GRID TIE INVERTERS | ECOWORTHY WVC-600
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 17 ก.ย. 2024
- Testing out the ECOWORTHY HVC-600 Grid Tie Inverter
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This video was about everything other than the inverter!
Watched this video about 6 years ago but didn't really understand what was going on at the time. After learning more about solar over the past few years I finally got around to trying this for myself and it works great.
This panel can put out close to 100 watts th-cam.com/users/postUgkxOqI2yqX0XVrhR2BMJciTWrHJpG8FhJyg when positioned in the appropriate southernly direction, tilted to the optimal angle for your latitude/date, and connected to a higher capacity device than a 500. The built in kickstand angle is a fixed at 50 degrees. Up to 20% more power can be output by selecting the actual date and latitude optimal angle.The 500 will only input 3.5A maximum at 18 volts for 63 watts. Some of the excess power from the panel can be fed into a USB battery bank, charged directly from the panel while also charging a 500. This will allow you to harvest as much as 63 + 15 = 78 watts.If this panel is used to charge a larger device, such as the power station, then its full output potential can be realized.
simple Arduino to detect 98% battery state to divert solar power to the grid tie should do the trick to make it all automated.. or shell out for a hybrid inverter which basically does everything that you already have set up in 1 box, (me personally I like a system like yours where I can replace small inexpensive components when something goes wrong).
This is the video that got me in to solar 👍
Thanks for that, really useful! Have just got a couple of 150w panels, a leisure panel and 1kw standard inverter, this has to go on the shopping list next!
@13:24 its ok some of us change our clothes daily too😂😂😂🙌🏻
Get rid of the box. That solar inverter is waterproof and made to be outside. Attached to the back of a panel!
Inside a box it will tend to overheat with the due consequences! Adding to that the closer it is to the panel the shorter the DC cable will be, another advantage! The AC side with longer cable is more favorable to cross a longer distance. It's worth reading the manual... ;-)
If you were on a different latitude probably it would have been burned already!
Cheers
Maybe this has been covered already but I disagree about not running mppts in parallel. I have 3 mppts on one battery bank, works sweet so long as you keep the maximum combined charging current within the battery specifications.
I have recently become grid tied with a professionally installed system and am now curious about these micro inverters. You've answered a lot of questions for me, thanks.
Who’s the little $#%T that dislikes every single one of my videos?! 😅. Happy Easter!
I bet it's some automated bot thingy. happy Easter btw
BillyNoMates1974 it’s like a humble-bot?! Lol. Keeps a youtubers ego in check!
I like your video, don’t let the bar####ds grid you down! Happy Easter🎉
never thought of that! happy easter to you too.
Its probably that nosy neighbour, who has solar envy. There will always be grumpy people out there. The trick is not to let them bother you. Thanks for another interesting video. PS note the voltage drop with DC on cables. AC does not have the same drop, therefore runs should be heavy duty wire for DC, and normal for AC.
Hi Andy, just seen this video and wondering how the inverter lasted since then.. seen some neg reviews on the reliability. Great channel by the way :)
Nice editing trick at 7:15
That was awesome!
Wow impressed that you noticed! Sometimes when filming I decide what I’m saying should be in front of the camera so I stop what I’m saying and start again, this allows me to do edits like that 😀
I had to do a double take the first time I watched that part! Great work! I love your videos!
Thanks! Appreciate that👍
You could install a double pole double throw switch between the pv, mppt and grid tie.
Do these micro inverters have anti island protection? Will it stop feeding power into the mains if there is a power cut? Don’t want to zap the linesmen working on the fault?
As someone from South Africa, it's always a little amusing watching these videos from the UK and how you never seem to have any propper sun :-) Julian Illet has the same issue in his videos.
Yep we would be better generating power from wind or rain :-) :-) as we seem to get more of that .. well unless its is not 2018 as we had lots of sun.
Thank you for uploading this video because it does documents a pretty good what to expect when doing solar
you do need the dno to be notified also i recommend connecting it with a fused spur connection unit and use a good electricity meter for a house measuring it.
Brilliant video Andy - very helpful and clear and given me an approach for my own domestic pv build. Keep up the good work...!!!!
Thanks👍
I have one of these and it works great [125 volts AC 60 cycles] I had to add then add again then add again fans to keep it from going into thermal shutdown, also works on battery, seems to run best on around 30 VDC, short term tested it on a 40 VDC 26650 battery pack and it put out over 600 watts......
Interesting information, so it seems to limit itself when running on batteries?
It does get hot in normal use, does the shutdown completely turn the inverter off or does it just limit power?
andy kirby the LED goes red and ac output quits.... Comes back after cooling off... Ga-day-mate!
