Help with inverter/charger decision for my first finished battery pack.

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Oliman

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Apr 4, 2018
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I'm looking for some help/advice on what inverter/charger to use with a 14s 100p battery pack. I have an existing solar array with enphase micro inverters, so I'll need to AC couple my battery/inverter. This is actually pretty handy because it also means I can get away with an ATS + off-grid inverter or hybrid inverter which opens up a lot of possibilities.

Most Important to me:
#1. integration with BMS (Batrium) - canbus
#2. UL certified - or whatever is needed to pass an electrical inspection (US)

I would love to hear some opinions on if it's worth getting one of the major name brand inverters like SMA from a feature set point of view.
I know I have seen a couple people here recommend AIMS inverters.
Another inverter I saw a recommendation from Jack Richard (makes some 100kWh tesla battery packs) was a Sigineer 15kW 48v inverter.

I also asked a couple local solar guys, and they were only interested working with me if I used SMA Sunny Island inverters. Got one quote for 2X SMA Sunny Boy inverters (6048-US) plus any needed electrical work but it was >15k so I thought I would ask some of the smart people around here if I should go down thatroute or look at something else.

I did a bit of researching on the SMA Sunny Boy inverters (6048-US).
They seem unique in advertising the ability to chain 2 to 4 inverters together with a "multi-cluster" box up to 100kW. Reminds me of the expandibility of the Batrium BMS, is this something other inverters also support?
 
Sean said:
https://www.victronenergy.com/live/ess:design-installation-manual

https://www.batrium.com/pages/how-to-control-victron-venusgx-with-watchmon
Click to expand...

Thanks for the links!

I had not really considered Victron before and wanted to do some research on ESS before I asked any questions.

Specifically related to the ESS or what Victron calls"Venus" devices.
Itseems to me that, although it's not specifically stated as such anywhere, these are brains to add smart logic to energy storage/consumption. What I have not been able to figure out however is.

Are these supposed to be controllers only for Victron inverters? Or are they more designed as a generic controller, that just works best with Victron equipment but can integrate with any inverter?

Somewhat along the same lines of thinking.
How exactly do other inverters support the same thing?

I had assumed that the smart energy storage/consumption logic was going to be directly on the inverter firmware/software. I like the idea of a central hub that can control multiple inverters, reminds me of how home automation hubs work. Where you can buy a hub that can use multiple types of communication (Z-Wave, Zigbee, WeMo). I doubt the energy storage market is large enough to have a similar paradigmbut I was hoping the Venus devices might workthat way.
 
Venus is the OS, it's open so you can make it do whatever you want, assuming you've got the coding skills - I've not seen it running anything other than Blue boxes - ESS is just a collection of the requiredexisting assistants (I suppose you could call them applets) that runs on the Venus device (which might be the colour control, or the headless GX or even a DIY Pi)

The Venus device is the brains of the operation, not all VIctron systems will require one, but when you've got inverter/chargers, possibly multiple MPPTs, energy meters, shunts etc all talking across the VE bus something needs to be in control - the GX is the best option in terms of usable ports and processing power.
 
Sean said:
Venus is the OS, it's open so you can make it do whatever you want, assuming you've got the coding skills - I've not seen it running anything other than Blue boxes - ESS is just a collection of the requiredexisting assistants (I suppose you could call them applets) that runs on the Venus device (which might be the colour control, or the headless GX or even a DIY Pi)

The Venus device is the brains of the operation, not all VIctron systems will require one, but when you've got inverter/chargers, possibly multiple MPPTs, energy meters, shunts etc all talking across the VE bus something needs to be in control - the GX is the best option in terms of usable ports and processing power.
Click to expand...

Hey Sean,

Any chance you know if the Victron inverters are US certified?

My solar installer is saying he can't use Victron because it won't pass inspection in WA.

I found the below certificates on victron's site, but my installer says he doesn't see a listing for US or at least one that Washington State recognizes so he can't legally install it.

I sent a mail to Victron to ask for clarification, but figured I might post here as well just in case someone here was able to help figure this out.

Quattro 15kVA Certificate
https://www.victronenergy.com/upload/documents/Certificate-G59-3-1-MultiPlus-and-Quattro-3kVA,-5kVA,-8kVA,-10kVA-and-15kVA.pdf

Battery Inverter Certificate
https://www.victronenergy.com/upload/documents/Certificate-ESS-AS-NZS-4777.2-MultiGrid-24-3000-70-50,-48-3000-35-50-No.-SAA162783.pdf
 
I expect your installer has their own favourite manufacturers, I have no idea what US certification they are expecting.

Victron equipment is certified for installation within most of the civilised world, perhaps that explains the lack of certification in your location -I'm in the UK, which Victron appears to recogniseas being part of the civilised world.

The Victron community forum is a better place to ask - but you'll need to know what certification your installer is expecting, as there are numerous aspects to full accreditation, and varying global requirements.

https://community.victronenergy.com/index.html

A quick Google seems to show UL1741 being the over arching requirement for US grid connected micro generation equipment - certification for that and CSA listing is linked below.

I expect the installer wont know what certification is explicitlyrequired.

https://www.victronenergy.com/support-and-downloads/certificates
 
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