jamesid29:
Good morning all.
A question has been bugging me for the past couple of days now.

Recently stumbled on SMK inverters and they seem to be reasonably priced.
Looking at the SMK specs against Growatt's, they seem to be almost identical in terms of what they offer(aside from the follow come WiFi stick and capability).
But yet one seems to be a darling in the market while the other one rarely features in conversations even though it has almost identical features ,even to the battery less function( atleast on paper) at a lower cost.

Is it that the SMK's are of a lesser quality in terms of build or perculiar issues (maybe charging)? Or is it that Growatt has just been better at branding themselves in the Nigerian market?

I know, what is written on paper does not always translate into the real world and I'm still finding my way in this renewable energy universe (just started this year), so I say make I ask those that have far more experience in the group and from marketers who deal in these products.

I'm not trying to knock down any of the products, it's just a question that has been in my head for some days now.
Any input is very much appreciated. Thank you

I think Valto said the one he has was not delivering to the rated charging capacity

It all boils down to personal opinion for those who needs it personally, as we know money moves the Nigerian customers demand

Many are concerned about basic functionality and since they both look the same, they go for a cheaper available option

Personally/professionally for me I will pick a Growatt over SMK based on

1. Two year warranty over a year of SMK

2. Remote monitoring - this feature is very handy for pro installers

3. Wide online community

4. Out of the box - lithium battery comms

5. Smart home ready, right out of the box

With many installation sites running Growatt we can run diagnose problems in real time

jamesid29:
Good morning all.
A question has been bugging me for the past couple of days now.

Recently stumbled on SMK inverters and they seem to be reasonably priced.
Looking at the SMK specs against Growatt's, they seem to be almost identical in terms of what they offer(aside from the follow come WiFi stick and capability).
But yet one seems to be a darling in the market while the other one rarely features in conversations even though it has almost identical features ,even to the battery less function( atleast on paper) at a lower cost.

Is it that the SMK's are of a lesser quality in terms of build or perculiar issues (maybe charging)? Or is it that Growatt has just been better at branding themselves in the Nigerian market?

I know, what is written on paper does not always translate into the real world and I'm still finding my way in this renewable energy universe (just started this year), so I say make I ask those that have far more experience in the group and from marketers who deal in these products.

I'm not trying to knock down any of the products, it's just a question that has been in my head for some days now.
Any input is very much appreciated. Thank you

You need a source of internet of some sort, if the mifi is reliable enough for you, then it should be fine.

However, Tasmota on its own as far as I know works locally, no connection to a cloud platform or VPN, etc.
In that case, you'd need to setup a way to get to the local/private network (the one with the mi-fi in it) and control the tasmota-enabled device.
Most people use an SBC like raspberry either running a vpn solution or connected to one of the tunneling sites that enables that kind of setup.


If its a small simple setup and you're not very tech saavy, you might be better off using the stock firmware which would most likely allow more direct control over the internet.

dejidotun2000:


Is there a way to control this device remotely without using a dedicated router (can I use a Glo mi-fi) ?

Will I be able to control it remotely if I flash it with tasmota ?

Cc : ojeysky , adrusa, barezzi

olopan:
It all boils down to personal opinion for those who needs it personally, as we know money moves the Nigerian customers demand

Many are concerned about basic functionality and since they both look the same, they go for a cheaper available option

Personally/professionally for me I will pick a Growatt over SMK based on

1. Two year warranty over a year of SMK

2. Remote monitoring - this feature is very handy for pro installers

3. Wide online community

4. Out of the box - lithium battery comms

5. Smart home ready, right out of the box

With many installation sites running Growatt we can run diagnose problems in real time

thanks alot boss.
I agree that wide community aspect does make quite a lot of difference.
The person I even first about growatt was from one of the american DIY youtubers. And there are tons of DIYers doing review and videos of growatt so it's easy to get up to speed with it as opposed to SMK where there's almost nothing of it online.

