think equipment swaps may have fixed it. Perhaps several batteries in parallel will avoid issues.

Fuses are important, especially with so much battery and fault current available. We still don't know for sure what LiFePO4 can deliver; BMS properly working may mask that. At least one fuse before cable from rack to inverter, although my SWAG said 20,000A fault current so that would indicate one class T fuse per battery.

I first commissioned one pair of inverters (split-phase) with small old battery, before connecting all four and buying bigger new battery. Nice to see things running.

 

[dougbert]

Things like this NEVER happen to me.

you can NO LONGER say that now -lol