Review of the Australian made Selectronic SP PRO multi-mode inverter - AC-coupled with ABB solar inverters and gel VRLA battery bank. Installation by Premier Solar Installations Melbourne www.psi.melbourne Ref CER for quote.
This off-grid system was installed by Premier Solar Installations based in Melbourne, Australia. CEC accreditied installers of residential and commercial solar and energy storage systems. www.psi.melbourne
Hi, I have the same setup but with kaco ac coupled inverters and agm 600a/h battery bank. I also use it to heat my hot water via a standard 500litre hot water cylinder. with two elements which can be separately prioritized. You probably wouldn't need the tubed water heater. Unfortunately, selelctronics hasn't come out yet with a smart way to divert excess power for water heating. I still have to set parameters via SOC, time or battery voltage which is too rigid. The "percent power" indicator would be ideal for the system to determine what is available to divert at any given time. But otherwise great stuff.
I cant believe its been done with Lead Acid type battery!!!!!! Lithium ion battery is the go for these type of project min 20 years life time after that another 10-20 years with 80% capacity
Maz this system was designed and commissioned in late 2015! The cost of Lithium then was extremely high then and uneconomical. Also no compatible lithium batteries were available at the time. I don't know of any lithium battery which lasts for longer than 15 years to 80% retained capacity, plus the technology hasn't been around long enough to prove otherwise
Bob Jackson, Hi Bob, actually the cost was closer to $45k installed. This is a top of the line system which will be powering 2 separate dwellings. The cost for a grid connection to the property was over $50k then you would pay connection fees and power bills
That would be the serious need. With such a tech rich solution I would be concerned about equipment failure or lightning strike (high quality surge protection should be incorporated). My concern with maintenance free batteries is they are only maintenance free because they can't be maintained. Also all batteries are quoted with a service life at a certain ambient temperature, every 5 degrees above that ambient will significantly reduce service life. Presumably with an off grid solution an air conditioned room might be considered a luxury, but for that equipment I believe it could be easily justified.
Bob Jackson Yes the batteries are sealed but roughly have a 10-12 year design life at average 20% DOD. The climate at this location is quite cool so temperature is usually below 25 degC. This equipment is very reliable, up to 20 year life when located indoors out of the weather. Gen-set emergency backup is available
When you factor in the cost for a grid connection to this property was over $50,000 then you could say it has already paid it'self off ;) Then there is the additional benefits of back-up power during storms etc... If you had a grid connection then you wouldn't need a system of this size or cost.
Missed your message. I have an article which should answer your question. Basically AC coupled is far easier and lower cost when you are installing anything more than 3kW of solar. www.cleanenergyreviews.info/blog/ac-coupling-vs-dc-coupling-solar-battery-storage
Yes it's worth a few $$ but you get what you pay for! This system is around $40-50K fully installed but remember going off-grid in a temperate climate means you have to size the system to get through the winter months. Also with grid connection in rural area's costing up to $100K it's not bad, and you don't have to pay for power or connection fees. Of course with an efficient passive home design you can go off-grid for much less.
This is a 3 year old system. At the time these were some of the best batteries available. Also the system works very well and was sized for VRLA batteries which can last 15 year's or more depending on the average DoD
