Six month review of my Growatt (SPF 3000TL LVM) all in one inverter at my off grid cabin in Canada
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 14 ต.ค. 2024
- Reviewed my Growatt all in one inverter system at my off grid cabin following six months of use. It's a good little system! I just wish lithium ion batteries were more affordable in Canada. I realised that I don't have enough battery storage up at the cabin. Everything is so much more expensive in Canada than the US. Take care, Scott
This is a very good unit for the $$. I recall paying around $600 +/- 2 years ago. I also added the wifi card so I could get access to some half decent data and graphs. Changing the settings via the web interface does not work so well. My 24v unit is installed at a second home and is wired up just like this with the small panel. My primary AC is shore power with the ability to manually switch to a generator. I use my setup primarily as a UPS so my heat and other critical loads are carried during power outages. I have 1400 watts of panels hooked up. In the summer I set it to SOL and run my loads and fully charge my batteries when I get 1200 watts peak. In the winter when the sun is low (200 watts peak), I switch modes to favor shore power. I have about $2,200 invested in this DIY project and the payback will be 10+ years for just the solar electricity it produces. The big value is the UPS with transfer switch and keeping my critical loads running 24x7x365 mixing in Shore Power, Solar and Gen as needed.
Good to hear the unit is meeting your needs and that you haven't had any major issues apart from the WiFi card. I am happy with my unit. I don't have access to shore power in my cabin and am reliant on solar and my generator only. I am hoping to add another 330 watt solar panel in spring. I paid 1200 Cad for my unit. Everything is more expensive in Canada unfortunately. Take care, Scott
This is the unit that I’ve been doing research on for a couple months now for a box truck RV conversion and I’m really happy I found your video. I found it very informative, thank you for taking the time to make this honest review
No worries. I am glad you found it helpful 😁. It's a good little unit and you should have loads of power for your RV conversion. Take care, Scott
Thank you for your review, I've just bought this model and in the process of installing it.
No worries. It's a good one! Hope you're installations goes well. take care, Scott
Great review. I have the powmr 3000 24 volt. It seems to be comparable but I can stack mine with another to make 240. But all in all it seems great too
Cheers for that! I am not aware of your unit and I will Google it. The Growatt is expandable as well but I will stick to one unit as it meets my needs. Take care and thanks again for the feedback. Scott
I am from Puerto Rico 🇵🇷and I have the same one with the only difference that mine is 48v and being like a whole year so far without any issue. Plus talking about batteries it can use any type of batteries. Excuse my English I am not good at it but this Inverter is a nice one no matter what Batteries you choose. I do have four of the Growatt 2.5ah for a total of 10KWH.
Good to hear your Growatt is working really well. Nice to hear from someone who lives in Puerto Rico 🇵🇷. Take care, Scott
Great review, it seems to me that the Growatt Inverters are the way to go, if you think the prices are high in Canada you should try living in Ireland and try to set up off grid anything, it's a nightmare.
Cheers for that! The Growatt is a good little unit for off-gridders. Sorry to hear it's a nightmare for you in terms of going off grid and the cost of equipment in Ireland. Has it not helped being in the EU? Everything has gone to Shite since Britain has come out of the EU. My wife is English and I live part of the year in England. Take care, Scott
Hey Scott! Thanks for this video, it helped confirm some things for me. I went for a 2kW inverter generator to power my house in Winter, however my Growatt 3000TL only wants to draw 300w of power to charge my batteries, which takes a while and I feel is a waste of gas. Iʻm wondering if you could share your Growatt settings and if you have any tips? Iʻve tried lowering the charge voltage and ramping it up after, but have got the same result.
That's strange. It should pick up your generator once it kicks in (I use utility in settings 1). Have you checked the wiring going into the 'power in' slot? What type of cable are you using? In settings 11, what have you set your charging current at? I have a 2000 watt inverter generator and it will only take 25 amps into my batteries. It's hard to trouble shoot when I don't know your system or set it up. Hope this helps. Take care, Scott
I just got this unit. Did you ever figure out the auto power off and back on with load? Thanks for the videos.
