Dude, your verbal presentation is one of the best I have ever heard on YT. Your cadence is perfect, you space your words, you enunciate and place verbal inflections at different sections of the sentence, and your rhythm of sounds is broken up so not to sound monotonous. Couple that with the wonderful content and you do an awesome job!
The industry is improving & changing so fast that it does not make much sense to purchase very expensive 25+ year gear that will be outdated in several years.
Ahhh … good to know! between your wealth of information and honesty on situations you help so many understand the nitty gritty! Appreciate you! Be blessed
I have the EG4 6000XP and so far it's working great! Upgraded my batteries and now working on more solar panels! I've enjoyed you video. Great way to put it. Always a decision that each of us has to decide what's best for us. Keep up the great context! Always a pleasure watching your videos!
Curious to know if in your pre-homesteading life if you were an electrician or an engineer. You speak with such precision and knowledge that I can't imagine your depth of knowledge is simply from reading online.
I appreciate that. No, I don’t have a formal electrical background. I am an Architect by trade though. I have just studied a lot about these systems and installed several myself.
Great video of the situation that really makes sense to everyone who is interested in the solar energy and engineering skills for everything solar energy,,off grid!!.
grid tie inverter The "limiter" looks at the load and then tells the grid-tie inverter to reduce its output to equal the load. As they explain, the purpose of the "limiter" is to get around a smart meter (which charges you for power you export to the grid), by greatly reducing the power sent to the grid.
do you have an opinion of a microinverter system like Emphase? better .. worst? other questions: where fo you install the hybrid inverter to have assisting grid, upstream the main panel or downstream the main panel feeding a subpamel only? thanks,!!
Eric, thank you for the well stated information. On the issue of Grid Tied Versus Independent I am sort of divided on the issue between the two. I know that I do Not want this mounted on my new roof. I am leaning toward an array in my backyard and using the independent version with marine batteries. I am in a City in Southern CA they are not friendly at least not to me. They even tried to fine me because my neighbor had weeds on his side of the fence. I think even if I just have some solar and use drop cords for certain items specific lights or a cooler in the summer maybe one or two of my refrigerators this could be a win. I will appreciate any thoughts you have on it.
You're welcome. I honestly would try to stay as independent as you possible can especially in CA. I would get an off-grid inverter and put some panels in your backyard.
@@CountryLivingExperiencein the midst of installation, now, i am thinking of switching to off-grid from the present plan of on-grid, because of the state's undesirable interventions, paltry returns on it & and other discouraging policies.. please advice isn't it better to go for off-grid self reliance..?
@@CountryLivingExperience Thanks for the suggestion.. However, the energy banking solutions is yet to be economical.. hope it shall undergo revolutionary change in future..🙂 Great..🥰🙏💐
I always learn something when watching your solar videos but most is Latin to me. Thankfully I’m married to an electrician who understands it all and really speaks highly of your knowledge and how you explain things. The off grid system is what we are going to end up doing and it really was your presentation and recommendation that made the choice. I also wanted to mention that I purchased the sprayer that you recommended recently and I really like the power and wide spray ability it has. Hoping I have the same luck with longevity that you have because it’s so frustrating to keep replacing them so soon. Question. How concerned are you will hail and your panels? There was a solar farm on March 24th that was wiped out down by Houston. I’ve always worried about damage from hail but all sales people say they are indestructible. You can always believe a salesman. 😂 Just wondering what your thoughts are since you’re closer to Tornado alley and you must have had this cross your mind. I’m CenTex which is a little tamer but every so often we get a bad one. Thanks again. Great video. Have a beautiful and blessed day!
You're welcome. Glad I could help with all of the info. I try to show a wide range of topics to help people out. For hail, I have not been that concerned. I know my panels are rated for 1" at 50mph which is fairly big hail. We have not had any here but there was some large hail in Tyler a few weeks back. I have not heard of any solar panels being damages. That said, it is always a possibility that they could get damaged.....like with anything honestly. I'm not losing sleep over it.
