Excellent presentation! You're a great communicator. Solark should hire you to do their presentation videos in my opinion!! You do a better clearer job of communicating the Solark's features, benefits and value adds, then their corporate people do. I'm a recently retired VP of Sales and Marketing from a Global Technology Company, so recognize a good communicator when I see and hear one! Just subscribed!
I really respect the way that you address the very real possibility of a prolonged grid down scenario and do so very professionally. Anyone who has been through a natural disaster knows that the government is about as useful as condom with a hole in it when it comes to disaster recovery management and that you will need to rely on yourself for an undetermined amount of time in these events. Not only would an attack yield an EMP but so would a solar flare (outside rod our control) as well as prolonged grid down due to a hack or general infrastructure tire failure.
Add another XFactor for Overall efficiency. The Solar Charge Controller may take some time to Bulk in on the Radian. On the Sol-ARK it's PV Power FIRST
Installed outback for close to 7 years... and this is my experience. Alot of service calls. Replacing a ton of modules/inverters, charging issues. And communication issues up the ass.. the mate3 control is a pain in the ass.. again that's just my experience. We started using sol ark for the past 3 years. In my opinion it's functionality is way more efficient than outback. Way more..
Outback has major issues for sure. I think OpticsRe is still much better than Sol-Ark's web interface, which is clumsy and uses wording that is obviously not familiar to native-English speakers...
Totally agree Outback is a pain in the ass .Solark is for the win in almost every situation except if you need to use an older flooded battery or are worried about your flooded battery degrading over time. This is because the Finish rate or end amps done is Factory programmed to 2% of the battery amp hours. And the inverter gives no options for absorb time done as an alternative to the percent amps done. This is no good for flooded batteries as you can end up overheating at the end of a charge cycle because they just want to keep charging and can never reach that 2% resistance push back on the amperage and Trigger the charger to shut off.
@@juskarn interesting. Good to know. Obviously most of the time we're using lithium. I wall say the pv pro app needs some work. It was originally a 3rd party app. Sol ark just bought it couple months ago. There's some bugs they need to work out. And if you haven't yet, try they're new 15kw inverter. Game changer
I live off grid with 3 radains they are awesome, that said i sell and install alot of sol-arks, mainly for backup systems. If your offgrid use outback. If your doing a big stacked system dont use schnider they are buggy and limited compared to outback. I have used almost all equipment available since 2008
With the Sol-Ark you don't need a separate loads panel at all. You do a "line side tap", connect that grid power to the Sol-Ark, and run the AC output to an interlocked breaker in your original panel. The Sol-Ark will use power from whichever source(s) its programming directs.
Thanks for your expertise and sharing it with us. How about doing a series on batteries for various sizes Solar systems and the average yearly cost expectancy.
The solark 12k is only capable of 8kw continuous output on battery power and 9k when on grid power. The only thing that is 12k on the solark 12k is the solar pv input.
@@SolarSurge so in a off grid application with utility service available for only charging batteries only (no grid tie) and a whole house 24kw generator wouldn't the Sol-Ark take 12k from the panels, 8k from the batteries and how much from the generator?
Continous power should carry at least 40% of total points.......that is why it's called inverter. Reliability/durability which is equally important takes time to determine.
You also need to discuss / look at how the Inverters can synchronise with the supply to add PV energy to Mains supply to loads when PV is not enough and you don't want to use batteries.
If you like the sol-ark, but it’s out of your budget, you can get it for much less. It is made by Deye. Maybe Solar Surge can review some of those. They go for around $2k for the 8k split phase model.
You mentioned that the solark supports all battery types which is what they claim. however the lack of programmability for finish rate, or absorb done time causes the solark to be poorly paired with flooded batteries and especially AGM.
Hey joe. Reasonable review. However I would still opt to select the Outback in this scenario as I’ve found the Sol-Ark to be unsatisfactory with its split phase technology. It will only perform the 9 to 12k capacity if the loads on L1 and L2 are very similarly balanced any imbalance greater than 15% between the live legs , it trips. Even with a total load of 7.3kw across legs. Is 3.5 + 3.8 kw. In practical situations usage will pose this imbalance.
I can't seem to find one reason for anyone to purchase anything other than a Sol-Ark 12K EMP hardened hybrid solar system. I wish I had waited to purchase mine after Sol-Ark designed the outside EMP hardened unit but, I purchased the new one that changed the charger from 59V to 63V. So easy for the DIY install on my off-grid farm. Currently building a stanchion for my Ironridge ground mount system with 32 panels (16@360W & 16@ 370W) producing a maximum of 11680 Watts of power to a battery bank system of 40 LTO SCIB batteries providing over 40Kw of storage.
For your type of project, Sol-Ark is the best. Most residential customers in the suburbs don't need all the extra hardening and prefer a less expensive solution.
You dont mention that the SolArk requires a balance between outputs. A large 120V load has the potential to fault the inverter because of this issue. The transformer in the Outback handles this unbalance with ease. Also the EMP protection is NOT what people typically associate with EMP. It will not protect against airborne weaponized EMP device , but it will protect against line disturbances from lightning etc more commonly called surges. So thats a little misleading.
Thanks for all of your very valuable information! Perhaps you would like to address this issue? I currently get my electricity from a traditional electric grid. I want to start building my solar panel - battery - generator system slowly. I do not want to hassle with storing my electricity on the grid. At first I will need to use grid power to make up the difference between what my system generates and what my house uses. So I will need to supplement my power requirements with grid power. Is there any grid tied inverter that will allow me to use the grid power but prevent my power from going into the grid? Thanks!
Solark, 12k is a 7k, they are lying... Outback is a true 8k plus huge surge capiblity. I put my Outback up on the wall myself one piece at a time... Radian is $3799 plus optional $600 load center, 2 charger controllers for $900 each (14kw total) Mate3 $425 for total of $6624.... Solark 12k is $8500 and is really only 9k... Hmmm
You need to redo this video. The price of the Sol Ark is over twice as expensive as the Outback. The features are almost identical with the exception of having the MPPT CCs which is actually more desirable.
I'm about to use a solar Arc I have used the 8kw radians in the past. As far as I can tell the biggest downside is it does not have the surge rating of the heavy transformer based outback. Everything else appears to be an advantage I'm not quite sure what the long-term durability is going to be on the solar Arc as it is a somewhat new product
We do actually have coverage in Oregon although we do not advertise it yet. Please use this link to schedule an appointment at a time that’s convenient for you. calendly.com/solarsurge/solar-consultation?month=2021-11
Interesting comparison. But it seems as if you're pigeonholing Sol-Ark as being just for the Off-Grid, Prepper, Do-It-Yourselfer, and/or Solar Enthusiast. I'd love to see a comparison of Sol-Ark's new (Jan '22) 15K model paired with their SmartLoads panel vs. Tesla, SolarEdge, Enphase, Radian, etc. Comparison criteria could include do-it yourself, battery integration, generator integration, grid sell-back, ability to do both AC and DC coupling of panels to inverter, round trip efficiency, support, monitoring, exposure to being compromised (e.g., by Chinese - or any other - government), etc.
Another great video. I have a question on the transformer less architecture. How does it handle inductive loads such as well pump or air conditioner compressors? One of the biggest problem with battery backup or inverter backup is with the surge of motors. Thanks for your videos and fair comparisons. All the best!
