Not quite a generator, but my 803 is part of it soon...

[vrzff]

I just wrapped up the solar on my house, and excited to share it. 8.5kW of panels and a hybrid inverter. Batteries arrive in two weeks, and then the 803A gets permanently hooked up. Only had to shovel the roof like three times >.>

The inverter acts as an ATS, so when the grid goes down, the batteries take the load and augments with the solar. When those run low, the inverter fires up the 803A (thanks to Kurt's remote start) and hands off the load while recharging the batteries. All of this is *supposed* to happen without the lights so much as flickering.

I'll post some updates when the generator is hoisted on to its pad near the woods, trenched, and the batteries are wired up.

 

[rickf]

Nice, I will definitely be watching this since they just announced a 25% increase in my electric bill. On top of multiple 2-3% increases per year for the last 5 years. Beautiful house. Well thought out with the sun exposure through the windows and wood stove.

 

[Digger556]

Nice setup! With that much solar, I won't even need the grid.

How many Kwh is your battery bank? LFP batteries?

 

[Guyfang]

Nice looking setup. Looks 100% different than here in Germany, but I like it. Cleaner looking. Almost no one has shingle roof here. All tile. Or almost.

 

[vrzff]

Nice setup! With that much solar, I won't even need the grid.

How many Kwh is your battery bank? LFP batteries?

That's the goal! In reality, the only reason the grid stays is to recoup the investment and cover the winter dips. Late spring / summer daily is only about 4kWh. Winter jumps to about 20 to 35 depending on how much wood we burn.

With the batteries-- starting at 10kWh, and then moving up to 25. LFP rack mount, 48v. 5kWh modules. Ordered direct from China to cut out the middle-men, cost landed is $130/kWh.

 

[vrzff]

Nice, I will definitely be watching this since they just announced a 25% increase in my electric bill. On top of multiple 2-3% increases per year for the last 5 years. Beautiful house. Well thought out with the sun exposure through the windows and wood stove.

I owe that one to my father in-law. He's a retired architect, and he made the plans. I just cut wood and hammered nails.

It's a full north / south house; the eave overhangs were calculated to completely shade the windows in the summer, and fully expose them in the winter based on the sun's seasonal angle.

 

[2Pbfeet]

I owe that one to my father in-law. He's a retired architect, and he made the plans. I just cut wood and hammered nails.

It's a full north / south house; the eave overhangs were calculated to completely shade the windows in the summer, and fully expose them in the winter based on the sun's seasonal angle.

I love designs that use sun and shade as an intrinsic part of the house. Win-win!

 

[WWRD99]

Out of curiosity do you need a 803 or would a 802 be enough? Gotta load them up pretty good to get the engines hot.

Sent from my SM-S906U using Tapatalk

 

[DieselAddict]

I should be getting 48, 314ah cells this week to switch out with my aging chevy volt packs. Not looking forward to tearing everything apart and rebuilding it but on the plus side, I should be in good shape for a long time.

 

[Coug]

Out of curiosity do you need a 803 or would a 802 be enough? Gotta load them up pretty good to get the engines hot.

Sent from my SM-S906U using Tapatalk

I would say it depends on the charger, as the battery pack should be able to take whatever amount of power that the generator can provide in bulk charge mode. The only real difference should be how many hours you have to run the generator overall.

 

[DieselAddict]

According to one of the spec sheets I grabbed, the charging power is 200a which is around 10kw. That would be a good fit for a MEP803.

Maybe the OP can let us know if this is the correct info for the model he has.

https://signaturesolar.com/content/documents/GROWATT/SPH_10000TL-HU-US_Datasheet_EN_202405.pdf

 

[rcamacho]

Really nice system design.
I’ve been mulling upgrading to an inverter/battery backup with ATS.

Currently using my 802a with interlock a few times per year. That said the grid takes hits constantly here due to tree/wire interference.

 

[vrzff]

Out of curiosity do you need a 803 or would a 802 be enough? Gotta load them up pretty good to get the engines hot.

Sent from my SM-S906U using Tapatalk

Technically an 831 could cover the base heating load. The problem (or not problem for loading up 10kW) is turning anything else on-- range, oven, or dryer. It's also good for charging up the battery bank. I'd much rather let the 803 scream at 100% for a few hours, and go back to sucking the batteries than keep it running forever below 20%.

According to one of the spec sheets I grabbed, the charging power is 200a which is around 10kw. That would be a good fit for a MEP803.