Thanks mate, I’ve not had it do that yet but I think it’s a drawback to these units. I wouldn’t like to chance it mounted behind a solar panel!
andy kirby I started charting the temperature during the day before the fans it got above 120 degrees Fahrenheit after fans it doesn't give above 110 degrees Fahrenheit, one advantage to mounting it to the back of the panel is the aluminum of the panel acts as a heat sink and should draw a way quite a bit of heat and that might help I didn't think about that at first.
That’s a good point, I’m wondering also are you running the full 600W through just one input? I don’t think the inputs are fully independent or whether it makes any difference if you ran a panel on each input.
Andy, have an update on my WVC1200 4 Panel 1200W project and how electricity is measured by my Inline monitor like you used and my Smart Meter / Induction monitor on the Live of the input.
Well the inline monitor between the solar isolation switch and my mains shows 400W today, my Smart meter shows -155W :-) and the inductor on the main input shows +390W ! from my previous 450W nomal usage so I can say that the consumption monitor seems to not be clever enough to determine current flow direction accurately.
Good news is the smart meter is reporting negative usage. :-)
I have exported electricity too advised by the smart meters export reading 000000.5Kwh
So all has worked out that on a Jan day with some sun I am energy neutral/negative with a 1200W array augmenting my 450W normal daytime usage and exporting a little.
相关技术问题可以问我，
This inverter, we have stopped production, and now upgrade the power to 400w. For more information and technical information, please contact me at WhatsApp +8613927402025
Great video Andy!!! Good to see the Twizy is still in one piece and getting used. We sure have had some shocking weather over the past few weeks in the U.K.
I know! It’s been terrible. My weather app just says rain every day for the next week 😫
use another one of those victron meters and a DPDT Relay to switch the solar from the mppt charge controller to the inverter when the batteries are full, and vice versa as soon as you start using stuff in the shed :)
Yeah good idea. Actually the remote output on my existing battery meter is free so I could use that to trigger a DPDT relay based on SOC.
Some charges have a diversion setting. You can set it to divert excess power to the grid tie once batteries are floating.
Hi Andy you have inspired me to doy own solar system I have bought a 1000w sun series grid tie inverter with a limiter having a few issues with the limiter side but would be cool for you to do a video on these as I believe they are more suited to what you are doing
Thank u for the demo w wvc-600 grid tie.
More wind and solar video updates please
I just bought this inverted and I'm looking forward to plugging into the grid. I never thought to use the power meter. I need to do that first to test the panels. I'm going to be plugging into a Net Meter from the electric company so I can send power back to the grid and then hopefully reach the 14 dollar per month electric bill (14 being the service fees just to be on the grid). That's my goal. However, I think this inverter stops producing power when the grid goes down. Right? The electric company actually requires that. I hope I understand this right. Excellent video!
Thanks there aren't too many videos on YT talking about micro ⚡ inverters
i bought myself one of those. Works great. Hope it will not die after one season like the cheapest i could find last year about this time. I mean the Inverter was like 60 Bucks and it definetly earned its money back over the summer (About 200kwh needed to write it of) and i had about 250kwh lese on my yearly bill eben though i bought myself a tumble drier a couple months befor installing the 600w PV System.
Andy, great video, I've been looking for a Solar Panel solution for people who rent, seems like this would be an option - how did your inverter hold up over the long term? And would you reconmend it for someone who wants to reduce their electric bills in a house they are renting (i.e. I cant install anything permanently)?
Hi Andy great video - always love your videos! Thanks for the info about the reverse power monitoring on that wattmeter. Very helpful. I have one now, and recently put 4 x 270 watt panels on my garage roof with a similar 1200w inverter.
I'm using Smarthings and "webcore" to automate them going on and off as the house "demand" varies, which is helpful on dull days when my 4kw array can't provide enough power or if I'm charging my G-Wiz on a duller day.
I just wondered if on the wattmeter there was a way to turn on a backlight for it when its "on" as I always struggle to read mine without a torch in my cupboard!
A year after your helpful comment Derek, but do you have any stats on energy savings etc?
I’d like to know how you’re able to automate them going on and off depending on the house demand. Any links or videos to look at?
@@timmo1710Controlled by a Raspberry Pi running HomeAssistant (HA) and coding in NodeRed. Zwave and Zigbee Relays controlled by them toggling it on and off based on demans and of course an Aeotec zwave energy meter feeding grid positive and negative enerfy flow onto the grid to HA.
They (the inverters) dont react instantly due to the G83 rules to protect grid workers so its not perfect, but its easy to limt the total amount going onto the grid using a threshold level. Obviously on a dull day that is not an issue as its a tenth of the peak array total value/s
Great video - I think this inverter accepts variable voltage also. So for 110 up to 220. Also I think it comes with an app so you can monitor what's happening.
Update: I bought one of the 1200 watt inverters like this that was supposed to be monitored by a app, but I couldn't get it to connect to the app, so I had no idea if it was doing anything. I had the same issue with my watt meter overloading so I'm going to try and get a new one.
