Excellent video! Always great to see someone recover so well when things don't go as planned. As always, a great job of explaining the process. Go SEC!
Can't go wrong with the Lamborghini of inverters. I have the 8Kw split phase LF Growatt. If I decide to run my whole house I'd love to grab one of these Sol-Arks. Cheers
I’m going to be running all my power usage through the Sol-Arks. Spending more than I had planned but trying to go cheap always seems to cost me more in the long run.
I went from a single low frequency 12k Growatt to a Deye 8k (same as Sol-Ark 12k and manufacturer of Sol-Ark designs, but I didn’t know that when I purchased it end of 2019). It has been totally solid! I’ll go to Sol-Ark 15k’s one day. I have it setup for zero-export, because of the nature of my city and power utility. So it covers my power usage with PV/battery as much as it can, but has the ATS in it, so most of my home keeps power when the grid goes down (and it goes down for short times a lot out in the desert). The next problem is my Internet only stays up for five minutes or so if the grid goes down because their side seems to have limited power backup.
I just installed 15K Sol-ark and pulled out 12k Growatt. Growatt worked good for the most part for over a year. Just needed more charging. Should have bought the 15k From the beginning.
Yeah. I should have abandoned the Growatts the moment I realized I was going to need a whole house transformer. But … water under the bridge. Live and learn and spend more $$.
Jeff, I’ve been waiting for this update ever since I heard you were switching over to SolArks. Those units make the growatts look like little toys next to them. They’re beasts! Whatever your mistake was, you must have hid it well, because nothing jumped out at me. You said you got your wireways from Scott? I looked on his site and didn’t see any there. Must only be selling them if people ask. Keep up the great work. Looking forward to the next update and the progress report on how the SolArks work. Stay safe, stay warm and have a Merry Christmas!
The wireways are special order. I bought a 6’, and a 8’ and a corner at the same time I bought the Sinclair ground mount. I bought The two smaller wireways through our local electrical distributor.
@@terryrodbourn2793 the existing battery cables were sized for tge Growatt 5K inverters. They’re too small for tge Sol-Ark 15K inverters. These wires are going to be replace with 4/0 cables. Just haven’t gotten that far yet.
The 15K specs indicate they are transformerless, but can do 24K for 10 seconds? The Sol-Ark 15K looks like a much better product than the 12K. I would love to see what the peak output per phase is before shutdown. $8200 per Inverter is WAY out of my league though. All the best in your efforts, and keep the uploads coming!
I've never seen anyone actually test and prove those specs. I assume that the burst is the size of the capacitors on the internal bus, which is 200+ volts.
You forgot the surge arrestors in a PV breaker box? I no longer use the plastic DIN boxes and I replace it with a steel box or short wire way with a din rail in back. If a breaker or surge arrestor over heats those freaking plastic boxes turn into dripping napalm! Get rid of them so you can sleep at night. Hi voltage MPP sense/back current can overheat some 1000 volts din rail surge arrestors even in the middle of the night!
Good advice. Those SPDs are gone now. I have midnight Solar SPDs in a metal junction box on the exterior wall where the PV underground wiring transitions back to copper.
Just a tad cold here in Wisconsin this am. -15 with -35 wind chills. Does your Pioneer mini splits have a freeze protection setting? My Mr. Cool unit does. I will keep my 30x30 heated part of my shop at 40 to 45 degrees all winter long.
Hi pleasant good day like ur vids an the scale of ur Installation. With regards to the mistake is it u had to shift the inverters apart from center because u didn't center the 2ft wire way
Did they fix the issue with the SolArks shutting down when the legs are not balanced? I saw this issue on the 12ks with another youtuber and to me is the one thing holding me back. His SolArk12k was shutting down when one leg hit 5k. Your setup looks pro though.
I saw that video. The Sol-Ark 12k are 9kw inverters. I consider them as two 4.5kw inverters, one per line, connected together. You have to know the limitations. The Growatt 5k inverters are 240v inverters. You have to derive your own neutral. In essence the L1 and L2 coming out of the Growatt will always be balanced. All imbalances will have to handled by whatever you’re using to derive the neutral. Using an autotransformer to derive a neutral for a home has a lot of inherent risk. Check out my other videos on deriving a neutral. I’ve just been having too many problems, some small - some large, with the Growatts.
@@kevinmills5293 it depends … 15kw when both PV and batteries are available. 12kw when only batteries. 48kw when in bypass. Other ratings with AC coupling.
