Hi there,

I have been running my Luxpower Hybrid Inverter for a few months now, and am very happy. Time to add PVs! Looking at the Spec(see attachment), the minimum input Voltage of the PV's should be 120V up to 385V Max

Am I correct to take the Voltage of all the panels combined and make sure it is more than 120V?

If I get 5 panels of type : 545W Canadian Solar Super High Power Mono PERC HiKU

5 X 41.5V = 207.5V

This is higher than the 120Vdc on the spec, so 5 panels is enough and worth it?

 

 

That looks about right - you should be able to go up to possibly 7/8 panels. Whats the VOC of the panels?

Are these the panels you are referring to?
https://www.solar-shop.co.za/canadian-solar-panels/741-canadian-solar-545w-super-high-power-mono-perc-hiku-with-mc4-evo2.html

If so, the VOC is 49,4V  X 5 = 247,5V
Your Inverter specifies a max VOC 0f 480V so you are well inside the operating specs.
My neighbour has the exact Inverter and he has two strings of 6 X 545W JA panels each. As happy as can be. His system is performing top notch.
Edit: Need to mention that he added a second identical Inverter, now in parallel and each string feeds one inverter.

Edited October 3, 20223 yr by zsde

Thanks for the feedback guys... Yes those are the exact Panels I am buying

As @Zsde  said, the VOC of the Panels are 49,4.

 

 

 

Edited October 5, 20223 yr by WantToGoSolar

On 2022/10/03 at 5:26 PM, zsde said:

Are these the panels you are referring to?
https://www.solar-shop.co.za/canadian-solar-panels/741-canadian-solar-545w-super-high-power-mono-perc-hiku-with-mc4-evo2.html

If so, the VOC is 49,4V  X 5 = 247,5V
Your Inverter specifies a max VOC 0f 480V so you are well inside the operating specs.
My neighbour has the exact Inverter and he has two strings of 6 X 545W JA panels each. As happy as can be. His system is performing top notch.
Edit: Need to mention that he added a second identical Inverter, now in parallel and each string feeds one inverter.

Hey @zsde

I'm looking to build a similar setup, however I'm a bit confused - those JA panels have a current rating around 13.08A-13.93A, yet the SNA5000 has a max PV input of 13A.

I take it that means the rated Amperage input isn't a hard limit or is one flirting with premature failure at those values?

Thanks,
J

40 minutes ago, Just-ify said:

Amperage input isn't a hard limit

The MPPT clips the Amps, no issue. Only the Voltage limits and max wattage are critical. 
 

I have a 5000 Luxpower Hybrid inverter and presently have 9 x 250W - 270W panels connected through one string. Cloudy conditions are causing my batteries [9.6kWH pylon Li-Iron] not to be completely charged during the day and need to use grit power for this purpose. My Average daily use is 11kWH. I decided to upgrade to 5 x 585W panels. That's the max I can put onto my roof. I find the from 14:30 I lose PV power due to my roof not correctly placed to optimize the panels and start to drain my batteries. I have a car port that is such sited that I can fit 4 x 270W panels facing west. This should cater for the loss I incur. They will be coupled to the second PV set string at my Inverter. Is this possible/correct seeing that I use two sets of PV with different watts?

Edited January 17, 20251 yr by Aubrey48

49 minutes ago, Aubrey48 said:

I have a 5000 Luxpower Hybrid inverter and presently have 9 x 250W - 270W panels connected through one string. Cloudy conditions are causing my batteries [9.6kWH pylon Li-Iron] not to be completely charged during the day and need to use grit power for this purpose. My Average daily use is 11kWH. I decided to upgrade to 5 x 585W panels. That's the max I can put onto my roof. I find the from 14:30 I lose PV power due to my roof not correctly placed to optimize the panels and start to drain my batteries. I have a car port that is such sited that I can fit 4 x 270W panels facing west. This should cater for the loss I incur. They will be coupled to the second PV set string at my Inverter. Is this possible/correct seeing that I use two sets of PV with different watts?

Your inverter has got two MPPT solar inputs. It is okay if you use different Watts of panels on the different inputs. So if you still have your 9x 250W-270W string, that would be perfect to add onto the second input.

I think you could run into problems if you just use 4 of the 270W panels. Check the panel specs, you'll be probably close to the lower end of the 120V-385V solar range on Vmp. It would be better if you could somehow fit at least 5, or better yet, all 9.