Moffat

Unfortunately the Utilities (Eskom and others) want to have their cake and eat it and have the choice to bill on the higher scale, whilst taking away choice from the end-user. The rightful thing is to re-write laws to incorporate different rules/needs of consumers in conjunction with the involvement of end-users or installers to ensure their side (Eskom/Utility) of the system is not compromised and also that customers are not prejudiced. However, that is always wishful thinking, sadly.

I think Eskom/Utility should essentially not continually charge at a higher scale monthly or however time frame they deem at a higher scale. Given that if an inverter "accidentally exports" to the Utility/Eskom this may cause grid instability as happened in Europe when there was a huge power outage across multiple nations, they should ensure that if one chooses the option NOT TO EXPORT, there must definitely be a meter that ensures exporting does not happen and this may come at the cost to the installer/home of a once-off cost for that meter. This thing of wanting to make investments punitive by the Utility/Eskom is just not on.

Though the battery has a 200A max continuous discharge, in the Solis settings you can still choose not to have the inverter use the full max charge and discharge current and set it to lower levels, which is what I have done within my setup in order to try conserve my battery. Am intending to add another 2 but still will not allow the inverter (using the settings) to draw at maximum for purposes of enabling battery longevity.

The other important consideration as you 'pull the trigger' on your purchase is ensuring that the battery supplier has a robust after-sales service regarding your battery so that you can always have online and in person support should anything go wrong with your battery and that they have a good app which enables you to see what's happening with the individual cells and temperatures, not to mention a good warranty history that is efficient.

As someone with a Solis S6 6kw inverter, I think your reasons all resonate and are well thought out especially as regards redundancy. Just make sure you have enough space to ensure there's adequate "breathing space" (colloquialism) around the inverters as per Solis guidelines if I remember well it's 500mm all round or something to that effect. I also went with the Solis due to cost factors as well vs the Sunsynk and given that Sunsynk was only 5Kw, so the headroom (extra 1kw) for me, made sense as well. Battery-wise you may also want to consider redundancy in your equation as well, otherwise if the 1-battery packs up or is faulty you're in the dark safe for during the day when you can run off your panels. Also when adding another battery, you'll have to add a similar size battery and if it's large, then you also get hammered, cost-wise.

This is what my settings are. I also only have one charging slot as per attached screenshot.

Does anyone know how to set up the Solis s6 6kw Inverter to be able to NOT pull power from the grid if battery is say above a certain percentage SoC e.g. 80%+ so that as we get towards the evening, if I have 100w Solar, but my load is 500w, the inverter will pull the deficit from the battery and not from the grid? This low Pv instance can also occur when there's a cloud passing overhead resulting in low Pv generation and I have seen the inverter then pulling power from the Grid. For me these "parasitic grid usages" outside of my normal grid time charge of 00:00-0600hrs adds up over time. I would want inverter to NOT PULL AT ALL from the grid during the day.

Hi @Sam79 I haven't set up my Smart port yet on my Solis S6 6kw Pro Hybrid inverter as I do not yet have enough batteries and panels. My understanding of the Smart port is that: When battery is full and your critical loads are all taken care off, you have the option to push power via Smart Port excess solar energy to "non-essential" items such as Washing Machine, Dryer or Geyser; You can also set the option where when battery is at a certain SoC (e.g. 90%+) and you have lots of Solar, then some of that solar power can be set to also run "non-essential" items as so desired until battery level goes below the level you would have set. See benefits below as per this link. Though its for a 3-phase, the same benefits apply to the Single-phase inverter as well, I believe. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ar_Flz69bv8

I concur with @Coulomb, but if it's a Lithium battery, best is to get a cable and connect it to a laptop in order to get granular information regarding the various cells making up the battery, one pack or cell may be damaged or even more.

@TaliaB you owe me an inverter and I'll buy the beer or brewery hehehehe. Looks nice your setup. Takes me to the good old first question all installers and resellers MUST ask a client, "What do you want your system to do or run?". But alas some resellers just look to sell and not give value. Enjoy your new tools.

