Deye v Kodak

[Methuselah]

Good evening everyone,

My finger is hovering over the button to buy my home solar system and I'd really appreciate some informed opinions. The basics consist of 12 x 340W JA panels and 2 x 2.4 kWh Pylons, with a hybrid inverter - and I've narrowed the choice to either the Deye (Sunsynk) 5kW or the Kodak 4.6kW Hybrid.

The Kodak would seem to be a South African product, appearing nowhere else in the world... That's not comforting. I believe that it is a rebadged Solis; should that calm my nerves?

What about their relative reliability? Supplier / manufacturer support? If anyone has experience to share I'd be very grateful.

Whilst I'm here, any thoughts on installation costs? It is a fairly simple install, panels on a single pitched corrugated roof with clear access to the main db and plenty of space for the inverter and batteries within 3m.

Your thoughts, ladies and gentlemen, would be valued.

[AdielK]

Kodak is just another voltronic system rebranded. So same as Five Star, Axpert etc.

 

Personally just opted to buy a Sunsynk and returned the Kodak. Reason is for the expansion options. Touch screen, wifi option (module extra R1900), true hybrid etc.

[Methuselah]

Thank you Adiel. Those were my thoughts; however, the "Kodak Hybrid 4.6" looks much more like the Solis than the Voltronic tribe.

[PC1]

I have installed the Deye 8kw a week ago. Took me a while to figure it all out, but it works like a charm. True Hybrid. Mixes energy from either PV & Grid, or PV & Batteries. But the real nice thing is the level to which you can customise it. I set mine to "load first". As soon as the sun comes up, it starts powering the house, and use the excess to power the batteries. When the sun sets, it starts running of batteries. It set it up to go back to grid at 40% (20% to protect the bateries and 20% buffer to cater for load-shedding). Around 22:00 my batteries run out, and it reverts to grid. So I have no electricity bill between 08:00 and 22:00 - even run my geyser of it. And when the sun is shining, it charges my batteries again. With the touch of a button you can change it to load the batteries from grid if need be. Really impressed with it. Busy ordering more batteries as we speak - to take me totally off grid on sunny days... 

[Anonymous]

14 hours ago, Methuselah said:

Thank you Adiel. Those were my thoughts; however, the "Kodak Hybrid 4.6" looks much more like the Solis than the Voltronic tribe.

Correct its a Solis Clone.. the Sunsynk is Cheaper and has much more features than the Kodak/Solis unit much better value for money at R20k per unit for a Sunsynk 5.5 Super Hybrid parity inverter.

[AdielK]

See above link. Maybe askif someone has more recent experience?

[ManiLow]

Hi Methuselah,

I'm currently busy with a similar setup: 8kw sunsynk & 12 panels x 430W.

My reason for going with the sunsynk is that it's a true hybrid and can blend and prioritize energy from different sources.

A question for you to ponder: why do you not go with more powerful solar panels? When you consider room for expansion, the material cost of installation (per panel), it might work out cheaper to go with 10x400W (or more) panels instead of 12x 340W. You just have to calculate how many panels you can efficiently string together for your inverter. For a deep dive, try this: https://www.wholesalesolar.com/blog/string-sizing-guide

In terms of costs, I was shocked to receive two quotations of ~R35k each for installation. That included splitting my db board into essential and non-essential, 2 strings of 6 panels etc. Hopefully you could get away with less

Edited July 28, 2020 by ManiLow

[Methuselah]

Thank you to Adielk, Steve and Manilow. If you search the web for Kodak / Solis (the hybrid models) and Deye / Sunsynk (and all of their clones, there are plenty!) I seem to find that there is a ton of technical info about the D/S products. Kodak (certainly not identical to the Solis) seems to be sold only in SA and Zimbabwe and I cannot find any user feedback for the hybrid models.  Youtube is pretty useful here.

The clincher really is as Adielk, Steve and Manilow say, the Deye Sunsynk offers much more for your money.

