7 minutes ago, YellowTapemeasure said:

That's not the way that I understand it. I understand it to mean that the inverter is rated at 5500W Max, as an inverter. if loads exceed this, then it can allow AC passthrough from the grid of up to 35A @240V (8400W) total, so that's an extra 2900W that it can pass through from the grid over and above the 5500 Watts from PV  / Battery / Wind.

Maybe I was wrong?

AC pass through would be an external AC source as the inverter is not doing anything to the AC current. Generators would provide AC. so too would a micro inverter connected to the aux in AC coupled.

AC coupling is a cool feature to expand the capacity of the inverter. You can AC couple a generator, another inverter or a wind turbine. This what makes the aux port a big bonus. I'm still not using mine and contemplating getting the smaller 3.6kW sunsynk inverter and connecting to the aux as AC coupled. Basically the 8kW inverter would be the grid for the 3.6kW inverter.

5 minutes ago, Tariq said:

@Achmat, on the smart load, do you need a separate neutral from the AUX output to the geyser or can I use the same neutral as LOAD output, reason being that my db is 12 meters away from the inverter, would be one less wire to run

I think you will need to check with an electrician as I'm not sure.

3 minutes ago, Achmat said:

AC pass through would be an external AC source as the inverter is not doing anything to the AC current. Generators would provide AC. so too would a micro inverter connected to the aux in AC coupled.

AC coupling is a cool feature to expand the capacity of the inverter. You can AC couple a generator, another inverter or a wind turbine. This what makes the aux port a big bonus. I'm still not using mine and contemplating getting the smaller 3.6kW sunsynk inverter and connecting to the aux as AC coupled. Basically the 8kW inverter would be the grid for the 3.6kW inverter.

I always had it that Max Continuous AC passthrough was when it was grid connected, but what you are saying could make sense, just not so sure. Let's get back to the numbers though, because there are huge differences between mine and yours.

Can anyone more knowledgeable on what exactly Max Continuous AC Passthrough is please advise?

@Vassen perhaps, or someone else?

   

Hi @Achmat, I did have the 3.6 for about 10 days, only to find out through trial and error that it has ONE mppt only, but like the 8 kW mppt’s can have two strings in parallel. 

  The 3.6 does NOT have a fan and when I was running around 3.3kW load, the heat sink got hot to the point that you could not keep your hand on it for long

   Based on incorrect advertising Ellies swapped it out for the 5.5 for a bit of difference in price

1 hour ago, YellowTapemeasure said:

I always had it that Max Continuous AC passthrough was when it was grid connected, but what you are saying could make sense, just not so sure. Let's get back to the numbers though, because there are huge differences between mine and yours.

Can anyone more knowledgeable on what exactly Max Continuous AC Passthrough is please advise?

@Vassen perhaps, or someone else?

   

I think I quoted the wrong section and it is 35A for the 5kW version we get in SA. 

I am really impressed and glad I went with the sunsynk considering all the standard features it has. 

1 hour ago, Achmat said:

AC coupling is a cool feature to expand the capacity of the inverter. You can AC couple a generator, another inverter or a wind turbine. This what makes the aux port a big bonus. I'm still not using mine and contemplating getting the smaller 3.6kW sunsynk inverter and connecting to the aux as AC coupled. Basically the 8kW inverter would be the grid for the 3.6kW inverter.

True that, I have my cheapy 7.5kW genny connected to the Aux port. I have tested it for only a few minutes and it seems to work great, but the acid test will be if we get stage 8 load shedding / CoJ transformer outage coupled with really dark weather (or some wierd Black Swan event like a massive explosion or volcanic eruption that obscures the sun for days).

I am very, very happy with my Sunsynk, in all probability it's one of the very best purchases that ! have ever made.

5 minutes ago, Vassen said:

This is what my sticker looks like. Bit different. 

Now I have a sore neck...🧐

8 minutes ago, Vassen said:

This is what my sticker looks like. Bit different. 

Same as mine.

 

Edit: no real major differences in specs though, seems the same But @Tariq bought his from Ellies...

Edited January 26, 20215 yr by YellowTapemeasure

7 minutes ago, Vassen said:

It’s a little confusing for me too especially seeing that if you look at the sticker, it’s grouped under standalone mode. 
 

My understanding has been that it’s the max the inverter can pass though from grid to load.  Don’t know how this is split between load and aux though if aux is set to always on. 
 

Doesn’t necessarily mean that the output can be 5.5kw + 8.4kw. I’ve seen my AC load for able 7kw but not the load.

I think the Ellies stock is the newest in the country. I think they brought in a number of inverters over the last 4 months and they were the first to release the 3.6kw inverter in SA. 

the geyser on the non-essential side, is controlled by a CBI ASTUTE, I look out the window, check Solaman for the load and if there is good sun, I switch on the geyser from m phone, with AUX as long as there is more solar production than the preset, the geyser will switch on and off automatically 

3 minutes ago, Vassen said:

Hmm. I don’t think this is doable with a hybrid inverter. I think you would need to use a grid tie, it just makes it simpler and a lot cheaper. 
 

But bear in mind you could end up with similar issues that I’m having with my micro inverter. Okay wait, you don’t care about the feedback so it will actually be fine for you. 