Happy to help.

Am not in Jo'burg nor am I even in SA and to be honest faced the same dilemma of whether to choose supply from a local reseller (being in Zimbabwe) or buying direct from SA (on Powerforum Store). The price difference was almost double or even more from local suppliers. I then bit the bullet, hugged a tree, in lieu of touching wood and bought in SA. Thus far I have had an issue with my battery but got exceptional online support from Freedom Won. My inverter has not had issues to date (hugging tree again) and am praying this continues to be a good experience and journey having opted to buy a Solis S6 6kw Pro hybrid inverter. Am now looking to add another battery or two hopefully soon to go up to 15kw. Panels however in spite of the exorbitant cost, I have opted to buy locally so I can maximise on warranty and reduce risk of micro-cracks during transportation and then having to be stuck. How averse to risk and cost is definitely something I guess @esmail-kassir will now have to contend with himself.

@esmail-kassir see this comparison https://solar.co.za/deye-vs-sunsynk-hybrid-inverter-comparison?add-to-cart=29340&srsltid=AfmBOoqpxLuhWhokJLW5Fg6xHnwv-kVEJVDcG2p4Ec_prMk3GljOC4OE There was a website that at one-time I used to compare the 3-inverters but can seem to find it now. It had a link where you could add the inverter-type you wanted to compare. Eventually I went with the Solis S6 because of price over the 5kw Deye and Sunsynk. Also of importance would be how much granular information you seek to get from the inverter and it's local and web app as a way to help you in your decision-making process apart from price. Battery compatibility across the brands is not too far apart, so that may be another area or aspect to consider to help in your decision. Best of luck.

@Coulomb you raise a very critical question which needs answering - "Does the inverter work (power loads, charge the battery) despite the display not functioning?".

Hi @TaliaB am not too familiar with Victron, but just a thought, is one able to use an external MPPT and bypass the internal one and still get this to work as a work-around?

As a trouble shooting measure try the following: Option A: - Assumes your panels have an issue Switch off your panels - hopefully you have a disconnect switch Disconnect loads Turn on inverter and see if that works Option B: - Assumes your battery or batteries have an issue/fault Switch off your panels Disconnect loads Disconnect battery or turn off battery Switch on A/C Switch on Inverter and see if that works Option C: - Assumes your inverter is damaged All else is off Switch on battery, do not switch on A/C See if inverter switches on to normal If all above fails, then get a technician to come with a test meter, my sad assumption is likely something happened and the inverter has been affected. Do you have an external MPPT for your panels? Also check that. Are you able to enter the menus by holding down the menu button to check which error type it is? If you are able to do so, this will be the fastest method to know which error the inverter is reporting.

Greetings @Ali Rammal may you kindly provide more information such as: Size of inverter Number of solar panels and configuration What was happening when it switched off (something was turned on or off on your loads) What battery you have and sizes and what percentage State of Charge was your batteries at When you say it refuses to switch on, you mean as per last photo where inverter is on but it shows a fault and is not going into normal working mode?

My 2-cents would be to answer the following questions: Where are you based? In your location do you have several certified and qualified installers for the inverter you may choose Are you someone who is a bit technical or likes to tinker with settings How reliable is your internet connectivity How far are you from your reseller in case of issues and support I have a Solis inverter and thus far on the whole am happy with it, though the support from my installer has been sadly been underpar and have had to get support online. My CT was installed in the wrong place (within the inverter) so am not able to get info regarding full system power use nor have excess energy pushed to non-essentials therefore. If you are in an area where internet connectivity is a challenge, then an inverter where you can change settings on an LCD display is recommended, in my view. Also look at support for a battery wherein in case of issues you can get physically close support from battery reseller and a battery that allows you to be able to read information directly of the battery either using RS485/CAN/RS232 and ensure you get the cable and not just getting information via the inverter. The greatest and most important part of any purchase is the aftersales support and warranty so you are not left in the dark should something happen. That said, I would still choose my Solis S6 as a first choice.

