Victron or Lux

[ahas]

Hi all,
So I've bought solaredge kit which I'm arranging fitting makes sense for me to add battery storage at the same time and maybe (praying more like!) to see if I can save a bit on vat by getting batteries and AC inverter and a panel whilst the solaredge is being fitted.

My predicament is which AC inverter and which batteries.
For me it's future proofing, scalability and support that matter the most. Charge / discharge rates have to be up there, but as its AC coupled both inverters can work in tandem to give combined discharge to minimise grid draw, our peak does go above 4kwh on occasions but that can be sorted with a bit of habit change. Ie telling the Mrs not to stick kettle on whislt ironing and having the oven on full whack!

At the moment we use 3600kwh annually so usage is low but that will change in the next 5-10 years no doubt.

My solaredge to be fitted is 18x360w and 3.68kwh inverter.

So my question is this,
1) Do I go Lux 3.6 squirrel and 2x greenlinx 3.2 (@100DoD), or even pylontech.
Apparently the greenlinx can charge discharge at 3.5kwh with 3 linked - but there is no real world info available. (2kwh charge / 3kwh discharge with 2x3.2kwh)

Or

2) victron Multiplus-II 48/5000 and 2x pylontech 3000C.

Both I'd probably deal with under a g99 fast track. Not interested in selling back to grid. I'm on OctGo (from when I had an EV on order which got cancelled) so agile integration isn't really a consideration... Plus agile is on its ar*e at the moment. Or should it be a consideration? It would a nice to have if agile ever sorts itself.

Victron looks complicated, but plenty of support and look powerful.
Lux gets a lot of love here.

Please share your thoughts on what are the pros/Cons and any experience. If it was your money what would you do?

Thanks in advance

ahas,

[nowty]

The Victron of that size will be G99 and not G99 fast track as its over 3.68kW of inverter power. But if you want the power, don't let doing a G99 application stop you, some people have found the process just as easy.

Also "Greenlinx" is just a trademark registered with Infinity Innovations Ltd who trade under various guises, who knows what the actual battery manufacturer is. i.e., its likely to be a re-badged jobby so I would take specifications with a pinch of salt, with Pylontech, you know what your getting.

EDIT - I suspect the "Greenlinx" battery might be a "Aobo Uhome 2400 battery".

[ahas]

Thanks Nowty,
That's a good point, I misread this from NPG, reading the bit in bold that if a device can be limited it can be fast tracked. I think the victron is both G98 and G99 compliant according to ena database.
But I suppose the point above the bold is the key, must have a capacity of 16A or less. Which the victron 48/5000 isn't.

ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS
- are you applying to connect at a single premises?
is the combined capacity of your generation and electricity storage devices less than 32A per phase?
- is the individual capacity of each of your generation and electricity storage devices less than 16A per phase?
- will your export capacity be limited to a maximum of 16A per phase via an export limiting device that is compliant with G100?
- will both your generation and electricity storage devices be prevented from operating in island mode, i.e. when there is no mains supply?

I'm really tempted to to build as much power as possible, but need to weight up cost vs benefit I suppose.

Interested to see those who have victron what they think - is it worth the full blown G99 application.

Interesting RE greenlinx rebadged Aobet, they're decent also, but a little more expensive if I remember correctly.
The pylontech have proven their worth in reliability, performance and the fact you can get them from many places. I don't really want to be reliant on one distributer being around in few years time should I wish to add more.

[billi]

No question at all ...
To be or not to be ?
Dead or Alive ?

I miss the point o f your own choice !

So simply work yourself into the best combination , and findyourself then in a position of choice , and maybe you will find some companies better or mor e orientated towards your needs

That compare is nuts

[Joeboy]

The reality that you have knocked the profit out on the panels for the installer will limit the pool willing to work with you. I'd concentrate on finding someone who will and go from there. IMHO the fact that you have brought 'used' gear to the table un necessarily complicates it. Time is money and this will be seen as a complication. I hope you prove me wrong.

[ahas]

The reality that you have knocked the profit out on the panels for the installer will limit the pool willing to work with you. I'd concentrate on finding someone who will and go from there. IMHO the fact that you have brought 'used' gear to the table complicates it. Time is money and this will be seen as a complication. I hope you prove me wrong.

Agree the profit from the fitter is removed to a degree.

