Psy

Thanks @PsyCLown, appreciate the feedback. I am honestly thinking the SNA is going to be my better bet. I recently found out that one of the suppliers of Voltronics are having some issues with them and are probably going to stop importing them, so worries about service if I go with Infinisolar. So far I have only heard good things about the Luxpower so this little bit of extra confirmation makes me feel better about the decision. Thanks a mill!

Hey folks, hoping to get some opinions if anyone can share? So I am looking at getting an inverter in the next week or two, I have worked with these things for a while and have learned how important it is to chose the right inverter. I have worked with the Voltronics for years and I know how things can go wrong and how they can perform if used correctly. Recently another option has come up but I have no experience with them, I am either looking at an Infinisolar 5,6kW or a Luxpower SNA5000. I want to make sure that I have BMS communications and I want to monitor the system with SolarAssistant. Now I know the Inifisolar can do this but they are slightly more expensive and I know what a pain warranty claims can be depending on where you get it. The Luxpower is cheaper but is it going to be as good in quality? Any feedback or thoughts would really be appreciated.

Thanks for the help. it keeps giving the same issue... My concern is that is has something to do with the settings on the inverter but I am a complete noob when it comes to Deye inverters, never dealt with them too much in the past.

Hey, I am just wondering if anyone has run into this and perhaps found a solution... So this is a Deye 10kW 3P, connected via the BMS with a splitter to SolarAssistant. But it keeps giving a CRC error: The unit is reading and everything seems fine but it keeps giving this error and I cant seem to get it to go away... Anyone else seen this?

Hey, I've spoken to the SolarAssistant Devs and this is a bug they are aware of with the latest Beta. Another beta will be be published to address this along with a couple other small issues with the latest beta so just keep up to date and this should be fixed soon, luckily it's just a visual glitch and does not effect your ability to update once the new version is available.

Well, if you're looking for a system install you're going to need a qualified electrician to do a CoC anyway. Having them involved in the purchasing process means they can advise on the the kind of system you need and what needs to be included with the install, which often makes the process a lot easier. Often the average person will forget about fuses, arrestors, sub-DBs and all the small things that are needed to meet regulation.

Hey. while I don't know these specific units com port configurations, hos inverters and batteries have specific pins allocated to CANH and CANL or RS486A and RS485B and so on. Sometimes you're lucky and you can just wire them with a normal RJ45 but sometimes you need to cross wires etc which can be a pain. Just check the manuals and you will find the battery com pins and wire accordingly

Sadly I do not, there isn't an email line that's open. You will have to talk to the place of purchase and there will be a line of contact from them up. I know its really frustrating to hear but go through the process and it usually leads somewhere

Ok, so there is a chance this is an odd software thing... but you would need someone a little more adept with the software, like @Coulomb, to confirm since I am a little more of a hardware person. However, that does sound a little long considering there's a cable connecting the two. I see you already flashed with firmware 2.1, it may be worth asking the people you purchased it from to ask the supplier about it? When I run into this kind of stuff I usually ask Voltronic to review and either advise or provide me with a firmware patch...

Well it's one of a couple high power floodlights I use as load, adding more lights as needed to see how inverts etc act under load. If you look at the power supply of the light, its basically a rectifier with voltage regulators... however, the MOV is before any of that stuff and burnt right through. Even the input resistors are burnt completely, reading as open circuit.

So, just updating this thread in case some runs into something similar... So it looks like it has to do with the way the inverter generates it's waveform. So looks like this unit is "simulated" sine wave, so not pure and found out the hard way. With the way the modified waveform, it picks up like 40% or more harmonics on the 3rd and 17% on the 7th. This combined with a light that doesn't have a power supply or transformer in it leads to instant burning... So when it comes to you lights, you can connect lights to a pure sine wave but connecting an LED light to a modified sine wave can end badly. It's not like every LED light on earth will pop on modified, but a lot of them don't have the power supply needed to handle being connected to modified sine waves.