Another benefit of the hybrid system is for people like myself who already have a grid-tied system and want to add more solar capability. With the 18kpv we can run our grid-tied through the 18kpv at the gen connection and run an off-grid system through the same inverter. By law, a grid-tied system has to turn off when the grid is down. But the 18kpv hybrid inverter, has an automatic transfer switch that isolates it from the grid. The 18kpv can send the proper sine wave to the grid-tied system fooling it that the grid is up and allowing the grid-tied system to produce power as long as the sun is shining. By changing the sine wave it can control the grid-tied system to either produce power or stop producing power.
Hi great videos I learned so much from you. I have a question I live in Southern California and have a lot of sun. Summer time Eletrical bill is high. I want to get a 6000 watt or higher inverter with solar panels and batteries. What do you recommend, is there a bundle price on all three. I don’t want to connect to grid and I plan on moving out of California to South Dakota in ten years and want to take the system with me. Thank you for great videos again so helpful. I have a 100 amp panel if you needed that information.
Thank you. Glad I could help. You can find bundle pricing for all three but it is so very important to find out what you need first. Pre-packaged bundles may not be appropriate (the right size) for your needs. You really need to dive in and watch this video to figure out what your needs are first......ruclips.net/video/BKRraTpBnGo/видео.html. Then email me with some numbers and I can help make a recommendation.
Morning! Can you please help me? Im not sure my other message went through due to really bad weather here. I have a 3wk old chick who is showing signs of splayed legs? Never noticed before! Was always active and running etc. Hubby looked it up and saw a video about putting like a shackle on its legs with pipecleaner. Well we did that but it just fumbled and bumbled and fell. So we took it off. Any ideas? I read it could kill them if not able to get to food and water....😢.....well he/she gets to the food amd water still but im concerned about long term! 😢
Hello. I have actually never run into that problem with a chicken. The pipe cleaner truck sounds like it should work. It needs to be above the ankle though.
Hello Eric, I'm still so confused over which system I need. We are building a home in East Texas, and it's quite remote, therefore tying into the grid isn't really an option. We are currently still in Dallas, and for our current home we use around
That sounds like an average number of kw per day (29+) for an American household. To really dive into this you will have to email me. This discussion will get long and I will lose it in the comments. My email is located on our mail channel page.
@@CountryLivingExperience Thank you. The small system comes with 3 400w panels and two eg4 batteries. I am a first time solar user just trying to figure it all out.
For longterm do you recommend the aims 48v 6000w low frequency inverter over this inverter ? I think i will be using the eg4 indoor wallmount batter 280ah
That very subject is what this video is about. Watch at 4:02 to see the breakers for the grid AND generator inputs. Many off-grid inverters and all true hybrid inverters offer what you are asking about.
With the current upward pace of inverter technology advancement, buying a more expensive "name brand" unit means by the time it pays for itself, you'll have an obsolete dinosaur, while those that purchased an "off brand" unit are using the money they saved to buy the new 6"x6" 5 lb inverter that powers an entire house.
@@CountryLivingExperience The current inverter market reminds me of the desktop PC market of the 1990s. You know, when your new computer you just purchased was already obsolete on the drive home.
Good analogy. There have been rapid innovations lately. I mentioned in a previous video that things are progressing too rapidly and causing a ton of negative issues.
Our EG4 18K PV is running in off-grid mode and is not connected to the grid in any way. We have 14.6 kilowatts of Bi-Facial solar in 3 strings of 12 panels, 30 kW of LiFePO4 batteries (soon to be 60 kW) and of course 12 kW of inverter power. When the sun is deficient we charge the batteries with our Diesel generator running on waste veggie-oil through a Chargeverter by EG4. The 18K’s upper solar limit is 600 volts DC and 21 kW of input. This winter, our panels often went above their rated 447 volts DC per string but stayed under the 600 volt limit. The 18K provides 8 kW of leg imbalance with a surge of 14 kW for 10 minutes and 16 kW for 5 minutes, this is something the 6000XP can not do. What is the saying? “You get what you pay for”. However, if this unit stops working we will have to rely on generators or wire back to the grid until the 18K is repaired. Whereas, having two of the 6000XP units you would still have 6,000 watts (3 kW per leg) to run critical loads, should one fail. We have a heated utility building for water, electric and communications, so we do not hear the fans.
