I'm confused about inverters. Brands, specs, split phase, etc.

[Oberfail]

There were still a few specs missing. Do you know if the transformer inside is toroidal?

I cant look that well into the inverter and i would rather not disassemble it.

I also couldn't find idle power usage, or whether it can share loads with the grid if the solar input is too low. As opposed to just switching, that is.

I have connected the grid to the grid-input of the inverter and the whole house to the load-output of the inverter.
Up to 45A can flow through the inverter, of which itself can provide 21,7A (5kW).

As long as the grid is there, it runs in grid-tied mode. Acting like you want it to. There are many possible ways.
I opted for the inverter to prioritize the loads in our house, if something is left charge the battery and try not to feed into the grid.

If i turn off the breaker for the grid input, the inverter will switch quickly into Off-Grid mode, providing power just by itself. The lights flicker but my Pc's dont turn off. If i turn on the grid breaker, the inverter will connect back to the grid after roughly a minute, resulting in the same short power outage of light flickering but Pc's staying on. Pretty much any hybrid, off grid able, inverter is like that.

The self-consumption is 50W from the grid, if the battery and solar are not sufficient anymore and the inverter is turned on. But even on rainy and dark days with 10kWp we make a little more power on average than it consumes.

Overall, its not the most efficient inverter, like the expensive real premium brands like Victron, SMA and probably Schneider. But it gets the job done well enough for me. If you have a lot of shadows or live where there are many many dark and rainy days, you might be better off with Victron in the long run.

I paid only 1100€ shipped (and maybe taxed?) for my 5kW 1 Phase / Split Phase inverter. 2600€ are the 3 phase models.
I went through a very sketchy payment process, but got exactly what i ordered for at that time the cheapest price. (E-Mail contact and payment directly to a chinese bank) I can send you the E-Mail, but i'm not sure if you wanna go through that.

Alternatively, you can buy those inverters from Alibaba. Which is the Aliexpress for big quantity items / expensive items.

 

[rebelrider.mike]

Thanks for the info. The Deye has a few advantages over the other inverters. Cheaper than both the Victron and the Schneider. Also, its the only one of the three that has built in Wifi and MPPT controllers. So the other two seem pretty over priced for what you get.

Well, I've taken a huge leap forward in understanding this stuff. Thanks to everyone!

 

[Oberfail]

As a side note.
Its a Solarman WiFi Stick connected via the RS232 port on the bottom of the inverter. Not built-in WiFi. It also comes with a security issue, kinda leaking your WiFi password. But you can fix that or just not bother if its not a concern for you.

With our Deye, some appliances like my good computer (but not my grandparents worse Pc) make a constant hissing noise like old CRT TV's did, even when just plugged in and powered off. I'll put on a external EMI filter on the inverter output in the future and hope it will improve that.

 

[floydR]

Kitchen range: 40A range could use as much as 9600W. Could "easily" be substituted with the microwave and BBQ.

For efficiency hard to beat an induction hot plate or two is also an option. 1200W-3600w, Qt of water from tap to boil in 2 minutes. You might need to buy pans and skillets that work with induction hot plate.if a magnet sticks to the pan/pot it should work.
Later floyd