I have one of those power meters and it did the same thing, I was so annoyed especially because I've seen people on youtube using those to measure grid ties. I guess the newer versions don't support reverse flow.
Been watching a lot of your solar videos. I'm looking to do a small budget system for my garage / games room. I think feeding back to the grid might be better for me than going off grid as a few items are heavy power and I don't think I'd ever store enough on the budget I have. At least a tie in will offset a little bit of the power use and do my bit.
Yeah often going off grid is unnecessary unless you don't have power available. A few solar panels and a grid tie and you are good to go. Some grid ties have data logging to a mobile app which is really cool to see what you've gained from solar. Its a cool project.👍🏻
@@andykirby thanks for the reply. I've messaged you on IG too. Any tips on the grid tie options would be amazing.
Interesting stuff. I would like to see how you balance battery and grid systems. I run two separate systems.
Actually the way I’m thinking at the moment is to just use a mains charger to top the batteries off automatically. It’s not as efficient as using a solar charge controller but the batteries are only really on standby in case of a power cut.
Thanks for the informative video. Is it possible to use a regular modified or pure sine wave dc-120vac inverter to a main breaker box and turn the main top breaker off and create electricity for your house? If course if there's enough battery storage and panelage and not running any 220ac
Nice video its very informative for those who want to learn about those grid tie inverter
With an old style meter will this actually reverse the meter? Seems a very simple solution for low outlay. Many thanks
Hi Andy! Is the microinverter still working well?
es una muy buena pregunta, it´s a very interesting question, how works during the time, recently I bouhgt one and its warms too much and then, the microinverter stop to inyect.
lol nice grid tie, Ill have to see if my meter can run backwards or not, I probably wont have a grid tie inverter for a long time though. when you get more solar panels for the grid tie you really should mount the inverter outside on the wall or something, it isnt supposed to be stuffed in box since it has no fans. thanks for sharing!
Not sure if mine runs backwards, I’ve not really got an interest in pushing power back to the main grid but more interested in just offsetting my house usage when I haven’t got anywhere else for the excess energy to go! The outside box is just temporary, I’m going to move it back inside with a system that can switch it between the grid tie and solar charger depending on whether the batteries need charging.
unfortunately i learned that Arizona does not allow any net metering so if i did get a grid tie it would have to have a limiter
Great video Andy! - What happens to the excess electricity that is generated please?
Love the channel. Is the ecoworthy plug in grid tie inverter still working? Matt
The watt meter you used I had same one and same thing happened it just blew just thought let you no great set up you av I’m trying same with wind turbine 👍👍👍
Andy great video for us who are just starting out
Glad it helped😁
thanks for getting back to me
I run my solar panel's cables to a buss bar and then one set of wires to the charge controller and one to the grid tie. I appears that the solar charger takes power first and as it starts to shut down (fully charged battery bank), the power from my grid tie increases. Not sure how or why something actually works like you want it to automatically, but I like it.
Interesting! Are both your charge controller and grid tie MPPT devices? (I guess the grid tie will be at least)
I would like to know if the inverter produce a pure sinus or a multilevel wave how can I identify both of them ? Great video !
is this bad boy still running?or has it blown up yet?
I have bought 16 of them, 1400W and 2 of them broke working just half an hour. Fucking bullshit.
That micro-inverter is weather-proof and designed to be attached to the underside of the solar panel, so for best efficiency install it on the panel and run your mains cable up to it.
eco-worthy.com/catalog/download/instruction.pdf
Se puede configurar con una disposición de paneles que se colocan en serie y en paralelo para aumentar la eficiencia de la carga, y si no hay potencia, se usa más la carga con el sol.
What the voltage start at on 600 MICOR INVERTER will a 12v solar panel work? Or does it have to be bigger solar size? Thanks
From your video some could get the idea that the weather in England is that rainy all the time. 😂
Happy Easter from Berlin (where it currently is snowing) ;-)
That would be a very correct assumption! Snow in April is just plain ridiculous right?!
Happy Easter by the way!
HaHa, that's how our children know to go easter egg hunting,,,,, when we get the deepest snowfall :D
Any updates on it and if you figured out a way to charge batteries and put back in the grid
your video great happy easter snow today!
Happy Easter! Be careful in the snow!
great work！
How did you conclude this microinverter is an EcoWorthy product?
Wouldn't your inverter overheat in the summer, if no air flow through the box?
Andy, I just purchased the wvc600 grid tie invrter and looking at it the inputs for the panels it has 300w labelled on both sides. Did you connect 2 250w panels to just the one side on yours? I'm thinking now if I get another 250w panel I will need to connect it to the other input on the wvc600, but not sure I can use the one power output or I need to use both. Any help much appreciated mate.
Just checked and see there is only 1 ac output as the other is an input so that answers one of my questions. Still interested to know if you have 2 panels connected to 1 side though.