Sounds like an awesome setup! That is another reason why I liked and went with the 6000xp instead of the 18k. If one happens to go down, I have a backup.
Got a Growatt system with 3 hybrid inverters from an agent in China and they can't provide after sales support and claimed that they can't get support from the company.
Grid Tie inverter may on AC side of a good offgrid inverter like victron is a great solution, as the offgrid inverter might use frequency shift to regulate down the ongrid inverter. Having a lot of AC loads or battery charging from ongrid inverter via offgrid inverter is perfect use case for ongrid inverter. It need however to be hooged on the AC-out side of a good offgrid inverter supporting his kind of setup (victron is the only one I actually know). Advantage from that is that having high string voltage (which is typical for ongrid) does not need to be converted to 48 and back to 230v. This way ongrid inverters are just more efficient with powering AC loads directly. You have however to have a good offgrid inverter able to throttle the ongrid one and ideally use excess output power to charge batteries. This is the most efficient setup, but also not the cheapest one.
They can't put power back into the grid to make money. The inverter has a ats inside and a charger. The charger is on the ac input side and will pass electricity threw to the load to suppliment if the solar isn't generating enough. Say your pulling a 5kw load and it maxed out it will pull from the grid but it won't take solar and put it into the grid. Your loads will use the solar until it's maxed then suppliment with grid ac. I've tryed to find one that that dose what you talking about. Lmk if ya find one.
What are you saying? With the correct system and a lease with the power company, many people do "sell" the power back to lower their monthly bill. I also know several folks who have seen no compensation whatsoever from the power company. You must do your research first. The proper equipment has never been easier to purchase than it is in 2024. Best of luck.
Also, sometimes you really get nothing for your excess power from the grid company. Its shocking the influence some power companies have upon you rlocal municipalities. Do not assume anything.your solar company tells you is true. Get a second opinion. Then check to see if you can legally install your own system. Few channels talk about all the improvements a homeowner cannot install themselves.
I thought a hybrid inverter combines two components: a solar inverter and a battery inverter into a single piece of equipment. This means that an off-grid inverter can also be a hybrid inverter.
No. Most all-in-one inverters combine solar charge controllers and the inverters. Hybrids have the ability to sell back to the grid and charge batteries. Off Grid inverters cannot export to the grid.
So off-grid = can take grid power. Um doesn’t make sense. Need better terms for describing inverter types. This should be called silver inverter. And grid tied means can’t do battery backup. Still doesn’t make a lot of sense. This should be called bronze inverter. And hybrid means can take grid power, can run battery backup, can sell back power. This instead should be called gold inverter.
Both of these Chinese made, low budget EG4 inverters offer a much poorer surge capacity and a shorter life expectancy than American made, transformer based low frequency inverters. I would never buy either one of these inverters for my off grid homes.
I agree the hybrid inverters now offer great value for money and put off grid living in reach for many more people now. I actually think they are the future
Dude, your verbal presentation is one of the best I have ever heard on YT. Your cadence is perfect, you space your words, you enunciate and place verbal inflections at different sections of the sentence, and your rhythm of sounds is broken up so not to sound monotonous. Couple that with the wonderful content and you do an awesome job!
I appreciate that a lot. Thank you
The industry is improving & changing so fast that it does not make much sense to purchase very expensive 25+ year gear that will be outdated in several years.
In this tech. era, it's unscientific to think of any thing, in excess of a decade of relevance 😊👏👌🙏
Ahhh … good to know!
between your wealth of information and honesty on situations you help so many understand the nitty gritty!
Appreciate you!
Be blessed
You are so welcome! God Bless!
I have the EG4 6000XP and so far it's working great! Upgraded my batteries and now working on more solar panels! I've enjoyed you video. Great way to put it. Always a decision that each of us has to decide what's best for us. Keep up the great context! Always a pleasure watching your videos!
I appreciate that. Thank you. Glad your system is working well.
Curious to know if in your pre-homesteading life if you were an electrician or an engineer. You speak with such precision and knowledge that I can't imagine your depth of knowledge is simply from reading online.
I appreciate that. No, I don’t have a formal electrical background. I am an Architect by trade though. I have just studied a lot about these systems and installed several myself.
