Re: [RE-wrenches] Growatt 5k inverter w/ transformer, more China junk?

[Ray]

20 years ago, I thought I had to fix every solar problem that crossed my 
path.  I've since gone into a 12 step recovery program, and have 
successfully stayed "solar sober" for the past decade, with only a very 
occasional relapse.  The Wrenches list has many a recovering 
"solarholic" among its ranks. Listen to them. You just don't want the 
responsibility or the call backs.  My customers that I set up with all 
the right equipment hardly ever have problems, but the few orphaned 
systems I've inherited, have a couple of problems a year.  Its not just 
your sanity, its for your customers as well.  If they're just playing 
around with it/ weekend fun, that's one thing, but if this is Home Sweet 
Home for multiple fellow Americans, they deserve better.


Sounds like a Euro spec (230 vac single phase) inverter that they 
switched the frequency from 50 Hz to 60 Hz. Even if this is a good brand 
over seas, its not the right voltage, its not UL listed, and you have no 
tech support. (What could possibly go wrong?)


We get a couple calls a month from folks that got a 'deal on the 
internet'.  We don't even take them anymore even if its installing good 
equipment. It's still 1/2 the money, for double the work. And one last 
thing: folks that are trying to cheap out are on average going to be 
less likely to appreciate and pay for your expertise.


Just curious, who sold this to them?

Ray Walters
Remote Solar
303 505-8760

On 1/4/21 6:56 PM, jay wrote:

I just was looking at them the other day.  They do make US versions.

I don’t think they are junk, Growatt is one if not the largest 
inverter company in the world.


jay

On Jan 4, 2021, at 4:33 PM, Chris Schaefer > wrote:


G'Day and Happy New Year's All,

Just wanted to share this with you all. A potential client purchased 
a somewhat complete system off the internet and is now seeking an 
installer. I know, same old story. The package came with two Growatt 
SPF-5000 ES inverters with two Huawei HW-TX-5000 transformers. The 
twist to the story is apparently the inverters put out 230vac on a 
single leg and the transformers are required to split the 240vac into 
two legs of 120. I've never come across an inverter like this. As an 
off gridder the first thing I think of is the inefficiencies of the 
additional transformers to do something like this when we have plenty 
of manufacturers that don't require this. I'd love to hear your 
thoughts on this setup and possible experiences and pitfalls to 
beware of.


PS the client is kicking themselves in the butt, lol.

Gratefully,
Christopher--

Chris Schaefer’s

/Tel/Fax 585-229-2083 or Cell 585-748-1870
//5115 South Hill Road ~ Canandaigua New York 14424
//www.solarandwindfx.com  ~ E-mail: 
ch...@solarandwindfx.com /


/
/

Thomas Jefferson, the author of our great Constitution, once said, 
"democracy" will cease to exist when you take away from those who are 
willing to work and give to those who would not."


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Re: [RE-wrenches] Wireless float switch control

[Nick A Lucchese]

Thanks a bunch Jeff,

I was on Wrenches from 2000-2010 but then when I left the business of my 
previous employer working for Jon Hill at Sierra Solar Systems I never took the 
time to rejoin. I thought I had changed my email a couple times but apparently 
not successfully. Too much time out in the field but never stopped thinking 
about all of you!

Thanks a bunch for letting me know about the RPS solution. After I had posted 
that inquiry last week I did do a little more searching but definitely seems 
like a lot of them either have range issues or cost hurdles. Heading back to 
the site this week to confirm line of site for the RPS solution. Still waiting 
on a call back from them about pricing.