Hi, I haven't figured it out yet. I wonder if it's related to connecting it to my house panel? If you have the same issue and sort it, please can you let me know. Cheers! Take care, Scott
Hello, thank you very much for the review. Did I understand it correctly: the device needs up to 55 watts for itself when no load is connected?
Yes, it uses about 50 watts to run it. there is an economy setting that reduces the standing power to 15 watts but I can't get it to work. If you have a fairly large solar array and sufficient battery storage you won't notice the 50 watt drawl. In my case, I don't have enough battery storage. Life po batteries are expensive in Canada. Hope that helps. Take care, Scott
I bought a growatt 3000 48v and want to do a small panel as you have done also in a small cabin. Is your panel grounded to a grounding rod? Or does the generator / growatt providing grounding in some way? Having a hard time figuring out how ground is handled between solar / generator / inverter. Thanks from British Columbia!
I have a grounding plate under my cabin that is wired to my sub panel which is then wired into my Growatt. I don't have a ground at my solar panels but will add another grounding plate to them this summer when I add another solar panel to my solar array. Hope this helps. I would strongly suggest you have sufficient battery storage as the standing power of the Growatt unit is high re: approx 50 watts. It's a good little unit and meets my needs nicely. Good to hear from another cabin dweller from Canada. Take care, Scott
@@scottnoiles8131 Thank you so much for the response, that's really helpful! Yes that 50 watts really ads up. I have a 5.12Kw LifePo4 to start off with and may ad another of the same if needed. My mom says she's getting up at 2am to watch Charles become the official King tomorrow. lol -- Congrats on your new King.. :)
Great information! I have a questions for you, I attached my 3500 watt generator to it just like you did but it doesn't charge. It doesn't even show on the screen, is there something I'm doing wrong? I do have the have the 6 kw model.
If the unit isn't acknowledging the generator, I wonder if there is a loose connection where you have installed the extension cord (not sure what you are using for your generator) into the power in section on the Growatt? Have you used your generator before or is this the first time? It could also be that your batteries are not equalised. Is the unit working? If the unit isn't working, check the volts on your batteries as the unit won't work if this happens as it happened to me.
@@scottnoiles8131sorry I forgot to mention I'm using a Firman 3500 watt gas generator.
My extension cord has a black, green and white color coded, My ac input( as well as yours) has a Hot 1 and Hot 2 and a ground symbol, I'm a bit confused on the green and white wire. Are they both neutral? I put the black in Hot1 and green in Hot 2 and white in neutral. I would assume this is how you do it? I could check if my batteries are running on same volts.
Oh and thank for the video and fast response!
@@armourofgod6310 In a house, green, (or bare) is always earth ground, black is hot1, and white is Neutral, (for 120V AC: 240V AC adds a red wire for hot2). On any outlet in the USA, this is how wiring is done, and if you cut an extension cord, that is what you will find.
SPF 3000TL LVM-24P In this model inverter, should I use lithium phosphate battery. Or just use lead acid. Because I have seen the data sheet, the data sheet only mentions the name lead acid battery. Please give details.
You can use lithium phosphate (lifepo) or AGM/lead acid batteries. If you buy this unit, you would note which batteries you are using in the growatt. I have lifepo batteries. Hope this helps? Take care, Scott
@@scottnoiles8131 SPF 3000 TL LVM-24P Sir please tell me. Will this model inverter support all types of batteries? Because I want to know from you, in the data sheet of the company only mentioned the name of lead acid battery. If you support it, I will buy it.
As I said before, this unit will accept lifepo, AGM or lead acid batteries. If you buy the unit, you will need note the type of battery you are using. I am using lifepo batteries for my unit. I would suggest you do your own research on the pro/cons of the different types of batteries before you decide on the type of batteries you use. Hope this helps. Take care, Scott
Health care is much cheaper in Canada, and hardly any mass shootings. I LOVE CANADA
What is the total amount of solar array can you hook up to the 3000? I think I remember reading somewhere around 1900? Thanks....
The unit will handle up to 2000 watts of panels and a max of 145 volts (Vdc) from your solar array. Hope this helps. Take care, Scott
SPF 3000 TL LVM-24P Output volt how much 220 or 110
Hi, it's 120. If you buy two units, you can use it for 120/240 split capacity. Are you going to use it for small house/cabin? Hope this helps. Take care, Scott
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