Yeah I’ve got two connected to one side in parallel. Don’t do it in series. I don’t think they are independent inputs as I see 300W + from both panels.
andy kirby cheers Andy. Have a great weekend👍
@@andykirby Yes I agree here. The WVC600 has 2 x DC inputs each for connection to solar panel(s) as long as the DC voltage is within specification (22-50V)
Most Solar panels that are 300W are 24V (Vmp 32V)
So Andy here is a question. What specification are you panels please especially Vmp which as I have observed for all the panels I have looked at 250W / 300W all state a Vmp of 36V !! So I asked the question to the supplier of the WVR (Ecoworthy) will the WVR work with my 300W Vmp 32V ( which I understand to be the MAX voltage produced by the panel not the nominal) .. they replied .....
"Dear customer, Sorry,it cannot work with your solar panels that are 24v / vmp 32v, / pmax 300w.Any other questions just mail us. Many thanks, ECOWORTHY"
Now I feel this is an incorrect answer as the WVC has a DC input of 22-50V for MPPT so I expect you to say that YES the 24V/32Vmp panels work but maybe not as good as if the DC input was over 36V.
To be honest I cannot find ANY Solar Panels 300W / 250W that state a Vmp >32V.
I did observe a diagram showing the WVC600 supporting 4 x 100W Solar Panels Vmp 18v connected in series so the DC input per WVC port would be in the range
Ok I have just tested my new PEIMAR 300W panels before mounting, spec = Voltage at Pmax (Vmp): 32V and recorded a DC output from all panels of 37V under a dull UK sky.
So I assume that in full sun the voltage may be a little higher and as such 37V is well within the operational range of the WVC 22-50 DC input so I am assuming the reply I got from Ecoworthy was from a non technical person :-) and that all will be just dandy.
Thinking about this these panels are 60 Cell variants and as each Silicon Cell produces 0.5V typically one would expect a min of 30V anyway so 37V to me is good.
Nice Grid Tie Inverter. Only drawback is that it doesn't seem to have a limiting function, which means that when (better if) the energy produced by this inverter is higher than the energy consumed in the house, you're gonna get charged for the energy you actually put INTO the grid, since plain utilities' power meters don't understand direction of energy flow. Do you have any ideas on how to fix this issue?
Yes you are right, however right now my base loads don’t fall below about 600W 24/7 so there’s no energy back feeding into the grid beyond my house. When I get more panels I’ll also get a Victron multi plus set to “zero feed in” then I probably won’t use this little inverter.... however until then I will continue to test it and see how it copes over the next month or so.
My Smart meter has an Export and Import capability which was advised by my supplier OVO using button 9. I indeed observed that my Export was = 000000 prior to my Solar Project which is yet to be connected so smart meters know what to charge for natively. They know Import vs Export current.
It appears from previous comments that old meters run backwards :-) so I don't see how you could be charged for Export.
Also I intend to use the excess power generated to heat my water via the Immersion Heater add on - Solar iBoost th-cam.com/video/1VpgDYKaXDA/w-d-xo.htmlThis is a smart device that feeds 'Only' the export power into the immersion heater element.
I guess this is a cool way to utilise the excess energy until battery becomes cheap... so you are now offsetting the clean energy against your gas bill as well.
I would design a system and I have that matches the power generated to meet my demand as exporting is a crazy thing to do especially if you are not on FIT and no one with a self installed PV array / GTInverter will be. Plus the UK is stopping FIT payments in early 2019 I understand.
So best use or store what you generate IMO.
@andy kirby and @ Michael Dawson I wanted to start a new post but wanted to catch you both.
I am an American Electrician, but it all works the same. Right now Andy's system is very small an only putting out an amp or two. Michael seems to have a much large system planned and I like the videos I have seen from Australia where they send the solar power to the hot water tank.
I would recommend for saftey, when expanding systems to supply them with a dedicated circuit with no other loads on them. I do not know circuit ratings there, but here a 20amp circuit common. If you happen to have the shed there feed by a circuit and add the solar then there is a potential for the wire to carry 20amps+your total solar output. With a larger system that could max at 20amp breaker + 20amp solar = 40amp power. You probably would never get 40amps drawing off of it but even fractions could cause the wires to fail over time, and the circuit breaker would not trip as designed with the backfeed. I would not worry about the single inverter but when you start stacking them....
Good luck, I am very fortunate that I just hooked up my solar to the grid (4days) and the local utility does net metering which I believe is 1:1. Not like in Australia that does 1:5.
I was looking into these inverters to do what Andy is but in my Travel Trailer, I wish to install solar for when we are traveling to charge batteries, but while parked at home I wish to benefit from the panel by adding its power to my net metering.
Cheers
@@westcoaststacker569 Thank you for the helpful advice is appreciated.
My system is going to be 2kw over a 32amp circuit back to the main breaker.
Via the 16amp breaker dedicated to the solar located in the garage.