The question that ManiLow raises, panel rated power, is interesting. I did a calculation based on incident solar radiation which suggests that the amount of energy you can actually harvest (on average) is limited more by area covered than by panel power. My capital cost (panels plus mounting structure) per Watt harvested  was lowest at about 190W/m2 (about 330W per panel). Of course, this calculation is made a nonsense by the considerations:-

1. You can really only use averages - the daily radiation could be considerably higher and you would lose that energy.

2. My figures are for coastal Western Cape. Inland and East will be completely different...

3. I used sizing and efficiencies for an average panel (from JA Solar and Canadian Solar) and there are many whose performances will be different.

4. I have lots of roof and intend adding panels in time (a point in favour of the Deye/Sunsynk)

I intend to revisit this calculation to see if I can develop a relationship between panel power rating and incident radiation, accounting for some of the factors affecting efficiency of conversion. Your thought would be very welcome.

Oh, and I'm informed (unofficially) that our municipality - who make a nice profit from electricity sales - are sticky about any inverter rated more than 5kW...

Edited July 28, 2020 by Methuselah
Additional information

[Anonymous]

Hey guys simple logic says that the more surface area you cover with solar power obviously at the right orientation the longer you can achieve maximum production the larger modules generally have higher efficiency. Also an duel mppt are more effecient than a single mmpt as long as you do not exceed the Maximum amp rating and VOC rating of the mppt.. so simply stated if you have 10 x 430 watt panels in series vs 10x 365 watt panels in series your overcast production will be higher for the 430 watt array and in full sun the max production duration of the array will be longer.. however getting overly technical will just give you a headache and it is very difficult to get exact figures your best option is to base your calculations on long term averages.. the MPPTs on the 5.5 Sunsynk can produce a max of 3250 watt per mppt per hour giving you a total of 6.5KW fortunately you can parallel up to 10 units and if you do not use the generic input output port for a generator you can use this port to output to a geyser element when you are producing excess power.

[AdielK]

I have a lot of tiled pitched roof. So the 8KV sunsynk will allow me to split and my understanding (no panels yet) is that one can use different strings at different times for different levels of efficiency.

[francois]

24 minutes ago, AdielK said:

I have a lot of tiled pitched roof. So the 8KV sunsynk will allow me to split and my understanding (no panels yet) is that one can use different strings at different times for different levels of efficiency.

Yes you can have panels at different orientations on your roof because of more than 1 MPPT on the inverter.

When do you take delivery of the unit? 

[AdielK]

On its way, the sunsynk. Collected today in Bloemfontein, so hoping it arrives this week in Pretoria.

 

Batteries 2 x pylontech us3000  3.5kw provided by electrician.

[AdielK]

No pv panels for now. Maybe next year.

[AdielK]

On 2020/07/27 at 8:38 AM, AdielK said:

Kodak is just another voltronic system rebranded. So same as Five Star, Axpert etc.

 

Personally just opted to buy a Sunsynk and returned the Kodak. Reason is for the expansion options. Touch screen, wifi option (module extra R1900), true hybrid etc.

Also can even use wind turbine power

[Fazil]

On 2020/07/27 at 8:38 AM, AdielK said:

Kodak is just another voltronic system rebranded. So same as Five Star, Axpert etc.

 

Personally just opted to buy a Sunsynk and returned the Kodak. Reason is for the expansion options. Touch screen, wifi option (module extra R1900), true hybrid etc.

Why the extra for the dongle?

Buy it from Off grid tech (Anton de Swart).

We have done few SunSynk/Dye and they work great.

Installing another 4xSunSynk (3x8kw and 1x5kw) in August.

My personal brand preference now.

[Anonymous]

On 2020/07/27 at 8:38 AM, AdielK said:

Kodak is just another voltronic system rebranded. So same as Five Star, Axpert etc.

 

Personally just opted to buy a Sunsynk and returned the Kodak. Reason is for the expansion options. Touch screen, wifi option (module extra R1900), true hybrid etc.

The Original Axpert RCT Infinisolar Fullcircle solar Synergy.......... type inverter is and was actually originally manufactured by Must Power in china

[GVC]

Nope.....I don't know where you got that information. The original Axpert was designed in Indonesia (could be wrong) and then moved operation to Voltronic Power in China.

Must Power cloned the Axpert from Voltronic Power.

[Anonymous]

What was the Brand name of the original?