Hey Stan, welcome to the forum! Yeah that sounds a little annoying, sorry to hear it, but communication taking it's time to update doesn't sound too far outside of the expected. I have seen units take like a minute to update the app, the information on the inverter should be a lot faster than that.. When you say slow to update, what are you considering slow?

Yeah, as @mzezmansaid you could probably get something like a 3kW Axpert pretty cheap... the real question here is what you want to run etc. So, if you're running a load of like 1-2kW then a 3kW Axpert will do the job and be more affordable than a Sunsynk. However, if you are dealing with 5kW or more of load then you may have to look into big units that get expensive anyway. I have checked and my TV, lights, internet and Android box use a total of like 500/600W so have those running through a small 1,6kW inverter and 2 gels batteries that cost like 7K for both the inverter and batteries. I have a gas plate and my geyser is large for 2 people so that stays warm enough to carry on with my life... If you are looking for cheap you will find cheap, you should be looking more for a solution that will fit your needs and then look for the cheapest option

Heya, these little inverters can be annoying... as mentioned by @BritishRacingGreensome additional info will go a long way here, since there are a million ways these could be operating so without seeing how it does things it's hard to help. I picture of the PCB will help, maybe do front and back if you can since they like to place the MOSFET drivers underneath the MOSFETs... However, I will tell you what I told someone else in another post... MOSFETs are sensitive and fickle, when one burns they all need to be replaced. If this is using a MOSFET rectifier, which many do but there are just as many that don't, then any micro-misalignment will cause the voltages to to move and the effects can stack. This could be why you're getting such little voltage... I was working on one of these, replaced the DC MOSFETs and the drivers popped. Replaced the drivers and the controlling IC popped, replaced that and turns out the AC MOSFETs were actually damaged with the initial pop even though none of them looked burned or damaged...

Hey @chrisc, not a bad idea and I like the thinking. However, if you want to do that make sure the meter is bi-directional. I learned the hard way, not all meters can measure voltage and current in both directions. I made a box to put between inverters and batteries to measure this stuff during testing and the meter I put in causes endless issues because it's one directional. The other thing is that you need to make sure that you have DC power to power up the meter so battery will be the best place to put it but PV is super unstable so you cannot do the same for PV. You do get some great Raspberry Pi projects that do the same thing and some, but you need to be comfortable with setting up and using a Raspberry Pi. Otherwise, is your inverter not able to export or display these values? Usually inverter software will show you all the values you want and they usually have an app or PC program that you can use to read them...

Ok, so it looks like the BlueNova would prefer the use of CAN communication protocols: However, you can wire both the RS485 and CAN cables since the inverter have both spread over a different pins: On the brighter side, BlueNova seems to provide all the relevant charging parameters as shown on page 4 of the manual. And the Luxpower manual shows these can all be configured via the relevant software, see page 20 of the manual:

You're welcome Luis! I have been repairing these things for a while now so happy to share my experience! So between the 2 MOSFET heatsinks, you should see two bars that connect to the smaller MPPT that is mounted above. They should be a socket size 5,5mm. Those are the points where the MPPT feeding into charging, picture below: If you google the MOSFET spec-sheet, it should show you the label of each leg and what values to expect. Some measurements are just a resistance measurement, so you will need a multi-meter that can measure resistance. The other is a diode reading, since there are semi-conductive gates between certain legs and it should give you the breakdown voltage for that semi-conductive gate. Honestly, I have nothing against people repairing their own devices and I advocate for the right to repair. However, if it feels like you're out of your depth there is no shame in taking it to someone that does repairs like myself. The reality is that these are extremely complex devices that can be a major pain to test and work on, sadly I don't know anyone in Spain to recommend xD

If that's the case then good thinking Madalyn, it sounds dodgy but I hope you find the system you need. If you are wondering how to decide what system you should get, we have a couple topics where people have discussed how one would go about spec-ing a system or feel free to ask if you need any assistance

