[RE-wrenches] EG4 Equipment

Sat Feb 17 10:02:21 PST 2024

Drake:

I prefer the UnigyII VRLA batteries.  Full river 2 volt L-16s are pretty
good and they allow one string configuration in larger AH settings.

I agree that as features grow so does complexity.  However there is no
substitute for good remote monitoring and control.  I can understand much
better the operation of systems with easy access to historic data and I
save a butt-load of driving.  I wish the Outback and Sunny Island files
could be obtained remotely for better analysis.

William

Miller Solar

17395 Oak Road, Atascadero, CA 93422

805-438-5600

www.millersolar.com

CA Lic. 773985

*From:* RE-wrenches [mailto:re-wrenches-bounces at lists.re-wrenches.org] *On
Behalf Of *Drake Chamberlin via RE-wrenches
*Sent:* Saturday, February 17, 2024 9:43 AM
*To:* RE-wrenches
*Cc:* drake.chamberlin at redwoodalliance.org
*Subject:* Re: [RE-wrenches] EG4 Equipment

I fully agree that off grid solar has taken a major downturn. Once the
equipment became software based, the reliability dropped. Sure, there are
nice features available with these cyber enhanced systems, but the cost in
reliability makes being energy independent off the grid hard to accomplish.

There are good reports on Samlex products. Has anyone tried their new
120/240 split phase units? Are they stack-able yet?

As far as batteries go, I'm pretty much in the Lead Head club, especially
for off grid. That being said, lead acid batteries, especially AGMs have
gotten really expensive and it seems the quality isn't what it used to be.

What is the best AGM battery these days?

Thanks,

Drake

---

On 2024-02-16 17:02, Michael Morningstar via RE-wrenches wrote:

We gave EG4 and Signature another chance after promises from their dealer
oriented support department that we could expect better service from them.
We had an EG4 BMS crap out a couple months ago after only a few months.
Lots and lots of communications with Signature and we still don't have a
BMS or replacement battery. It's been a shit show with them. I think we are
going to remove them and install 3rd party BMS's and find some use for
them. Maybe donate them. We've only had luck with Schneider/Discover
pairings in closed loop. A large system we did with Sol-Arks never really
worked in Closed loop, despite Discover coming to the site. Most likely
it's a Sol-Ark issue, but we've reached Sol-Arks technical expertise
limits. Even with Schneider/AES, there have been some issues that are
causing me to re-consider Li for offgrid. I just had a conversation this
morning with a long time off-grid pro and he said the same thing. It used
to be, we'd install a wet lead acid bank and then ten years would pass
before hearing from the client when it was time for another bank. Sometimes
fifteen years. Our call backs with systems over the last ten years, first
with a decline in equipment quality and then the switch to Li are costing
us too much money and causing a lot of heartburn for our clients. Rant Over

On Fri, Feb 16, 2024 at 12:57 PM Howie Michaelson via RE-wrenches <
re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org> wrote:

Hi All,

I've searched the archives for info pertaining to EG4 inverters and
batteries. The comments have been mostly positive.  I have stayed away from
EG4 until now in part, for the reason the Michael Morningstar suggested
last June - that is, they seemed very oriented to the DIY market and not
real serious contenders in the lasting marketplace. However, I was at RE+
Boston this week and was quite surprised to see that the EG4 18k inverter
is, for all I could tell, identical to the Fortress Envy 12k, in both
physical layout as well as menu structure. I have very limited experience
with the Envy (having just installed my 1st one last week, in order to
compare it to the Sol-Ark 15). I don't have any thoughts about it yet,
except that the font on the screen is quite small and the opening screen is
not as intuitive as the Sol-Ark, but that might just take familiarizing
myself more to the Envy (and/or the EG4).

My question is, for folks who have had either the Envy or the EG4 inverters
installed for a decent period of time, what is your current take on their
functionality, durability, and for the EG4, the quality of support? Also,
what experience have folks had similarly with the EG4 LLI batteries? I'm
not unhappy with the Sol-Ark or in general the Fortress eVault Max battery,
but there are some attractive things about the Envy and potentially the EG4
18k, and the price point and seemingly smart configuration of the EG4 LLI
batteries are certainly eye-catching.

I'm also currently starting to lean toward using Lithium batteries and
inverters from the same manufacturer, as I'm growing weary of the
mismatching firmware updates that are causing somewhat frequent issues
between the 2 components. Although the inverter/battery integrated units
(i.e. Sonen, Tesla, etc.) don't seem ideal, since the market is so volatile
at the moment. If one component fails, I'd like the option to replace it
with a different brand without having to replace the other component as
well. Using the same manu doesn't necessarily cut down the problems, but it
certainly will help in the troubleshooting process by hopefully having less
of the "not my problem" or "we haven't seen that problem" responses from
tech support.

I really don't like making forays into bleeding-edge technologies, so I'm
hoping to gain some experienced insight.

Thanks,

Howie Michaelson

Sun Catcher

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-- 

Michael Morningstar

Morningstar Electric

PO Box 1494

Mount Shasta, CA 96067

530-921-0560

mjmorningstar at gmail.com

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