I everyone. I want to find out some of the reviews of the guys that owns Growatt inverters. How reliable are they and what is your experience with them so far?

Thanks.   

Does no replies since May 7 imply Nobody is using Growatt in SA?

Got a quote for a 10 KW system using  two 5 KVA Growatt hybrid inverter -5KW .

Comments?

 

 

45 minutes ago, SamSA said:

Does no replies since May 7 imply Nobody is using Growatt in SA?

Got a quote for a 10 KW system using  two 5 KVA Growatt hybrid inverter -5KW .

Comments?

 

 

There some guys that is using them. I even contact the person that is the agent for them, but didn't get really far with him. 

I have the 3kv Growatt inverter. A friend of mine got the 5kv one. I've had mine installed for about 2 weeks now. As far as the inverter itself, for the 2 weeks I've had it running, it's run decently well. Installing the inverter was relatively simple as well (according to my installer). The inverter readings are easy to navigate and gives you quite a bit of information, however, you won't find a lot of information about your solar panels such as how much power they're generating. The negatives for me are that the inverter can be quite loud. Also, my inverter came with a USB cable and some desktop monitoring software that is extremely buggy. I would recommend if you want monitoring capabilities to get the WiFi attachment. Apart from these minor gripes, I'm pretty happy with it.

My colleague has a Growatt SPF5000 and wants to upgrade to LiFePo4 batteries. Can anyone recommend the most suitable Lithium batteries which will work properly with this inverter?

Any more reviews from Growatt users out there? 

Hi

 

I bought 2 x Growatt hybrid inverters

Seems there is no support in SA for these inverters

 

Should be a No Go Product

 

 

On 2020/02/03 at 4:06 PM, GVC said:

My colleague has a Growatt SPF5000 and wants to upgrade to LiFePo4 batteries. Can anyone recommend the most suitable Lithium batteries which will work properly with this inverter?

The Growatt online seems to have its own LifePO4 lithium batteries, but from my research you can use it with Pylontech or other Lithium batteries but for system parameters you may have to use “User” for battery type and I’m not sure how receptive the Growatt is to the BMS of other battery types, other than its own.

If you can find some contacts in the Aussie market, it may help.

-Moffat

If you look in the "Inverters" section of the forum, there is an extensive thread on Growatt inverters (the SPF5000 series) and it doesn't look like even Pylontech works well with it with maybe there having mixed experiences. This is problematic as the batteries are like double the cost of the inverter for just one... Personally, I won't go the Growatt route if you want to go LiFePO4, not just from my own experience but also judging from those on the forum.

If I had seen this threat before getting my solar system, i would have missed out on cheap inverters that works pretty well for their price. I have two 5Kva Growatt inverters, eight 405kw PV and two 2.4Kwh pylontech and not much to complain about. Growatt is not perfect but it does the job and in my opinion, good value for the money 

Hi I got 2x5kW Growatt Inverters for a week now. I think my installer has issues with electricity (grid power). This is because my interior house Led lights are slightly On 24h a day and noticeable when it's getting darker and I don't see the earth wire for the panels. But the Inverters are doing a pretty good job. I have installed the ShineApp but it's not giving me the combined Wattage and Voltage on the Master (HS) inverter. 

On 2020/09/21 at 1:02 PM, jykenmynie said:

If you look in the "Inverters" section of the forum, there is an extensive thread on Growatt inverters (the SPF5000 series) and it doesn't look like even Pylontech works well with it with maybe there having mixed experiences. This is problematic as the batteries are like double the cost of the inverter for just one... Personally, I won't go the Growatt route if you want to go LiFePO4, not just from my own experience but also judging from those on the forum.

I'm running two 5kw Growatt inverters with Pylons, works hundreds. No issues with BMS and everything works as it is supposed to work.  I think the issue is support but if you give yourself enough time and play around with the settings, you will get right. For the price you pay for the inverters, they work pretty well

Guys if you need help with Growatt and Pylontech, Try GC Solar they should be able to help

On 2020/10/19 at 3:08 PM, Thee Mister EX said:

Guys if you need help with Growatt and Pylontech, Try GC Solar they should be able to help

Thank you for the info, do you have their contact details? any specific person to ask for? are they in Jhb? I'm planning to add eight more panels and two more Pylons before end of the year but I'm worried about this low charging current 