Great video of the situation that really makes sense to everyone who is interested in the solar energy and engineering skills for everything solar energy,,off grid!!.
Thanks. Glad it was helpful.
grid tie inverter The "limiter" looks at the load and then tells the grid-tie inverter to reduce its output to equal the load. As they explain, the purpose of the "limiter" is to get around a smart meter (which charges you for power you export to the grid), by greatly reducing the power sent to the grid.
I understand how transformer based unit works to convert voltage. Can you explain how high frequency inverters work?
do you have an opinion of a microinverter system like Emphase? better .. worst?
other questions: where fo you install the hybrid inverter to have assisting grid, upstream the main panel or downstream the main panel feeding a subpamel only?
thanks,!!
Eric, thank you for the well stated information. On the issue of Grid Tied Versus Independent I am sort of divided on the issue between the two. I know that I do Not want this mounted on my new roof. I am leaning toward an array in my backyard and using the independent version with marine batteries. I am in a City in Southern CA they are not friendly at least not to me. They even tried to fine me because my neighbor had weeds on his side of the fence. I think even if I just have some solar and use drop cords for certain items specific lights or a cooler in the summer maybe one or two of my refrigerators this could be a win. I will appreciate any thoughts you have on it.
You're welcome.
I honestly would try to stay as independent as you possible can especially in CA. I would get an off-grid inverter and put some panels in your backyard.
@@CountryLivingExperiencein the midst of installation, now, i am thinking of switching to off-grid from the present plan of on-grid, because of the state's undesirable interventions, paltry returns on it & and other discouraging policies..
please advice isn't it better to go for off-grid self reliance..?
@@PKSDev It is much better to be independent and off-grid. I highly recommend it.
@@CountryLivingExperience Thanks for the suggestion..
However, the energy banking solutions is yet to be economical.. hope it shall undergo revolutionary change in future..🙂
Great..🥰🙏💐
I always learn something when watching your solar videos but most is Latin to me. Thankfully I’m married to an electrician who understands it all and really speaks highly of your knowledge and how you explain things. The off grid system is what we are going to end up doing and it really was your presentation and recommendation that made the choice.
I also wanted to mention that I purchased the sprayer that you recommended recently and I really like the power and wide spray ability it has. Hoping I have the same luck with longevity that you have because it’s so frustrating to keep replacing them so soon.
Question. How concerned are you will hail and your panels? There was a solar farm on March 24th that was wiped out down by Houston. I’ve always worried about damage from hail but all sales people say they are indestructible. You can always believe a salesman. 😂 Just wondering what your thoughts are since you’re closer to Tornado alley and you must have had this cross your mind. I’m CenTex which is a little tamer but every so often we get a bad one.
Thanks again. Great video. Have a beautiful and blessed day!
You're welcome. Glad I could help with all of the info. I try to show a wide range of topics to help people out.
For hail, I have not been that concerned. I know my panels are rated for 1" at 50mph which is fairly big hail. We have not had any here but there was some large hail in Tyler a few weeks back. I have not heard of any solar panels being damages. That said, it is always a possibility that they could get damaged.....like with anything honestly. I'm not losing sleep over it.
@@CountryLivingExperience awesome. Thank you
Another benefit of the hybrid system is for people like myself who already have a grid-tied system and want to add more solar capability. With the 18kpv we can run our grid-tied through the 18kpv at the gen connection and run an off-grid system through the same inverter. By law, a grid-tied system has to turn off when the grid is down. But the 18kpv hybrid inverter, has an automatic transfer switch that isolates it from the grid. The 18kpv can send the proper sine wave to the grid-tied system fooling it that the grid is up and allowing the grid-tied system to produce power as long as the sun is shining. By changing the sine wave it can control the grid-tied system to either produce power or stop producing power.
Hi great videos I learned so much from you. I have a question I live in Southern California and have a lot of sun. Summer time Eletrical bill is high. I want to get a 6000 watt or higher inverter with solar panels and batteries. What do you recommend, is there a bundle price on all three. I don’t want to connect to grid and I plan on moving out of California to South Dakota in ten years and want to take the system with me. Thank you for great videos again so helpful. I have a 100 amp panel if you needed that information.
Thank you. Glad I could help.