This is a great question. I presume the Sol-Ark has a large capacitor bank to handle startup surges like traditional transformer-based inverters. It's the method of the inversion that's unique. From what I can tell, then use transistors to do the inversion. I'll have to look more into this...
@@SolarSurge yes that would make sense. I like the concept and if they are moving the capacitors to supply surge that may be a good compromise. There are always pluses and minuses to these things. Thanks for your reply. Do you have any videos of a surge motor like a cut off saw or air conditioning compressor starting up? Another question is do they perform the same regardless of the battery state of charge? I recently came across a video of a Nissan Leaf not able to run a pump when voltage had sagged. Sorry about al the questions.
Lol, everyone needs to chill with the EMP hardening. Its a joke. There is no mid-worst-case situation where that feature has validity, because among other problems the solar modules would be fried, same as the entire grid. Generators? Good luck getting fuel.
According to my nephew who is an electrical engineer, the solar panels themselves should fare well. Complex electronics like micro inverters, no. Companants inside and enclosed and grounded metal building should be OK. Line surge from grid is the biggest problem then.. Cables to the panels can be inside grounded galvanized conduit.
People are saying Sol ark not holding a good load And not good for off grid systems. I’m not technical but those people are on UA-cam . This one guy did an air compressor A heater , some work lights, and a coffee maker It pop , sol ark shut down Could not hold it Took 15 minutes to reset.
I have seen these reports. Sol-Ark claims to have fixed these problems with their latest generation hybrid inverters. I have not load tested them that heavily myself.
Very informative video, as all yours have been. Can you comment or evaluate how these compare to the bigger name SMA Sunny Island/Sunny Boy and Schneider Electric modular solutions?
Thanks for the comment. Schneider Electric Conext XW and Outback Radian are basically the same architecture. Outback has the slight advantage with higher power ratings. Sol-Ark is an entirely new architecture using transformer-less design. I'm keep a very close eye on Sol-Ark going forward. They could emerge as the market leader in the near future.
@@SolarSurge Thanks for your reply. One point that I think was missed is the compromises with both the Sol-Ark and Outback integrated systems with respect to PV. For example, both products have 2 MPPT charge controllers, but Sol-Arks is max 500V with 425V max MPPT. Outback's is even less. That's pretty low for supporting today's 96 cell high-efficiency panels, and really limits how you can setup your solar array under all install variables. For example, with my basic PV, I have 4 strings (8 panels per string), combined down to 3 and spread over the 3 MPPT's for shading reasons. 520V open circuit, and 450-500V MPPT typical operating range. Neither of these products would support such a traditional solar configuration. Which is too bad, as I like all the other features on the Sol-Ark, but the PV support seems pretty poor.
@@billjohnson3344 That's a good point. Traditional string inverter installs may need to be rewired for lower PV voltage range to work with either of these products. Sol-Ark can handle 500VOC, Outback only 300 + battery voltage.
David Poz is having problems with his Sol-Ark.. Its a Chinese product with Chinese Software that reports back to Chinese servers. Buy it at your own risk.
Hi James. Sol-Ark is the only company I'm aware of that promises EMP protection. However, there is a third-part company called EMP Shield (www.empshield.com) that you can use with Outback or other brand inverters.
Hello Solar Surge. You made another video in which you stated that the outback radian was the best inverter for preppers, even though it had been out eight years. Am I correct, as this video suggests, that your opinion has now changed to generally recommending the sol-ark for these individuals?
Hi J and thanks for writing in. Actually, now I favor Generac PWRCell with intelligent load management. Solar + battery + generator + automatic load control all in one package.
@@SolarSurge thanks for the update as I was leaning heavily toward the generac the Saw your video on the outback radian. Are you planning on swapping out your radian for the power cell? Is the power cell preemptively serviceable regarding parts such as the control board and fans like the radian?
Having installed numerous of both there is literally no comparison. My company is currently ripping out all of the Radians we put over the years and installing Sol Arks in their place.
Brycen, that's interesting feedback. Are these Outback units failing and you are replacing them under warranty or are the owners deciding to pay for an upgrade/change over to Outback?
@@SolarSurge We replaced an 8048 yesterday that had one of its power cores go bad after 4 years. Power core in outback parlance is essentially a 4k inverter. While the outback is still technically under warranty the customer is on the hook for shipping it from Hawaii to Texas and back. The client is a repeat customer and therefore we offered the SolArk to him at our cost as an upgrade. My company installed Outback systems for nearly all of our battery systems going back 20 years but will not again. Outback has horrendous customer/integrator support and their current products are stymied by legacy design constraints. We were early adopters of SolArk and after ~70 Installed over the last 3 years we've had two devices that had manufacturing issues and zero failures.
@@BrycenKauai Thanks for explaining. If you're interested in taking on more projects, please let me know. We get inquiries for Sol-Ark on almost a daily basis.
Thank you very much for the video. Last year I bought a 5 thousands dollars SkyBox from Outback Power still now almost a year I can't get it that piece junk to work. Whem I called Outback Power they refused to help me. Finally they gave someone in my area to help me, the guy to my house and he did not know anything about the SkyBox. Now I have an equipment I spent 5 thousands for it and I can't no help to fix it. The problem it has is a software. I updated the firmware to a newer version it still doing the same thing. I called those assholes at Outback Power those assholes refused to help and their guy don't know anything about the product I bought. PLEASE PEOPLE IN THE UNITED STATES DO NOT BUY SKYBOX FROM OUTBACK POWER IT IS A PIECE OF JUNK, IF YOU HAVE ANY PROBLEMS WITH IT YOU WON'T GET ANY HELP FROM OUTBACK POWER. LIKE THE GUY SAID OUTBACK BUILD THEIR PRODUCTS FOR INGEENER NOT FOR DIY PEOPLE.
Wow. I'm sorry to hear you had such a bad experience with SkyBox. We have never installed them, but we do use Radian a lot. Hopefully they will work out the bugs with SkyBox version 2. However, Sol-Ark is on its third generation now and it seems to be a very reliable product.
Its unfortunate that this is happening I chatted the head of the Skybox division your dilemma to see what can be done, that being said I started out as DIY and had amazing success using Outback and put it on some of my most high end projects with great results. Also I disagree with the Engineer comment, its more for users who have a global understanding of renewable energy for sure and that's ok. I will stick with Outback or Schneider on my off grid projects.
@@SolarSurge I will get one pretty soon, it seems to me the Sol-ark is much reliable and easier for us DIY guys out there to work on. Today I have called Outback Power and talked to someone, I had to him he has no choice to help me. Because I spent 5 + thousands dollars to get that SkyBox, if I need help they supposed to give me that support. And I told him that I know you guys refused to talk to the owners, but I said to him you have to talk to me. I said when someone buying your product it does not matter if the person is supplier or not. Because your wholesalers sold those products to anyone who wants to buy it. So you have no choice just to talk to me.
@@hollywoodj500 The Sol-Ark is what the Skybox was trying to be. One problem with the Skybox is that it is basically a grid tie inverter with a bidirectional DC/DC converter stuck in to interface with the battery bank. This means that the Skybox has no surge capacity, and lack of power optimization means that it uses 200W to 300W just sitting there. Then the paralleling of Skyboxes requires each Skybox to be on a separate battery bank. This is why MSRP dropped to the $3,000 to $3,500 range it is now. The Skybox could be a lot better, but it would require a team of engineers to gut out the problems with the design.
