Hey Rob, I have this very same inverter. Great video, thanks for posting. Was hoping you did the video for programming. The programming I think is the most complicated part of any PV system and nobody shows how to program the inverter.
Nice work Rob. You will want to tighten the battery connections tighter than you can with a socket driver because of the current during high loads. Always use a charge resister when connecting your lithiuim batteries to large inverters due to extreme high current charging the capacitors which can cause failure of the inverter. You might get away with it a few times and then oops. The circuit board connections will weaken every time you do it. It is a lithium issue. You can do it at the batteries, fuse/breaker etc. Normally you need to connect the panels last on most chargers because they say to not ever have power from the panels with the batteries not connected or it will burn up your inverter. If you have a solar panel breaker box or fuse, connect that last.
Nice video . I have one question because i brought the same inventer..IN THE AC INPUT I CONNECT THE PHASE OF THE METER AND IN ACOUT I CONNECT A WIRE TO THE MAIN BREAKER IN THE WIRING PANEL?
We came from our main breaker panel to the AC input and then from the AC output to a sub panel for solar circuits we want to run, that way the grid power can pass through when solar is not enough.
Thanks from India for the video, I have recently replaced my sofar ongrid with phocos 240v/5kw and using it wothout batteries. Working fine with some minor issues. I am also a tech guy. Hope we can exchange experience
@@homesteadhideaway I have not connected batteries. First issue: a momentary off and on is seen in output(for less than a second) in the morning or evening when solar power is very low and mains supply is available. Relay switch sound is heard from inverter. This happens randomly. Second issue: when ever mains is not available in the evening and solar power dies, inverter display start blinking (due to low voltage) and switches off. On such occasions, data of daily, monthaly, yearly and date time get reset. Total data doesn't get reset.other settings reamin intact. I upgarded the firmware to latest as advised by their Indian partner but problem remained same. Now issue is being taken up by them with German R& D team. I have sent log file to them. One more compromise is that it doesn't have cloud monitoring tool in India. Moreover, it is paid service i think. However, good is that, i am now able to ise solar energy of my pannels in case mains fails. It was not possible with my earlier sofar ongrid inverter. Let's see if they come up with any solution. Fans become too loud in the noon when solar power peaks. Will be happy to hear from you. Thanks Sukhwinder
@@sukhwinderdotnet my issue was the grid power seemed to contribute a lot of watts even when solar was enough to run the whole load. I heard the same relay sound. Phocos said it was normal to have grid and solar input at the same time but I can switch grid input off and solar powers loads. The batteries help with the power transition and should help with your issue shutting off.
@@homesteadhideaway Yo must have disabled grid feed in? In this case, ss specified in their manual, inverter will continue to consume about 10Watts from grid to prevent any accidental grid geed in. Is it more than 10Watts? In my case grid feed in is enabled so no such issue. It is feeding as much energy (if not more tha) as my sofar was doing. Yes, batteries are likely to solve my issues but im reluctant to invest in batteries yet. Will connect in future if all goes well. My main issue was wastage of solar energy during power cuts. I have an existing small backup solution for night. How is fan sound? If it comes out to be a reliable inverter than these small issuee can be lived with.
I'm sure you are on a well pump out there in the hideaway... How well does the Phocos do on Battery, starting and running the well pump. And what's your well depth and pump HP? I'm strongly considering a Phocos for power backup and have a shallow well with 120v 1/2 hp submersible pump.
We actually have a separate meter for our well pump so we will be installing a separate solar system for the well house, meanwhile we did rain catchment as water back up.
Paul here. I have a question regarding programming automatic generator start when voltage is low on an off grid system. Currently it starts generator but as soon as charger kicks on it kicks generator off again and then right back on. Is there a setting to avoid this?
Also depends on if you need 120/240v or just 120v. You gotta buy two any grids and stack them for 120/240v whereas Solark is 240 out of the box. Also solark is UL listed to be a grid tied inverter. Phocos is not. Another important difference is the DC voltage limits for the solar. The anygrid is 250vdc, solark is 450v. On a big array or a long distance solark gets a lot easier to wire.