The trajectory of this discussion is very much welcome, in my view and makes sense especially given there's experts here who know how to calculate all if not most of the variables and also we have people who have "real-world" experiences of what was put on paper vs what they received and what they are experiencing in both the short term and long term. As someone who in my initial dive into Solar was absolutely reliant on installers and was willing to pay top-dollar, I still got my fingers and whole hand and body burnt and taken for a ride. Now with experience am always willing to learn and also share my 2-cents. Installers who "supply and fix/fit" are also in this trade for making a living and making money and some are quite unscrupulous and this forum is a great help in correcting misconceptions and flagging also fly-by-night thieves. So am all for this idea of sharing, bantering, learning and re-learning.

Interesting, am just wondering how the BMS then reports the overall Cycle life of the batteries given chances are you could have recycled cells mixed with newer cells or even brand new ones. Would they then average it out and how then would their BMS also count a cycle whether it's from 100% state of charge down to 50% depth of discharge or down to 20% or even lower? Too many considerations, but long and short this may still work out if the price was "reasonable". Yet again the term "reasonable" is based on an individual's willingness to buy at a set price-point. My contention still therefore remains to always check: Warranty - from real world experiences After-sales support (in person and online) - for firmware updates if need be Ability to have battery communicate with a desktop or laptop using the CAN/RS485/RS232 port independent of the inverter for accurate readings How long the company has been operating for and hope they keep going for a long time Off course price, benchmarked against similar performing batteries in terms of capacity and C-rating.

If there's an issue with warranty: Do they replace/repair the battery; What's their time frame if repairing; What happens in the meantime from the reseller you were referred to? Are these batteries new or second-life?

If my memory serves me well, some of the Revov batteries are second-life batteries, meaning your feedback is actually true to both people you have spoken to. However, that said, the question to those people would have been their experience with the suppliers of those batteries, in relation to what their attitude was, more so for those with a bad reputation. Batteries and inverters are electronic products and things can slip through the final Quality Inspection process, what's more important is how quickly the seller as well as the manufacturer is willing to give you support or replace or even repair the faulty item. I got a battery from FreedomWon and it had an issue with a faulty thermistor sensor right out of the gate, however my experience with their support was absolutely exceptional and would definitely recommend them, not just for me getting another battery but also recommend others. They also have online support and I being in another country (outside of South Africa), such support was absolutely invaluable as I only have the one-battery thus far. Suffice it to say, my issue was resolved and have nothing but good things to say about them. So with regards to Revov: Who is the Seller and do they have an office you can walk in to? Do they replace the battery or they repair it and how long does that process take? Meantime whilst, lets say they are repairing your battery, what do they offer you as a temporary backup, in case you are in the dark from Eskom (if you are in SA) or during loadshedding? Do they have a local factory, distributor or authorised dealer near you? What's the warranty on the battery you are buying and have you tried to also verify with other people who have actually had this warranty honoured? That's my 2-cents and it applies not just to Revov but also any battery you may then settle for.

On first installation, managed to setup the Solis as per this link. This evening I did the following: Option A Switched off wifi on my mobile phone but kept bluetooth on (on my phone) but got the error message "The Internet connection appears to be offline" I switched of my router so no wifi would connect to the Inverter The result: Was unable to connect to Datalogger or Inverter Option B Kept my router off so Inverter is connected to wifi Turned on mobile data for Solis App on my mobile phone The result: I was able to connect to the Inverter as well as the Datalogger and also am able to change settings Conclusion: One can connect to Solis inverter using bluetooth but phone device needs to have mobile data One can connect to Solis inverter datalogger/inverter even if there's no wifi for Inverter but connecting device needs data and bluetooth to be on.

Yeah am also struggling with overcast days meaning I don't get to midnight still running off battery without the grid having to kick in. Currently our grid has been somewhat reliable. Previously we used to go up to 18hours without the grid.

My Internet Service Provider is poor sometimes plus at one time also had Fiber optic cables being damaged. Yes, I do try to manage loads but with one battery it’s tough-going for now.