[GVC]

@Coulomb has posted info on this inverter in 2014 already  at the Aeva Forum. (It was originally designed in Taiwan)

More information at:

https://forums.aeva.asn.au/viewtopic.php?t=4332

[Methuselah]

On 2020/07/26 at 8:25 PM, Methuselah said:

Good evening everyone,

My finger is hovering over the button to buy my home solar system and I'd really appreciate some informed opinions. The basics consist of 12 x 340W JA panels and 2 x 2.4 kWh Pylons, with a hybrid inverter - and I've narrowed the choice to either the Deye (Sunsynk) 5kW or the Kodak 4.6kW Hybrid.

The Kodak would seem to be a South African product, appearing nowhere else in the world... That's not comforting. I believe that it is a rebadged Solis; should that calm my nerves?

What about their relative reliability? Supplier / manufacturer support? If anyone has experience to share I'd be very grateful.

Whilst I'm here, any thoughts on installation costs? It is a fairly simple install, panels on a single pitched corrugated roof with clear access to the main db and plenty of space for the inverter and batteries within 3m.

Your thoughts, ladies and gentlemen, would be valued.

Button pressed! Deye 5kW hybrid possibly on its way. Interestingly, there would seem to be zero technical difference between the Deye 5kW and Sunsynk 5kW (also the Inge 5kW). According to the specifications, the Sunsynk 5.5kW "Super Parity Inverter" may have some differences but, other than some software differences evident on the LCD panel, I can identify no hardware differences.

My choice was definitely influenced by the above discussion. Thank you all. I'll report back on installation and operation.

[RobN]

The only difference that I can see, (there are some hardware differences with my OHM), between SunSynk and their brand clones is in the software interface.  SunSynk uses the same software as Sol-Ark in the USA; whilst OHM, Ingwe and Deye use a different but similar and I think more intuitive interface.  However, the SunSynk interface appears to be better supported and has had software upgrades with some improvements (including a software option to use the GEN signal for a Neutral-to-Earth bond relay when in "island" mode) and has an active forum on their website.  I have not located such activity for the Deye, Ingwe or OHM brands. 

I have the OHM 8kW inverter and am very happy with the way it's performing, although mainly in off-grid mode (CoCT requirements if inverter exceeds 3,6 kW with a 60A main breaker).

[Anonymous]

On 2020/08/01 at 7:04 AM, GVC said:

@Coulomb has posted info on this inverter in 2014 already  at the Aeva Forum. (It was originally designed in Taiwan)

More information at:

https://forums.aeva.asn.au/viewtopic.php?t=4332

Interesting thanks

[Anonymous]

On 2020/08/01 at 4:26 PM, RobN said:

The only difference that I can see, (there are some hardware differences with my OHM), between SunSynk and their brand clones is in the software interface.  SunSynk uses the same software as Sol-Ark in the USA; whilst OHM, Ingwe and Deye use a different but similar and I think more intuitive interface.  However, the SunSynk interface appears to be better supported and has had software upgrades with some improvements (including a software option to use the GEN signal for a Neutral-to-Earth bond relay when in "island" mode) and has an active forum on their website.  I have not located such activity for the Deye, Ingwe or OHM brands. 

I have the OHM 8kW inverter and am very happy with the way it's performing, although mainly in off-grid mode (CoCT requirements if inverter exceeds 3,6 kW with a 60A main breaker).

Better than Blue

[AdielK]

On 2020/07/28 at 3:57 PM, Fazil said:

Why the extra for the dongle?

Buy it from Off grid tech (Anton de Swart).

We have done few SunSynk/Dye and they work great.

Installing another 4xSunSynk (3x8kw and 1x5kw) in August.

My personal brand preference now.

Thanks. I like wifi and ordered it with the inverter.

 

Now looking for an installer in Pretoria area

[AdielK]

On 2020/08/01 at 3:35 PM, Methuselah said:

Button pressed! Deye 5kW hybrid possibly on its way. Interestingly, there would seem to be zero technical difference between the Deye 5kW and Sunsynk 5kW (also the Inge 5kW). According to the specifications, the Sunsynk 5.5kW "Super Parity Inverter" may have some differences but, other than some software differences evident on the LCD panel, I can identify no hardware differences.

My choice was definitely influenced by the above discussion. Thank you all. I'll report back on installation and operation.

They all the same. Deye the original copy