March 4, 20224 yr I've been threatening to install some solar at our place for the last year and am finally ready to pull the trigger. Now the big question that remains - what inverter? For context, my main aim is to bring down the monthly bill (loadshedding forunately isn't an issue) but since I don't have a spinning meter I figure I need to go hybrid. We currently use about 25kWh / day, and I'm guessing this will increase as the kids grow older. Inverter wise I'm torn between an 8kW Sunsynk or 2 x 5kW Growatt's. 2 x 5kW Sunsynks are just a bridge too far ito costing. It's important to me that the inverter be able to use all the available solar, add battery when more power is needed and only use grid when solar and battery combined are insufficient. I've decided on Pylontech batteries, so being able to limit discharge current from the inverter will be a big plus, as is reasonably seamless Home Assistant integration. I'm not an expert on either, so could be very wrong, but at the moment i have it as follows: Sunsynk 8kW Pros: Good local support (official and from community). 50A AC passthrough Multiple MPPTs Blends solar and battery Can set max battery discharge rate 5 year warranty Cons: Fan noise More expensive of the two options (about R10k more) Home Assistant integration is cumbersome 2 x Growatt 5kW Pros: Cheaper option Home Assistant integration Cons: Low MPPT voltage Noisy fan 2 year warranty Unsure: What happens when rated current is exceeded / is there AC pass through? Can it blend solar and battery? Can battery discharge limit be set? Your comments and inputs would be much appreciated Edited March 5, 20224 yr by Speedster
March 4, 20224 yr I had a similar topic a while ago. Take a look here: There are many other discussions on the subject, if you search around
March 5, 20224 yr Author Some updates on Growatt relating to questions posted in my initial post: It seems it's quite noisy (similar to a microwave) when under load The inverter trips out when the capacity (40A) is exceeded. There is an overload bypass (setting 18) which "when enabled, the unit will transfer to line mode if overload occurs in battery mode." I'm not sure what the details of this are though? It can blend solar and battery. Discharge rate is set by BMS. Battery disconnects when overloaded though. It'd be a super feature if this could be set on the inverter and then excess drawn in from the grid rather than disconnecting the battery and drawing everything from the grid. Edited March 5, 20224 yr by Speedster
March 5, 20224 yr If you have the funds, go for Sunsynk. It is much better than the Growatt hence the price difference. BTW, if you go for two 5kw growatt ES, you do not need to worry about AC pass through. You can even get the third one and you will have 15kw, your installation will still cost you less than getting the Sunsynk. The ES model can run without battery, that means it can blend solar and Grid. It can blend solar and Battery too and it has BMS comms, so your battery discharge limit will be taken care by bms of the battery. But if you are not using BMS, yes, you can manually set the discharge limit The only things that Lacks from the ES model, is the ability to export to the grid and the AC pass through. Do you really want to export to the grid? a walk around for the lack of AC pass through or feeding back to supply nonessentials, is to just get two or three 5kw inverters and then you will not have to split your db into essential and non-essential.
March 5, 20224 yr 8 minutes ago, Speedster said: Some updates on Growatt relating to questions posted in my initial post: It seems it's quite noisy (similar to a microwave) when under load The inverter trips out when the capacity (40A) is exceeded. There is an overload bypass (setting 18) which "when enabled, the unit will transfer to line mode if overload occurs in battery mode." I'm not sure what the details of this are though? It can blend solar and battery. Discharge rate is set by BMS. Battery disconnects when overloaded though. It'd be a super feature if this could be set on the inverter and then excess drawn in from the grid rather than disconnecting the battery and drawing everything from the grid. Battery will disconnect when overloaded, because of BMS, not because the inverter decides that it wants to disconnect. To get around this issue, you will have to get a bigger battery bank or go for a 1C battery. Also, it will not draw everything from the grid when the battery disconnects, it will blend the grid and Solar 😉
March 5, 20224 yr Author 6 minutes ago, hoohloc said: If you have the funds, go for Sunsynk. It is much better than the Growatt hence the price difference. BTW, if you go for two 5kw growatt ES, you do not need to worry about AC pass through. You can even get the third one and you will have 15kw, your installation will still cost you less than getting the Sunsynk. The ES model can run without battery, that means it can blend solar and Grid. It can blend solar and Battery too and it has BMS comms, so your battery discharge limit will be taken care by bms of the battery. But if you are not using BMS, yes, you can manually set the discharge limit The only things that Lacks from the ES model, is the ability to export to the grid and the AC pass through. Do you really want to export to the grid? a walk around for the lack of AC pass through or feeding back to supply nonessentials, is to just get two or three 5kw inverters and then you will not have to split your db into essential and non-essential. Thanks. Looking at your sig my current plan is very similar to what you have. I've got the Pylon's already and now need to decide between 2 x Growatts or the 8kW Sunsynk. Grid export isn't on the cards (Tshwane pays 11c/kWh) so that isn't a function I'd use.
