StephanT Posted October 3, 2015 Share Posted October 3, 2015 the SolaX inverters seem pretty cool.... http://solaxpower.com/ What I like about them is that they are a sort-of Grid-Tie, supplying your house load. This means the inverter sits in parallel to the load, and not all the load is driven through the inverter... So no matter how much load your house has, what you have as excess PV energy is pumped into your house load... that means the inverter does not have to be rated at your house load.. It then also and EPS that will feed the Emergency circuits when the Grid drops... Unfortunately this seems to be a physical device switch from what I can tell.. apparently takes about 5 seconds, so your load will still have a short blackout... are there any other Grid-Tie (with backup) devices available in ZA, for which one can set Zero Export to Grid? What I see as my optimum solution is a Grid-Tie that I can select zero grid export, and a 3kW inverter (typically an Axpert should do) that drives my Emergency loads... I currently have an infini3k but don't know of a way that one can limit the Grid-export to zero BUT still export to your house Grid... (i.e. the loads house side of the DB) - i don't think infini caters for this... best Stephan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
___ Posted October 3, 2015 Share Posted October 3, 2015 I believe there is an SMA model that can do this, I've only heard of it. The Microcare bi-directional inverter also has a grid-limiter. The Fronius GTI has an open specification, so you can create external solutions (microcontroller or PLC type) to make them grid neutral. If you also want backup, your best option is probably a Victron Multiplus with a Fronius GTI, then configure the Multiplus to ignore the AC for loads under a certain low value, thereby avoiding feedback. Once the Multiplus ignores the grid, it can use GFPR to control the Fronius. With a multiplus alone, there's also possibilities, though none that's really market-ready. a Hub-1 system that ignores the grid at low power, although that's a bit of a hack. Then there is also Hub-4. Still very new, but that is exactly what you're talking about: It's a "grid parallel battery", though that TOO still needs external control (and possibly a CCGX if you want to use modbus-TCP for the control). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted October 3, 2015 Share Posted October 3, 2015 the solax 5kw unit allows only 2kw on its ESP controller, i just returned mine, so i know my supplier has 5 to sell...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StephanT Posted October 4, 2015 Author Share Posted October 4, 2015 hi Mike, may I ask why you returned yours? best Stephan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted October 4, 2015 Share Posted October 4, 2015 Hi Stephen the unit is known to have problems with the first batch and the second batch has fan issues as well as the ESP only allowing for 2kw when in load shedding. the system derates from 5kw to 2kw and when power / load shedding occurs you have a outage for about a minute before it powers up... nothing seamless in that is there? I personally will not sell nor install that for a client. I much prefer my clients to be happy with what i install for them....I do believe some of you might get happy soon... there is a 6 and a 8kw Infini coming, so i am told.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wetkit Posted October 5, 2015 Share Posted October 5, 2015 Hi Mike, Put me on the list for a 6kw Infini unit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StephanT Posted October 5, 2015 Author Share Posted October 5, 2015 oh Quite contraire... more like what the infini can do, but also no quite... Axpert: cannot Grid-Tie, i.e. cannot feed any energy back into the Grid Infini: can Grid-Tie, i.e. feed back into the grid, but you can ONLY control whether it feeds back to the grid or not...not how much... so if your infini itself is drawing 1kW, and the rest of your house is drawing 2.5kW, then your house has a total draw of 3.5kW... if at that time you are generating 3kW of PV then your house will still import 0.5kW from the Grid... and all is good... but if your house load now drops to say 1.5kw and your infini to 0.5kW.. your total load is 2kW, but you are generating 3kW PV, so 1kW will be exported to the Grid... - which is what we don't want... Solax: is like the infini, but has an CT right at the extra right at the DB/meter.. so you can set THAT meter to not feedback... hence the Solax will still push PV energy into your house grid, but can be set to make sure you don't export to the Munic grid (beyond your meter) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StephanT Posted October 5, 2015 Author Share Posted October 5, 2015 Hi Stephen the unit is known to have problems with the first batch and the second batch has fan issues as well as the ESP only allowing for 2kw when in load shedding. the system derates from 5kw to 2kw and when power / load shedding occurs you have a outage for about a minute before it powers up... nothing seamless in that is there? I personally will not sell nor install that for a client. I much prefer my clients to be happy with what i install for them....I do believe some of you might get happy soon... there is a 6 and a 8kw Infini coming, so i am told.... thanks Mike... I also don't like the ESP's manual switch! Now if ONLY they would give those infini's an extra CT input... so we can still push max generated PV into the remainder of the house load, *BUT* without feeding back into the Munic grid... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhay Posted October 5, 2015 Share Posted October 5, 2015 Infini: can Grid-Tie, i.e. feed back into the grid, but you can ONLY control whether it feeds back to the grid or not...not how much... so if your infini itself is drawing 1kW, and the rest of your house is drawing 2.5kW, then your house has a total draw of 3.5kW... if at that time you are generating 3kW of PV then your house will still import 0.5kW from the Grid... and all is good...but if your house load now drops to say 1.5kw and your infini to 0.5kW.. your total load is 2kW, but you are generating 3kW PV, so 1kW will be exported to the Grid... - which is what we don't want... From this manual http://www.voltronicpower.com/oCart2/files/manual/InfiniSolar-2KW3KW-manual.pdf on page 41 it looks like by adding an appropriate meter that can talk modbus and a modbus in the Infini, you can achieve that. It would be great if someone can figure out what meter will work... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StephanT Posted October 5, 2015 Author Share Posted October 5, 2015 Why would you want to put power back in to the Grid in SA? You do not get a 1 to 1 and you are not allowed to do it yet according to Eskom. When I started off I wanted to use Eskom as my battery but soon discovered SA is still in the dark ages when it comes to solar power and grid tied systems. that's the point... we DON'T want to feed into the grid, but we DO want to feed the rest of the house that is NOT running through the inverter's load output... i.e. make your Eskom bill a lot less, and thus maximizing the Solar investment you made.... ;-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wetkit Posted October 5, 2015 Share Posted October 5, 2015 With the Infini you limited to 3kw on the battery backup output side of the inverter. Thing is, loads like a kettel or microwave can quickly kill your inverter output, so ideally those loads should be connected to mains before the inverter. Again, some of us might have more solar PV connected than what we can use on the output side, so we really would like to be able to push the extra solar power back into our other household loads that is NOT connected to the inverter output, but still keeping my nett grid consumption to zero. This is only true for during the day. At night I run 100% from the grid again. And yes, I agree that exporting back to the grid is not really economical for CPT users right now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StephanT Posted October 5, 2015 Author Share Posted October 5, 2015 From this manual http://www.voltronicpower.com/oCart2/files/manual/InfiniSolar-2KW3KW-manual.pdf on page 41 it looks like by adding an appropriate meter that can talk modbus and a modbus in the Infini, you can achieve that. It would be great if someone can figure out what meter will work... Hmmm... I missed that.... let's see that we can find out... (other whether we can find the Modbus card II manual. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StephanT Posted October 5, 2015 Author Share Posted October 5, 2015 yes, I have a 3phase supply.. and didn't want to go for a 3phase inverter or 3x whatever inverter can link together per phase... hence I only have on my inverter: - all my lights - Fridge/freezer combo in kitchen - Box freezer in garage - TV (because we have to watch the loadshedding warnings! ;-) ) - Study (internet etc) The setup we want is exactly so we can utilize the "extra" solar for the remainder of the house loads as well... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
___ Posted October 6, 2015 Share Posted October 6, 2015 So I really know very very little about this, but this is kind of what Victron's hub-4 does. http://www.victronenergy.com/live/system_integration:hub4_grid_parallel This is still very very new... but they have provided enough info for people to make external control loops. Getting any of that certified for legal use in a house is going to be a nightmare. From what I've heard, that AC current meter is quite expensive. So you could build your own, or get someone to do it... but it's probably non-trivial. I think I know enough to know that I might not know enough. Greatest worry to me: Power factor. I'm not sure it's enough to just put a CT on the incoming line and balance it to zero. Even at an "average" of zero, you're going to have a strange power factor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobmabena Posted December 24, 2016 Share Posted December 24, 2016 At the risk of resurrecting a dead thread...Do you guys still feel the same way about the SolaX Hybrid inverters?Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverNodashi Posted December 24, 2016 Share Posted December 24, 2016 3 hours ago, bobmabena said: At the risk of resurrecting a dead thread... Do you guys still feel the same way about the SolaX Hybrid inverters? Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Theirs specs and features look very good, but I haven't installed one yet. Wouldn't mind doing one for a client to see how they perform. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobmabena Posted December 24, 2016 Share Posted December 24, 2016 Theirs specs and features look very good, but I haven't installed one yet. Wouldn't mind doing one for a client to see how they perform. That's how my mate feels. I don't mind being the guinea pig as long as the price is okaySent from my D5803 using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverNodashi Posted December 24, 2016 Share Posted December 24, 2016 Ask Mike, maybe he could source & install for you? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jms Posted January 7, 2017 Share Posted January 7, 2017 Fronius Primo with their smart energy meter can be setup for zero export. I am using it on a prepaid meter installation and it is working very well. They are also bringing out a hybrid version of the primo later this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.