Hi all 

 

Quick one has anybody had any experience with the luxpower products specifically the 5kw hybrid, I'm looking to purchase one and would appreciate any feedback from installers,users/owners.

 

Product marketed as a hybrid in inverter that is able to blend from all 3 sources PV,Battery and grid. Specs attached 

 

Thanks 

Somebody???

 

Anybody?????

 

Nobody????

All I can say is it does not look like the usual common as garden weeds rebadged Voltronic. It has a high voltage DC input on the PV side, and the high efficiency numbers (which will be boosted as much as possible by the marketing team, but still has to be at least theoretically possible) suggests this is a high frequency inverter, probably on par with a Goodwe (or thereabouts).

Other than that... certainly not a name we hear often.

Thanks for the feedback,research implies that this brand is huge in the UK and growing. Granted the UK isn't the SA, but the monitoring software looks very user friendly and the fact that it does remote monitoring and maintenance via app and pc is amazing. Pitty not many locals have experience with it would have liked to hear from them before pulling the trigger on one 

4 hours ago, Gelo said:

Thanks for the feedback,research implies that this brand is huge in the UK and growing. Granted the UK isn't the SA, but the monitoring software looks very user friendly and the fact that it does remote monitoring and maintenance via app and pc is amazing. Pitty not many locals have experience with it would have liked to hear from them before pulling the trigger on one 

Just a word of caution, just know what you might be getting yourself into, if the product support is bad (or maybe even non existent)

Then you could find yourself beholden to help from people on forums willing to help you, or in extreme cases even a couple of friendly Aussies providing you with firmware updates because the manufacturer could not care less. 

On 2020/05/20 at 1:14 PM, Aspergo said:

5kw max continuous output on EPS with GRID

Hello. The battery output or EPS is understandably limited to 5KW. However, you mentioned that the LXP 5k has "5kw max continuous output on EPS with GRID". Does this mean that the AC load is limited to 5KW or does the inverter have passthrough capability so that the max demand of the on-grid loads can be achieved (of course up to the breaker limit on the the DB)?

 

Thanks. To clarify,  understand EPS and limits of the inverter output regarding ESSENTIAL loads that you have mentioned. However, for the  NON-ESSENTIAL loads connected to the grid side, I presume that  they can get the power from both inverter and grid ie if I have a non-essential load of 7KW will it  get 5KW from PV inverter and 2KW from grid?

Edited March 31, 20215 yr by proteapermaculture

Thanks!. A further question: Can the EPS batery backup of the LXP5K system be increased by adding the LXP ACS 3600 ac couped inverter? I am thinking if the batteries are  seprate and loads are split thsi is possible ( I realise that teh putputs cannot be couped, or parralleled) ie one EPS for house using LXP5K hybrid and one EPS for cottage using LXP3600ACS on same property. In this way solar PV can charge both batteries  in daytime and in Eskom outage or night the EPS of the two systems supply the respective loads as needed (ie when my peak demands are 6-7KW)?

Great! LXP sytem will work well to extend the UPS capacbility and store excess PV-generated electricity. Since the LXP 5K hybrid can take lost DC oversizing with 8KW solar, but its backup is limited to  5KW (EPS+ solar) and so adding a AC3600 storage invterter will add additional UPS and double the charging ability (ca from 100A to 200A). Great for my outbuildings with cottage so they can have backup during loadshedding.  The battery compatibility of LXP looks excellent and Im keep to use 2x Hubble AM-2 rate at 1C or 100A)- one for the LXP AC2600 and one for the LXP 5K hygrid

I presume this is OK according to NRS097 (ie the AC3600 storage invterter  is a UPS and not considered a generator? I also noted Luxpower is availabe at Aspergo, but I do need an installer. Please can you post/PM and recomend  one.? I am in Stellnebosch, Western Cape and wish to do a grid tied zero feed in install. Thanks very much

Thanks! Much appreciated. I wil make contact. 

Is Hubble battery (AM-2) compatible with Luxpower inverters?

On 2021/04/09 at 6:03 PM, proteapermaculture said:

Is Hubble battery (AM-2) compatible with Luxpower inverters?

...they seems to be compatible with many others. Will using "default lithium" setting work with Luxpower inverters?

Luxpower Hybrid works fine with Hubble AM-2, you have to select Pylon on the inverter the inverter gets plenty info from the battery.  

On 2021/09/21 at 2:27 PM, Aspergo said:

Yes it works well.

Select Pylon as your battery.

Make sure you have the correct CAN cable.

Use the HUbble CAN out.

Set the DIP switches on the battery.

How about Revov Li ion batteries?

Hi @Aspergo - First post here although member for a long time.

I installed a new Luxpower 5kw hybrid. Everything is connected including the wifi module and I am able to access the inverter via the portal. My problem is that I constantly get a warning 00 - No Battery Communication even if I have the correct comms cable plugged in as per the manual. When I switch on the EPS it does not provide any AC output. I have checked all the setting on the system and the portal but if I power it up, not charging or providing power and I cannot find the problem besides the Battery Comms warning.

As a result the batteries are not being "read", so Inverter is not charging the batteries even though I can see the input voltage from the PV array.

Any ideas what could be wrong?

System is completely off grid with 9 x 265watt panels in strings of 3 into a combiner box and one string into PV1 with 3 x 2.4 Pylon Batteries.

I bought it for remote monitoring and the allowance for a PV expansion. Not running a massive load; Fridge, TV internet router, decoder, couple of lights. 