If Sol-Ark is installed initially as part of a battery optional solar system (battery potentially to be installed at some future date), is it still able to isolate the system when the grid is down and use the full power of the solar panels to power the house directly? And then during the night use a generator to power the house?
What is the long term reliability of a transformer versus a non-transformer inverter? I have seen transformers last for over 70 years with continuous use in old homes with door bells. They are less efficient though due to loss in the transformer. Old guitar amps use transformers. But I see Outback is not is not giving a very long warranty at only 5 years.
That's a very good question. I personally have not seen either of these systems fail due to old age. Perhaps we can take another look after 10 years of time in service.
So what about PIP MPP? You can buy 2 x LV6548' for about half the price of the SolArk, and get 13KW continuous. Gen support, UL Listing, any battery, smart load, 208V, etc. Do those compare? Not sure about their warranty, and they are made in Taiwan, so thats a minus.
No I'm not familiar with that inverter. I did a quick search and found one on Alibaba. It looks like this is a 3-phase product for commercial electric, not residential. Please share if you have any more info about that product...
I think Radian is the best overall considering the length of time Outback has been in business and their reputation and strength of the parent company. Sol-Ark is more designed for the DIY installer.
All these you tubers are just looking for more hits. Most of them promote the cheap Chinese inverters. The Solark is a rebranded Deye. Get the outback.
Sol-Ark power is misstated in this video and you should update it. 7.5k trips out . If you compare Sol-ark watts per dollar at the actual rating it's not a very good buy . If they had only rated it correctly and charged a reasonable price . I guess that's why it was a Solark 8k to start with .
Yes, thanks for pointing that out. The 12k refers to the max PV input power, which the Outback Radian can also accept up to 12k of PV when using the MPPT 100 charge controllers. The Solar-Ark is still more compact and lighter weight, but I'm having a hard time getting any professional installation companies to pick it up. I still recommend Sol-Ark for DIY, but Outback or Generac for professional installation with a warranty.
@@SolarSurge Anyone looking at outback equipment should head over to " outback power forums " and view what's going on over there . I was ready to buy a Skybox till I found the forums and read all the endless problems.
@@onthelake9554 Good point. Outback Skybox is having major problems. I do not endorse that product. However, I can personally attest to the reliability of the Outback Radian. However, I think the new Enphase battery beats them all.
@@SolarSurge The enphase won't do what the others will . Offgrid . Or Battery use nightly . So far from a single all in one unit without widespread trouble the SOL-ARK is the only one I have found.
Some reviews of Sol Ark indicate it requires a cloud connection to a China hosted server which could become compromised during a political dispute. If this is correct, do you know of a way to bypass this chinese based server and instead use a self hosted or american hosted server for monitoring the inverter status to your smart phone or computer?
My electric bill averages 200-350 kwh/mo. or $70-125. Would take me for ev ver to get payback on just 200ah/ 48v of lithium, let alone the inverter , the panels and consumables and install. and my power company charges 40/mo min to have hook no matter how much you're selling back. for my application its not worth it
Yes, in theory, you can add a Sol-Ark AC-coupled to an existing Enphase IQ7 solar system. However, for better performance, I would recommend just using the Enphase battery.
First time I have heard of the Sol-Ark brand, interesting that it never came up in any of the many internet searches for hybrid inverters I've done over the past several months. Excellent video, learned something new. Based on the Sol-Ark 12K specs. I could see connecting it to the main panel directly to run the whole house. Skip the sub-panel all together. Wondering if its Rule 21 compliant for CA?
In an off grid application you could connect the inverter to your whole home. however the newst modle can only put out 62 amps. So I always recomend if back up the whole home is your goal, 2-3 12k inverters is the way to go... as well as a large battery bank.
Unless the house was designed for off-grid operation, I don't think backing up the whole house makes sense. The cost of 2-3 inverters + the amount of batteries needed to power 24k of output is going to be cost prohibitive for most households. A single 12k unit with 20-30kWh of battery storage should be sufficient for most homes.
@@SolarSurge It depends on what the customers end goal is. You will find that many people are willing to pay extra for pice of mind and do not want to change their life style during a grid down. Dont sell yourself short Joe. I have installed many 2-4 12K systems with 30-50 kwh storage. In fact I am installing 3 today. However I do live in California so things may be a little different in other parts of the county
Its worth noting that Sol-Ark is not advertising EMP protection. Don't conflate EMP hardening with lightning protection. They are similar, but if this thing was EMP hardened it would cost 2-3x as much.
I have a 11k generator and the solar panels with Enphase IQ7 plus. Could the 11k generator be connected to the Sol ARK? Could the generator charge the battery at the same time powering the house?
Yes, you can connect the generator to the Sol-Ark to power the house and recharge batteries at the same time. Sol-Ark supports AC coupling, so you can interface with your existing Enphase system.
@@SolarSurge That's not how the Enphase micro inverters work. They require a grid voltage/sink to be present. Running a generator and the Enphase micro inverters in a closed loop is asking for problems.
@@user-dr2pg8fk2i In an AC-coupled configuration, the battery inverter simulates the grid so the micro-inverters can wake back up and produce power. This is the same way micro-inverters work with the Powerwall. The battery system presents 240V 60Hz to the micro's and the micro's wake back up.
@@SolarSurge podcast offer the ability to take a deeper dive into the subject matter, video (UA-cam) reaches a greater market. My suggestion, a video podcast ala Joe Rogan with interviews and the like. My best, Doc Ray
Question: I have an off grid garage/shop that I need to power. Very little sunlight available because of trees. How do you recommend I do this? I'm thinking lithium batteries for power storage, Sol-Ark inverter and a generator to recharge the batteries and assist in power supply when the need is great. Your thoughts.
The configuration you described sounds good. Depending on your needs, you might want to go generator only. Do you need power on in the shop all the time or only when you are working?
@@j.r.colombini8465 OK in this case, the Sol-Ark + battery + generator makes sense. I would also recommend a generator with 2-wire remote start so that the inverter can automatically start the generator when the batteries get low.
@@SolarSurge Last question.... I will be running some 220 v / 30 amp equipment (examples: saw, compressor, generator, dust collection). Which lithium battery and inverter will handle that type of demand best?
@@j.r.colombini8465 For the inverter, definitely Sol-Ark or Outback Radian. In terms of the batteries, use either Lithium NMC or LiFePo4. You will want at least 30kWh of battery storage to keep up with these loads.
I’ve definitely use the outback product. I put this on my own system. I have been hearing complaints about Sol-Ark not being able to keep up with unbalanced large loads.
I have outback radian 8048 as a ac coupled system. Been there for 8 years. I do have few questions Is it worth upgrading battery to to lithium iron (have 12 Outback energy cell 220ah 3 strings of 4) How can I connect a generator to the radian to start remotely.
@@USA-GreedyMenOfNoIntegrity I do not know. There is a number on their website and an email. I would check before I ordered one, because that is important to me.
Yeah, they kinda fudged the 12K name (I believe it's 9K to load plus 3K to battery for a total of 12K). But their new (announced Jan 2022) 15K is a full 15K output (as well as an additional MPPT, integration with their new SmartLoads panel (not just a dump load), and a bunch of other capabilities. Seems pretty neat. Now all they have to do is fix the monitoring/support servers in Communist China and I'll probably be a customer.
