Thanks for the positive response and great comment. Yes, absolutely a much larger tank would have been better, and who knows, if I am unhappy with this setup I could switch out the tank for an 80 gal for example. But for now, I was kind of stuck with the shape. And yes, watching your videos and I am nowhere as comfortable as you are at electrical work. :-)
We are off grid, we run a 24v setup with 2 forklift batteries, with 10000 watts in solar panels, and a 1500 watt hurricane wind power generator. I am trying to find a way to become 100% water heated with pv, right now where using an inverter, it works good, but I am thinking about buying a couple of those cybo inverters, and hook to a 80gal water heater. I am curious of how well does that cybo inverter work for you, I'm sure you have used this for awhile, my questions are how well has it been working, how much water have you been heating with that, how fast does it heat the water, does it still do a good job with cloudy days. What are the pros and cons that you have figured out by using. Thank you for your time
Hi Seth, sorry it took so long to get back to you. The invert works great and has no issues. But I would choose a much larger tank than I have, even larger than 80gal. Go as big as you can. The second thing I would like to change is adding a second invert and 4 more panels. As I am in Ontario, and there is still snow on the ground (at the time of writing this reply) and therefore sometimes snow on the panel, I am not getting enough energy from the panels. On a full sunny day in winter, I can get the tank to 140deg, but it isn't often sunny all day. In the summer it didn't take much to get the tank to full temp, maybe 3 or 4 hours, but in the winter here in Canada, the sun just isn't strong enough. I am confident if I had 1 more unit and a larger tank I could get 80% to 90% of my hot water. As you are off-grid, you could look at propane as a fail-safe/backup or just live with a warm shower vs a hot shower. Hope this helps, and good luck.
@@vcincgreen thanks for replying, I'm curious if can hook a wind turbine to it also, because we have a good amount of wind, and wind alot times helps us tremendously in winter when snow covered panels, I'll have to look into. I am working on setting up dump load from turbine to heat up hot water, I have 1200 watt in resistors that stay around 190 f most day on windy days and sunny days. I'm probably going to buy that inverter though. Again thanks for the information.
,@@staym925 I did ask, and no, you cant connect the inverter to a wind turbine. But if you have a large tank with 2 heating elements, one element can be connected to the inverter, and the other can be a dump load from the wind. That would give you a good off-grid balance.
you can check out AZO SOLAR ECO BOOST 3kW. That is also batteryless, focusing on hot water making only (Cybo is able to make hot water as well as direct AC power in some models). Advantage of AZO is less costly and you can hook up panels up to 3kW and it will MPPT them. Disadvantage is it has a single MPPT channel while the Cybo can optimize 4 panels separately (though AZO is so much cheaper you can buy two and put a lot of solar up so panel level optimization only matters if you are restricted on space). Also the AZO is fan-cooled while the Cybo is passive, which less maintenance-sensitive but may overheat easier. Pros and Cons.
I want to do this. Were you able to get the inverter directly from the manufacturer? I looked at their web sight and it looks like they don’t sell direct.
Hi, so sorry it has taken so long to get back to you. There was someone here in Ontario, but after not having any luck, I could buy direct from the manufacturer. If you have looked locally and couldn't find anyone to buy from; they should then allow you to buy direct. Let them know you watched my video ;-)
I been using timers for years only one hour is needed to get a tank full of hot water. Enough for two showers you had to heat water on the stove for dish water which is a lot less than firing up a 4500 watt element. Instantaneous gas water heater is the best way to go with little propane usage. One 15 lb bottle is enogh for two months of very hot showers. I would store the heated water in a 50 gallon tank so you could control the water temperature for a shower. Thats my next project. Our instantaneous water heater cuts out after 20 minutes of usage. The water tank would help by storing enough for two showers. The gas heater only would use fuel when the water is being used. 73
Even if the hot w heater was on for a hour everyday in winter time. It would still be hot enough to take a shower the next day. Thats how long i had mine on when i put a timer in. Still saved me a lot of money. If i wanted to take two showers that day it still had a bypass on the timer. But your system would work better i would think.
Sure why you don’t replace the element for a 12 V volt element and charged directly from the solar panels? By going into the inverter you’re losing energy aren’t you? So I’m a bit confused as I am new to this
If your solar panels are far from your water heater, DC voltage loss is greater than what you lose in inversion. Ground mounts do not require fast shut down hardware. There is no one size fits all solution.
Thanks for watching and commenting. I looked at so many different kinds and sizes. There was a lot of issue with availability and cost. Sometimes I get something stuck in my head and can't let it go. But I should have just gone with a standard tank, a tall tank, quick and easy purchases from Homedepot and, as I mentioned in another comment, go with the largest tank I could get. But I was stubborn and now have a new project down the road...