I'm not sure I understand about the smart home ready out of the box part. I might be missing something on that though because on paper they both seem to be identical in functionality except for the remote monitoring out of the box.

Thanks boss �

ojeysky:



I think Valto said the one he has was not delivering to the rated charging capacity

Oh ok, that's bad. Maybe that's one of the reasons they've been relegated to the background,I guess.

Thanks for the heads-up boss. Really Appreciate it

@Valto can you share any input with SMK hybrid. Thanks alot

About the Smart home, you can integrate the inverter with smart appliances like socket, washing machine, AC, toasters etc most appliance that can work using IoT

jamesid29:

I'm not sure I understand about the smart home ready out of the box part. I might be missing something on that though because on paper they both seem to be identical in functionality except for the remote monitoring out of the box.

Thanks boss �

mantims:
Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFePO4) smart battery packs with active balancer, Bluetooth remote monitoring and cells available for sale from the Jos Guy. We ship nationwide.
1.25kwh 12v: 130k
2.5kwh 24v: 260k
5kwh 24v/48v: 560k
6kwh 24v/48v: 600k
9.8kwh 48v: 950k

100ah 3.2v great power cells: 27k
120ah 3.2v CATL cells 31K
280ah 3.2v CATL cells 76k

Welcome to order: 08030633202 (calls/WhatsApp)

Way to go!

We give you quality solar panels

Ure ( Taiwan) halfcut 385watts solar panel available.

Price - 70k ( limited quantity)

olopan:
About the Smart home, you can integrate the inverter with smart appliances like socket, washing machine, AC, toasters etc most appliance that can work using IoT

Oh, that sounds nice. Didn't know you could integrate the inverter directly with smart appliances. Will look into that more.

Thanks alot boss. Really Appreciate your inputs

olopan:
Ok, kindly give the name of your controller and model

I will whip something up, hopefully if seen

second generation of esmart mppt controller SLAC-EH1.0 series.
It comes with Solar Eagle mppt disk.

Clearer view. Really appreciate.

olopan:
About the Smart home, you can integrate the inverter with smart appliances like socket, washing machine, AC, toasters etc most appliance that can work using IoT

Bros could you elaborate on how growatt does this?

I greet all gurus in the house. Abeg o, in a bid to "SOLARIZE" my small business shop. I saw this on AE, can it power my four big deep freezers and big fridge at once,and is it a good choice ? I am asking before I buy it to avoid story that touches the heart. Thank you all

Intelcorei7:
I greet all gurus in the house. Abeg o, in a bid to "SOLARIZE" my small business shop. I saw this on AE, can it power my four big deep freezers and big fridge at once,and is it a good choice ? I am asking before I buy it to avoid story that touches the heart. Thank you all

A 24/48v inverter would be better for that kind of load.

What size of generator currently powers them?

Intelcorei7:
I greet all gurus in the house. Abeg o, in a bid to "SOLARIZE" my small business shop. I saw this on AE, can it power my four big deep freezers and big fridge at once,and is it a good choice ? I am asking before I buy it to avoid story that touches the heart. Thank you all

I'm planning to procure this particular item in the coming weeks, but the 48 volt and 4000w continouos. Intend to have it as a standby 48v inverter.

The problem you may encounter with using ALL your cooling appliances on this is the surge. So if you will need to place all the refrigerators on it, they have to start at different times, maybe one minute apart. Let's assume each of your freezer is 200 Watts in worst case scenario, five of that is 1000 Watts. A 4000watts continuous, 8kw surge inverter will do the job. But I hope you have enough panels and storage capacity to meet that demand.

By the way, yours appears cheaper. Can you post the link to it here?

gadgetplanetng:


A 24/48v inverter would be better for that kind of load.

What size of generator currently powers them?

Thank you very much sir. I am using 4.5kva Elemax Generator for them

ceaser:


I'm planning to procure this particular item in the coming weeks, but the 48 volt and 4000w continouos. Intend to have it as a standby 48v inverter.

