Victron or Lux

[Oldgreybeard]

Not sure if this helps, but this is the power versus time plot of our PV system generation today. There were peaks of up to around 4.8kW, but in reality these didn't contribute a great deal to the energy generated over what was about a 12 hour generation day.

PV generation.jpg (19.66 KiB) Viewed 1431 times

[Krill]

That is really helpful to illustrate the point regarding the integral, the area under the line on a cloudy day.

I wonder what the graph looks like on s clear December day?

[Oldgreybeard]

Generation pretty much falls off a cliff around October, and doesn't recover until March. This is a PVGIS plot, but is pretty close to our monthly generation:

PVGIS annual.jpg (41.49 KiB) Viewed 1421 times

The average daily generation in December is around 6.6kWh/day, but that varies from some days where it's maybe only 3kWh to other days where it may well top 9kWh.

[ClockmanFRA]

Okay, late to this party.

Victron everytime.

I have installed a few VICTRON PHOEINIX Main Inverters for Off Grid installs.
They are just main inverters,
however.

1. They are made in INDIA, but the main company keeps an eye on QC.

2. They have a toroid and a H bridge design of Inverter circuit, so they can back charge from AC Coupling of other GTI’s. They can therefore also give large surge amperages.

3. They are Robust and relatively simple and just do the job, and you can add on all data view stuff at a later date.

4. The soft ware is reasonably simple and you can unblock parts of it to allow AC Coupling.

5. They are only 4.2KW each but can be paralleled up with just a cat cable to a max of three PHOEINIX’s, and with a simple alteration these 3 can be converted to a 3 phase supply.

6. Drawbacks. Cooling the vent slots are way to large and spiders’ moths etc will get in so some sort of large vented mesh arrangement is required for Off Grid use.

7. The main drive chip is Victron’s own, so not easily repairable, but everything else is straight forward and the boards are well Formal coated.
At present Victron is the only supplier of Inverters that I recommend and use.

[ducabi]

A bit OT but have you managed to get vat 0% on your setup? Ive read in you welcome post that you bought PVs yourself so I wonder if it's doable to get vat 0% in such a case.

[nowty]

A bit OT but have you managed to get vat 0% on your setup? Ive read in you welcome post that you bought PVs yourself so I wonder if it's doable to get vat 0% in such a case.

You cannot get zero VAT if you self install.
https://www.bimblesolar.com/budget22

[Bignose2]

Trying to work out the difference between the Lux ACS3600 & the SQPOD 3600 which most/all on here talk about

I have a Solis 3.6kw std grid tied inverter & 4kw Solar PV. Installed June. Now want battery storage

Little confused by spec.
Appreciate I need an A/C inverter but some seems battery charge only & not solar, I think?

I want it to charge off grid at night (is economy 7 but Not Octopus)
but day time etc. top up with the solar.
Also EPS (UPS) & quite a few seem to have this built in (I know a separate circuit with one or more socket or even a mini circuit)

I think 3kw'ish discharge & 4.8kw battery is plenty for me at the moment.

I think availability is the issue so does not have to be Lux but does have UPS out of the box but don't want to compromise but also end up waiting till after winter before it gets installed.

I suspect any brand is going to be hard to source.

It there a clear difference between the Lux ACS3600 & the SQPOD 3600?

Thanks I/A

[Oldgreybeard]

Trying to work out the difference between the Lux ACS3600 & the SQPOD 3600 which most/all on here talk about

I have a Solis 3.6kw std grid tied inverter & 4kw Solar PV. Installed June. Now want battery storage

Little confused by spec.
Appreciate I need an A/C inverter but some seems battery charge only & not solar, I think?

I want it to charge off grid at night (is economy 7 but Not Octopus)
but day time etc. top up with the solar.
Also EPS (UPS) & quite a few seem to have this built in (I know a separate circuit with one or more socket or even a mini circuit)

I think 3kw'ish discharge & 4.8kw battery is plenty for me at the moment.

I think availability is the issue so does not have to be Lux but does have UPS out of the box but don't want to compromise but also end up waiting till after winter before it gets installed.

I suspect any brand is going to be hard to source.

It there a clear difference between the Lux ACS3600 & the SQPOD 3600?

Thanks I/A

Any of them will do what you wish. Three most common makes are probably Lux, Solis and Sofar, but they are all much of a muchness in terms of the way they work. All will charge either from just excess PV generation (fine for summer) or use a time-of-use mode, where the batteries charge overnight at the cheap rate.

Lux branding seems to just be one UK supplier trying to create a difference between what is essentially the same device, probably for marketing purposes. To all intents and purposes the Squirrel Pod is just an ACS3600 with different branding. There's also the Sofar ME3000SP and the Solis RAI-3K-48ES.

Also, there are answers in the other thread where you asked much the same question before: https://camelot-forum.co.uk/phpBB3/view ... 417#p17417

[Bignose2]

Hi,

Thank you for your reply, I did not really want to duplicate my question on the other forum, I know people hate that & understandably, It just seemed mine was a bit off topic & tried to simplify here.

I have found some good videos on the Lux's so hope I can dig deeper as not quite sure why rebranded when from the same company pretty much on the same www page.

Thanks again.

[Oldgreybeard]

Hi,

Thank you for your reply, I did not really want to duplicate my question on the other forum, I know people hate that & understandably, It just seemed mine was a bit off topic & tried to simplify here.

I have found some good videos on the Lux's so hope I can dig deeper as not quite sure why rebranded when from the same company pretty much on the same www page.

Thanks again.

The company involved has re-branded imported products before, and is part of a group of companies that are all essentially similar in what they re-sell. I had dealings with them many years ago when they were selling a "thermodynamic" hot water system, essentially a heat pump with the evaporator being a flat panel that they marketed as a solar panel. IIRC they got into trouble for calling it a solar panel, when in reality it was just a radiator-type heat exchanger that didn't need the sun to work at all. I'm pretty sure that they have tie ups with a few Chinese manufacturers and import and sometimes re-brand products from there. Pity, as when I got a price from them for a Lux ACS3600 a couple of years ago the price was very high, much higher than the things used to sell for before they became the exclusive UK importer.

The Lux was my preferred inverter/charger but the crazy price I was quoted for one put me off. Pity, as they used to be priced more reasonably. I ended up with a Sofar ME3000SP, mainly because it was available at a very much better price (less than half the price that Infinity/Bunsen/"Whatever they are calling themselves this week" quoted for a Lux).