Ask for their Support department 0120301166, based in Centurion

Saw the post from way-back, as I'm desperately looking for support. Had a 5kw GroWatt installed in Sept 2019, hasn't worked more than 6 weeks continuously since. Seems also poorly /non-compatible to the GEN2 Li-Io batteries I recently got to supplement. Even the installer I got them from, says he won't use  GroWatt anymore - too many issues

On 2021/03/10 at 4:47 PM, mipi said:

Saw the post from way-back, as I'm desperately looking for support. Had a 5kw GroWatt installed in Sept 2019, hasn't worked more than 6 weeks continuously since. Seems also poorly /non-compatible to the GEN2 Li-Io batteries I recently got to supplement. Even the installer I got them from, says he won't use  GroWatt anymore - too many issues

Don't mean to dig up an old thread.

I had a Growatt spf5000es. Worked fine when battery communicated using voltages. The minute the can cable was used, the BMS over rode some of the settings which made me quite unhappy with its performance. We did confirm it needed a firmware update as the firmware on my unit was an older version. 

Not sure whether the firmware update fixes the issue or not though. I never got that far.

My brother in law runs 2 growatt spf 5000TL at home, and 2 of the same units at his business and has not had a days issue with either.

On 2020/10/15 at 7:43 PM, Augyman said:

my interior house Led lights are slightly On 24h a day and noticeable when it's getting darker

That sounds like your light switch/switches are dirty/faulty. Same thing happened to me. Replaced them with push-button-click-type switches and problem is solved.

Personally I enjoy using my Growatt inverter

On 2021/06/09 at 12:32 PM, GTP said:

Don't mean to dig up an old thread.

I had a Growatt spf5000es. Worked fine when battery communicated using voltages. The minute the can cable was used, the BMS over rode some of the settings which made me quite unhappy with its performance. We did confirm it needed a firmware update as the firmware on my unit was an older version. 

Not sure whether the firmware update fixes the issue or not though. I never got that far.

My brother in law runs 2 growatt spf 5000TL at home, and 2 of the same units at his business and has not had a days issue with either.

I've had my es model since October last year. I started off with lead acid batteries which work with voltages. It worked fine except I didn't have enough batteries or panels. SUB mode came in handy.

This year I  got more panels and a lithium battery commucating via CAN port and it works as advertised. I keep it in battery first mode most of the time but I did have to use SUB mode on Monday as it was raining all day.

The shinephone app makes it easy to change modes even when I'm not at home. I was looking at the dismal solar production and the geyser draining my battery so I switched to SUB mode.

Edited July 7, 20214 yr by Buyeye

On 2021/06/09 at 12:32 PM, GTP said:

Don't mean to dig up an old thread.

I had a Growatt spf5000es. Worked fine when battery communicated using voltages. The minute the can cable was used, the BMS over rode some of the settings which made me quite unhappy with its performance. We did confirm it needed a firmware update as the firmware on my unit was an older version. 

Not sure whether the firmware update fixes the issue or not though. I never got that far.

My brother in law runs 2 growatt spf 5000TL at home, and 2 of the same units at his business and has not had a days issue with either.

Please assist me with that SUB mode how does this work. I'm have 3 x 4.8kWh LiFePo4 batteries with 2 x 5kW Growatt Inverters and 8 x 385W JA solar panels 

On 2021/07/07 at 3:50 PM, Augyman said:

Please assist me with that SUB mode how does this work. I'm have 3 x 4.8kWh LiFePo4 batteries with 2 x 5kW Growatt Inverters and 8 x 385W JA solar panels 

The SUB is supposed to be Solar as 1st priority, followed by utility and finally battery. So during the day the PV would power loads with a top up from utility if PV is not sufficient. At night it would run utility. In the event of a power outage at night, the battery would power the load. 

I only used SUB when expecting load shedding or on cloudy days.

Not sure what your panel performance is like... do your 3 batteries charge up with PV?

Hi 

I have a Growatt Model SPF 5000TL HVM-P which was installed about two years ago. (Feb 2020)

I had 6 x 360W panels installed initially and was achieving a max PV charge of between 1900 and 2100W during peak sunshine periods and decided that I'd like to increase this max PV charge in order to decrease the amount of time required to recharge my batteries, i.e. 3 Dyness 4850's

I then had an additional 6 x 335W panels installed during the first two weeks of March 2022. I am no professional on electrical issues but my common sense and basic maths told me that my system with the solar panel capacity now doubled should give me approximately double the PV available max W at between 3800W to 4000W. To my surprise my system however now is only able to achieve about 3000W which to me does not make sense.

