Off Grid Private Island Powered Up with Schneider XW Pro and Fortress Batteries 

There's a kid named Nate that moves them without a hand truck... 🤣

@@benssolarandbattery 😂

So far so good! I used closed loop comms with the Evault Max's as well. They ran the electric dryer 6 times one day along with the washing machine and water pumps with no issues.

I have a couple SW's in my shed, just waiting for the time and application to install them!

Sounds like an awesome system! I still love Sol-Ark for sure.

Sol-Ark fine for grid tie but good luck using it in off grid applications with large inductive loads. You will be one unhappy camper! They still have bugs that they have not been worked out and you will be introduced to them.

@@boblatkey7160 i’m totally off grid and do just fine. You just have to get a 20SEER and above heat pump systems, city water, so no pump needed and I have my shop on a separate system….Schneider😊

Be hard on an island lol

@@SolarTechFL You can buy bags of it on the mainland and transport them the same way the panels got to the island.

@@boblatkey7160 I got an 8% increase in PV production just by putting down white crushed stone in front of my arrays. The ground bounce to my 45° array adds significant energy. I would imagine a bifacial would benefit even more. You might see only 2% if you're panels are over brown earth or grass, which doesn't reflect much light.

It definitely takes more time than an all in one, but was worth it here. We looked at leveling the array, but the slope was too much for that system.

Nate occasionally needs encouragement...

It doesn't as far as I know!

@@benssolarandbattery People are weird. All that solar equipment in that shed. Build a new one known to be watertight and insulate it. And temperature regulate it with a simple fan and electric heater!

@@macunknown that's actually the plan in the next couple years. They wanted something right away, and this being the generator shed was the best place to put everything. They'll be building a new one nearby and we'll transfer everything over. Not the ideal way to do it, but here we are.

@@benssolarandbattery I’ve found myself there many a time too. Nice work on your part!

I won't be able to with this system, but I'm currently installing a single unit in my garage that I will be testing. Everything I've seen so far indicates it can handle quite a bit.

I haven't tried the 5k or 15k yet. The Sol-Ark in general is SO much easier and quicker to install and commission. I stayed away from it here because I was hesitant about its surge capacity.

@@OldManLawrence There are times that I wish the Solark could go well above the 60V limit but I've learned to live within its "limitations". Limitations being only it's instaneous surge capability without having to spend more on other things. Other than that I am very happy with my unit and has provided trouble free power to my home for two straight years now. That is after 3 months of frustration trying other manufacturers product before hand.

@@benssolarandbattery I hear you. Sounds like a lot of pumps and an unknown load profile with that guest house. As for my place I live alone so the power profile for my place is well established and I live within that envelope. One thing I find interesting is your continued problems with your dryer. Since the last time you mentioned it I have not had a single dropout due to the dryer running - it draws 6KW. I've run it during the day and at night (when I'm desperate) on the batteries and no shutdowns. The one thing I know not to do is try to run the AC, microwave, electric cooker,. etc, at the same time. System has coped with my well pump running too so I guess I'm lucky ? My well pump is a 240V unit, though. I also invested in a MicroAir slow start for one of my 3Ton AC units during last winter. I installed it and running it now is a no brainer, no stress affair. The AC runs at about 2.5-2.8KW continuous. This year I have not had the 12K drop out for overload reasons at all - touch wood. Checkout Engineer775 recent video's where he installs a MicroAir if you haven't seen it already.

@@OldManLawrence I have 10 batteries (134kWh) connected to two 12k. Each battery never sees more than 37 A. I built each battery to handle 100 A. The Chinese BMS are rated at 150 to 250 A. My 1/4" x 2.5" tin plated copper bus bars and 3/0 cables handle the 20,000W just fine.

Thanks! The racking system was Sunmodo Sunturf.

Only a 10-15 minute boat ride, but it was definitely inconvenient if you forgot something!

Thanks Chris. I did realize the PV source circuit issue as I was headed back on the boat the last day... good call there. As far as working space, the batteries can be rolled out of the way if needed. You saw that shed in person, it was a tight fit! I'm curious, what was your plan for keeping the batteries above -4 out there? Sounds like they'll be building a new heated utility building in the next couple years.

I agree that it’s sometimes impossible to achieve this working space requirement, however, installing the generator outside would probably clear up space and allow you to not void gen warranty. Even with exhaust ducts, generators should not be installed inside buildings. To maintain spec temps, insulating the room well and heating with a propane heat source are good options. A solid insulation job will likely achieve this -4F. Otherwise, moving to a more modular battery so that it can be removed from site during the winter months would be another option.

I saw that with the batteries but sometimes there's nothing you can do. However we have tried that in Santa Barbara County and 100% of the time the permit is denied.

All I can say here is: not cheap. The barge alone was $10k...

@Ben's Solar and Battery yeah, I could see that. With your labor and parts I imagine maybe around 100k.

Yes, I'm excited for it. I've been working on tying it in slowly, but have been super busy with other things (this for one).

@@benssolarandbattery this one here was an awesome place to work and a good looking install. Please make a video regarding swapping the your batteries over to the Schneider. And if you don’t mind show how to set the Schneider up in grid tie mode with Cts. A lot of people don’t know the Schneider can do that. Most people are not fully offgrid so the video regarding zero export grid tie with Cts should get a lot of views.

The tool was only needed if you had inverters that put out different voltages. I didn't need the tool because I bought them at the same time. Now, the newest firmware does away with the need for the tool. (Starting at v1.17)

That old generator was supposed to be removed by the time I got there... they'd put in the new one but left the old.