Hi, I've only watched a couple of videos so far, but I'm interested in your decission to get 2 15k. I saw another gentleman use 1 15k to power his whole house, what caused you to think you needed 2? I might want 2 and that's why I ask. Thank you
@@tekker8308 the 15k has a peak capacity of 12kw when running only on batteries like it does at night. My load requirements exceed 12kw quite often and at times reaches as high as 22kw. Hence the need for 2 15k units. The 15k does have a 48kw grid feed thru. So if the inverter is overloaded it will switch to the grid. But I didn’t want that happening. Also based on my experience with Growatt inverters I didn’t want a system with a single inverter. With the two 15k units I can still operate on a more limited basis with one inverter until the bad unit is replaced.
Jeff, The big question I have is that the issue I have seen with Sol-Ark's is load on any 120V leg. This is the huge advantage to Growatt's IMO but I get reliability. You did not say in the videos but I am guessing you will either be changing your usage quite a bit or buying several more Sol-Arks
Running my entire property off two Sol-ark 15k inverters. No problems. 4000 sq ft all electric home, 3 ton and 5 ton heat pumps, multiple freezers and fridges, well pump, electric water heater, washer and dryer, other typical electrical devices. No changes in lifestyle.
@@jeffmotes2129 Jeff, now. You said straight away in the video you were going to need to teach her to not run everything at once after seeing load on Sol-Arks
@@maagjohn yes. If I could get her to spread it out it would be better. Especially if she’d run the. heavy loads during the day when we have excess power. But she still likes washing and drying clothes in the evening which pulls power from the battery. If she’d take advantage of the sunny days when we can generate more power than we can consume and store we wouldn’t have to pull so heavy from the batteries. But the system has worked flawlessly without any lifestyle changes. The 15K will allow you to pull a maximum of 6,000 watts per line when running off batteries. With 2 units I have 12,000 watts per line or 24,000 watts at 240v. I haven’t had any load issues.
Mistake or not, I think I would have put a pass through between the two front wireways, just in case you needed to pass through. I realize you can always go behind and around, but more passageways is always good.. Also, how are you going to cover the back wireways? Cut down the front cover I suspect. Cheers and good luck with this installation - I upgraded my 5000's to EG4 6500's, and that seems to be working ok, but may be doing he same thing in the not to distant future (Sol-Ark 15k)
Yes, we cut the existing cover to fit. I thought about the EG4 6500s. The specs look good. But they were too new on the market for me. Didn’t want to end up with the same regrets I’ve had with the Growatts.
@@jeffmotes2129 Very odd to see that many issues, I have two 12kw growatts pushed them constantly at 10kw no issues. Also using 4 6500ex and push them so far to 16kw with no issues.
@@krom6017 I agree. The frustrating part is there were times tge system worked great and performed as expected. Then one issue after another started showing up.
I used 1 5/8” solid back unistrut for the vertical pieces and 7/8” slotted back unitstrut for the horizontal pieces. Also used 1/2” spring nuts. You can purchase these items at Home Depot and other supply houses. I bought mine from Irby Distributors.
Does that heat pump not have a vacation mode that sets a temp like 49 degrees? Mr, Cool brand does, according to their docs, I just assumed that was a common feature.
@@jeffmotes2129 Well, that sucks. So, you could either get one that does, or maybe you can rig up a diy system that will switch power from the heat pump until you get to 49 degerees, then gives it power? You don't really need to keep the room at that high temp, so long as you aren't afraid of it getting too cold for that model heat pump to work, I would guess that would work. But you have to check it doesn't lose its settings when it loses power. I don't know if anyone makes something like this, but it shouldn't be really hard. I don't know if it would be cheap, or if it would put excess wear on your heat pump. But you can set it to cut off at like 50 or so degrees, so that you aren't wasting as much heat.
@@NdxtremePro I have a smart temperature monitor and a smart plug in there. I’m going to use those to turn a space heater on and off. Not ideal but I think it will work.
I have a remote property I may try to power. But that would only require one inverter. I may sell most of the others. I’m still going to try and get Sig Solar to repair the two with bad displays under warranty. I first contacted them about it first part of November. They’ve been dragging their feet.
Oops, I watch Schneider electric xw- pro vs solo ark and other. The video by Abney solar. People need to start posting about Signiture solar. I had the same problem with my 12kw and we are totally off grid and the SOB took over a month to replace the unit. They are not very good. They are nothing but a bunch of used car salesmen.
The first unit they repaired for me took 30 days for them to agree to doing so under warranty. Another 30 days turn around from their shop. A total of 75 emails and 60 days to have a defective unit repaired.