You can find bundle pricing for all three but it is so very important to find out what you need first. Pre-packaged bundles may not be appropriate (the right size) for your needs.
You really need to dive in and watch this video to figure out what your needs are first......ruclips.net/video/BKRraTpBnGo/видео.html. Then email me with some numbers and I can help make a recommendation.
@@CountryLivingExperience thank you, I sure will.
Morning!
Can you please help me?
Im not sure my other message went through due to really bad weather here. I have a 3wk old chick who is showing signs of splayed legs? Never noticed before! Was always active and running etc. Hubby looked it up and saw a video about putting like a shackle on its legs with pipecleaner. Well we did that but it just fumbled and bumbled and fell. So we took it off. Any ideas? I read it could kill them if not able to get to food and water....😢.....well he/she gets to the food amd water still but im concerned about long term! 😢
Hello. I have actually never run into that problem with a chicken. The pipe cleaner truck sounds like it should work. It needs to be above the ankle though.
Great video, I have one of the 6000xp for my off grid house
Thanks
Hello Eric, I'm still so confused over which system I need. We are building a home in East Texas, and it's quite remote, therefore tying into the grid isn't really an option. We are currently still in Dallas, and for our current home we use around
That sounds like an average number of kw per day (29+) for an American household. To really dive into this you will have to email me. This discussion will get long and I will lose it in the comments. My email is located on our mail channel page.
You have answered your own question...a grid system is off the table. As to what to install...consider a consult with someone. Its not too costly.
I bought an XP6000 2.4kw kit. Do you run pv straight into the unit or use a combiner box?
Mine are run straight in. That is because of the way I configured my panels. I have some in series parallel and some in series.
@@CountryLivingExperience Thank you. The small system comes with 3 400w panels and two eg4 batteries. I am a first time solar user just trying to figure it all out.
For longterm do you recommend the aims 48v 6000w low frequency inverter over this inverter ? I think i will be using the eg4 indoor wallmount batter 280ah
I have heard of the Aims but have never used one so I cannot really say.
Keep in mind you will have extra wiring costs along with the required extra fuses and disconnects.
What if you only want to use a small amount of panels & want to use a portable generator for charging batteries when necessary?
That very subject is what this video is about. Watch at 4:02 to see the breakers for the grid AND generator inputs. Many off-grid inverters and all true hybrid inverters offer what you are asking about.
With the current upward pace of inverter technology advancement, buying a more expensive "name brand" unit means by the time it pays for itself, you'll have an obsolete dinosaur, while those that purchased an "off brand" unit are using the money they saved to buy the new 6"x6" 5 lb inverter that powers an entire house.
There is some truth to that. However, that potentially obsolete dino could still perfectly fulfill all of your needs. Depends on what you need.
@@CountryLivingExperience
The current inverter market reminds me of the desktop PC market of the 1990s. You know, when your new computer you just purchased was already obsolete on the drive home.
Good analogy. There have been rapid innovations lately. I mentioned in a previous video that things are progressing too rapidly and causing a ton of negative issues.
Our EG4 18K PV is running in off-grid mode and is not connected to the grid in any way. We have 14.6 kilowatts of Bi-Facial solar in 3 strings of 12 panels, 30 kW of LiFePO4 batteries (soon to be 60 kW) and of course 12 kW of inverter power. When the sun is deficient we charge the batteries with our Diesel generator running on waste veggie-oil through a Chargeverter by EG4. The 18K’s upper solar limit is 600 volts DC and 21 kW of input. This winter, our panels often went above their rated 447 volts DC per string but stayed under the 600 volt limit. The 18K provides 8 kW of leg imbalance with a surge of 14 kW for 10 minutes and 16 kW for 5 minutes, this is something the 6000XP can not do. What is the saying? “You get what you pay for”. However, if this unit stops working we will have to rely on generators or wire back to the grid until the 18K is repaired. Whereas, having two of the 6000XP units you would still have 6,000 watts (3 kW per leg) to run critical loads, should one fail. We have a heated utility building for water, electric and communications, so we do not hear the fans.
Sounds like an awesome setup!
That is another reason why I liked and went with the 6000xp instead of the 18k. If one happens to go down, I have a backup.