The problem you may encounter with using ALL your cooling appliances on this is the surge. So if you will need to place all the refrigerators on it, they have to start at different times, maybe one minute apart. Let's assume each of your freezer is 200 Watts in worst case scenario, five of that is 1000 Watts. A 4000watts continuous, 8kw surge inverter will do the job. But I hope you have enough panels and storage capacity to meet that demand.

By the way, yours appears cheaper. Can you post the link to it here?

Thank you sir. Your contribution and suggestion are noted. I have provision for that inverter and three pieces of 200Ah batteries for now, panels will follow later
Here is the link: https://www.aliexpress.com/store/2906086

A 4000w or larger inverter with surge ability should handle four freezers no problem.

One of the key challenges you will face is the quality of sine wave output from a budget inverter. This inverter at ~$270 is likely to be modified sine wave and the compressor motors in a freezer generally do not like being fed such a poor diet.

Be sure the inverter is indeed pure sine wave before you buy.

Solar will be a lot harder to manage when you are running 12v - it is doable and stable when done right but not the most efficient way to run four large freezers. You are better off with a 48v system but you did mention a battery constraint.

Is there a charger built into this inverter, does it have line pass through features? This helps you avoid draining your batteries when there is mains or gen available. Without these two features, you will need a charger capable of pushing enough current to run your loads and also put some energy back into the batteries.

Personally, I would choose a more competent pro grade inverter and perhaps go 24v/48v

Intelcorei7:
I greet all gurus in the house. Abeg o, in a bid to "SOLARIZE" my small business shop. I saw this on AE, can it power my four big deep freezers and big fridge at once,and is it a good choice ? I am asking before I buy it to avoid story that touches the heart. Thank you all

Intelcorei7:
I greet all gurus in the house. Abeg o, in a bid to "SOLARIZE" my small business shop. I saw this on AE, can it power my four big deep freezers and big fridge at once,and is it a good choice ? I am asking before I buy it to avoid story that touches the heart. Thank you all

How do you intend to charge batteries?
AC or Solar, you need controller and AC charger that will cost another 266 USD or so

At the price point, why not just add 100USD and get a pure sine wave hybrid, 5.5KW, with 100A MPPT and 60A AC charging all inbuilt..

Gurus here, is it possible to combine solar panels with wind to generate more energy /power

NiyiOmoIyunade:
Please believe that there is no innuendo or sarcasm here but by your own accounting on your youtube channel you have had installs of various products catch on fire and ruined a number of battery brands.

In recent memory, I recall you had trouble with Deye inverters bricked, Nissan leaf swollen and Weco batteries ruined with the root causes 'to be determined'.

These issues, fires, failures may have nothing to do with the products themselves but with the deployment methods used or the demands placed on the products.

If you are able to share the root cause analysis results for the Pylontech issues or another fire incident then this would be very good.

It would help if you watched the videos to the end. You already reached conclussions and now you are asking fro root cause abi? Well done.

dollarnaira:


Go online u will see Lead acids on fire. I have client who installed his lead acids in a generator house for fear of "in case of in cacity". Is like avoiding to drive a car just bc a neighbour's car had an accident.

We had a lead acid battery explode and it was caused by a faulty Schneider Charge controller.
The reason we switched from DIY to manufactured batteries was to prevent what happened. The BMS is designed to prevent what happened. The card would fail or the protections will kick in. It did not happen here. We followed instructions from Schneider Electric and Pylontech to the T and this happened. The supplier is in shock and has yet to figure our why it happened. We have sent them videos and pictures.

NiyiOmoIyunade:
A 4000w or larger inverter with surge ability should handle four freezers no problem.

One of the key challenges you will face is the quality of sine wave output from a budget inverter. This inverter at ~$270 is likely to be modified sine wave and the compressor motors in a freezer generally do not like being fed such a poor diet.

Be sure the inverter is indeed pure sine wave before you buy.