@@jeffmotes2129 Sadly I've heard these same comments over and over from multiple sources. I hear trying to get in touch with them when you need assistance is next to impossible as well. Too bad their CS/TS is so poor.
Excellent video! Always great to see someone recover so well when things don't go as planned. As always, a great job of explaining the process. Go SEC!
Can't go wrong with the Lamborghini of inverters. I have the 8Kw split phase LF Growatt. If I decide to run my whole house I'd love to grab one of these Sol-Arks. Cheers
I’m going to be running all my power usage through the Sol-Arks. Spending more than I had planned but trying to go cheap always seems to cost me more in the long run.
@@jeffmotes2129 There's some truth to the saying, "Buy the best and only cry once.". Looking forward to seeing those Sol-Arks humming along.
@@paul.phillips bites me in the hiney on occasions.
I put 2 x 12k solarks and thry work pretty flawlessly.
I went from a single low frequency 12k Growatt to a Deye 8k (same as Sol-Ark 12k and manufacturer of Sol-Ark designs, but I didn’t know that when I purchased it end of 2019). It has been totally solid! I’ll go to Sol-Ark 15k’s one day.
I have it setup for zero-export, because of the nature of my city and power utility. So it covers my power usage with PV/battery as much as it can, but has the ATS in it, so most of my home keeps power when the grid goes down (and it goes down for short times a lot out in the desert).
The next problem is my Internet only stays up for five minutes or so if the grid goes down because their side seems to have limited power backup.
I just installed 15K Sol-ark and pulled out 12k Growatt. Growatt worked good for the most part for over a year. Just needed more charging. Should have bought the 15k From the beginning.
Yeah. I should have abandoned the Growatts the moment I realized I was going to need a whole house transformer. But … water under the bridge. Live and learn and spend more $$.
@@jeffmotes2129 If you don’t think about the money, at least it was interesting and fun for us!
@@captainobvious9188 and a lot of time …
Oh man. Sorry for your difficulties. Admire your work and your tenacity.
Thanks. Live and learn. Just some “learning” is expensive.
Welcome Back.
Great video as always.
A passthrough would have made the wiring easier for the inverters but, it is a flawless piece of work.
Thanks!
Good inverter choice! I've been using one for 6 months now.
Hope to have mine online in a few days.
Jeff, I’ve been waiting for this update ever since I heard you were switching over to SolArks. Those units make the growatts look like little toys next to them. They’re beasts!
Whatever your mistake was, you must have hid it well, because nothing jumped out at me.
You said you got your wireways from Scott? I looked on his site and didn’t see any there. Must only be selling them if people ask.
Keep up the great work. Looking forward to the next update and the progress report on how the SolArks work.
Stay safe, stay warm and have a Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas Adam.
The wireways are special order. I bought a 6’, and a 8’ and a corner at the same time I bought the Sinclair ground mount. I bought The two smaller wireways through our local electrical distributor.
You didn't leave enough slack to connect to the batteries from in the new inverter!
@@terryrodbourn2793 the existing battery cables were sized for tge Growatt 5K inverters. They’re too small for tge Sol-Ark 15K inverters. These wires are going to be replace with 4/0 cables. Just haven’t gotten that far yet.
The 15K specs indicate they are transformerless, but can do 24K for 10 seconds? The Sol-Ark 15K looks like a much better product than the 12K. I would love to see what the peak output per phase is before shutdown. $8200 per Inverter is WAY out of my league though. All the best in your efforts, and keep the uploads coming!
I've never seen anyone actually test and prove those specs. I assume that the burst is the size of the capacitors on the internal bus, which is 200+ volts.
The 15k is a lot beefier than the 12k’s. I’ve seen a single 15k start and hold hard loads that parallel 12k’s couldn’t.
Looking good Jeff
You forgot the surge arrestors in a PV breaker box? I no longer use the plastic DIN boxes and I replace it with a steel box or short wire way with a din rail in back. If a breaker or surge arrestor over heats those freaking plastic boxes turn into dripping napalm! Get rid of them so you can sleep at night. Hi voltage MPP sense/back current can overheat some 1000 volts din rail surge arrestors even in the middle of the night!
Good advice. Those SPDs are gone now. I have midnight Solar SPDs in a metal junction box on the exterior wall where the PV underground wiring transitions back to copper.
@@jeffmotes2129
Perfect!
You get what you pay for! I wish I could afford something else.
True words.
Thanks for the update
Just a tad cold here in Wisconsin this am. -15 with -35 wind chills. Does your Pioneer mini splits have a freeze protection setting? My Mr. Cool unit does. I will keep my 30x30 heated part of my shop at 40 to 45 degrees all winter long.