Panels and inverter are all brand new. Panels were delivered from ITS not even a couple weeks ago, and inverter from Trade/Solarsparky. All legit.
Definitely glad I got them as it gives me some assurance of what will be going up even at the cost of taking the VAT hit.
No installer was willing to entertain looking for solaredge as they just knew it was out of stock at their usual suppliers.
Also most installers will only pick the quick wins based on stock they can get hold of / G98 / and easy installs.
Someone in my area had his done within 3 weeks of asking for a quote, but he was quoted £2k more than me and supplied 4.8kwh battery less! But he was willing to pay.

No question at all ...
To be or not to be ?
Dead or Alive ?

I miss the point o f your own choice !

So simply work yourself into the best combination , and findyourself then in a position of choice , and maybe you will find some companies better or mor e orientated towards your needs

That compare is nuts

Fair point billi, probably a badly worded comparison. I suppose the question should be is it worth going for a victron 48/5000 and full G99 vs a fast track g99 using a lux squirrel.
All depends on the functionality, and the functionality is dependent on my needs...
Feel like a need to make a spreadsheet..!

[Stinsy]

I would go squirrel-pod and Pylontech. Cheap, effective, reliable.

Victron is far more flexible and you can integrate an archipelago of devices into a single system that communicates and reports as one. However you pay for that.

The whole thing is much simpler if you limit export to 16A. We use 20-30kWh a day and 16A is plenty for us. There are times when we exceed inverter capacity but this tends to be rare and short-lived so the grid-power consumed is trivial. A washing machine or dishwasher might have a 2-3h cycle but they only heat for a few mins of that cycle so even if both are running together the vast majority of the time they won’t both be heating at the same time.

[billi]

Well Ahas ,.... might have been my long-time Victron usage, that made me comment

I ordered my 2x 3kW Victron Multi Plus about 16 years ago , when they were basically a company for fitting energy solutions for boats
I , then decided against a SMA Sunny Island off grid inverter , that i was familiar with and named as the first class off-grid inverter made in my hometown at the time

The simple reason was , that if someone lives on a boat on the Atlantic , one needs a reliable system , and at the time Victron was convincing me .

So i rang the UK dealer and asked to supply me a Victron idea " He asked me about the size and the needs of my boat" and i said its not a boat its a log cabin a stone throw away from the Atlantic in Ireland "

That supplier did everything right for his supply , the advice and the price and shipping to Ireland , only mistake was the batteries ( but my fault too at the time )

Anyway , since then i follow Victron and their development , beside their support , and the discussion boards online available for anyone , their flexibility ... etc
I was not aware at the time , off exactly what i bought , but during the years, i found out the flexibility of those off-grid (On -Grid) (Island) inverters

But cannot judge on others too harsh
Time flies
billi

[sharpener]

I would go squirrel-pod and Pylontech. Cheap, effective, reliable.

Victron is far more flexible and you can integrate an archipelago of devices into a single system that communicates and reports as one. However you pay for that.

The whole thing is much simpler if you limit export to 16A. We use 20-30kWh a day and 16A is plenty for us. There are times when we exceed inverter capacity but this tends to be rare and short-lived so the grid-power consumed is trivial. A washing machine or dishwasher might have a 2-3h cycle but they only heat for a few mins of that cycle so even if both are running together the vast majority of the time they won’t both be heating at the same time.

All depends on the functionality, and the functionality is dependent on my needs...
Feel like a need to make a spreadsheet..!

Yes, a spreadsheet is the way to go. IME the big question is whether or not you use an electric cooker, that accounts for a big chunk of what we use after sunset and justifies the Victron 5kVA. The extra effort in the full G99 process is not huge. A list of some other things to put in yr spreadsheet is here https://camelot-forum.co.uk/phpBB3/view ... 686#p13686

[Stinsy]

IME the big question is whether or not you use an electric cooker.

We have 2x 16A ovens and an “11kW” induction hob. However if you put a chicken in the oven it pulls full power for 5-10mins while it heats up then only pulls a little to keep it hot. The hob similar, when you crank a ring to bring the veg to the boil it pulls 2kW, but keeping it simmering uses hardly any. You rarely have all rings pulling full power simultaneously.

Sure it is possible to overwhelm a 16A inverter if you have an extreme number of super-powerful electric cooking appliances. But it is pretty easy not to as well…

I’d only be convinced that you need more than 16A of inverter capacity if you had a heat-pump that draws power 24/7.