@@GainSolarPower actually the phocos has a 240v version but we opted for the 120v, also it has 2 mppt inputs rated at 250v each. Solark is great but we where able to install our whole system for less than a Solark alone.
@@homesteadhideaway Yeah, I don't mean to compare them head to head. Sol-Ark is obviously very high quality and does some things the Phocos doesn't for sure - and costs a lot more. I'm trying to see if the phocos will meet my needs. Price is certainly attractive, as long as it works and is reliable. Wish it had a 5 yr warranty.
@@homesteadhideaway the 230v phocos would need a transformer to run 120v loads. Look closely at the spec sheet. We are talking 120/240ac grid power in the US vs 230vac like you see in Europe.
I just hooked up a 5k phocos unit and for some reason it appears the unit is seeing my Pv as ac input? I don’t have any Ac input as I’m totally off grid. And app did show 1 pv array generating Volts but 0.0. Watts? Everything is connected correctly. It’s making 120 v ac off my batteries
Yeah, my phocos 5k 120v system was doing something quirky like that with the display. I just have batteries and shore power hooked up now. The system worked fine but the display wasn’t always correct. The phone app was a little off too, hopefully some sort of update will cure these bugs.
@@homesteadhideaway Thanks for your videos. I am looking for an updated also. I like what I see, but want to know how it performed. One of the aspects I dislike most about the Growatt and EG4 like devices is the idle losses (often 70 watts and up). It would be great to hear how Phocos compares....
Hey Rob, I have this very same inverter. Great video, thanks for posting. Was hoping you did the video for programming. The programming I think is the most complicated part of any PV system and nobody shows how to program the inverter.
Nice work Rob. You will want to tighten the battery connections tighter than you can with a socket driver because of the current during high loads. Always use a charge resister when connecting your lithiuim batteries to large inverters due to extreme high current charging the capacitors which can cause failure of the inverter. You might get away with it a few times and then oops. The circuit board connections will weaken every time you do it. It is a lithium issue. You can do it at the batteries, fuse/breaker etc. Normally you need to connect the panels last on most chargers because they say to not ever have power from the panels with the batteries not connected or it will burn up your inverter. If you have a solar panel breaker box or fuse, connect that last.
Tell me rob how many 550 w solar panel I must use for that invertor
Nice video . I have one question because i brought the same inventer..IN THE AC INPUT I CONNECT THE PHASE OF THE METER AND IN ACOUT I CONNECT A WIRE TO THE MAIN BREAKER IN THE WIRING PANEL?
We came from our main breaker panel to the AC input and then from the AC output to a sub panel for solar circuits we want to run, that way the grid power can pass through when solar is not enough.
Thanks from India for the video, I have recently replaced my sofar ongrid with phocos 240v/5kw and using it wothout batteries. Working fine with some minor issues. I am also a tech guy. Hope we can exchange experience
What issues were you having?
@@homesteadhideaway I have not connected batteries.
First issue: a momentary off and on is seen in output(for less than a second) in the morning or evening when solar power is very low and mains supply is available. Relay switch sound is heard from inverter. This happens randomly.
Second issue: when ever mains is not available in the evening and solar power dies, inverter display start blinking (due to low voltage) and switches off. On such occasions, data of daily, monthaly, yearly and date time get reset.
Total data doesn't get reset.other settings reamin intact.
I upgarded the firmware to latest as advised by their Indian partner but problem remained same. Now issue is being taken up by them with German R& D team. I have sent log file to them.
One more compromise is that it doesn't have cloud monitoring tool in India. Moreover, it is paid service i think.
However, good is that, i am now able to ise solar energy of my pannels in case mains fails. It was not possible with my earlier sofar ongrid inverter. Let's see if they come up with any solution.
Fans become too loud in the noon when solar power peaks.
Will be happy to hear from you.
Thanks
Sukhwinder
@@sukhwinderdotnet my issue was the grid power seemed to contribute a lot of watts even when solar was enough to run the whole load. I heard the same relay sound. Phocos said it was normal to have grid and solar input at the same time but I can switch grid input off and solar powers loads. The batteries help with the power transition and should help with your issue shutting off.