March 5, 20224 yr Author 1 minute ago, hoohloc said: Battery will disconnect when overloaded, because of BMS, not because the inverter decides that it wants to disconnect. To get around this issue, you will have to get a bigger battery bank or go for a 1C battery. Also, it will not draw everything from the grid when the battery disconnects, it will blend the grid and Solar 😉 Yeah, I have it that way too. Obviously it'll blend grid and solar if there's solar available, but this won't always be the case. I think what I'd like to see is the inverter only draw a max current from the battery and then blend the balance from the grid, that way the BMS won't disconnect as the inverter won't be asking for more than the BMS will allow. Might be asking a bit too much though.
March 5, 20224 yr If looking for a silent inverter, have a look at Solar Select LuxPower SNA5000. I don't have much info on it but I've heard it does not use a fan to cool, need to find some who can confirm that
March 5, 20224 yr Author 7 minutes ago, hoohloc said: If looking for a silent inverter, have a look at Solar Select LuxPower SNA5000. I don't have much info on it but I've heard it does not use a fan to cool, need to find some who can confirm that A silent inverter would be pretty nice, but I guess that creates other problems - such as what happens to all that heat?
March 5, 20224 yr 3 minutes ago, Speedster said: Thanks. Looking at your sig my current plan is very similar to what you have. I've got the Pylon's already and now need to decide between 2 x Growatts or the 8kW Sunsynk. Grid export isn't on the cards (Tshwane pays 11c/kWh) so that isn't a function I'd use. If you decide to go with the similar set up as mine, then you do not really need a Sunsynk. You can use the extra funds and get more batteries or PV panels. The two runs my entire house and two ACs, 12000btu and 24000btu, geyser, stove, oven and all other appliances with ease. Just change your geyser element to a 1.5kw if using a 150L geyser. And I'm using the cheaper version that doesn't blend solar and grid power, never had to worry about AC passthrough or inverter tripping of over load. One thing to note, I have installed a gas water heater for morning showers because my geyser is switched off before sun set and then back on at sun rise. At night, only one AC is used because I need the batteries to take me through out the night.
March 5, 20224 yr 1 minute ago, Speedster said: A silent inverter would be pretty nice, but I guess that creates other problems - such as what happens to all that heat? I would assume you will need lots of ventilation in the room you will be installing it. 😀
March 5, 20224 yr This thread helped me go with the more expensive SunSynk inverter in the end. I also chose the 8.8 kW machine over the 5.5 kW one.
March 5, 20224 yr has z 4 hours ago, hoohloc said: I would assume you will need lots of ventilation in the room you will be installing it. 😀 It would depend on the design and the size of heat sink. Currently indoors is at 26 and my fanless inverter is running at 80% capacity and the heat sink is only at 43. The room has normal ventilation through a top hinged small window as per the normal steel windows. It is only open to the 1st notch. Edited March 5, 20224 yr by Scorp007
March 5, 20224 yr 6 hours ago, TimCam said: This thread helped me go with the more expensive SunSynk inverter in the end. I also chose the 8.8 kW machine over the 5.5 kW one. The inverter got fixed, and to be honest, the delay in my claim was purely because of the supplier. Growatt stepped up and all was sorted in reasonable time. Failures happen with electronic devices, it is the support you get when you have a failure that counts. In my case, Growatt support was tops and the inverter is still running fine a year later and with more years of warranty still remaining 😉 Edited March 5, 20224 yr by hoohloc gramma
March 5, 20224 yr 1 hour ago, hoohloc said: The inverter got fixed, and to be honest, the delay in my claim was purely because of the supplier. Growatt stepped up and all was sorted in reason time. Failures happen with electronic devices, it is the support you get when you have a failure that counts. In my case, Growatt support was tops and the inverter is still running fine a year later and with more years of warranty still remaining 😉 Yes, I know all is sorted now, and software is also updated, but back in 2020 & 2021, there were many issues with the Growatt, if you search the forum. With time fortunately most issues get solved though. 👍 I still like having local SunSynk support, repair, and training center. (I know I'm biased 😂)
March 5, 20224 yr Author 23 minutes ago, TimCam said: Yes, I know all is sorted now, and software is also updated, but back in 2020 & 2021, there were many issues with the Growatt, if you search the forum. With time fortunately most issues get solved though. 👍 I still like having local SunSynk support, repair, and training center. (I know I'm biased 😂) Fortunlately it's no longer 2020 or 2021. 😉 I did note an advert posted earlier for a local Growatt rep, so perhaps good things lie in wait. Edited March 5, 20224 yr by Speedster
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