That too!

Firmware updates and programming. There are a lot of settings on this system. Each charge controller and XW needs a device number and to be set correctly. AGS as well. Then there's the closed loop comm from the batteries as well.

Thank you. I had heard that term on many channels and never understood what it meant. So it is basically setting up programming for all parts so they all properly function and communicate. Software set up after Hardware installed.

They did! I've been monitoring the site and there was one day where they ran 6 loads of laundry. The largest draw I've seen on monitoring is 7.5kW, so well within the limits of 2 XW's. That fact that they've been proven to put out 12kW each for 1 minute really helped my decision. I'd love to test a Sol-Ark 15k, but they won't give me one and I won't buy one personally.

​@@benssolarandbattery Thanks for the reply and info. I am off-grid and have a SW 4024 it has been running flawlessly for the passed 8 years. I have a stackable washer and dryer and have run the washer with no problem during that time, but never even considered trying to run the dryer .Then after watching a RU-vid video lately by Abny Solar where he torture tested a XW Pro. I decided to do a test with my SW 4024 and see if it could run the dryer with everything else in the house turned off. and low and behold it did it. I only ran it for a few minutes with no clothes in it and it was pulling over 5000 watts. But it worked. Now granted if I would have left it running it would have overloaded. But it handled the surge with no problem. The SW 4024 are not stackable. Can you think of and alternative way to increase the capacity like maybe ac coupling a pv inverter so I may be able to run the dryer and not cause the SW 4024 to go into overload?

@@bowbilly9080 You used to be able to stack 2 SW's, but they had a lot of trouble with this and discontinued the ability to do so. You can AC couple the SW, but you can't really get more total power since it doesn't know the generation of the AC coupled solar - nor the consumption. So it can't manage that too well, so max AC coupled power can not be anymore than the output power rating (or a bit less - see the Schneider AC coupling guide). And when your batteries are near full charge, it has to shift the AC frequency to curtail or shut off the AC coupled solar completely. If you want more stackable power - you need the XW Pro series. A bit more money that the SW, but with greater surge and stackable - it is a real workhorse.

My single XW Pro handles 6000W Dryer, 1500W Washer, 1500 Microwave, 1500W microwave, and 1500W well pump at the same time. I'd like to try my A/C unit at some point.

We used 2 strings of 7 panels into each charge controller. The spec sheet should show how much you can run into a single charge controller. Basically try to get the voltage as high as possible, then parallel. Each string should only be 10 amps or so, but if you max out the voltage, you won't likely fit more than 2 strings.

I will test the idle draw once I'm done installing the single XW in my garage. From what I've heard, it's much lower than the 12k. This was a little cheaper than 2-12k's.

Isn’t an Schneider pro half the cost of a SolArk 12k? Bms with low temp protection stops batteries from charging below freezing.

@@RJ-cc1fz The XW Pro is only an inverter, and those 100A charge controllers are well over $1,000 each plus the $1,500+ in the DC load center and DC breakers. A 12K has more capacity than an XW Pro plus as much solar capacity as the pair of Conext 100 600s.

@@RJ-cc1fz The Schneider Pro is only the inverter. You need to purchase separate chargers, breakers, panels and a host of other stuff that are all built into a Sol-Ark 12K. Usually, these types of coupled systems are more expensive and not close to the 97% efficiency of a Sol-Ark.

@@randacnam7321 Even though I own a schneider xw pro, I am not a fanboy. I don't care about manufacture, only performance for $. You are not correct in saying a 12k has more capacity than XW or as much solar capacity as a pair of Conext 100 600s. Check the specs and use them. I priced out a sol ark 12k, and 15k. Both were more expensive than a single xw pro, mini pdp, and 2 charge controllers. XW pro will run 10 to 11k watts and still start 3/4 well pump with uneven 120vac legs. I think Ben will find the idle consumption and efficiency of the XW pro to beat the sol ark's too. Installation of Sol Ark or all in ones is of course simpler because you are not installing multiple devices on a wall. I think for a home where the wife or children run whatever they want when they want, the XW pro is a very good choice.

Nobody will be there and they're not heating the shed for now.

At least for now, they will be turned off in the fall and restarted in the spring. Won't hurt them to freeze, but definitely don't want them charging while frozen.

Totally. Just make sure your peak load is below 12kW and your max continuous load is below 7kW. Mine routinely handles spikes of 8-9kW for 20 minutes. This thing is a tank.

@@benssolarandbattery my home is 1600 sq ft. 3 ton heat pump seer 18 has a inverter and soft start, it does have heat strips. Other major loads are hwh, stove top and oven, dishwasher, fridge, freezer, microwave. Other loads are a few led lights, tvs, phone chargers, toaster, coffee maker, printer. These loads are used sparinly. 2 person household. I can control the hwh with a time clock. As I started before the past year's daily average usage is 40 kwh. I hate to buy more inverter than I need but also don't want to underside either.

@craig mitchell I'd love to say 1 will do it, but you may run into issues with the running the heat pump heat strips and stove/oven at the same time. You could always build a setup with 1 and then add another one if needed, just use a PDP and you'll be able to add another one easily.

@@benssolarandbattery Ben I understand that the breaker and relays is limited to 60 amps in a single XP. When adding a second XP, do you add another 60 amp breaker to the PDP and parallel these 2 breakers to your house panel?

@@craigmitchell5628 yup!