You can not compare transformer and non-transformer inverters side by side. 2 totally different animals as is AC vs DC coupled systems. You get what you pay for. Outback is more expensive and almost 4x heavier for a reason.. A 4KW Radian will out-surge these 16KW Sol-Ark all day long in a typical North American 120/240 split phase imbalanced environment. I lived it and learned the hard way. Thought I'd upgrade and was almost immediately aggravated, disappointed and peeved with its lack of imbalance & surge workability.. Needless to say, my old Radian is back on the wall, handling every L1-L2 imbalance & surge I can throw at it 100% fault free...
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@@TheTruthSeeker756 Sol-ark is still a great company, relatively young. They have great support and a great product. I have no doubt they will be manufacturing in the US in the next 2 years
@@JasonAndrade427 I'm not aware of any problems with 120v loads. The EMP hardening is built into the inverter. There are also individual suppressors that can be installed on each appliances circuit.
The emp hardening is and additional cost. I bealive $1200. They manufacture it into the inverter as well as sending ferriet suppresors for solar panels as well as appliances.
Sol-ark inverter cannot compare to outback radiant or Schneider xw6048/ xw6848 inveter. Currently I have my entire 2800 sf home off grid. I run four inveter ac 24/7 on solar which comprise of two 18000 and two 12000 btu ac inaddition to everything else in my home with zero problems. A friend of mine has a similar setup and he is using soloark which is unable to do the job. The solar 12000 deliver 7000 + watts continuous power then the breaker chip. Two best offgrid inverter ever built is outback and Schneider . Don't be a salesman and mislead the public.
transformer-less architecture it is a minus, because this devices less effective Also, transformer-less it is a lie, because both of them have transformers inside, but outback using huge low frequency transformer, sol-ark have small high-frequency transformer, and for high frequency systems efficiency will be less than low frequency
Chalkboard now becomes LED TV comparison is meaningless. How about real performance data? There are YT videos that suggest the Sol-Ark off-grid has nuisance trips and does not reach the manufacturers published data of 9kW. Buyer Beware! Outback on the other hand is the Off-Grid best of breed and you should be fair and compare actual performance not chalkboard promises. lol
Just an FYI, but the Sol-Ark brochure and reality have little in common. A few months ago I was watching a 12K Sol-Ark fail to handle the pump loads that were handled just fine by the old Schneider 6K inverter. That homeowner has no choice now but to somehow try and implement a transformer into their setup because, well, the Sol-Ark doesn't have one (unlike the old inverter). Also, much of these figures you're touting are completely misleading because they are strictly on the DC side. I gotta say there's a lot of bad info on the Sol-Ark in this video. This is an easy downvote/unsubscribe.
u are misleading the public by ignorance or on purpose. it can only handle 9 kw but only if each 120v leg is perfectly balanced and that is difficult to accomplish.
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Outback is rock solid
I know from 25 years experience using outback inverter and charge controller every day.
No problems!
Sol-Ark is 9kW continuous AC and 20 kW peak (5s). The 12k refers to the max continuous DC (PV)
Thanks for clarifying that.
@@SolarSurge I have installed a number of Sol-Ark 12k units. They trip at 7.2KW to 7.4KW. 12k is misleading. It refers to the DC side only
@@mendohomepower7492 Thanks for clarifying this. I will try to address in a future video.
@@mendohomepower7492 precisely...I've had the same experience. I like Sol-Ark, but I don't think they are being accurate about their specs.
@@alainmulaire9471 The downside of overseas equipment. No matter how it's branded.
Excellent presentation! You're a great communicator. Solark should hire you to do their presentation videos in my opinion!! You do a better clearer job of communicating the Solark's features, benefits and value adds, then their corporate people do. I'm a recently retired VP of Sales and Marketing from a Global Technology Company, so recognize a good communicator when I see and hear one! Just subscribed!
Thank you, sir!
I really respect the way that you address the very real possibility of a prolonged grid down scenario and do so very professionally. Anyone who has been through a natural disaster knows that the government is about as useful as condom with a hole in it when it comes to disaster recovery management and that you will need to rely on yourself for an undetermined amount of time in these events. Not only would an attack yield an EMP but so would a solar flare (outside rod our control) as well as prolonged grid down due to a hack or general infrastructure tire failure.
This was a great video with fair point on pros and cons of both...
Add another XFactor for Overall efficiency. The Solar Charge Controller may take some time to Bulk in on the Radian. On the Sol-ARK it's PV Power FIRST
Outback is the champion and reliable machine period.
? Explain?
I have installed alot of outback and schneider inverter years ago and no issues so far
THANKS FOR YOUR HONESTY
Thankful I found your channel. New subscriber. Best video on solar I have ever viewed. Thank you.
Installed outback for close to 7 years... and this is my experience. Alot of service calls. Replacing a ton of modules/inverters, charging issues. And communication issues up the ass.. the mate3 control is a pain in the ass.. again that's just my experience. We started using sol ark for the past 3 years. In my opinion it's functionality is way more efficient than outback. Way more..
Outback has major issues for sure. I think OpticsRe is still much better than Sol-Ark's web interface, which is clumsy and uses wording that is obviously not familiar to native-English speakers...
Totally agree Outback is a pain in the ass .Solark is for the win in almost every situation except if you need to use an older flooded battery or are worried about your flooded battery degrading over time. This is because the Finish rate or end amps done is Factory programmed to 2% of the battery amp hours. And the inverter gives no options for absorb time done as an alternative to the percent amps done. This is no good for flooded batteries as you can end up overheating at the end of a charge cycle because they just want to keep charging and can never reach that 2% resistance push back on the amperage and Trigger the charger to shut off.
@@juskarn interesting. Good to know. Obviously most of the time we're using lithium. I wall say the pv pro app needs some work. It was originally a 3rd party app. Sol ark just bought it couple months ago. There's some bugs they need to work out. And if you haven't yet, try they're new 15kw inverter. Game changer
@@surcalifasmob1245 yes love the 15k . Surge capacity is way better than 12k
@@surcalifasmob1245 actually installing a paralell set of 15ks right now.
I live off grid with 3 radains they are awesome, that said i sell and install alot of sol-arks, mainly for backup systems. If your offgrid use outback. If your doing a big stacked system dont use schnider they are buggy and limited compared to outback. I have used almost all equipment available since 2008
I want to be off grid as much as possible but I have the grid as back up, I don't want to sell to the grid, would the Solark still be good for that?
Great video, I've been considering solar for a year or so, you have your thumb on the pulse if the current issues.
Glad it was helpful! It's never been more important for Americans to be as self sufficient as possible.
You need more subscribers! This is great.
Thanks Brenda. Please sub and share far and wide. More videos to come.
You need to make it clear that EMP is optional, you need to request it in order to have it.
Thanks for bringing this up.
At what additional cost? I'd also be wary of the claims. EMP "hardened" does not mean EMP "proof".
@@JeffMcNeal I think it's about $1k for the EMP hardening upgrade.
With the Sol-Ark you don't need a separate loads panel at all. You do a "line side tap", connect that grid power to the Sol-Ark, and run the AC output to an interlocked breaker in your original panel. The Sol-Ark will use power from whichever source(s) its programming directs.
That configuration would work. However, wouldn't this require a manual switch of the interlocked breaker to activate backup power?
@@SolarSurge Yes, completely defeating the point.