Heya Luis, that's a rough one and sadly when not done right you just end up burning replacement components constantly. So the DC-bus is likely damaged, the PV connects to the charging circuit through there so no wonder the PV isn't charging. The real issue is that if a single MOSFET blows, you have to replace every other MOSFET and possibly the MOSFET controls. If you want to check the MPPT you can try reading the voltage across the 2 bars that connect from the MPPT to the mainboard (As long as it's the same as the Axperts I work on), that is where the MPPT pushed voltage to the charging circuit. Otherwise, due to their sensitive nature, if one MOSFET blowing will damage others (may not be visibly blown but there is often invisible damage). So, the ones I work on have IRFB3307ZPBF MOSFETs and I know the values should be the following: Resistance: GS: 11.7k/GD: 250k/DS: OL Then when Diode measuring you should get: SD: 0.43V/DS: OL So you can check the relevant values for the IRFB4110 and try sort the damaged ones from the ones that are fine but you'll likely have to replace them all...

Well, if it's just short term I can see the appeal of something like that. However, long term it's a little sussy... So, after a year you would be paying R18,960. Now you can get an 8kW inverter and batteries for between R50K and R60K, the panels are an additional R3-5K depending on the panels you get. If you plan on using the service for 2 years or more, then you are spending money when you could be saving money instead. If you're only planning on using the service for a couple months then it's great and will save you from having to drop huge amounts of cash. The other thing is that you have no control over the system and they probably won't let you expand if you feel like you need additional panels or another battery to make it through a particularly rough patch of loadshedding. For power users or people that want this on a permanent basis buying a system would be better. If you are worried about the costs you could always buy the inverter and battery first, then get panels when you got extra money and add another battery one day if you see fit. You don't have to buy an entire system at once, but be ready to spend more than R50K on a decent inverter and battery to start.

Heya, welcome to the forum, I hope we'll be able to help you out! While I may not be able to help with the first question, I'll be more than happy to advise in any way I can. For the most part their reputations are all ok, I think Revov do revamped batteries but haven't heard anything bad. Sunsynk is the same as the Deye with better software and Pylontech has become a bit of an industry standard for lithium batteries. At the end of the day the performance won't differ too much between them, its their integration and compatibility with your inverter that'll matter more. I will say though, I have heard great things about the Sunsynk post-sales support...

You're welcome, always happy to help where I can. So for the most part they will be doing the actual work but most people underestimate how much they rely on the suppliers for assistance as well, best of luck and really hope you come right!

Hey @Marcelle, welcome to the forum! Sadly, I do not have someone that side that I can recommend but I do have a little advice from some of my most painful experiences... Finding an installer like this will be hard but the harder part is finding a supplier with good after-sales support, an installer will do what they can but once actual issues appear they'll usually fall back on the suppliers post-sales support. Most installers will just call the supplier if there are issues for a quick and easy answer and when people get annoyed with installers is usually when the installer cannot get help or info from the supplier. Getting a good installer is still very important, but making sure you buy from the right suppliers is a close second priority.

With that much battery, unless they're using power with reckless abandon, there really shouldn't be too much need for a backup gennie. Like @JTKmentioned, getting a solar or gas geyser would be more important than a generator since its those things that would run the batteries down. However, with lights (25W max for LED), TV (usually less than 500W) and all the other loads of a couple hundred watts the system should be able to survive a cloudy day. It's the kettles, geysers, stove and other appliances with elements in them that would pose the biggest issues so if they get gas stove & geyser the system should be sufficient.

Do yourself a favour and measure the voltage between neutral and earth. As mentioned by @Jacques Ester, the axperts often have a built in neutral-earth bond. However, if you are getting +50V then your's may not have this. Turns out some OEMs remove an earthing screw near the inputs on the main board since it can lead to earth tripping in certain regions of the world. If yours is one of the ones with a potential difference between earth and neutral, you may have to look into an external earth-neutral bond. Most appliances need to be earth by regulation, if there is a voltage potential between neutral and earth you need to get it sorted before something (or worse someone) gets damaged...