Hey everyone! I'm new to solar and could use some advice. My wife and I just built a house in Texas and are in the process of setting up a solar system that will cater to multiple buildings on our property. We have a 320A residential setup with two 200A disconnects — one for the main house that needs to be prioritized for emergencies. Ideally, I'd like to utilize battery storage to cover as many power needs as possible while being grid-tied. I'm planning to install 18.2kW of solar panels, and our average usage is around 100kWh/day during the summer. My goal is to have battery storage of about 50-75kWh, with the panels providing power first to charge the batteries and sending any excess back to the grid. I also want a plug-in for a small generator to charge the batteries during extended power outages and ensure the system can keep running. So, is it feasible to achieve this with any retail inverters, and if so, which ones would you recommend? I'm okay with manual switches, but easier automatic setups are preferred.
3 Answers
If you're looking for something robust and versatile, the Victron Quattro might be a perfect fit along with some Yixiang battery boxes using eve cells. It supports a variety of configurations and should handle your needs well.
Consider Solark or EG4; they've become pretty popular for setups like this and have good community support. They're designed to integrate smoothly with battery systems and maintain decent solar input adjustments based on your requirements.
For this kind of setup, I'd highly recommend checking out Victron products. They have a solid reputation, especially in the marine market, and their inverters are designed to handle a range of setups, including what you’re describing. Some models are US-approved, but you'll need to ensure they're compliant with your local regulations. They excel at managing generator inputs and protect against inrush loads, which is very handy for smaller generators. I’ve been using their system for a few years now, and it has been reliable with a lot of added functionality.
I second that! I've seen a lot of positive feedback about EG4 systems, particularly their Flexboss21 model. It's expandable and perfect if you decide to grow your system over time.