I am hoping ours never dies, LOL The 6000XP was not available when we got the 18k.
Got a Growatt system with 3 hybrid inverters from an agent in China and they can't provide after sales support and claimed that they can't get support from the company.
Unfortunately it sounds like you may have gotten scammed.
Thank you sir !
You're welcome
Grid Tie inverter may on AC side of a good offgrid inverter like victron is a great solution, as the offgrid inverter might use frequency shift to regulate down the ongrid inverter. Having a lot of AC loads or battery charging from ongrid inverter via offgrid inverter is perfect use case for ongrid inverter. It need however to be hooged on the AC-out side of a good offgrid inverter supporting his kind of setup (victron is the only one I actually know). Advantage from that is that having high string voltage (which is typical for ongrid) does not need to be converted to 48 and back to 230v. This way ongrid inverters are just more efficient with powering AC loads directly. You have however to have a good offgrid inverter able to throttle the ongrid one and ideally use excess output power to charge batteries. This is the most efficient setup, but also not the cheapest one.
I an unsure what you are trying to say other than a low frequency inverter (very expensive) has a few tricks up its sleeve.
Which inverter is the best to use if i don't have electricity
The off-grid inverter. The 6000xp in this instance.
The video is pretty clear. For a high frequency inverter (read:affordable) the EG4 6000xp is among the best.
They can't put power back into the grid to make money. The inverter has a ats inside and a charger. The charger is on the ac input side and will pass electricity threw to the load to suppliment if the solar isn't generating enough. Say your pulling a 5kw load and it maxed out it will pull from the grid but it won't take solar and put it into the grid. Your loads will use the solar until it's maxed then suppliment with grid ac. I've tryed to find one that that dose what you talking about. Lmk if ya find one.
What are you saying? With the correct system and a lease with the power company, many people do "sell" the power back to lower their monthly bill. I also know several folks who have seen no compensation whatsoever from the power company. You must do your research first. The proper equipment has never been easier to purchase than it is in 2024. Best of luck.
Any discount codes on the eg4 6000xp ?
Yes. I have one listed in the video description.
I would like to talk to someone for a off grid inverter for West Africa
Contact Signature Solar in Sulfur Springs, Texas.
Also, if you try to sell your house and you’re on a lease for your solar - good luck!
That’s a great point
Also, sometimes you really get nothing for your excess power from the grid company. Its shocking the influence some power companies have upon you rlocal municipalities. Do not assume anything.your solar company tells you is true. Get a second opinion. Then check to see if you can legally install your own system. Few channels talk about all the improvements a homeowner cannot install themselves.
I thought a hybrid inverter combines two components: a solar inverter and a battery inverter into a single piece of equipment. This means that an off-grid inverter can also be a hybrid inverter.
No. Most all-in-one inverters combine solar charge controllers and the inverters. Hybrids have the ability to sell back to the grid and charge batteries. Off Grid inverters cannot export to the grid.
✌️✡️ Love the honest, on point advice as always Brother 💒⚔️ God Bless us All 🇺🇸🙏✝️
Excellent Channel
God bless you as well
So off-grid = can take grid power. Um doesn’t make sense. Need better terms for describing inverter types. This should be called silver inverter.
And grid tied means can’t do battery backup. Still doesn’t make a lot of sense. This should be called bronze inverter.
And hybrid means can take grid power, can run battery backup, can sell back power. This instead should be called gold inverter.
💕💗💕🙏🙏🙏 Have a blessed day, in The Name of the Lord Jesus Christ!!!
Both of these Chinese made, low budget EG4 inverters offer a much poorer surge capacity and a shorter life expectancy than American made, transformer based low frequency inverters. I would never buy either one of these inverters for my off grid homes.
Calm down. They work extremely well for many people.
Please offer an American made transformer based inverter. What company would that be?
I agree the hybrid inverters now offer great value for money and put off grid living in reach for many more people now. I actually think they are the future
You are very poorly informed.
@@CountryLivingExperience Schneider Electric, Magnum Energy, Outback Power.
@@TM-jv1fb I repair inverters for a living. Have done so for the past 24 years. So I'm far , far more informed about inverters than you will ever be.