Happy 2021, Nick


> On Jan 1, 2021, at 11:39 AM, Jeff Clearwater  wrote:
> 
> Welcome Back Nick!
> 
> Nice to see your name here - Wrenches continues to be a fabulous resource - 
> some of us have been here close to 25 years!
> 
> So check out:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnhUGGjv5WM 
> 
> 
> I don't have direct experience with this wireless sensor but it looks solid:  
> https://www.rpssolarpumps.com/ 
> 
> A google search reveals some others that look less expensive so take a look.
> 
>  Hope that helps,
> 
> Best
>  
>> Nick A Lucchese  December 31, 2020 at 10:20 AM
>> Greetings Wrenches,
>> 
>> I’ve mostly been trying to get away from pumping systems but decided to take 
>> on a small solar direct Grundfos system for a friend’s mother that lives on 
>> my road. The well and ideal spot for the array sits about 1000’ away from 
>> the tanks and it’s the typical scenario of switching over an existing setup 
>> where all the plumbing lines have been buried for many years so there is no 
>> opportunity to bury a conduit or cable for the float switch conductors. I’m 
>> aware of the reverse action pressure switch strategy but do not want to 
>> pressure the fill lines for multiple reasons. Also, the existing float 
>> switch wires do not run all the way to the well head either even if I did 
>> want to rework those and invert the logic with another relay elsewhere. For 
>> obvious reasons I can’t reassign the old power conductors to the pump either 
>> since I need to keep those in place to use with the IO101 as backup.
>> 
>> I’ve installed many dozens of these systems over the years and have always 
>> found a way around it but this job really begs for some sort of wireless 
>> solution. I’ve been off the Wrenches list for 10 years now so there are many 
>> threads I’ve not seen and figured maybe the group has come up with a 
>> solution strategy for these scenarios by now? Obviously the age of Wifi, 
>> Bluetooth etc has brought us many wireless solutions that did not exist 
>> years ago so I’m hopeful we now have an answer to these headaches? Even if I 
>> needed to add a small battery system to power it.
>> 
>> Also just want to say how much I appreciate this list. I rejoined a few 
>> weeks ago after 10 years off of it and it is so great to see all the 
>> familiar technicians here. Thank you to Michael and all of you, new and old, 
>> for being part of the good fight to strive for quality and integrity in this 
>> passion we all share. The planet needs us more than ever and I feel 
>> fortunate for every one of you. This list is an incredible resource!
>> 
>> Hope all of you have a great last few hours of 2020 and a prosperous 2021! 
>> 
>> Nick A Lucchese
>> 
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Re: [RE-wrenches] Growatt 5k inverter w/ transformer, more China junk?

[Dan Fink]

Chris;
Of course as Kent points out, the equipment does not appear to be UL
listed, so would not pass inspection. But, I realize there are situations
where a UL listing is not required. It appears to me that the
Growatt/Huawei setup this person bought is very similar to the architecture
of the SolarEdge StorEdge solution. It uses an autotransformer in exactly
the same way, to split 240VAC output into a pair of 120VAC legs, but the SE
AT is only needed when powering household loads from only the battery bank.

In a purely off-grid situation, of course this would be all the time. But
autotransformers are certainly more efficient than dual winding
transformers, and I think the In/Out voltage ratio would be low if the
secondary is simply dual tappedbut that is WAY beyond my pay grade.
Perhaps you can glean some efficiency info from the StorEdge documentation,
or even better, from one of the power electronics experts here.

All in all, though, a great example of how NOT to design an off grid
system, as you've likely already informed the potential client!

Dan Fink
Owner, Buckville Energy Consulting LLC
NABCEP Certified PV System Inspector
NABCEP PV Associate
NABCEP Registered Continuing Education Providers
d anbo...@gmail.com
970-672-4342




On Mon, Jan 4, 2021 at 4:33 PM Chris Schaefer 
wrote:

> G'Day and Happy New Year's All,
>
> Just wanted to share this with you all. A potential client purchased a
> somewhat complete system off the internet and is now seeking an installer.
> I know, same old story. The package came with two Growatt SPF-5000 ES
> inverters with two Huawei HW-TX-5000 transformers.  The twist to the story
> is apparently the inverters put out 230vac on a single leg and the
> transformers are required to split the 240vac into two legs of 120. I've
> never come across an inverter like this. As an off gridder the first thing
> I think of is the inefficiencies of the additional transformers to do
> something like this when we have plenty of manufacturers that don't require
> this. I'd love to hear your thoughts on this setup and possible experiences
> and pitfalls to beware of.
>
> PS the client is kicking themselves in the butt, lol.
>
> Gratefully,
> Christopher--
>
> Chris Schaefer’s
> 
>
> *Tel/Fax 585-229-2083 or Cell 585-748-1870 *
> *5115 South Hill Road ~ Canandaigua New York 14424**www.solarandwindfx.com
>  ~ E-mail: ch...@solarandwindfx.com
> *
>
>
> Thomas Jefferson, the author of our great Constitution, once said,
> "democracy" will cease to exist when you take away from those who are
> willing to work and give to those who would not."
> ___
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Re: [RE-wrenches] Growatt 5k inverter w/ transformer, more China junk?