How about real life usage ? I’ve heard the Sol ark shuts down if the two legs aren’t balanced? That would be a deal breaker for me
@@richardreese5377I have installed a few dozen sol-arks 8k,12k and 15ks this hasn't been an issue so far in 4 years
Thanks for your expertise and sharing it with us. How about doing a series on batteries for various sizes Solar systems and the average yearly cost expectancy.
Great suggestion! I will prepare a video about different battery choices for off-grid/hybrid systems.
good job i enjoy listening to you very informative
seems like a sales seminar
GREAT INFO! I really appreciate the detail into both products especially the installation cost combined with the unit.
Props for not calling it a "hot water heater".
Thank you for this video.
@@mytravelvlog4593 thank you Art! Duly noted.
The solark 12k is only capable of 8kw continuous output on battery power and 9k when on grid power. The only thing that is 12k on the solark 12k is the solar pv input.
Good feedback. You are correct.
Exactly so it’s not really 12k
@@SolarSurge so in a off grid application with utility service available for only charging batteries only (no grid tie) and a whole house 24kw generator wouldn't the Sol-Ark take 12k from the panels, 8k from the batteries and how much from the generator?
Continous power should carry at least 40% of total points.......that is why it's called inverter. Reliability/durability which is equally important takes time to determine.
Can you please do a comparison of Solar rooftop water heaters.
I have installed a number of Sol-Ark 12k units. They trip at 7.2KW to 7.4KW. 12k is misleading. It refers to the DC side only
OK thank you for clarifying this. Sol-Ark claims it can handle a 9kW AC load.
4800 watts per 120 leg, so unbalanced loads will trip even lower kw
Great video, very informative!
Glad it was helpful!
@@SolarSurge All your videos are produced very well, great lay out. Keep up the good work.
You also need to discuss / look at how the Inverters can synchronise with the supply to add PV energy to Mains supply to loads when PV is not enough and you don't want to use batteries.
Yes, both of theses inverters operate in this manner. It's called "grid support"
If you like the sol-ark, but it’s out of your budget, you can get it for much less. It is made by Deye. Maybe Solar Surge can review some of those. They go for around $2k for the 8k split phase model.
great comparison and video
You mentioned that the solark supports all battery types which is what they claim. however the lack of programmability for finish rate, or absorb done time causes the solark to be poorly paired with flooded batteries and especially AGM.
Hey joe. Reasonable review. However I would still opt to select the Outback in this scenario as I’ve found the Sol-Ark to be unsatisfactory with its split phase technology. It will only perform the 9 to 12k capacity if the loads on L1 and L2 are very similarly balanced any imbalance greater than 15% between the live legs , it trips. Even with a total load of 7.3kw across legs. Is 3.5 + 3.8 kw. In practical situations usage will pose this imbalance.
Can you do a head to head for SolArk vs enphase?
I can't seem to find one reason for anyone to purchase anything other than a Sol-Ark 12K EMP hardened hybrid solar system. I wish I had waited to purchase mine after Sol-Ark designed the outside EMP hardened unit but, I purchased the new one that changed the charger from 59V to 63V. So easy for the DIY install on my off-grid farm. Currently building a stanchion for my Ironridge ground mount system with 32 panels (16@360W & 16@ 370W) producing a maximum of 11680 Watts of power to a battery bank system of 40 LTO SCIB batteries providing over 40Kw of storage.
For your type of project, Sol-Ark is the best. Most residential customers in the suburbs don't need all the extra hardening and prefer a less expensive solution.
Excellent product
You dont mention that the SolArk requires a balance between outputs. A large 120V load has the potential to fault the inverter because of this issue. The transformer in the Outback handles this unbalance with ease.
Also the EMP protection is NOT what people typically associate with EMP. It will not protect against airborne weaponized EMP device , but it will protect against line disturbances from lightning etc more commonly called surges. So thats a little misleading.
Thanks for all of your very valuable information! Perhaps you would like to address this issue? I currently get my electricity from a traditional electric grid. I want to start building my solar panel - battery - generator system slowly. I do not want to hassle with storing my electricity on the grid. At first I will need to use grid power to make up the difference between what my system generates and what my house uses. So I will need to supplement my power requirements with grid power. Is there any grid tied inverter that will allow me to use the grid power but prevent my power from going into the grid? Thanks!
Solark, 12k is a 7k, they are lying... Outback is a true 8k plus huge surge capiblity. I put my Outback up on the wall myself one piece at a time... Radian is $3799 plus optional $600 load center, 2 charger controllers for $900 each (14kw total) Mate3 $425 for total of $6624.... Solark 12k is $8500 and is really only 9k... Hmmm
Outback is my choice as well. The Sol-Ark is a rebranded Deye.
Thanks Joe!
You need to redo this video. The price of the Sol Ark is over twice as expensive as the Outback. The features are almost identical with the exception of having the MPPT CCs which is actually more desirable.
I give you 10 points X factor in presentation... Excellent Joe! Can we get these in Canada? Jus startin to look into this now
I'm about to use a solar Arc I have used the 8kw radians in the past. As far as I can tell the biggest downside is it does not have the surge rating of the heavy transformer based outback. Everything else appears to be an advantage I'm not quite sure what the long-term durability is going to be on the solar Arc as it is a somewhat new product
sol ark is not the only one with the no battery needed option
You guys sound pretty great, wish you would offer services in Oregon
We do actually have coverage in Oregon although we do not advertise it yet. Please use this link to schedule an appointment at a time that’s convenient for you. calendly.com/solarsurge/solar-consultation?month=2021-11
Interesting comparison. But it seems as if you're pigeonholing Sol-Ark as being just for the Off-Grid, Prepper, Do-It-Yourselfer, and/or Solar Enthusiast. I'd love to see a comparison of Sol-Ark's new (Jan '22) 15K model paired with their SmartLoads panel vs. Tesla, SolarEdge, Enphase, Radian, etc. Comparison criteria could include do-it yourself, battery integration, generator integration, grid sell-back, ability to do both AC and DC coupling of panels to inverter, round trip efficiency, support, monitoring, exposure to being compromised (e.g., by Chinese - or any other - government), etc.
Another great video. I have a question on the transformer less architecture. How does it handle inductive loads such as well pump or air conditioner compressors? One of the biggest problem with battery backup or inverter backup is with the surge of motors. Thanks for your videos and fair comparisons. All the best!
This is a great question. I presume the Sol-Ark has a large capacitor bank to handle startup surges like traditional transformer-based inverters. It's the method of the inversion that's unique. From what I can tell, then use transistors to do the inversion. I'll have to look more into this...
@@SolarSurge yes that would make sense. I like the concept and if they are moving the capacitors to supply surge that may be a good compromise. There are always pluses and minuses to these things. Thanks for your reply. Do you have any videos of a surge motor like a cut off saw or air conditioning compressor starting up? Another question is do they perform the same regardless of the battery state of charge? I recently came across a video of a Nissan Leaf not able to run a pump when voltage had sagged. Sorry about al the questions.
My point, outback is the champion and reliable machine
High inductive loads can be softened by using new inverter based heat pumps. The new steady pressure well pumps are great, too.
@@SolarSurge This video is completely on point. Doesn't handle inductive loads well at all. . ua-cam.com/video/-Ez4cbuy7IQ/v-deo.html
Sol-Ark 12k does not run 12kw of power only 9kw
Lol, everyone needs to chill with the EMP hardening. Its a joke. There is no mid-worst-case situation where that feature has validity, because among other problems the solar modules would be fried, same as the entire grid. Generators? Good luck getting fuel.
