Funky Iconica Inverter Charger unit - same as Axpert?

[GeoffC]

Hi everyone. I'm in the minority here as I'm from the UK and am just getting into solar. I'm under no illusions here about the payback period, but I'm an engineer by trade and can't resist a project!

I've purchased some fairly budget parts to make my system:

A weird punk LiFePO4 battery from a Chinese amazon marketplace seller:

[GeoffC]

Hi everyone. I'm in the minority here as I'm from the UK and am just getting into solar. I'm under no illusions here about the payback period, but I'm an engineer by trade and can't resist a project!

I've purchased some fairly budget parts to make my system:

• A weird punk 24V 200 AH LiFePO4 battery from a Chinese amazon marketplace seller: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07TWCQRBK/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1.
• A Iconica 2000W MPPT 40A Inverter Charger, seems to be a copy of the equivalent Axpert system? https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07LBWC687/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1, instructions at https://www.photonicuniverse.com/upload/file/Manuals/Iconica/IC-BP/Iconica_IC-BP_IC-BM_User_Manual.pdf
• 8x 100W Dokio Solar Panels. They are the flexible type, and honestly I'm not that impressed with their durability or output. They are 2 sets of 4 in series, and of the four, one panel is damaged in each set (with 1 or 2 solar cells visibly cracked like a spiderweb) https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07KF6WPNK/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I got nice thick cables as well, 0 AWG, so I doubt that's a problem, and the wires are all short (0.7m). Overall cost was just shy of £2,000, so a pretty budget system all in.

My goals with this are to power the house where possible, and when there's too much load (i.e. a kettle and microwave), then to kick over to mains. I want to maximise the proportion of my energy usage from solar, but know I can't do 100% with this low output setup. Currently it's wired into all the sockets throughout the house, but not the oven or lighting. However, I get total power failure at the moment with my settings and I can't figure it out. On overload it's like a power cut (although the auto restart does work shortly after). Any help would be greatly appreciated here. I'm using the ICC software on a Raspberry Pi which frankly I think is pretty awesome - here's a screenshot of the inverter settings:

Also, for banter I thought I'd share the battery interior:

I'll be honest, it's not pretty but that battery can put out a lot of amps with very little voltage drop! I've clocked 60A with voltage dropping from 26.5 to 25.5, which seems fairly good to me.

Any tips on getting the overload bypass working correctly would be very much appreciated.

 

Best regards,

Geoff

[Coulomb]

17 hours ago, GeoffC said:

A Iconica 2000W MPPT 40A Inverter Charger, seems to be a copy of the equivalent Axpert

If it's a genuine, it seems to be an Axpert VM2000-24. You might want to check if it's a clone.

[Coulomb]

17 hours ago, GeoffC said:

On overload it's like a power cut

Is the AC input icon showing? If showing, is it flashing? It's like a yin-yang symbol or a tennis ball (supposed to be a sine wave in a circle). It's acting like it's not seeing the AC-in, or deciding that it's not in spec.

17 hours ago, GeoffC said:

1 or 2 solar cells visibly cracked like a spiderweb

Sounds like they're not going to produce much power. Flexible panels are usually only used for special applications, such as camping or attaching to a vehicle.

[GeoffC]

Thanks for the reply, Coloumb. I'll check the signs you gave and see if it's a clone, but looks identical to the Axpert you showed me.

I'll double check the AC in as well. Thanks!

Geoff