Yep you should make sure the total load does not exceed the backhaul to the main fuse board.
Hello there. Mine does not go to green. What is that switch on the plug there? O.o
Did the 3-pronged output cable come already cut-off on one end? Does anyone know what the name of that connector is?
Glad the Twizy is still going strong.
Ive been trying to get one myself but Renault seem to be very reluctant to sell me the only new one in the UK at the moment in Cambridge.
Ive been calling them back 3 times and each time been given a different reason so now ive got fed up ringing them.
I was also interested in a Zoe but the 7 month waiting time has put me off
That's weird, what about finding a used one? theres loads around and because of the nature of these cars they are usually kept inside and have done very little miles. I bought a used one (the first time Ive bought a used car in about a decade) main reason is because you can easily tune them, the newer ones cnat be done without voiding the warranty...A twizy without tuning is not much fun at all!
I currently have a Duster on PCP and like a new car
When I brought the Duster I was driving 12,000 miles a year but since moving I now only do 2,500 a year (nearer to place of work). I barely warm the Duster up by the time I get to work, so an electric car makes sense. At least in this bad snow, it was no problem driving through foot high snow drifts across the road
Only problem is I am 2 years into a 4 year deal. hmm
As Andy said pick one up used. There are some dogs out there but for the most part as they can’t do much in the way of mileage they’re pretty solid.
Is this micro inverter can be plugged to a battery to recharge it ? 48 V ?
Interesting video. I noticed when you enclosed the inverter, you did not create any venting. It should be fine now in march, but what happens during the hot days of summer. having a black box doesn't really help with keeping the inverter cool. you'll probably shorten the lifespan and drop the efficiency of the GTI.
Yes it’s a thought isn’t it. To be honest the way I am experimenting with this stuff at the moment it might not even be in the same place in the summer! I’m not sure I trust it’s waterproof capabilities otherwise I would have put it on the roof. I’ll be keeping an eye on it anyhow so we will see!
I think the idea is that they are supposed to hang under the solar panel's though (from what I have read) 2 - 4 panels per inverter, parallel all inverters and use that (over-chunky) cable to then feed 240v AC back into the house / shed. You get minimal losses with the higher voltage that way too. (feel free to correct me if you know any different though)
I have the same model inverter for a small array - and ever in "free air" it gets absurdly hot. If you do start to generate a few hundred watts with in a closed box I think you might kill it pretty quickly.
For mine, I used some thermal adhesive and bonded a LARGE speare heatink I had laying around the case runs very warm instead of too hot to touch now.
My one criticism of these inverters is with all the measuring they do to work out MPPR, I wish the were able to go, "Hmmm, 600w, well we wont' take any more or I'll wreck myself", rather than just blow internal fuse. That way, you could have an extra panel or two to try and get closer to 600w even when a bit cloudy - knowing it will not take more than it can handle when all panels are prepared to offer more.
Oddly, simply plugging the panels into the other side of the inverter made it all work again, so it seems as though each side is fused separately. I have yet to open it up and take a peek.
Anyway, you may want to make sure you fet it out of that box pretty soon or I think you may find it roasts itself and lets the magic smoke out.
Have you thought about leaving the solarcells on the inverter and plugging them in at the house?
Then monitor the power input into your local grid and rig a charger (arduino?) so that it only charges the battery from mains with the right amount (positive solar power input)?
But should be pretty ineffective. But now most of your power from the cells is lost anyway.
hmm yes it's a thought, although plugging the inverter directly into the house is dicey without a transfer switch and a fair bit of work from a qualified electrician. I wanted to keep all my experimenting out of the house for the time being just in case I blow something up !! I seem to be hitting closer to the max rated power on my panels this way, I saw a peak of about 375W earlier today.
After watching your video I'm thinking of tying the Automatic Energy Selector (AES) for the load output on my Victron 75/15 to a DC relay so when my solar system batteries are "topped off" it will turn on the load and cause the solar panels to switch to a grid tie inverter and then when battery power drops (maybe 11-12V?) it will switch back to charging the batteries.
That long "connector" may be a fuse..? If i have understand, you can't connect this into a grid by your self.. It will work quite well, and saves your money (If you do (must) agreement with the power producer).. 😄
I have same one on 1200watts trying to get it setup but it is showing only red light after connecting 4 230 watts panel
I am a newbie is it safe to feed into the house supply with the inverter thanks
Hi Andy,
Following your video I purchased a smaller 400W version. I have two 200W panels feeding in in series giving peak 48v, actual 39v. I am seeing about 250W at peak sun azimuth. The problem I have is it keeps going to protection mode after it gets to about 70 °C (According to the WiFi app)
. I have to disconnect parks and mains to let it cool down and then it's OK again. Apparently it can cope with ambiant temp of 65°C. I'm in the UK so 30°C would be a miracle! 😂. Can you give any advice? Have you seen this yourself at all?