Does anyone have any advice for me please as surely I should be getting at least an 80% increase in Max PV W following a 100% increase in panel quantity.

 

 

 

2 hours ago, GerhardvN said:

Hi 

I have a Growatt Model SPF 5000TL HVM-P which was installed about two years ago. (Feb 2020)

I had 6 x 360W panels installed initially and was achieving a max PV charge of between 1900 and 2100W during peak sunshine periods and decided that I'd like to increase this max PV charge in order to decrease the amount of time required to recharge my batteries, i.e. 3 Dyness 4850's

I then had an additional 6 x 335W panels installed during the first two weeks of March 2022. I am no professional on electrical issues but my common sense and basic maths told me that my system with the solar panel capacity now doubled should give me approximately double the PV available max W at between 3800W to 4000W. To my surprise my system however now is only able to achieve about 3000W which to me does not make sense.

Does anyone have any advice for me please as surely I should be getting at least an 80% increase in Max PV W following a 100% increase in panel quantity.

 

 

 

In theory and if all panels are facing the same direction, your assumption may be valid.
But not knowing your panel configuration makes it difficult to try and understand what the cause may be. i.e. How are your panels connected series and parallel wise and what are the tech specs for your inverter in terms of max MPPT voltage and Amps. If any of those values are exceeded then your inverter will clip the excess.

If these are the tech specs for your inverter, then you have a single low voltage high Amp MPPT.
You now have two panel types with different ratings which as far as I understand will cause all your panels to the lower rating for a start.

Description

Specifications
General

• Model: SPF 5000TL HVM-P.
• Battery voltage: 48VDC.

Inverter Output

• Waveform: Pure Sine-Wave.
• Rated Power: 5000VA/5000W.
• Parallel Capability: Yes, 6 units.
• AC Voltage Regulation (Battery Mode): 230VAC ± 5% @ 50/60Hz.
• Surge Power: 10000VA.
• Efficiency (Peak): 93%.
• Transfer Time: 10 ms (For Personal Computers); 20 ms (For Home Appliances).

Solar Charger

• Maximum PV Array Power: 4500W.
• MPPT Range @ Operating Voltage: 60VDC ~115VDC.
• Standby Power Consumption: 2W.
• Maximum PV Array Open Circuit Voltage: 145VDC.
• Maximum Efficiency: 97%.
• Maximum Solar Charge Current: 80A.

 

Let's assume that your panels are 40V VOC and around 10 Amps per panel. You would then connect no more than 3 in series to give you 120V so as not to exceed the max 145V VOC.
You would now parallel the 4 sets of 3 panels each at an assumed 10 Amps. That would give you 40Amps. Times the 120V is a theoretical 4800W.
Your inverter is limited to 4500W for a start.
So you need to check your panel specs and also how they are wired to determine whether any other ratings are exceeded. 

Edited March 24, 20224 yr by zsde
tech specs

On 2022/03/24 at 5:32 PM, GerhardvN said:

Hi 

I have a Growatt Model SPF 5000TL HVM-P which was installed about two years ago. (Feb 2020)

I had 6 x 360W panels installed initially and was achieving a max PV charge of between 1900 and 2100W during peak sunshine periods and decided that I'd like to increase this max PV charge in order to decrease the amount of time required to recharge my batteries, i.e. 3 Dyness 4850's

I then had an additional 6 x 335W panels installed during the first two weeks of March 2022. I am no professional on electrical issues but my common sense and basic maths told me that my system with the solar panel capacity now doubled should give me approximately double the PV available max W at between 3800W to 4000W. To my surprise my system however now is only able to achieve about 3000W which to me does not make sense.

Does anyone have any advice for me please as surely I should be getting at least an 80% increase in Max PV W following a 100% increase in panel quantity.

 

 

 

Because you have mixed the 360w and the 335w, you need to use the lesser one when doing your calculations. i.e 12 x 335w which gives you 4020w total at 100% efficiency. now, check the spec of your panels to see their efficiency and deduct that from your total. Assuming that they are 80% efficient, you get 3216w as your total. Now, factor the other stuff like tilt angle and azimuth etc 

This is just a rough estimation