Solar will be a lot harder to manage when you are running 12v - it is doable and stable when done right but not the most efficient way to run four large freezers. You are better off with a 48v system but you did mention a battery constraint.

Is there a charger built into this inverter, does it have line pass through features? This helps you avoid draining your batteries when there is mains or gen available. Without these two features, you will need a charger capable of pushing enough current to run your loads and also put some energy back into the batteries.

Personally, I would choose a more competent pro grade inverter and perhaps go 24v/48v

Thank you boss. You have always been here to help us. I appreciate your contribution

Dam5reey:


How do you intend to charge batteries?
AC or Solar, you need controller and AC charger that will cost another 266 USD or so

At the price point, why not just add 100USD and get a pure sine wave hybrid, 5.5KW, with 100A MPPT and 60A AC charging all inbuilt..

Thank you sir. I will be using AC for now, and add panels later. Your pieces of advice and suggestion are noted and will be put into consideration. I thank you all

This is the few info i can dig up

1. It communicate using RS485

2. The controller can be set to LiFePO4 battery following the steps in picture 2

3. If you are not tech savvy,you will need help pf a network admin for a RJ45 cable setup using the following images RJ45 x2 with one end working normally to goto PC RJ45 port while other is reconfigure

4.this shows the way to set the Rs485 pins for the charge controller and then you can do thing the way you want it

Please note: that this information is not 100% certain to work but 90% sure it should do the job right

Deluxe8000:
second generation of esmart mppt controller SLAC-EH1.0 series.
It comes with Solar Eagle mppt disk.

5. Continuation

purplekayc:
Gurus here, is it possible to combine solar panels with wind to generate more energy /power

Sure the battery won't know if the current is sourced from wind or sun..... Just be sure to get the appropriate wind turbine and charger.

Fwiw deye does have option for energy source via wind, but I have no experience on the

NiyiOmoIyunade:
A 4000w or larger inverter with surge ability should handle four freezers no problem.

One of the key challenges you will face is the quality of sine wave output from a budget inverter. This inverter at ~$270 is likely to be modified sine wave and the compressor motors in a freezer generally do not like being fed such a poor diet.

Be sure the inverter is indeed pure sine wave before you buy.

Solar will be a lot harder to manage when you are running 12v - it is doable and stable when done right but not the most efficient way to run four large freezers. You are better off with a 48v system but you did mention a battery constraint.

Is there a charger built into this inverter, does it have line pass through features? This helps you avoid draining your batteries when there is mains or gen available. Without these two features, you will need a charger capable of pushing enough current to run your loads and also put some energy back into the batteries.

Personally, I would choose a more competent pro grade inverter and perhaps go 24v/48v

The inverters are Pure Sine Wave. They have no in-built charger neither does it have line pass thru feature. Perhaps that explains the low price. But it is indeed PSW.

ojeysky:


Sure the battery won't know if i current is sourced from wind or sun..... Just be sure to get the appropriate wind turbine and charger.

Fwiw deye does have option for energy source via wind, but I have no experience on the

It's likely the option will have a wind charge controller, is it? Or it's just a socket for extra inputs.

ojeysky:


Sure the battery won't know if i current is sourced from wind or sun..... Just be sure to get the appropriate wind turbine and charger.

Fwiw deye does have option for energy source via wind, but I have no experience on the

which wind turbine etc is convinient for home use

Many thanks.

litaninja:
You need a source of internet of some sort, if the mifi is reliable enough for you, then it should be fine.

However, Tasmota on its own as far as I know works locally, no connection to a cloud platform or VPN, etc.
In that case, you'd need to setup a way to get to the local/private network (the one with the mi-fi in it) and control the tasmota-enabled device.
Most people use an SBC like raspberry either running a vpn solution or connected to one of the tunneling sites that enables that kind of setup.


If its a small simple setup and you're not very tech saavy, you might be better off using the stock firmware which would most likely allow more direct control over the internet.