Does the grid-tie-inverter have wireless kommunication, I saw a small antenne on the lower right of the device. Do you know how this can be used for monitoring / control ? I am especcaily interested in the controll aspect, so it can be used in a hybred system with batteries.
It does! There is a special hub you can get which receives the signal although it’s unclear what you can do and it uses RS232!! I’m not sure if it’s work delving into...
Hi, does that wvc inverter still work or does it go broken after some time?
Hi Andy, are these wvc inverters g98 compliant? Thanks
With that grid tie Inverter, it works better if all the DC connections are connected as are fused separately.
Ok, I haven’t taken this apart, so you are saying the PV inputs are fused?
@@andykirby Yes, it's designed not all the DC amps to go into one side.
@@chrisled6928 thats good then, I am running about 300W on one side, so you are saying really I should split that and run 150W either side?
@@andykirby With this type Inverter it appears to work better if you'll wire it in a ring with solar panels.
@@andykirby On the WVC 600 it has 300W on each side. There are only 2 DC inputs each 300W.
I have the WVC1200 and this has 4 x DC inputs and I have 4 x 300W panels connected one to each.
Do you have a interconnect permit from your power company for your solar panels and grid-tie inverter?
Not in UK for up to 4KW
When you turn on the panel and you have not tuen on the switch from your power plug.. it jas delay as it should not be that way as you should tuen on the AC to the inverter first before turning on the solar panel
Great video Andy,
I'm looking into trying this as well, but getting put off with the possibility that you might be charged by your supplier for any excess that goes back to the grid rather than being used. It's something I've heard on a few forums.
Any idea if there is any truth in this? My standby usage is only 45 Watts.
Yes, some smart meters will register energy passing back to the grid as energy used.. not good! You can get inverters that will not allow export, it works by placing a CT clamp on the main power lines and the Inverter will not allow excess energy to be sent to the grid when your house loads are low, you could then use that energy to charge EVs or heat water.
Have you looked into the legalities of using grid tie inverters in the UK? I believe you need to notify your power supplier before feeding power into the grid. Also using a 3 pin plug is prohibited and it should be wired in directly. If you produce more power than you consume and power back feeds into the grid, some meters will record a fault condition that will alert the power company that power is being back fed into the grid.
Hi, it's probably not strictly "legal" but what is these days! Also technically it's not feeding into the the national grid as I am using all the power generated, my house is consuming at least 600W-1KW 100% of the time (it never drops below this) so I've got a long way to go :-)
I appreciate what you are saying and I am sure that there are a few others in the UK doing the same :). Under BS7671, it is prohibited to connect any form of power generation equipment (without the appropriate permission) to the grid even if it doesn't ultimately feed power into it. If what you produce is unlikely to be back fed through the meter then its unlikely the power company would find out but advertising what you have done on You Tube may not be a good idea.
With smart meters they can possibly see it, every device has a signature that they can see, they know whats running in your home. If i was to try it i would use a grid tie thats from Germany and conforms to the german/EU standard, not Chinese rubbish. Complies with VDE ar N 4105 www.amazon.de/Solaranlage-Photovoltaikanlage-Eigenverbrauch-Einspeisung-Steckdose/dp/B01FVVXB76/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1507531224&sr=8-2&keywords=photovoltaik+plug+and+play
On the 3rd Amazon page i found for a ECO-WORTHY it did say its ul 1741 anti-islanding, the first 2 didn't.
andy kirby You could kill an engineer working on the power lines when they think the lines are dead because they are disconnected from the substation......
Please add an update to this video. would like to see the results on a good day.. good video . keep the good work.. just subscribed
Yeah will do! Today the system peaked at 377W (400W of panels) The weather is looking brighter in a couple of days.
Could you please help me, I mistakenly plug my mvc 600 microinverter in reverse polarity. Now it is not working, the led light has no green or red signal when I plug it in the right polarity. The power source is 230v line to neutral. I mistakenly plug it line to neutral instead of line to line. Tnx for your comments this matter.
The red or green light You get only when solar panels are connected to the inverter. The inverter has a fuses inside if they burned You have to replace them. But You have to have some skills with soldering iron.
Andy, I have the WVC1200, and today albeit a late Jan evening connected my Panel to the inverter.
Initially its was showing RED for 10sec then Green for 0.5sec, however when I unshaded part of the panel that was in a little shade the MPPT green light started to flicker so I assume it was tracking but I never got a steady green light and it went back to RED/Green as the light was very poor. Unfortunately I ran out of daylight for the test which I will resume tomorrow but can I ask a question regards the operation of the WVC LED's.
When there is no decent light i.e dusk / night does the LED on the WVC go from GREEN Locked to RED again until the sun comes up and the MPPT tracking again starts?
Cool stuff! I’d be interested to hear how the WVC1200 goes. Yes it goes from green to red when the sun goes down and it can’t get a MPPT lock.