Anyone have any ideas?

Edited December 12, 20214 yr by numeran
Added more information after more troubleshooting

6 hours ago, numeran said:

Hi @Aspergo - First post here although member for a long time.

I installed a new Luxpower 5kw hybrid. Everything is connected including the wifi module and I am able to access the inverter via the portal. My problem is that I constantly get a warning 00 - No Battery Communication even if I have the correct comms cable plugged in as per the manual. When I switch on the EPS it does not provide any AC output. I have checked all the setting on the system and the portal but if I power it up, not charging or providing power and I cannot find the problem besides the Battery Comms warning.

As a result the batteries are not being "read", so Inverter is not charging the batteries even though I can see the input voltage from the PV array.

Any ideas what could be wrong?

System is completely off grid with 9 x 265watt panels in strings of 3 into a combiner box and one string into PV1 with 3 x 2.4 Pylon Batteries.

I bought it for remote monitoring and the allowance for a PV expansion. Not running a massive load; Fridge, TV internet router, decoder, couple of lights. 

Anyone have any ideas?

According to the picture it's a high voltage model which means your pv panels should be in series. My guess is you would only need to parallel strings after 10 panels or when voltage is over 500.

On 2021/12/12 at 9:30 PM, Aspergo said:

Buyeye is correct. 

Hi Buyeye & Aspergo - thank you so much for the info. It appears that I underestimated the power of the Lux unit!!

I got confused by the various pdfs about the inverter showing different numbers especially the voltage but I see on one of them it states the values for the 2 PV inputs, which is in line with what you have explained to me.

So my problem seems to be 3 fold.

1.) The Panels need to be in 1 string in series - I think I have 6 x 255watt and 3 x 265watt and had them in 3 strings due to the Mecer Axpert 5KW inverter I have currently and the mac VOC is 145v. I calculated the MAX VOC for all 9 i series and it should be between 340v to 380v (the panels are 5m up on stilts so couldn't see so well in the rain and cloudy weather but I used estimates based on what I could see and know about the panels)

2.) My BMS connection cable is incorrect. I took pics and compared (2 sets of pics to double check - see attachment, it clearly shows that pin 4 and 5 are incorrectly wired) -If I recall correctly I  received the cable with the Pylon batteries and it has a different pin layout which I think they mentioned was for the Axpert Inverters. I would have to get one made or buy a compatible LuxPower battery comms cable.

3.) The 3 Pylons are currently out of sync and have not fully charged with the rain and clouds here in the last week. So I'm charging them one by one until they are full, and will then reconnect all 3 again. Using practically no power at the moment to give them a chance to charge

I am also getting a 7.5KVA Generator later today and will run it to fully charge the batteries which should solve the batter warnings Im getting.

Pics of battery bank and current Inverter included for reference. Had to shrink them to fit in the 3mb limit.

With your guidance, I think I can now successfully connect things once the batteries are back in sync. Thank for the help - much appreciated. 

I'm a newby poster on the forum but have been reading for about 8 years and it's how I built my previous 4 systems. 

12 minutes ago, Aspergo said:

Based on your photo, I'm going to assume you've disconnected the bottom 2 modules, to charge the Master on it's own.

You can also connect the batteries as follows:

Take the +ve from the inverter into the top module.

Take the -ve from the inverter into the bottom module.

This will help with the charge and discharge distribution.

Thats correct yes, bottom 2 disconnected completely.

And yes I also had the +ve from the inverter on the master and the -ve from the inverter into the bottom battery to spread the charge & discharge over the whole battery bank. As soon as the batteries are charged, I will connect all 3 again.

Hi

Any feedback from someone who has been using the luxpower inverter for some time now? 
Would you recommend them? Any major downsides or anything I should look out for? 

Thanks Brett

Hi I installed 2 luxpower inverters and I have nothing to complain about even when I had a few issues with setting up. I called Jaco at Solar Europe in Pretoria where I bought them from and he fixed all my issues remotely. 

I like that they come with two MPPT, if I'm to re-do my install again, will definitely get two 5kw ones. Following this threat 😉

Can these guys parallel? I.e. run two of them for 10kW.

13 minutes ago, Aspergo said:

Yes they can (buy the parallel model). 

Can parallel in multiple units of single phase and 3-phase. 

Has auto phase detection as well. 

I've been looking at the Growatt 5000 ES (two of them in parallel). What is different / better about the LuxPower?

3 minutes ago, Speedster said:

I've been looking at the Growatt 5000 ES (two of them in parallel). What is different / better about the LuxPower?

The LuxPower has two MPPTs, on paper it looks like it is better than the Growatt SPF5000ES and cheaper. I'm a fan of Growatt but in all honesty, I would go for a LuxPower if I were to do my install again. 

3 hours ago, Speedster said:

I've been looking at the Growatt 5000 ES (two of them in parallel). What is different / better about the LuxPower?

The LuxPower has two independent MPPTs which gives you more versatility in terms of two strings facing different directions. 
Admitted, two Growatts would provide you the same, but you need two of them.
Advantage of two Growatts would be 10kW, but the same is true for 2 LuxPowers.
I was at Inverter Warehouse two weeks ago and spoke to the sales people there. They have had no returns of Luxpower Inverters as yet whilst the Growatts are returned regularly.
My own Growatt packed up in the first week after installation. The Installer took it back and it was repaired and has been working fine since, but if I had a choice now I would pick the Luxpower because of the two MPPTs.