Not that advanced. Lowest I can set it is 62F. Got to 19F this morning. Expecting a little cooler tonight. A bit cool for us down south.
@@jeffmotes2129 Pioneers are good units, I have 2 of them in my house, the Mr. Cool is in my shop.
looks good.. well done video .. maybe add links to the folks you purchased from in the comments ?
Good idea!
Hi pleasant good day like ur vids an the scale of ur Installation.
With regards to the mistake is it u had to shift the inverters apart from center because u didn't center the 2ft wire way
Actually I shifted them as far to the outside of the new wire ways as I could. Wanted the extra space between the inverters.
That was one of those lazy mistakes. The dumb mistake was really dumb. Send me your email address and I’ll send you a book.
Did they fix the issue with the SolArks shutting down when the legs are not balanced? I saw this issue on the 12ks with another youtuber and to me is the one thing holding me back. His SolArk12k was shutting down when one leg hit 5k. Your setup looks pro though.
I saw that video. The Sol-Ark 12k are 9kw inverters. I consider them as two 4.5kw inverters, one per line, connected together. You have to know the limitations.
The Growatt 5k inverters are 240v inverters. You have to derive your own neutral. In essence the L1 and L2 coming out of the Growatt will always be balanced. All imbalances will have to handled by whatever you’re using to derive the neutral. Using an autotransformer to derive a neutral for a home has a lot of inherent risk.
Check out my other videos on deriving a neutral.
I’ve just been having too many problems, some small - some large, with the Growatts.
@@jeffmotes2129 if the 12k is only 9kW, how many kW is the the15k SolArk.
@@kevinmills5293 it depends … 15kw when both PV and batteries are available. 12kw when only batteries. 48kw when in bypass. Other ratings with AC coupling.
Hi, I've only watched a couple of videos so far, but I'm interested in your decission to get 2 15k. I saw another gentleman use 1 15k to power his whole house, what caused you to think you needed 2? I might want 2 and that's why I ask. Thank you
@@tekker8308 the 15k has a peak capacity of 12kw when running only on batteries like it does at night. My load requirements exceed 12kw quite often and at times reaches as high as 22kw. Hence the need for 2 15k units.
The 15k does have a 48kw grid feed thru. So if the inverter is overloaded it will switch to the grid. But I didn’t want that happening.
Also based on my experience with Growatt inverters I didn’t want a system with a single inverter. With the two 15k units I can still operate on a more limited basis with one inverter until the bad unit is replaced.
@@jeffmotes2129 Thank you, I appreciate the answer.
@@tekker8308 you’re welcome
Jeff, The big question I have is that the issue I have seen with Sol-Ark's is load on any 120V leg. This is the huge advantage to Growatt's IMO but I get reliability. You did not say in the videos but I am guessing you will either be changing your usage quite a bit or buying several more Sol-Arks
Running my entire property off two Sol-ark 15k inverters. No problems. 4000 sq ft all electric home, 3 ton and 5 ton heat pumps, multiple freezers and fridges, well pump, electric water heater, washer and dryer, other typical electrical devices.
No changes in lifestyle.
@@jeffmotes2129 Jeff, now. You said straight away in the video you were going to need to teach her to not run everything at once after seeing load on Sol-Arks
@@maagjohn yes. If I could get her to spread it out it would be better. Especially if she’d run the. heavy loads during the day when we have excess power. But she still likes washing and drying clothes in the evening which pulls power from the battery.
If she’d take advantage of the sunny days when we can generate more power than we can consume and store we wouldn’t have to pull so heavy from the batteries.
But the system has worked flawlessly without any lifestyle changes.
The 15K will allow you to pull a maximum of 6,000 watts per line when running off batteries. With 2 units I have 12,000 watts per line or 24,000 watts at 240v. I haven’t had any load issues.
What about the bonding lug on your EMT?
I’m letting the locknuts take care of that.
Mistake or not, I think I would have put a pass through between the two front wireways, just in case you needed to pass through. I realize you can always go behind and around, but more passageways is always good.. Also, how are you going to cover the back wireways? Cut down the front cover I suspect. Cheers and good luck with this installation - I upgraded my 5000's to EG4 6500's, and that seems to be working ok, but may be doing he same thing in the not to distant future (Sol-Ark 15k)
Yes, we cut the existing cover to fit. I thought about the EG4 6500s. The specs look good. But they were too new on the market for me. Didn’t want to end up with the same regrets I’ve had with the Growatts.
