<div dir="ltr">Eric and Wrenches,<div><br></div><div>We have come to the same conclusion. Sol-Ark isn't ready for prime-time off-grid. Too many glitches...</div><div><br></div><div>One serious off-grid disadvantage with Sol-Ark is idle consumption. It really is much, much higher than older style inverters so it needs to be factored into the load analysis. The spec sheet is not accurate. The firmware is all over the place, many glitches and issues.</div><div><br></div><div>I do admire that they are diving into the battery communication arena but voltage control works quite well. If a system can't effectively keep power on, do we care if the charging algorithm is slightly more efficient?</div><div><br></div><div>My big question, that I've never really understood is why is it so hard to standardize battery communication? Isn't CanBus, Modbus and RS-485 a standard? Doesn't that mean that it should be easy and structured? I must not really get it...</div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Thu, Jan 6, 2022 at 12:59 PM Christopher Warfel <<a href="mailto:cwarfel@entech-engineering.com">cwarfel@entech-engineering.com</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">
<div>
<p><font size="4">Eric, Have you had the same issues with SolArk
when multi-mode? We are getting ready to put one in. Chris</font><br>
</p>
<div>On 1/6/2022 1:25 PM, Eric Smiley wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite">
<div dir="auto">Kirk
<div dir="auto">We tried using SolArk for off- grid applications
but stopped for several reasons: </div>
<div dir="auto">- surge on single phase loads</div>
<div dir="auto">- too many firmware updates (i.e. bugs in the
firmware or new features that are standard in other inverters)</div>
<div dir="auto">- too many service calls: false positive arc
faults, AGS not working, battery over charging,..</div>
<div dir="auto">- not modular. If one component has an error, it
can take out the whole system. </div>
<div dir="auto">- too reliant on an internet connection</div>
<div dir="auto">- hidden settings that aren't described in the
manual - including one that could only be accessed via the
internet and left a customer without AGS for several months
until they hooked up their satellite internet. We thought we
were going to have to replace the inverter.</div>
<div dir="auto"><br>
</div>
<div dir="auto">We've gone back to equipment that does less and
has a longer track record; so we don't feel like we're beta
testing equipment with our clients and we know what the
limitations are.</div>
<div dir="auto">Tech support has been great and the monitoring
is quite good. It just hasn't been reliable enough for full
time offgrid. </div>
<div dir="auto"><br>
</div>
<div dir="auto">When we compare the service calls for our
Magnum, Outback, Conext, Trace (yes we still have two SW
systems going strong) and SolArk systems, the initial savings
with SokArk disappear. I can't recall the last time I had to
repair/service a Magnum system unless it was user error.</div>
<div dir="auto">Keep it simple!</div>
<div dir="auto"><br>
</div>
<div dir="auto">
<div dir="auto">Eric Smiley<br>
Project Manager, North Island<br>
<br>
E: <a href="mailto:eric@vecoop.ca" target="_blank">eric@vecoop.ca</a><br>
T: 1-888-386-0116 ext 702 (toll free)<br>
C: 250-703-6004<br>
W: <a href="http://viridianenergy.ca" target="_blank">viridianenergy.ca</a></div>
</div>
</div>
<br>
<div class="gmail_quote">
<div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Thu., Jan. 6, 2022, 09:28
Jerry Shafer, <<a href="mailto:jerrysgarage01@gmail.com" target="_blank">jerrysgarage01@gmail.com</a>>
wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">
<div dir="ltr">Kirk
<div>You can also connect an outback through the NaMaka and
the optics, plus the Outback has better surge power then
the SolArk, We use both Solark and Outback coupled with
the Blue Planet, 2.0 and now the 3.0, Yes solark can do 3
phase including delta, has high voltage dual PV input,
Outback has one big benefit and that is surge along with
being modular from internals to charge controllers, all
separate and serviceable individually</div>
</div>
<br>
<div class="gmail_quote">
<div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Wed, Jan 5, 2022 at
6:45 AM Kirk Herander <a href="mailto:kirkh@vermont.solar" target="_blank"><kirkh@vermont.solar></a> wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">
<div dir="ltr">Hi All,
<div><br>
</div>
<div>I am considering changing the inverters on several
Blue ion HI LFP storage systems I'm installing this
Spring from Outback Radians to Sol-Ark. I have no
experience w/ Sol-Ark, but it seems more advanced than
the Radian. I'm wondering if Sol-Ark and the BI Namaka
gateway/monitor can directly interface as Namaka can
with some inverter brands. And I'd be interested in
hearing of any experiences you may have as to how
nicely these different components play together.
Thanks.<br clear="all">
<div><br>
</div>
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</blockquote></div><br clear="all"><div><br></div>-- <br><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature"><div><br></div><div><font color="#305A78" face="'times new roman', serif"><br></font></div><div><br></div>Mac Lewis<br><br><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman";font-size:medium;color:rgb(255,153,0)"><b><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="3"><p align="left"><font color="#000000" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="font-size:small"><span style="font-family:arial;font-weight:normal;color:rgb(48,90,120)"><font face="'times new roman', serif">"Yo solo sé que no sé nada." </font><span style="font-weight:700;color:rgb(104,104,104)"><font face="'times new roman', serif">-Sócrates</font></span></span></span></font></p></font></b></span></div>