Well the hybrid would default to grid tied mode if it has no batteries so I think it could work. Before I decide I would check with Keith on the sunsynk forum if it's possible. 

Edited January 26, 20215 yr by Achmat

3 minutes ago, Vassen said:

Will let you know next week sometime when I get my new 1 if there’s any difference. Strange that sunsynk don’t have uniform stickers though. 

Mine came frome Segen solar and the label looks more original than the oorbetaal posted from the 5kw unit. 

@Vassen, just checked the 5.5 I picked from Ellie’s last Thursday, it has the same sticker as the first one.

So what happens if there’s no sun for 2 or 3 days. Cold showers?  
 

I get what you are saying though. It can work if you are able to remember to manually override but if you donot have any way of knowing how hot / cold the water is, how do you judge whether to override or not. 

I un-tick the use timer and the geyser draws from the grid and what little solar there is

 

 On using AUX load, the thermostat would be the controlling factor, it would switch on and off like it is designed to do in a standard setup, the geyser just won’t come on if there is not enough solar as per the preset

 

43 minutes ago, Vassen said:

It’s a little confusing for me too especially seeing that if you look at the sticker, it’s grouped under standalone mode. 
 

My understanding has been that it’s the max the inverter can pass though from grid to load.  Don’t know how this is split between load and aux though if aux is set to always on. 
 

Doesn’t necessarily mean that the output can be 5.5kw + 8.4kw. I’ve seen my AC load for able 7kw but not the load.

Agreed. I have raised the topic on sunsynk.org/tech-help, also whether it includes AC sources other than grid (such as a genny). Let's see what they respond with?

50 minutes ago, Vassen said:

Will let you know next week sometime when I get my new 1 if there’s any difference. Strange that sunsynk don’t have uniform stickers though. 

I have thought about this, it is probably due to white labelling. Sunsynk uses the first 7 letters of their brand in their model numbers, Ellies appear to use their own (in a fruitless attempt to disguise it!?!). It would be interesting to see id Deye and Fusion have their own range of model numbers as well.

Edited January 26, 20215 yr by YellowTapemeasure

Just now, Vassen said:

There’s lots of strange things about the deye / sunsynk brand / operation. 
 

they share the same r&d, factory, local support but different interface and brand.

 

They do have a nice product though. 

And no comment from them about how the US Sol-Ark brand fits in if at all. The Sol-Ark goes up to 12kW has full breakers on the outputs and their YouTube videos are what led me to the sunsynk inverter. 

If you go YouTube, there are quite a few videos from Pakistan, there you see the Deye inverter , but with different branding, there seem to be about three of them

       At the current exchange rate that is about R13000

AND it includes the dongle

I think eventually we'll get different options here as well. Hopefully not to the point where we have a similar issue to what axpert has with buyers trying to find out if they have a real axpert or axpert clone and bad knockoff versions. 

I think we already have 4 different versions in SA. Sunsynk, Deye, fusion and one other that I can't recall now. 

Did you guys note the price in Pakistan 

3 minutes ago, Tariq said:

Did you guys note the price in Pakistan 

Saw that but I think the price is targeted at the specific region and what they think they will be able to afford or what the competition pricing is like. If you look at the price on the sunsynk website I think it's almost double what we pay here. 

Just to revive this thread and clarify some points. 

As I’m about to get my db separated before getting the inverter installed should the electrician split the Db now 3 ways 

1. Essential loads (lights, plugs) 

2. Non essential loads (stove, big aircon 48kbtu)

3. Aux loads (geyser, smaller aircons 12k btu) 

Sorry to revive this post again, but I have a question about the "Aux Load -> Solar Power" setting.

Does this setting measure potential solar power, or currently producing solar power?

What I mean is, if the batteries are full, and no load is drawing, the inverter shows Solar power of ~0W. But with a big load, it could be producing close to maximum kWp.

My setup is 3.6kWp, and I have a 2kW geyser on the Aux load. I've set the Solar Power setting to 1200W and battery on 100%, off 90%. Does the solar power dial on touch screen home need to be above 1.2kW for the Aux port to switch on? So if I'm not home and using the pump/lights/pc's etc and the solar production never goes above 1200W, will the Aux switch on?

I ask because I was watching it just now to figure this out, the sun looked to be pretty strong, batteries at 100%, but the load was sitting at 800W (aux was off). Then the water pump came on, pushing it over 1200W, and then I heard the Aux relay click over, and solar production jumped to 2.6kW, and then stayed on. Is this possibly how it works? I feel like it should be able to be smarter about it, because if I don't break the 1200W barrier my geyser will never turn on, but maybe I need to monitor the behaviour a bit closer...

Edited June 27, 20224 yr by LoganD
Clarification

To follow up, here is my Solarman graph for today. It looks like the solar dips off as the battery reaches 100%, but there is/was not a cloud in the sky, so to me it looks like the aux load should have switched on as the battery reached 100%, which would have filled in that whole dip.

I'll be sad if this is how it works, because then it is kind of random when it switches on, because it will be based on me needing to get above 1200W of consumption once the batteries are full, or it will mean turning that threshold down, but then it will chow more of the batteries, quicker. Surely one could calculate the "potential" solar power from the irradiance/voltage across the panel, even if there is no load?