@@jeffmotes2129 Very odd to see that many issues, I have two 12kw growatts pushed them constantly at 10kw no issues. Also using 4 6500ex and push them so far to 16kw with no issues.
@@krom6017 I agree. The frustrating part is there were times tge system worked great and performed as expected. Then one issue after another started showing up.
hello thank you for the video! Could you give me the size and name of that mounting (strut) racking you used? Thank you
I used 1 5/8” solid back unistrut for the vertical pieces and 7/8” slotted back unitstrut for the horizontal pieces. Also used 1/2” spring nuts.
You can purchase these items at Home Depot and other supply houses. I bought mine from Irby Distributors.
@@jeffmotes2129 ok great thank you !
Does that heat pump not have a vacation mode that sets a temp like 49 degrees? Mr, Cool brand does, according to their docs, I just assumed that was a common feature.
Hmm … haven’t thought of that. Going to find out. Thanks!
Checked it out and it doesn’t.
@@jeffmotes2129 Well, that sucks.
So, you could either get one that does, or maybe you can rig up a diy system that will switch power from the heat pump until you get to 49 degerees, then gives it power? You don't really need to keep the room at that high temp, so long as you aren't afraid of it getting too cold for that model heat pump to work, I would guess that would work.
But you have to check it doesn't lose its settings when it loses power.
I don't know if anyone makes something like this, but it shouldn't be really hard. I don't know if it would be cheap, or if it would put excess wear on your heat pump.
But you can set it to cut off at like 50 or so degrees, so that you aren't wasting as much heat.
@@NdxtremePro I have a smart temperature monitor and a smart plug in there. I’m going to use those to turn a space heater on and off. Not ideal but I think it will work.
I just buy A solark 15k and can I do 36 penels by 550 W total 19800W that okay or no please advice
According to the Sol-Ark data sheet the maximum solar input power is 19500W.
I heard the Sol-ark 15k makes a hi pitched sound when on. Is this true ?
Not really. But it is more noisy when the door is open.
You can find some of my videos with the sol-arks under load and tge sounds they make.
So what going on with the Growatts and are you selling any of them??
I have a remote property I may try to power. But that would only require one inverter. I may sell most of the others. I’m still going to try and get Sig Solar to repair the two with bad displays under warranty. I first contacted them about it first part of November. They’ve been dragging their feet.
Curious, why the Solark, over like say a victron setup?
Several people I know have Sol-Arks. All have been pleased. Don’t know much about the Victron units.
@@jeffmotes2129 Thanks, I was just curious. Have a Merry Christmas.
@@snoflite5234 you too. Stay safe in these cold temps. 24F here right now. Pretty cold for this far south.
We heard a lot about SS support, it is a joke, they would loose lot of potential buyers , us is included😮
They’ve gotten better I think.
@@jeffmotes2129 You are such a very kind person🙂👍
Where did you buy the Sol-Arks?
Scott Hunt at practicalpreppers.com/
@Engineer775
Oops, I watch Schneider electric xw- pro vs solo ark and other. The video by Abney solar. People need to start posting about Signiture solar. I had the same problem with my 12kw and we are totally off grid and the SOB took over a month to replace the unit. They are not very good. They are nothing but a bunch of used car salesmen.
The first unit they repaired for me took 30 days for them to agree to doing so under warranty. Another 30 days turn around from their shop. A total of 75 emails and 60 days to have a defective unit repaired.
@@jeffmotes2129 Sadly I've heard these same comments over and over from multiple sources. I hear trying to get in touch with them when you need assistance is next to impossible as well. Too bad their CS/TS is so poor.
@@ssoffshore5111 I’m dealing with them now on a couple issues with my batteries. For now they have been very helpful.
How long did you own the Growatts?
I bought them last December. Powered them up back in May this year.
@@jeffmotes2129 Oh that is not good, how much heat it on that wall mate?
@@chuxxsss I have the room air conditioned. During the summer I was keeping the temp below 86F.
@@jeffmotes2129 Well my shed here in Australia will destroy the screens then 113F.
U did not space the inverter far enough for the inverter to open
Good guess but not it. Happy new year or close to it anyway.
Ok thanks
the 2' troughs are sideways.
That is true.
@@jeffmotes2129 I want my first solar project to look this good I am close to pulling the trigger.
@@keything8487 take your time. You can do it.
Thats a lot of inverter my man.
My load peaks at about 22kw. Depending on the weather and how industrious my wife is on a particular day.
The troughs are not lined up. But I won’t tell know one lol
That was a lazy mistake. The dumb mistake we’ll it was just dumb. Lol. But send me your email address and I’ll send you a book.
😮