According to my nephew who is an electrical engineer, the solar panels themselves should fare well. Complex electronics like micro inverters, no. Companants inside and enclosed and grounded metal building should be OK. Line surge from grid is the biggest problem then.. Cables to the panels can be inside grounded galvanized conduit.
People are saying
Sol ark not holding a good load
And not good for off grid systems.
I’m not technical but those people are on UA-cam .
This one guy did an air compressor
A heater , some work lights, and a coffee maker
It pop , sol ark shut down
Could not hold it
Took 15 minutes to reset.
I have seen these reports. Sol-Ark claims to have fixed these problems with their latest generation hybrid inverters. I have not load tested them that heavily myself.
Is Growatt decent or should I stay away?
Are those noisy like the Growath?
Very informative video, as all yours have been. Can you comment or evaluate how these compare to the bigger name SMA Sunny Island/Sunny Boy and Schneider Electric modular solutions?
Thanks for the comment. Schneider Electric Conext XW and Outback Radian are basically the same architecture. Outback has the slight advantage with higher power ratings. Sol-Ark is an entirely new architecture using transformer-less design. I'm keep a very close eye on Sol-Ark going forward. They could emerge as the market leader in the near future.
@@SolarSurge Thanks for your reply. One point that I think was missed is the compromises with both the Sol-Ark and Outback integrated systems with respect to PV. For example, both products have 2 MPPT charge controllers, but Sol-Arks is max 500V with 425V max MPPT. Outback's is even less. That's pretty low for supporting today's 96 cell high-efficiency panels, and really limits how you can setup your solar array under all install variables. For example, with my basic PV, I have 4 strings (8 panels per string), combined down to 3 and spread over the 3 MPPT's for shading reasons. 520V open circuit, and 450-500V MPPT typical operating range. Neither of these products would support such a traditional solar configuration. Which is too bad, as I like all the other features on the Sol-Ark, but the PV support seems pretty poor.
@@billjohnson3344 That's a good point. Traditional string inverter installs may need to be rewired for lower PV voltage range to work with either of these products. Sol-Ark can handle 500VOC, Outback only 300 + battery voltage.
David Poz is having problems with his Sol-Ark.. Its a Chinese product with Chinese Software that reports back to Chinese servers.
Buy it at your own risk.
Nice presentation but horrible glare made reading you graphics difficult
You changed your company's name to solar surge?
Can you do a show on which the best system which can withstand a emp attack
Hi James. Sol-Ark is the only company I'm aware of that promises EMP protection. However, there is a third-part company called EMP Shield (www.empshield.com) that you can use with Outback or other brand inverters.
Hello Solar Surge. You made another video in which you stated that the outback radian was the best inverter for preppers, even though it had been out eight years. Am I correct, as this video suggests, that your opinion has now changed to generally recommending the sol-ark for these individuals?
Hi J and thanks for writing in. Actually, now I favor Generac PWRCell with intelligent load management. Solar + battery + generator + automatic load control all in one package.
@@SolarSurge thanks for the update as I was leaning heavily toward the generac the Saw your video on the outback radian. Are you planning on swapping out your radian for the power cell? Is the power cell preemptively serviceable regarding parts such as the control board and fans like the radian?
Having installed numerous of both there is literally no comparison. My company is currently ripping out all of the Radians we put over the years and installing Sol Arks in their place.
Also, the SolArk is only 9.6kW continous when used off grid.
Brycen, that's interesting feedback. Are these Outback units failing and you are replacing them under warranty or are the owners deciding to pay for an upgrade/change over to Outback?
@@SolarSurge We replaced an 8048 yesterday that had one of its power cores go bad after 4 years. Power core in outback parlance is essentially a 4k inverter. While the outback is still technically under warranty the customer is on the hook for shipping it from Hawaii to Texas and back. The client is a repeat customer and therefore we offered the SolArk to him at our cost as an upgrade. My company installed Outback systems for nearly all of our battery systems going back 20 years but will not again. Outback has horrendous customer/integrator support and their current products are stymied by legacy design constraints. We were early adopters of SolArk and after ~70 Installed over the last 3 years we've had two devices that had manufacturing issues and zero failures.
@@BrycenKauai Thanks for explaining. If you're interested in taking on more projects, please let me know. We get inquiries for Sol-Ark on almost a daily basis.
@@SolarSurge Awesome, we currently only work in Hawaii but are looking to expand to southern California by the end of the year.
why cant i get an emp proof solar set up in uk?
Thank you very much for the video. Last year I bought a 5 thousands dollars SkyBox from Outback Power still now almost a year I can't get it that piece junk to work. Whem I called Outback Power they refused to help me. Finally they gave someone in my area to help me, the guy to my house and he did not know anything about the SkyBox. Now I have an equipment I spent 5 thousands for it and I can't no help to fix it. The problem it has is a software. I updated the firmware to a newer version it still doing the same thing. I called those assholes at Outback Power those assholes refused to help and their guy don't know anything about the product I bought. PLEASE PEOPLE IN THE UNITED STATES DO NOT BUY SKYBOX FROM OUTBACK POWER IT IS A PIECE OF JUNK, IF YOU HAVE ANY PROBLEMS WITH IT YOU WON'T GET ANY HELP FROM OUTBACK POWER. LIKE THE GUY SAID OUTBACK BUILD THEIR PRODUCTS FOR INGEENER NOT FOR DIY PEOPLE.
Wow. I'm sorry to hear you had such a bad experience with SkyBox. We have never installed them, but we do use Radian a lot. Hopefully they will work out the bugs with SkyBox version 2. However, Sol-Ark is on its third generation now and it seems to be a very reliable product.
Its unfortunate that this is happening I chatted the head of the Skybox division your dilemma to see what can be done, that being said I started out as DIY and had amazing success using Outback and put it on some of my most high end projects with great results. Also I disagree with the Engineer comment, its more for users who have a global understanding of renewable energy for sure and that's ok. I will stick with Outback or Schneider on my off grid projects.
@@JasonAndrade427 Schneider is good also. I've had a lot of success with Schneider Conext XW+ for off-grid.
@@SolarSurge I will get one pretty soon, it seems to me the Sol-ark is much reliable and easier for us DIY guys out there to work on. Today I have called Outback Power and talked to someone, I had to him he has no choice to help me. Because I spent 5 + thousands dollars to get that SkyBox, if I need help they supposed to give me that support. And I told him that I know you guys refused to talk to the owners, but I said to him you have to talk to me. I said when someone buying your product it does not matter if the person is supplier or not. Because your wholesalers sold those products to anyone who wants to buy it. So you have no choice just to talk to me.
@@hollywoodj500 The Sol-Ark is what the Skybox was trying to be. One problem with the Skybox is that it is basically a grid tie inverter with a bidirectional DC/DC converter stuck in to interface with the battery bank. This means that the Skybox has no surge capacity, and lack of power optimization means that it uses 200W to 300W just sitting there. Then the paralleling of Skyboxes requires each Skybox to be on a separate battery bank.
This is why MSRP dropped to the $3,000 to $3,500 range it is now.
The Skybox could be a lot better, but it would require a team of engineers to gut out the problems with the design.
Sol-ark is a Chinese rebranded inverter over price
I was going to post the same. Deye.
