Kerry Posted February 16, 2021 Posted February 16, 2021 Hi all, new to solar! My husband and I have been looking at installing a True Hybrid system to utilize both grid (for non essential such as geyser and pool pump) and PV with Batteries as the main, essential source. We have been reading up on a lot of websites, obtaining many quotes and fact sheets etc. and have come to needing to decide between the Sunsynk 5Kw Hybrid Inverter or the Goodwe 4.6Kw Hybrid Inverter. We may be able to get the Goodwe at a much reduced price therefore the cost is not a determining factor. We are concerned that we may not be able to add another inverter to the Goodwe in future (if ever needed?). Also concerned that the Sunsynk is fan cooled which we have read is a weak spot. Please can I have any input from those who have used either to give us some direction on how to choose?! After sales service? Life span? User friendly? p.s I have found a lot of info on the Sunsynk on this platform but very little on the Goodwe? Quote
Buyeye Posted February 16, 2021 Posted February 16, 2021 Hi there are a lot of people with sunsynk inverters on the forum and I'm they come along and help. I can only comment where you said parallel , the sunsynk can do that but I would suggest that paying an extra R14k now and getting the 8kw sunsynk with save you R22k plus installation later. Quote
Tariq Posted February 16, 2021 Posted February 16, 2021 i have a Sunsynk 5 kW, totally happy with it , with a 4.3 kWp solar array and two Pylontech 2000's, at this time of the year i generate about 21 kWh per day, which is the maximum consumption for the day, don't have any more appliances to run ( lol ), the batteries last through the night, till solar kicks in again. Support is quite good, lot of users on the forum that will help, we do have an official rep in South Africa and a whatsapp help group There is a forum user @gbyleveldtthat did not have a great experience with Goodwe and another user who just installed a Goodwe ( good experience so far ) but would rather have gone Sunsynk, hopefully they will chime in Quote
Tinuva Posted February 16, 2021 Posted February 16, 2021 Well let's compare the two. This is what I see from my inexperienced and very little knowledge, reading on here and elsewhere, as good as hearsay. GoodWe benefits over Sunsynk: * no fan, so quiet 24/7/365 * Amazing home-assistant integration which is a BIG plus for me personally, but for many its a non-issue altogetherSunsynk over GoodWe: * Looks like good support, on GoodWe its difficult to get good customer support * I think the new 8kW version can take AC IN from a generator in addition to grid. Really cool + imho * Can run in parallel mode to add more capacity * AC-OUT-2 for non-essential items with the option to allow you to power them from pv/battery when grid is down Don't get me wrong, I am happy with my GoodWe so far and without panels for now, it has given me 0 issues up to this point. It is able to run our dishwasher over night during loadshedding from batteries just fine in addition to the base load. Quote
Tariq Posted February 16, 2021 Posted February 16, 2021 1) On my 5 kW, over 3 kW load the fan will come on for a while and then turn off and it is not a nuisance. The 5 kW can also feed in from a generator Quote
Tinuva Posted February 16, 2021 Posted February 16, 2021 Yeah I am mightily impressed with the Sunsynk on paper and feedback on here. Will be my next inverter if this goodwe fail out of warranty or I upgrade in the future. I hope at that point in time it also has a Home Assistant integration. Quote
Achmat Posted February 16, 2021 Posted February 16, 2021 2 hours ago, Tinuva said: Yeah I am mightily impressed with the Sunsynk on paper and feedback on here. Will be my next inverter if this goodwe fail out of warranty or I upgrade in the future. I hope at that point in time it also has a Home Assistant integration. Sunsynk does supply the Modbus information to access the inverter. Not sure if it's just to access information or also the ability to change settings. There are some users who have created their own setup using this with a Pi and graphana and other fancy software. Tinuva 1 Quote
FixAMess Posted February 16, 2021 Posted February 16, 2021 The reason why there's not much on the forum re the Goodwe is that well, it just works! There was an issue with the WiFi but that has been fixed. The goode 4.6 is a 5kW inverter, the non essential load for backup is 4.6 K W. There is a post on the forum where someone opened the goodwe up and their impression was that the internals were top quality parts, better than the more expensive Victron. Try search for it. The support is OK...Most importantly, the Goodwe talks seamlessly to pylontech batteries, no issues there, unlike many other inverters. So you should consider the inverter battery combination when deciding. The Goodwe can be paralled, I have the schematic for the design, but have not actually tried it or even heard of it being done. It gives 2 x 4.6 kW backup output to 2 separate circuits. The Sunsync is much more configurable, gives one much more control over battery usage, discharge, charge times, etc. and it has a second input/output port as well, so it can take a generator input. Support from forum members is excellent due to the trial and learn on the job approach that most people have taken. FYI re the fan, in summer in jhb at ambient temp of 32 C, I put a fan on my goodwe to keep it cool, so the fan argument is also a non issue. In normal 25C weather it does not get hot and that's when its pushing 6kW. I'm happy with my Goodwe, but at the price difference of R8K, I'd take the Sunsync any day. To compare the 2 inverters you need to decide if you want a highly configurable inverter or just a plug and play and forget about it inverter, the Goodwe. As for the 8kW vs 5KW inverter, you need to check your usage, the 5kW provides most of my household power, and the grid provides the surge requirement (tumble dryer) ...If you plan your peak usage power tools during peak production times you should be ok....BUT, its really good to have 8kW at your disposal if required.Its all about the money... There is a member on the fotum selling his goodwe for around R20K, he ditched it for a Sunsync. Quote