@@andykirby That's brill and also it looks like I got duff info from Ecoworthy that 24V 300W Vmp32v panels won't work. When the panels arrived today I tested them for output with my voltmeter and got Voc 37V but as the light fell to dusk at 4pm ! the voltage fell too 35.6V and the MPPT stopped searching and went RED :-(
So I only got a few mins to test the MPPT lock that did not occur but it was searching until the light got too bad.
So what's the spec of the panels you tested are they also Vmp 32v ? Voc 40.2v :-)
I must admit and I am sure someone will help me out here..... why when the panel spec says Vmp 32v I get 37 ? Is the 32 the max voltage under load and my 37V was just across the panel ? I must admit this whole Solar world is like VHS and BETA / V2000 all over again ... no standard connectors on the AC Micro Inverters different panel specs.... what a mine field.
Question... without any DC inputs to the Inverter should there be any LED indications if the WVC device is connected just to the mains AC?
Reason I ask is that I have received 2 x Of these devices today and again its dark so I decided to test inside without the DC just AC to see how the device powers up. My observation no LED what so ever without PV panels connected.
I am now guessing that it operates via DC with output only via AC with grid monitoring. So no DC no LEDS :-)
Answering my own question here. Finally got to test 4 x 300W 24v PEIMAR MONO 32v Vmp, 40.2Voc panels with the Eco Worthy WVC 1200.
On a dull January day in the Peak District I managed to see a peak wattage of 585W which then fell to 150-280W with little or no sun at all so I estimate they may be working within spec.
I will update the power output later in the year when we get some decent sunny days.
However the interesting fact here is that when I contacted Eco Worthy about the suitability of the panels / WVC1200 they stated that they recommend a Vmp of >36V which seems to match a solar design I have observed using 2 x 150W (Vmp18v) panels in series per WVC DC input port. Maybe the Inverter is more efficient with this configuration however you could not configure 4 x 300W panels in (dual series) as their Vmp would exceed the spec of 50v DC of the WVC1200.
Anyway they appear to be working so if anyone has a comment on why Eco Worthy advised and told me the panels would not work I will be interested to hear from you.
What I have observed is that the WVC1200 only seems to work when the Voc >37V which I observed on a non sunny day. In fact the lowest Voc I have measured during the day is 37V and 32V when its going dusk at which point the Inverter is just showing the RED LED.
Also the LED goes off completely at night with no light on the panels.
Thank you for the video. What will happen at night or when the sky is totally dark, will the current or power flow from the grid into the inverter? Will it damage the grid inverter?
No, the grid inverter just goes into standby when the panel doesn't produce enough to power the inverter.
@@tiloalo Yep I discovered that today while testing my new inverter and panels which stopped when the sun went in :-( and it started to go dark at 4pm in the UK today.
So I by some panels and inverter and just plug it into a wall socket and that’s it
Dear,
I bought micro inverters 127V , but I need 220V. I cannot return these micro inverters. Do you know how these micro inverters can be changed into 220V?
I have the same Problem. Banggood advertized 120 Volt WVC600´s as usable at 230 Volts too, but it was a lie. I was silly enough buying 2 of these. Next I will try a 500W 120>>230 Volt transformer, which I own.
Andy I am just wondering in an extraordinary case that your house doesn't need more than 600W, let;s say it consumes 300w, but your solar panel produces 600w, what will happen with the extra 300w, do they go to the grid? And do your meter starts charging you if you back feed the grid?
You are right it would never happen! We have a sewerage treatment plant and various other stuff so it’s never lower than about 400W. That said I think if it did it would go to grid. My meter wouldn’t go backwards but would just not register the energy going out.
@@andykirby That's what I understand but if you had a Smart meter option '9' in my example would display both Import and Export values they are really smart :-)
But people with FIT might disagree here because they get 50% of the system capacity as export however with a smart meter its possible to see that they are indeed not exporting 50% as they are storing it in batteries or heating water :-) but at this time 2019 no one seems to be monitoring smart meter Exports.
Andy how reliable has the WVC600 been?
There's a few video's on YTube that give the WVC range a bad rep. I like you have invested in one and I am about to expand my solar project so if you or any other solar viewers have advice on the reliability of the EcoWorthy / WVC 600/1200 I would welcome any comments or advice as to what I should be buying.
Micro Inverters are not something you want to be changing too often :-)
Mike
It’s actually been ok, I don’t use it 24/7 I switch between it and a solar charger. Mine gets pretty warm even at 350 watts peak so that is the only downside that would affect reliability in my opinion.
I think no need to enclose the inverter it is IP65 it is waterproof.