@@homesteadhideaway Yo must have disabled grid feed in? In this case, ss specified in their manual, inverter will continue to consume about 10Watts from grid to prevent any accidental grid geed in. Is it more than 10Watts?
In my case grid feed in is enabled so no such issue. It is feeding as much energy (if not more tha) as my sofar was doing.
Yes, batteries are likely to solve my issues but im reluctant to invest in batteries yet. Will connect in future if all goes well. My main issue was wastage of solar energy during power cuts. I have an existing small backup solution for night.
How is fan sound?
If it comes out to be a reliable inverter than these small issuee can be lived with.
@@sukhwinderdotnet ya it is consuming way more than 10watts but they say its normal. I will try to keep making videos.
I'm sure you are on a well pump out there in the hideaway... How well does the Phocos do on Battery, starting and running the well pump. And what's your well depth and pump HP? I'm strongly considering a Phocos for power backup and have a shallow well with 120v 1/2 hp submersible pump.
We actually have a separate meter for our well pump so we will be installing a separate solar system for the well house, meanwhile we did rain catchment as water back up.
If you have questions or problems with phocos, ask phocos...they have a helpful after sales desk😊
Paul here. I have a question regarding programming automatic generator start when voltage is low on an off grid system. Currently it starts generator but as soon as charger kicks on it kicks generator off again and then right back on. Is there a setting to avoid this?
We do not have a generator hooked up so I haven't messed with that setting yet. Sorry.
I just got one, looks great. How did you energize the inputs? Did you install a switch on the battery terminals?
I am using circuit breakers as switches on my battery, ac and pv inputs.
I am interested to see how you like the phocos. I am trying to decide whether to go inexpensive on a phocos or high quality and price on a sol-ark.
Ya tough decision but they are hard to compare. Ill try to keep posting updates.
Also depends on if you need 120/240v or just 120v. You gotta buy two any grids and stack them for 120/240v whereas Solark is 240 out of the box. Also solark is UL listed to be a grid tied inverter. Phocos is not.
Another important difference is the DC voltage limits for the solar. The anygrid is 250vdc, solark is 450v. On a big array or a long distance solark gets a lot easier to wire.
@@GainSolarPower actually the phocos has a 240v version but we opted for the 120v, also it has 2 mppt inputs rated at 250v each. Solark is great but we where able to install our whole system for less than a Solark alone.
@@homesteadhideaway Yeah, I don't mean to compare them head to head. Sol-Ark is obviously very high quality and does some things the Phocos doesn't for sure - and costs a lot more. I'm trying to see if the phocos will meet my needs. Price is certainly attractive, as long as it works and is reliable. Wish it had a 5 yr warranty.
@@homesteadhideaway the 230v phocos would need a transformer to run 120v loads. Look closely at the spec sheet. We are talking 120/240ac grid power in the US vs 230vac like you see in Europe.
I just hooked up a 5k phocos unit and for some reason it appears the unit is seeing my Pv as ac input? I don’t have any Ac input as I’m totally off grid. And app did show 1 pv array generating Volts but 0.0. Watts? Everything is connected correctly. It’s making 120 v ac off my batteries
Yeah, my phocos 5k 120v system was doing something quirky like that with the display. I just have batteries and shore power hooked up now. The system worked fine but the display wasn’t always correct. The phone app was a little off too, hopefully some sort of update will cure these bugs.
Sir please make video about function in this inverter
When or if he does. I will let you know😉
So how is the back feeding the grid going?
Not a grid tie system, this is a hybrid.
Hi,
I'm connected a lithium battery but he don't recognise thet is connected 😮
Hey Rob, I like your videos but what happened it's been nearly a month since your last update. You were about to SWITCH ON.. WHAT HAPPENED?
Sorry Peter, lots of projects around here, we will get back to the solar soon. Thanks for watching!
@@homesteadhideaway
Thanks for your videos. I am looking for an updated also. I like what I see, but want to know how it performed. One of the aspects I dislike most about the Growatt and EG4 like devices is the idle losses (often 70 watts and up). It would be great to hear how Phocos compares....
My inverter don't not want to turn on what the problem