Maybe the OP can let us know if this is the correct info for the model he has.

https://signaturesolar.com/content/documents/GROWATT/SPH_10000TL-HU-US_Datasheet_EN_202405.pdf

Yup, that is the exact inverter!

 

[cbisson]

According to one of the spec sheets I grabbed, the charging power is 200a which is around 10kw. That would be a good fit for a MEP803.

Maybe the OP can let us know if this is the correct info for the model he has.

https://signaturesolar.com/content/documents/GROWATT/SPH_10000TL-HU-US_Datasheet_EN_202405.pdf

You may want to use one of these instead of using the charger in your Growatt.

EG4 Chargeverter - GC | 48V 100A Battery Charger 5120W Output | 240/120V Input

EG4 Chargeverter GC: 48V, 100A battery charger with 5120W output. Versatile with 240/120V input, perfect for high-performance energy needs.

signaturesolar.com

The Growatt has to carry the variable load of the house while at the same time charging the batteries. You won't be able too and won't want to use the full charging capacity of the generator as you'll have to leave inverter overhead for the house load which is variable. If you push too hard on the charging you may overload the Growatt.

I use 1 of these to charge my battery bank with an 802a. I set the chargeverter to 88 amps into the batteries which holds the generator at a constant 80% load.

I designed my system so that all of the components are working well under rated capacity. Solar charge controllers, inverters, batteries, etc. Nothing gets hot with cooling fans screaming etc.

YMMV. Just something to think about.

 

[WWRD99]

Technically an 831 could cover the base heating load. The problem (or not problem for loading up 10kW) is turning anything else on-- range, oven, or dryer. It's also good for charging up the battery bank. I'd much rather let the 803 scream at 100% for a few hours, and go back to sucking the batteries than keep it running forever below 20%.



Yup, that is the exact inverter!

Wow I didn't know you could charge batteries with that much power. Definitely do the big load for a short time than a low one for a long time.

Sent from my SM-S906U using Tapatalk

 

[DieselAddict]

I had considered mentioning that. I've experienced that with my off grid setup. Since most of my loads are single phase, any single phase pass through current dramatically reduces charging power.

I have one of the chargeverters and it works great. My only complaint is the SERIOUS fan noise these things put out. You will NOT want this in the same room as you are in.

 

[2Pbfeet]

@cbisson and @DieselAddict does the EG4 take an input from the main inverter as to the SoC of the system?

I prefer to have charging distinct from inverter to AC supplies for a variety of reasons, but under simultaneous charging and discharging, the SoC can be hard to determine sometimes. How is it handled with these inverter/chargers?

All the best,

2Pbfeet

 

[DieselAddict]

I don't have the EG4 but I expect it is the same as most hybrid inverters where the same silicon that does the inverting also does the charging. Since they can only direct power in one direction at a time, when charging, the generator needs to be able to carry the load of the structure plus the charging power. The inverter I have (Schneider XWPro6848 ) throttles charging current as downstream load varies. It will load it up as best it can to 80% of what you have it set for. When the pass-through power exceeds the generator capacity set in the software, the inverter disconnects and goes back to inverting. This switch is quick but not bumpless. I've had a few glitches with electronics happen when the switch happens. Additionally, there is a 5 min lockout before charging starts again. Yea, I can shorten that timer BUT that is also the time that the power is qualified before connecting the generator in the first place. I use that as the warm-up timer so I don't want to make it too short.

What I'm planning to do when I update my system at home over the next few months is to add external DC charging to keep the inverter inverting. If I need to run anything on generator power, it will be DC coupled using a pair of chargeverters and not fed to the generator input on the inverter. I'm also moving the HVAC over to inverter power since the new heatpump is very inverter friendly since its variable speed. I'm also adding another row of panels to the mount outside.

For SOC, I monitor my current batteries with a Batrium BMS. For the new setup I am going to use JK BMSs that are integrated into battery enclosures. Based on what I've read I should be able to connect that into the Insight Home system that keeps an eye on all the Schneider gear.

 

[2Pbfeet]

Sounds like a great design! I like the DC charging and integrated BMS to track the SoC. That seems like a robust design to me.

All the best,

2Pbfeet

 

[DieselAddict]

The new batteries for my system arrived today. 45kw/h in total. Each box is around 70lbs. Not fun to carry in the house!

Next thing is to get them all opened up and tested before the return window closes in a few days.