I purchased directly from the company. I, too, was having issues finding a retailer in my area. Call the head office and ask for Manuel or George. Let them know you watched my video :-)
Working fine. As with any solar production, I have some limitations with shading. I am planning on getting a larger hot water tank, a second unit, and 4 more panels. I would like to reach the point where 100% of the hot water comes from solar. I think it can be done. But conceptually, I am having a hard time with this vs Enphase IQ8 inverters. I also have solar with Enphase inverters and upgrading all the existing inverters. It might be simpler to just have a lot of solar and Enphase and not care what exactly uses power and size everything accordingly. I think the Cybo inverters only make sense when you can't have any tied to the grid solar or any batteries. Sorry for the late reply.
I am not sure, I would contact Cybo Energy, and they would be able to answer a question like that. My guess is in series as the four 330w panels match up with the 1500w heating element.
Each panel is connected directly into one of the four ports on the bottom of the inverter. A battery can also be connected to one of those ports as well.
If you had put in a real tank. 80 -120 gallons you could have eliminated the Stebo water heater.. The heated water would have been more than adequate for heating your home and showering with no problem.
Hi Steve, so sorry it has taken this long to get back to you. Yes, one of the things I regret and might change in the near future is a larger tank. The largest tank I could get. I went with the small tank so I wouldn't lose floor space, but I can see now it would be worth it. And I still love my tankless water heat, I will likely still keep it, but only use it as the back up and not the primary.
It is true that you can wire directly to the elements on the tank (I have that now), and it helps a lot to match up the correct element to your PV / ohms, but the solar power will change over the day and will never be perfect. Much power will be wasted. Look up "Matching Water Heater Elements to Solar PV Panels". The main benefit to using this inverter is that it delivers MPPT / 120v ac power directly to your water heater. Perfectly converting your solar power to its most efficient level.
Each site has its constraints. I have a 40 gallon tank in my garage just for laundry and I put just small amounts of power in it each day
Thanks for the positive response and great comment. Yes, absolutely a much larger tank would have been better, and who knows, if I am unhappy with this setup I could switch out the tank for an 80 gal for example. But for now, I was kind of stuck with the shape. And yes, watching your videos and I am nowhere as comfortable as you are at electrical work. :-)
Great! I'm thinking about a similar setup for my house!
I plan to get read of my old thermal soral heater and combin PV with my gass combi boiler.
I am thrilled with my unit. And I could see expanding both the amount of solar and the size of thank.
lets get a video, I'm thinking for doing the same.
We are off grid, we run a 24v setup with 2 forklift batteries, with 10000 watts in solar panels, and a 1500 watt hurricane wind power generator. I am trying to find a way to become 100% water heated with pv, right now where using an inverter, it works good, but I am thinking about buying a couple of those cybo inverters, and hook to a 80gal water heater. I am curious of how well does that cybo inverter work for you, I'm sure you have used this for awhile, my questions are how well has it been working, how much water have you been heating with that, how fast does it heat the water, does it still do a good job with cloudy days. What are the pros and cons that you have figured out by using. Thank you for your time
Hi Seth, sorry it took so long to get back to you. The invert works great and has no issues. But I would choose a much larger tank than I have, even larger than 80gal. Go as big as you can. The second thing I would like to change is adding a second invert and 4 more panels. As I am in Ontario, and there is still snow on the ground (at the time of writing this reply) and therefore sometimes snow on the panel, I am not getting enough energy from the panels. On a full sunny day in winter, I can get the tank to 140deg, but it isn't often sunny all day. In the summer it didn't take much to get the tank to full temp, maybe 3 or 4 hours, but in the winter here in Canada, the sun just isn't strong enough. I am confident if I had 1 more unit and a larger tank I could get 80% to 90% of my hot water. As you are off-grid, you could look at propane as a fail-safe/backup or just live with a warm shower vs a hot shower. Hope this helps, and good luck.
@@vcincgreen thanks for replying, I'm curious if can hook a wind turbine to it also, because we have a good amount of wind, and wind alot times helps us tremendously in winter when snow covered panels, I'll have to look into. I am working on setting up dump load from turbine to heat up hot water, I have 1200 watt in resistors that stay around 190 f most day on windy days and sunny days. I'm probably going to buy that inverter though. Again thanks for the information.