[jay]

I just was looking at them the other day.  They do make US versions.  

I don’t think they are junk, Growatt is one if not the largest inverter company 
in the world.

jay

> On Jan 4, 2021, at 4:33 PM, Chris Schaefer  wrote:
> 
> G'Day and Happy New Year's All,
> 
> Just wanted to share this with you all. A potential client purchased a 
> somewhat complete system off the internet and is now seeking an installer. I 
> know, same old story. The package came with two Growatt SPF-5000 ES inverters 
> with two Huawei HW-TX-5000 transformers.  The twist to the story is 
> apparently the inverters put out 230vac on a single leg and the transformers 
> are required to split the 240vac into two legs of 120. I've never come across 
> an inverter like this. As an off gridder the first thing I think of is the 
> inefficiencies of the additional transformers to do something like this when 
> we have plenty of manufacturers that don't require this. I'd love to hear 
> your thoughts on this setup and possible experiences and pitfalls to beware 
> of.
> 
> PS the client is kicking themselves in the butt, lol.
> 
> Gratefully,
> Christopher-- 
> Chris Schaefer’s
>  
> Tel/Fax 585-229-2083 or Cell 585-748-1870 
> 5115 South Hill Road ~ Canandaigua New York 14424
> www.solarandwindfx.com  ~ E-mail: 
> ch...@solarandwindfx.com 
> 
> Thomas Jefferson, the author of our great Constitution, once said, 
> "democracy" will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing 
> to work and give to those who would not."
> 
> ___
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Re: [RE-wrenches] Growatt 5k inverter w/ transformer, more China junk?

[Kent Osterberg]

The "Contact Us" page on their website gives a contact number in China. 
And none of the documentation shows a UL listing. I would tell the 
customer that I can't install it - too risky.


Kent Osterberg
Blue Mountain Solar

On 1/4/2021 3:33 PM, Chris Schaefer wrote:

G'Day and Happy New Year's All,

Just wanted to share this with you all. A potential client purchased a 
somewhat complete system off the internet and is now seeking an 
installer. I know, same old story. The package came with two Growatt 
SPF-5000 ES inverters with two Huawei HW-TX-5000 transformers. The 
twist to the story is apparently the inverters put out 230vac on a 
single leg and the transformers are required to split the 240vac into 
two legs of 120. I've never come across an inverter like this. As an 
off gridder the first thing I think of is the inefficiencies of the 
additional transformers to do something like this when we have plenty 
of manufacturers that don't require this. I'd love to hear your 
thoughts on this setup and possible experiences and pitfalls to beware of.


PS the client is kicking themselves in the butt, lol.

Gratefully,
Christopher--

Chris Schaefer’s

/Tel/Fax 585-229-2083 or Cell 585-748-1870
//5115 South Hill Road ~ Canandaigua New York 14424
//www.solarandwindfx.com  ~ E-mail: 
ch...@solarandwindfx.com /


/
/

Thomas Jefferson, the author of our great Constitution, once said, 
"democracy" will cease to exist when you take away from those who are 
willing to work and give to those who would not."





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[RE-wrenches] Growatt 5k inverter w/ transformer, more China junk?

[Chris Schaefer]

G'Day and Happy New Year's All,

Just wanted to share this with you all. A potential client purchased a
somewhat complete system off the internet and is now seeking an installer.
I know, same old story. The package came with two Growatt SPF-5000 ES
inverters with two Huawei HW-TX-5000 transformers.  The twist to the story
is apparently the inverters put out 230vac on a single leg and the
transformers are required to split the 240vac into two legs of 120. I've
never come across an inverter like this. As an off gridder the first thing
I think of is the inefficiencies of the additional transformers to do
something like this when we have plenty of manufacturers that don't require
this. I'd love to hear your thoughts on this setup and possible experiences
and pitfalls to beware of.

PS the client is kicking themselves in the butt, lol.

Gratefully,
Christopher--

Chris Schaefer’s


*Tel/Fax 585-229-2083 or Cell 585-748-1870 *
*5115 South Hill Road ~ Canandaigua New York 14424**www.solarandwindfx.com
 ~ E-mail: ch...@solarandwindfx.com
*


Thomas Jefferson, the author of our great Constitution, once said,
"democracy" will cease to exist when you take away from those who are
willing to work and give to those who would not."
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