Would this be compatible with a Tesla Solar roof?
Yes, via AC-coupling.
I live in MA. Who would I call to install these systems? An electrician? A solar company/installer?
You can visit the Sol-Ark website to find an installer in your area.
If Sol-Ark is installed initially as part of a battery optional solar system (battery potentially to be installed at some future date), is it still able to isolate the system when the grid is down and use the full power of the solar panels to power the house directly? And then during the night use a generator to power the house?
Good question. No, I don't think so, but I will look into this...
then shouldn’t your “x-factor” list include things like:
1) Radians have been on the market for >10 years vs
Hi and thanks for writing in. Appreciate the feedback. FYI, I have nothing against Outback. I use Outback Radian at my house.
What is the long term reliability of a transformer versus a non-transformer inverter?
I have seen transformers last for over 70 years with continuous use in old homes with door bells. They are less efficient though due to loss in the transformer. Old guitar amps use transformers. But I see Outback is not is not giving a very long warranty at only 5 years.
That's a very good question. I personally have not seen either of these systems fail due to old age. Perhaps we can take another look after 10 years of time in service.
So what about PIP MPP? You can buy 2 x LV6548' for about half the price of the SolArk, and get 13KW continuous. Gen support, UL Listing, any battery, smart load, 208V, etc. Do those compare? Not sure about their warranty, and they are made in Taiwan, so thats a minus.
Looks like an interesting product. I may do a review in the future.
Great video, have you checked into the growatt 12K?
No I'm not familiar with that inverter. I did a quick search and found one on Alibaba. It looks like this is a 3-phase product for commercial electric, not residential. Please share if you have any more info about that product...
I'm confused. You put out a video 17 days prior to this showing that the Radian is the best inverter on the market for the prepper?
I think Radian is the best overall considering the length of time Outback has been in business and their reputation and strength of the parent company. Sol-Ark is more designed for the DIY installer.
All these you tubers are just looking for more hits. Most of them promote the cheap Chinese inverters. The Solark is a rebranded Deye. Get the outback.
@@yakapo999 I did. Five years ago and going strong.
Sol-Ark power is misstated in this video and you should update it. 7.5k trips out . If you compare Sol-ark watts per dollar at the actual rating it's not a very good buy . If they had only rated it correctly and charged a reasonable price . I guess that's why it was a Solark 8k to start with .
Yes, thanks for pointing that out. The 12k refers to the max PV input power, which the Outback Radian can also accept up to 12k of PV when using the MPPT 100 charge controllers. The Solar-Ark is still more compact and lighter weight, but I'm having a hard time getting any professional installation companies to pick it up. I still recommend Sol-Ark for DIY, but Outback or Generac for professional installation with a warranty.
@@SolarSurge Anyone looking at outback equipment should head over to " outback power forums " and view what's going on over there . I was ready to buy a Skybox till I found the forums and read all the endless problems.
@@onthelake9554 Good point. Outback Skybox is having major problems. I do not endorse that product. However, I can personally attest to the reliability of the Outback Radian. However, I think the new Enphase battery beats them all.
@@SolarSurge There is a Radian are there as well.
@@SolarSurge The enphase won't do what the others will . Offgrid . Or Battery use nightly . So far from a single all in one unit without widespread trouble the SOL-ARK is the only one I have found.
I got 16 kwh tesla solar panel without battery back up .could you please recommend which battery is durable and reasonable price to add on .thanks
I would stick with Tesla Powerwall in most cases. If Tesla won't install a battery only, we would be happy to add one for you.
@@SolarSurge .what is promotion you have now .thank for your reply
solar and wind combo. forget the 5 blade turbines its all about vertical wind.
Some reviews of Sol Ark indicate it requires a cloud connection to a China hosted server which could become compromised during a political dispute. If this is correct, do you know of a way to bypass this chinese based server and instead use a self hosted or american hosted server for monitoring the inverter status to your smart phone or computer?
Hi JK. Thanks for the feedback. That's a very concerning thought indeed. As an alternative, I would consider the Generac or SolarEdge battery systems.
My electric bill averages 200-350 kwh/mo. or $70-125. Would take me for ev ver to get payback on just 200ah/ 48v of lithium, let alone the inverter , the panels and consumables and install. and my power company charges 40/mo min to have hook no matter how much you're selling back. for my application its not worth it
Can the Sol Ark 12K work with enphase iq7 microinverters?
Yes, in theory, you can add a Sol-Ark AC-coupled to an existing Enphase IQ7 solar system. However, for better performance, I would recommend just using the Enphase battery.
First time I have heard of the Sol-Ark brand, interesting that it never came up in any of the many internet searches for hybrid inverters I've done over the past several months. Excellent video, learned something new. Based on the Sol-Ark 12K specs. I could see connecting it to the main panel directly to run the whole house. Skip the sub-panel all together. Wondering if its Rule 21 compliant for CA?
In an off grid application you could connect the inverter to your whole home. however the newst modle can only put out 62 amps. So I always recomend if back up the whole home is your goal, 2-3 12k inverters is the way to go... as well as a large battery bank.
12K is rule 21 compliant
Unless the house was designed for off-grid operation, I don't think backing up the whole house makes sense. The cost of 2-3 inverters + the amount of batteries needed to power 24k of output is going to be cost prohibitive for most households. A single 12k unit with 20-30kWh of battery storage should be sufficient for most homes.
@@edgarsweeden9786 Thanks for the info, please see my reply comment below to Solar Surge as it address your thoughts as well.
@@SolarSurge It depends on what the customers end goal is. You will find that many people are willing to pay extra for pice of mind and do not want to change their life style during a grid down. Dont sell yourself short Joe. I have installed many 2-4 12K systems with 30-50 kwh storage. In fact I am installing 3 today. However I do live in California so things may be a little different in other parts of the county
Its worth noting that Sol-Ark is not advertising EMP protection. Don't conflate EMP hardening with lightning protection. They are similar, but if this thing was EMP hardened it would cost 2-3x as much.
do they support supercapacitors from Kilowatt?
No, I don't believe so.
Sol-Ark. Keeps all the eggs in one basket.
You da man
I have a 11k generator and the solar panels with Enphase IQ7 plus. Could the 11k generator be connected to the Sol ARK? Could the generator charge the battery at the same time powering the house?
Yes, you can connect the generator to the Sol-Ark to power the house and recharge batteries at the same time. Sol-Ark supports AC coupling, so you can interface with your existing Enphase system.
@@SolarSurge That's not how the Enphase micro inverters work. They require a grid voltage/sink to be present. Running a generator and the Enphase micro inverters in a closed loop is asking for problems.
@@user-dr2pg8fk2i In an AC-coupled configuration, the battery inverter simulates the grid so the micro-inverters can wake back up and produce power. This is the same way micro-inverters work with the Powerwall. The battery system presents 240V 60Hz to the micro's and the micro's wake back up.
@@SolarSurge Weird, guess the techs at Enphase didn't know what they were talking about.
I have 24 IQ7's and 3 QS1 micros AC coupled to my Radian, works great...
Start a podcast man!
Thanks for the tip. Maybe I will. Do you think podcast is a better format for educational content than UA-cam?
@@SolarSurge podcast offer the ability to take a deeper dive into the subject matter, video (UA-cam) reaches a greater market. My suggestion, a video podcast ala Joe Rogan with interviews and the like.