,@@staym925 I did ask, and no, you cant connect the inverter to a wind turbine. But if you have a large tank with 2 heating elements, one element can be connected to the inverter, and the other can be a dump load from the wind. That would give you a good off-grid balance.
you can check out AZO SOLAR ECO BOOST 3kW. That is also batteryless, focusing on hot water making only (Cybo is able to make hot water as well as direct AC power in some models). Advantage of AZO is less costly and you can hook up panels up to 3kW and it will MPPT them. Disadvantage is it has a single MPPT channel while the Cybo can optimize 4 panels separately (though AZO is so much cheaper you can buy two and put a lot of solar up so panel level optimization only matters if you are restricted on space). Also the AZO is fan-cooled while the Cybo is passive, which less maintenance-sensitive but may overheat easier. Pros and Cons.
I'm with you on the opinion that direct dc to DC is too fuzzy to balance
I want to do this. Were you able to get the inverter directly from the manufacturer? I looked at their web sight and it looks like they don’t sell direct.
Hi, so sorry it has taken so long to get back to you. There was someone here in Ontario, but after not having any luck, I could buy direct from the manufacturer. If you have looked locally and couldn't find anyone to buy from; they should then allow you to buy direct. Let them know you watched my video ;-)
I been using timers for years only one hour is needed to get a tank full of hot water. Enough for two showers you had to heat water on the stove for dish water which is a lot less than firing up a 4500 watt element. Instantaneous gas water heater is the best way to go with little propane usage. One 15 lb bottle is enogh for two months of very hot showers. I would store the heated water in a 50 gallon tank so you could control the water temperature for a shower. Thats my next project. Our instantaneous water heater cuts out after 20 minutes of usage. The water tank would help by storing enough for two showers. The gas heater only would use fuel when the water is being used. 73
Even if the hot w heater was on for a hour everyday in winter time. It would still be hot enough to take a shower the next day. Thats how long i had mine on when i put a timer in. Still saved me a lot of money. If i wanted to take two showers that day it still had a bypass on the timer. But your system would work better i would think.
Sure why you don’t replace the element for a 12 V volt element and charged directly from the solar panels? By going into the inverter you’re losing energy aren’t you? So I’m a bit confused as I am new to this
My thoughts exactly.
If your solar panels are far from your water heater, DC voltage loss is greater than what you lose in inversion. Ground mounts do not require fast shut down hardware. There is no one size fits all solution.
Just curious, did you look into lowboy water heaters? My water heater fits under a small staircase and I believe holds 46 gallons
Thanks for watching and commenting. I looked at so many different kinds and sizes. There was a lot of issue with availability and cost. Sometimes I get something stuck in my head and can't let it go. But I should have just gone with a standard tank, a tall tank, quick and easy purchases from Homedepot and, as I mentioned in another comment, go with the largest tank I could get. But I was stubborn and now have a new project down the road...
Where did you get yours iv been trying to find it having trouble
I purchased directly from the company. I, too, was having issues finding a retailer in my area. Call the head office and ask for Manuel or George. Let them know you watched my video :-)
How is your cyboinverter working so far?
Working fine. As with any solar production, I have some limitations with shading. I am planning on getting a larger hot water tank, a second unit, and 4 more panels. I would like to reach the point where 100% of the hot water comes from solar. I think it can be done. But conceptually, I am having a hard time with this vs Enphase IQ8 inverters. I also have solar with Enphase inverters and upgrading all the existing inverters. It might be simpler to just have a lot of solar and Enphase and not care what exactly uses power and size everything accordingly. I think the Cybo inverters only make sense when you can't have any tied to the grid solar or any batteries. Sorry for the late reply.
Are your 4 panels wired in series only, or series/parallel?
I am not sure, I would contact Cybo Energy, and they would be able to answer a question like that. My guess is in series as the four 330w panels match up with the 1500w heating element.
Each panel is connected directly into one of the four ports on the bottom of the inverter. A battery can also be connected to one of those ports as well.
Where can I buy them?
I purchased mine direct from the manufacturer as there were no options up here in Ontario
If you had put in a real tank. 80 -120 gallons you could have eliminated the Stebo water heater.. The heated water would have been more than adequate for heating your home and showering with no problem.
Hi Steve, so sorry it has taken this long to get back to you. Yes, one of the things I regret and might change in the near future is a larger tank. The largest tank I could get. I went with the small tank so I wouldn't lose floor space, but I can see now it would be worth it. And I still love my tankless water heat, I will likely still keep it, but only use it as the back up and not the primary.
It is true that you can wire directly to the elements on the tank (I have that now), and it helps a lot to match up the correct element to your PV / ohms, but the solar power will change over the day and will never be perfect. Much power will be wasted. Look up "Matching Water Heater Elements to Solar PV Panels". The main benefit to using this inverter is that it delivers MPPT / 120v ac power directly to your water heater. Perfectly converting your solar power to its most efficient level.
cool