Hi Andy me again from Harlech north wales . I have a question was wondering if you know the answer. I have been told that I can not use a grid tie inverter if I have a smart meter installed . I have 4k solar tie in and I am on the FIT system I own the system . and I also have like you 4 no 100watt panels in my shed in the garden which producers surplus power. Thus grid tie inverter. do you if this is true.regards john williams
you guys are using our inverters, KAIDENG brand, WVC-600😆😆😆
That's cool, send me an email. andy@cloudsto.com
Hello i have a question what happens when the grid is down Does the micro inverter Power up the House, Or what happens to that incoming power that comes from the micro inverter?
Hi! All grid tie inverters basically shut off when the grid goes down, it’s a safety feature to prevent power going to the lines when an engineer could be potentially working on them.
When the grid goes down I manually shut off the main breaker to the house and switch over to my other inverter so I can power the house lights, tv, computers etc.
So is it possible to run a Grid time inverter for off grid? I have 3 micro grid time inverters that are 600w here doing nothing yet. And not really sure what to do with them.
Hi, not really as they are designed to be tied to grid. Hence the name “grid tie inverter” 😉
I understand and thank you.
Great video I'm curious I have a grid-tied inverter but its range is 36 volts however all of my panels are 41 volts is there a way to lower the voltage on the panels so they can meet the range of the grid-tied inverter and I can start using it thank you
If its 41V open circuit voltage then it will probably be ok on a 36v input as the inverter will pull the voltage down due to the increasing current/load on the panel.
@@andykirby that's what I was hoping but it always says over voltage if I use a charge controller will that bring the voltage down sorry I'm just a beginner to hear I'm trying to learn
Hmm yeah that is a problem, you could use an MPPT charge controller like the Victron 75/15 as it has a wide input voltage range up to 75V, set it up as a 24V system with a battery voltage of 30V or so (even though there is no battery), and then you could connect the grid tie to the load output of the charge controller, I’m not sure if it would work properly but it could be a way around it! Or just ditch the grid tie for an inverter and charge some batteries 😁
@@andykirby that sounds like a great idea however batteries can be pretty costly I got 2,000 Watts worth of solar panels for 200 bucks seems like somebody just wanted them off their house
CroatianNinja CroatianNinja that’s a great deal, very lucky! ok with that amount of panels really you should be investing in a large grid tie inverter that can handle a high voltage string of panels connected together in series, often these inverters have input ranges up to 400V, don’t go playing around with those kind of voltages though obviously!
Check out Fronius inverters they do a 3kW inverter with a startup voltage of 80V. You would need a professional to wire up the PV properly with appropriate DC isolation.
You could link the Victron solar charge controller to a relay, then when the batteries are topped up you could switch over to grid-tie, when the batteries drop under 90% just switch back from grid-tie to battery charging. www.victronenergy.com/blog/2017/09/06/raspberry-pi-running-victrons-venus-firmware/
I purchased an Ecoworthy solar panel a few years ago, It came with its metal frame seriously dented inward in several places..... I contacted Ecoworthy & all they would do was offer me 5% off my next purchase..... I will never buy another Ecoworthy product as long as I live, & I wouldn't recommend anyone else use this company either!
L like all your videos . Grtz JD in Belgium.
Thanks 👍😀
There is another device to monitor the tracking system of your grid tie inverter
Hi Andy, what is the max input voltage on your grid tie? You may actually be able to series the panels to get a bit more wattage, remember you are going the other way now. My SMA has a minimum input voltage to work effectively, let me know, Also what were your readings like for the rest of the days with the Victron stuff? happy Easter and kind regards Charles.
Hi Charles, max input is 50V unfortunately. I think the optimum range is 30-48V. Wattage seems a bit down compared to the Victron but there’s a more than one factor, I moved the panels to my house roof which I think has less pitch than the brackets I was using on the shed (still south facing). I’m now using about 5m of 4mm2 Extensions, Also the weather has been terrible lately! So it’s hard to know! Happy Easter!
Ah, yeah, I see, I want to chat to you some time about the pc's you have on cloudsto, want to pick your brain about what would do best for me, it will be for purchase toward the end of the year, need to explain what I do mainly, and you can recommend something for me to use. seems as if the barebones stuff is pretty strong processor wise?
Hi Charles, yeah sure no problem, you've got my email (in the description box) it depends what you want the PC to do. The ARM stuff is surprisingly powerful for number crunching and remote stuff, the Intel stuff is expensive but has the grunt to handle graphics tasks.
Learn program with Arduino and you could have it switch them from batt. To tie
will these Tie Power Inverter work if you have a smart metre?
Yes, the trick is to not feed power back to the grid. Smart meters don’t like this and some will even charge you for energy you out back in. Basically make sure your generation does not exceed your consumption and you can benefit from free energy to power stuff in your house. Get a power meter to measure your house consumption.
@@andykirby fantastic I'll give that a go. thanks for your help m8 :)
If you like playing with the sun then move to Cyprus!
where did you get inverter?
Amazon
the MPP tracking on this WVC-600 is not as good as in standard inverters. it take 2-3 min to adapt to a new radiation state.