My best,
Doc Ray
Question: I have an off grid garage/shop that I need to power. Very little sunlight available because of trees. How do you recommend I do this? I'm thinking lithium batteries for power storage, Sol-Ark inverter and a generator to recharge the batteries and assist in power supply when the need is great. Your thoughts.
The configuration you described sounds good. Depending on your needs, you might want to go generator only. Do you need power on in the shop all the time or only when you are working?
@@SolarSurge
I need full time power for things like lights, garage door opener, 40 watt heater, 0.75 amp battery trickle charger, etc.
@@j.r.colombini8465 OK in this case, the Sol-Ark + battery + generator makes sense. I would also recommend a generator with 2-wire remote start so that the inverter can automatically start the generator when the batteries get low.
@@SolarSurge
Last question.... I will be running some 220 v / 30 amp equipment (examples: saw, compressor, generator, dust collection). Which lithium battery and inverter will handle that type of demand best?
@@j.r.colombini8465 For the inverter, definitely Sol-Ark or Outback Radian. In terms of the batteries, use either Lithium NMC or LiFePo4. You will want at least 30kWh of battery storage to keep up with these loads.
I guess you’ve not tested all these manufacturers specs claims yourself?
I’ve definitely use the outback product. I put this on my own system. I have been hearing complaints about Sol-Ark not being able to keep up with unbalanced large loads.
Neither. I'd go SMA or Victron any day of the week and and have a system that'll need near 0 maintenance over the next 10 years.
Installing the batteries later could mean that they don't qualify for state/federal incentives.
As long as the batteries are electronically connected to the solar power system, they will qualify for the federal investment tax credit.
@@SolarSurge My understanding is that they have to be installed within 12 months of the solar panels to qualify (not tax advice).
@@0101Zero Oh ok. That's good to know.
I have outback radian 8048 as a ac coupled system. Been there for 8 years. I do have few questions
Is it worth upgrading battery to to lithium iron (have 12 Outback energy cell 220ah 3 strings of 4)
How can I connect a generator to the radian to start remotely.
Hello! Do you guys serve Texas in the Austin Metro area?
Sure. Please reach out to us via email at info@solarsurge.net
Sol-Ark is based in a Dallas suburb.
Made in China?
@@USA-GreedyMenOfNoIntegrity I do not know. There is a number on their website and an email. I would check before I ordered one, because that is important to me.
We install in area call CRsolar.
Pflugerville.
That solark is not 12 kw it's only 9 kw says so on the side. The 12kw is only the name.
Yeah, they kinda fudged the 12K name (I believe it's 9K to load plus 3K to battery for a total of 12K). But their new (announced Jan 2022) 15K is a full 15K output (as well as an additional MPPT, integration with their new SmartLoads panel (not just a dump load), and a bunch of other capabilities. Seems pretty neat. Now all they have to do is fix the monitoring/support servers in Communist China and I'll probably be a customer.
You can not compare transformer and non-transformer inverters side by side. 2 totally different animals as is AC vs DC coupled systems.
You get what you pay for.
Outback is more expensive and almost 4x heavier for a reason..
A 4KW Radian will out-surge these 16KW Sol-Ark all day long in a typical North American 120/240 split phase imbalanced environment.
I lived it and learned the hard way. Thought I'd upgrade and was almost immediately aggravated, disappointed and peeved with its lack of imbalance & surge workability..
Needless to say, my old Radian is back on the wall, handling every L1-L2 imbalance & surge I can throw at it 100% fault free...
We are Saved by Grace Through FAITH NOT WORKS. Salvation is a free gift from GOD given to those all who will believe LORD JESUS CHRIST DIED AS A SALVATION LAMB for our sins by the BLOOD OF LORD JESUS CHRIST HIS BLOOD CLEANSES Our SINS !
Do you know here are these products are designed and manufactured?
Both are USA companies.
@@SolarSurge I don’t think so Joe. I believe it’s made in China
solark is based in Texas and manufactured in china. they are woking on building a factory in texas.
@@edgarsweeden9786 Bingo. Made in CHINA
@@TheTruthSeeker756 Sol-ark is still a great company, relatively young. They have great support and a great product. I have no doubt they will be manufacturing in the US in the next 2 years
Can u mail me the list of. Items
Hi Lewis. No, I'm afraid not. Everything we do would be a complete turn-key installation.
$7.5k for the Sol-Ark 12k
Very interesting Video. My question is can the Sol Ark hybrid 12k be coupled with the Tesla power wall. It would seem the combo is a killer combo
Yes. You could configure Sol-Ark in grid-tied mode and then AC-couple on 2 or more Tesla Powerwall batteries.
there are much better options for energy storage out there. The power wall just has the best marketing team behind it.
@@edgarsweeden9786 agreed the Discover AES and Simpliphi both have closed loop comms with the Solark and makes more sense
The Powerwall shuts down after 2 or 3 days with no internet and stays bricked until internet is restored.
@@randacnam7321 Wow. In that case, it's a deal-breaker for preppers. 3 days is nothing in a total collapse of infrastructure.
Have you installed the solark?
Yes, we've done a handful of Sol-Ark installs using the 8K model.
@@SolarSurge I understand they are having issues running 120vac loads, also the emp hardening is an additional cost is it not?
@@JasonAndrade427 I'm not aware of any problems with 120v loads. The EMP hardening is built into the inverter. There are also individual suppressors that can be installed on each appliances circuit.
@@JasonAndrade427 i have an 8k and have only had it go off once and it was lightning outside. It came back up a few minutes later by itself.
The emp hardening is and additional cost. I bealive $1200. They manufacture it into the inverter as well as sending ferriet suppresors for solar panels as well as appliances.
Sol-ark inverter cannot compare to outback radiant or Schneider xw6048/ xw6848 inveter. Currently I have my entire 2800 sf home off grid. I run four inveter ac 24/7 on solar which comprise of two 18000 and two 12000 btu ac inaddition to everything else in my home with zero problems. A friend of mine has a similar setup and he is using soloark which is unable to do the job. The solar 12000 deliver 7000 + watts continuous power then the breaker chip. Two best offgrid inverter ever built is outback and Schneider . Don't be a salesman and mislead the public.
transformer-less architecture it is a minus, because this devices less effective
Also, transformer-less it is a lie, because both of them have transformers inside, but outback using huge low frequency transformer, sol-ark have small high-frequency transformer, and for high frequency systems efficiency will be less than low frequency
Chalkboard now becomes LED TV comparison is meaningless. How about real performance data? There are YT videos that suggest the Sol-Ark off-grid has nuisance trips and does not reach the manufacturers published data of 9kW. Buyer Beware! Outback on the other hand is the Off-Grid best of breed and you should be fair and compare actual performance not chalkboard promises. lol
Just an FYI, but the Sol-Ark brochure and reality have little in common. A few months ago I was watching a 12K Sol-Ark fail to handle the pump loads that were handled just fine by the old Schneider 6K inverter. That homeowner has no choice now but to somehow try and implement a transformer into their setup because, well, the Sol-Ark doesn't have one (unlike the old inverter). Also, much of these figures you're touting are completely misleading because they are strictly on the DC side. I gotta say there's a lot of bad info on the Sol-Ark in this video. This is an easy downvote/unsubscribe.
u are misleading the public by ignorance or on purpose. it can only handle 9 kw but only if each 120v leg is perfectly balanced and that is difficult to accomplish.