Tinuva Posted February 17, 2021 Posted February 17, 2021 12 hours ago, FixAMess said: The Goodwe can be paralled, I have the schematic for the design, but have not actually tried it or even heard of it being done. It gives 2 x 4.6 kW backup output to 2 separate circuits. Really? Could you add the schematic here or a link to where it is? Quote
FixAMess Posted February 17, 2021 Posted February 17, 2021 14 minutes ago, Tinuva said: Really? Could you add the schematic here or a link to where it is? This is on the forum somewhere else as well. I'm not sure if what's depicted is even valid! Use at your own risk... Maybe an elec engineer can look at it and provide an opinion... Connection-2-hybrid-inverters.pdf Tinuva 1 Quote
P1000 Posted February 17, 2021 Posted February 17, 2021 3 minutes ago, FixAMess said: This is on the forum somewhere else as well. I'm not sure if what's depicted is even valid! Use at your own risk... Maybe an elec engineer can look at it and provide an opinion... Connection-2-hybrid-inverters.pdf 101.39 kB · 0 downloads In that configuration they are not exactly paralleled - it is more like 2 separate systems, each with separate battery, PVs and loads. Here they are wired almost like they would if you and your neighbor* each had a system... * and shared the same line - so more like second neighbor over FixAMess 1 Quote
Tinuva Posted February 17, 2021 Posted February 17, 2021 They at least parallel in the diagram But yeah looks like 2 inverters running separate inside the same house. Technically can do the same with 1x GoodWe and 1x Sunsynk too at the same time. Quote
Kalahari Meerkat Posted February 17, 2021 Posted February 17, 2021 I can only recommend what I know and use, which in my case is the Sunsynk 5kW inverter, I was eyeing the 8kW unit initially, but as things turned out at the time, I couldn't hang on and we probably don't quite peak at 5kW maximum consumption, but if usage tends in that direction, I'll happily add another 5kW unit in parallel. - We are supposed to be off the grid, but not quite yet, so have the grid to fall back on, but not much longer. From my perspective, with solar panels ground mounted and cable wise, probably 60+m away from the inverter, a higher DC voltage inverter made immediate sense to me, as opposed others that barely handle 80V on the DC side, I do not know what the Goodwe does there, but keep this in mind, putting in *FAT* copper cabling for high current was something I didn't want to do here. Since the inverter is in the "waenhuis", detached garage, I guess, the fan is not an issue and it does not run all the time, only daytime with 30+degC in the shade when a lot of power is produced, even then, the fan cycles on and off as temperature drops below some preset value and on as the temperature goes beyond that value. Quote
Paul Greeff Posted February 17, 2021 Posted February 17, 2021 I don't know the Goodwe so I will not comment on it, however, the Sunsynk 8kW has been running for 13 days and I am over the moon. Visibility on Solarman is awesome and just seeing what we're up to has helped us to cut our electricity by about 10 units per day. It also handles the rated power well. Yesterday we hit 8 kW sustained for quite some time while my wife was using the electric oven and grill, while my folks were using their electric stove and the geyser was drawing its last bit of power before shutting down for the night. No problems. It seemlessly merged solar, battery and utility power to get power to the appliances. Remember if you spec the inverter too small, there is no easy upgrade path. I went with the biggest I could afford to cater for the two houses on the property and I am not disappointed in my decision. Consider peaks for yourself too. You do not want your hobby / power saving endeavours to put the rest of your household off renewable energy, so it is important that the required change in habits not intrude too much in your lives so it helps if the inverter can handle the peaks. Quote
Achmat Posted February 17, 2021 Posted February 17, 2021 The sunsynk just gives you so many configuration options with just one piece of equipment. You can even take another 4kw inverter and ac couple it on the aux input. So if budget is tight and you need extra pv and you can't afford another inverter to parallel, you can get a normal grid tied inverter and connect the output to the aux on the sunsynk to give you more power. You could even connect a generator or wind turbine to the aux input. The sunsynk will then become the grid for the grid tied inverter. If you really want to go off grid, you could even get a bigger 12kw generator and connect it to the grid input so the generator becomes your grid. I would like to add a wind turbine to my aux connection so I can get some wind power at night or overcast days. Quote
Achmat Posted February 20, 2021 Posted February 20, 2021 16 hours ago, Brani said: If I understand correctly, if you have a grid connected to the grid terminal, and a generator or a wind turbine to the generator terminal, then your smart load (non-essential) falls away? If you use generator terminal for smart load, then you can’t use the generator. iUnless of course you use change over switches? And if you don’t have a battery, how would you connect grid and pv only? Correct on using the aux load for a generator or wind turbine. You lose the smart load function. You can however have non essentials before the inverter and then with the CT sensor, you can then send power to these loads from both pv or battery. The grid connection is both an input and an output. If you run the sunsynk without batteries it becomes a normal grid tied inverter so if the grid goes down the inverter also shuts down. Vani 1 Quote
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