That Pylontech module has a max continuous discharge current of 37A if memory services, which is about 1.8kW. You want the battery to have a higher discharge rate than the inverters can draw at their peak, so for a 5kVA unit, you need three. You could probably get away with just two (3.6kW continuous, a 5kVA Multiplus can run at 4kW continuously, so it is not too badly out of wack), if you are disciplined.
You didn’t say how many you have? Or did you and I missed it?
An installer will insist on more battery, because he has to put his name behind it and make sure your warranty remains intact
Completely accurate, though a bit “passing the buck tone”.
Why I say that:
5kva cannot operate on 1 x 3.5kWh Pylontech UNLESS you limit the max the inverter can draw from the battery, during normal operations. So the 5kva ability is therefor limited.
However, when LS hits, that programmed limitation is ignored and the inverter, 5kva on 1 x 3.5kWh Pylontech, CAN draw enough power to force the BMS to switch off IF a load is drawn that exceeds the single batteries max discharge rate.
Those details are in Victron’s documents, the min required battery bank.
How to solve it?
Add more banks in parallel, as you have, to solve the BMS switching off under max load.
Your 3 banks, you did it right.
I agree with Plonk on that. Keep with the brand, you know it works.
Big Blue was a bit before our time. But there was a company that stayed relevant in their niche moving successfully from mechanical machines to electronics.
And equally importantly they managed their image: Their mainframes had plenty of lights that impressed clients. The techs had to wear (blue?) suits and were trained not to look confused even if they were…
And no one got fired for buying IBM!
Can anyone confirm if the solis 1p4k-4g can be told not to feed into the grid and if there any other things I need to make this inverter work in Cape town.
I know it has built in mppt but is there something in between solar panels and batteries I am not aware of?
That’s a PV inverter. So no batteries. You can attach a CT (current transformer) to it, which will prevent it from feeding into the grid. You can “parallel” them too, in the sense that if you have more than one they will simply feed into the same AC connection without even having to know about each other. For AC-coupled inverter “parallel” is not really a thing, they already parallel with the grid.
You can combine multiple Solis inverters into one system using a separate unit known as the “export manager”. It adds quite a bit of cost though, and is usually only used in larger installations where there are multiple PV-inverters generating large amounts of energy.
The idea with the Solis is that you’d combine it with your existing battery inverter. If you put it on the output of the Multiplus, for example, it can charge the batteries from the AC as it pushes into the inverter in reverse.
So let’s say I got a 5kw inverter and then added this solis, would it give me 9kw in total and the solar panels and batteries and everything works as it should, or should I just give it a skip? It is going for 3500
yes, while the grid is there. When the grid is not there, it is best to stay within the limits of the battery inverter, since it is possible for the PV-inverter to trip or a cloud to move in front of the sun or something like that, and if at that point you’re pulling a 9kW grid the Multi will overload and shut down.
Note that you cannot put more than 5kW of AC-coupled PV on the output of the Multi.
If the inverter Solis is on the Cape Town list, then you are allowed to install it like that, on the output of the Multi.
This week I was standing in the warehouse of the main importer in South Africa. I had to wait to be helped while they loaded a bakkie for and Sub Distributor. In took a while. I could see that they were loading Main boards for inverters and I could not help asking what it was for. The youngster that came to collect the boards calmly said, its to fix our Luxpowers. I asked him how many they have that has to be repaired and he said around 300 but they can only do 150 now. They have to wait for more boards before they could fix the rest.
I asked him if they will stop selling it since they get so many returns. He told me no, its cheap and sells like hot cakes and the client needs to pay for the repairs so they are keeping busy and making some more money on the sideline.
The day I walk into a repair centre and see 300 Victrons waiting to be repaired, that will be the day I exit the solar industry, no jokes!!!
Met with Solis this week. Exchange policy. No waiting time for repairs, straight swap out, unless its obvious that the unit was installed incorrectly.
I will never install or sell Luxpower. Assisted too many customers with trying to sort out coms with lithium batteries and trying to parallel them is a nightmare.
