I am looking for a 48v 5000W 230v AC inverter / charger. My understanding here is that the inverter has 230v AC in from the grid to power the built-in charger when PV cannot cope.
Already have 2 x external MPPT’s , PV panels and 100Ah 48v Lithium Iron battery (self built),
with JBD BMS. So, no other comms except for BT from BMS.
What can I buy ? Most inverters that I have researched already have either high voltage or low voltage MPPT’s built in. My requirements fall in between , thus the 2 x external MPPT’s .
Your advice / pointers will be appreciated.
Regards , Pierre.
Most people here have blue blood and will tell you to get a 5kVA Victron Multiplus II. No MPPT, it’s just an inverter/charger.
Your options are pretty limited anyway. It’s either something high end (SMA, Outback, Victron), something from the East (Growatt, Mecer, the usual rebadged voltronics, Goodwe and Sunsync), or something local (Microcare, JSM). From the high end European stuff, a Victron inverter is probably going to be the best value.
Thanks for your reply Izak.
I am also a Victron guy but my budget at the moment is a bit limited.
Have been looking at the Kodak OG5.48 for around R10k. Must I walk away ?
The Kodak is a rebadged Voltronic. The quality of the Voltronics and the various clones vary greatly, so it is impossible to say. The design of the inverter is fairly good, if I was in a pinch I’d take this one over a hardware store special… but I cannot really say more than that
Not exactly. Mains power is used when there isn’t enough solar power: This is a grid tie system.
The batteries will always be charged from whatever power is available…
Just to throw a spanner in , have a look at the Solis Inverters. I have one running on a 3ph site and so far been pleasantly surprised. You can get a 6kw inverter for quite a decent price.
Yes you don’t get the bells and whistles but it will also depend on what you want from your inverter…
There new units is design to work with some brands of lifepo4 units but still no coms connection. Operates with the dry contactor part of the battery to the mppt or inverter. You can send your old unit to them to have it upgraded with new parts.
But the old units can work to with lifepo4 settings. I had 2 Microcare mppts that had no data connection with the my batteries and just run the correct volts and was used for more then a year like this.
Some of their batteries are also Lithium Iron Phosphate (I asked them on social media when they advertised). But they do appear to have one that is a different chemistry. I’m not sure exactly what, but I think it is NMC (Nickel Manganese Cobalt). As I understand it, the “polymer” part says something about the way the electrolyte is packaged, so some NMC cells can be referred to as lipo… though I am not sure when and how.
The charging characteristics of lithium-based batteries are similar enough however that it probably won’t matter. If the inverter is capable of handling LiFePO4, it would probably do just fine with NMC too. The big issue is usually the ability to set a lower charge voltage (some cheaper inverters are pretty much hard-coded for lead acid), and to handle a disconnecting BMS without blowing up
Thank you all for your advice / comments - much appreciated.
I think for now I will hold off until my budget allows for the Victron Multiplus 2.
There goes the family’s Xmas and birthday gifts for the next year !
Of course