HI Kevin, I agree that tech support hasn’t been the been the best with OB, I do think its getting better.
As to the charger issues. The radian has a generator mode that as long as its within voltage limits will use any frequency or harmonics and take it all out. Amazing. I wrote here some months ago about a radian that ran the house just fine, but with generator not. And the generator by itself not either. But in the generator mode, it was perfect. And its the only inverter out there with this feature I know of. And I’ve also just had to work on a set of new XW+ units. They seem to hit the generator super hard on connection. I had to set the total connection watts to be quite low to make them work. And that was after very long tech support, that was no help at all. I think there just wasn’t anything they could do. The customer is having to install a much larger generator to make his chargers work at higher settings. A few other thoughts about these two inverters. Radian is field repairable, XW not Radian has easy firmware upgrades, XW definitely not Radian has built in WWW access. XW need addition hardware Radian has built in AGS, XW not Mate 3 easier to use than SCP. Now I know this will be a huge argument, but try walking a customer through the AGS on a mate 3 vs SCP Generator mode on radian is amazing. For the XW positives. The XW BOS is large, easy to wire and will handle 3 inverters and 4 CC. I love that box. Vs the GS box which frankly is a joke. So I choose the Radian. its not perfect, but. Jay peltz power > On Jan 15, 2016, at 11:59 AM, Kevin Pegg <kp...@energyalternatives.ca> wrote: > > Interesting thread. Our firm wrote off Outback products several years ago for > two reasons: > > 1) beyond abysmal tech support - when we have a problem we need to talk to a > skilled, knowledgeable tech, not some kid reading off a script designed for > end users; or to sit around for a call back that never happens. > 2) ongoing power quality problems when the inverter was in charge mode via > generator, some more sensitive loads would not operate, causing customers > complaints. Does this still continue with the radians? > > It is nice to hear that the radians install ok, though luck is not something > I like to count on working in the remote bush. I am more interested in Radian > installs that were challenging, and was Outback there to expeditiously > resolve the issues and have a happy customers? > > My bias is towards the XW series. Our firm was involved in the design and > initial product testing of the XW system. It was a bit rocky at the start, > but has been a relatively stable product. The ability to remotely monitor and > program a customer's system is a big plus for a lot of our remote clients. > > The two big complaints I have with the XW is the useless battery capacity > meter. I know there is an add on module available now but have not tested > that. Customers wonder why I put tape over the capacity indicator lights on a > brand new inverter. And the other is long term stability. We find in remote > automated unattended hybrid cycle charge sites that the inverter will at > least once a year screw up, resolved by a power cycle. So we just make it > part of maintenance routines to reboot the systems when we are onsite for > planned service. > > We use SMA Sunny Island product for larger industrial projects. More > expensive, more difficult to set up, more difficult to program - but once > they are up and running solid with no issues and they take better care of > batteries through a smarter charging algorithm. > > Kevin > > > From: RE-wrenches [mailto:re-wrenches-boun...@lists.re-wrenches.org > <mailto:re-wrenches-boun...@lists.re-wrenches.org>] On Behalf Of > john.blittersd...@gmail.com <mailto:john.blittersd...@gmail.com> > Sent: January-14-16 6:36 PM > To: RE-wrenches <re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org > <mailto:re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org>> > Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] battery-based inverter > > Kirk, I agree with Peter. I have installed several Radians with good luck. > I installed one SI and it worked ok but was more expensive and very time > consuming to install. Did one XW and would never do it again. Never has > worked right. > > John > Central Vermont Solar & Wind > > > > > Sent from my iPhone > > On Jan 14, 2016, at 7:37 PM, Peter Parrish <peter.parr...@calsolareng.com > <mailto:peter.parr...@calsolareng.com>> wrote: > > My 2 centavos. Stick with them. I prefer their approach over SMA. > > - Peter > > Peter T. Parrish, Ph.D. > President, SolarGnosis > 1107 Fair Oaks Ave. > Suite 351 > South Pasadena, CA 91030 > (323) 839-6108 > peter...@pobox.com <mailto:peter...@pobox.com> > > From: RE-wrenches [mailto:re-wrenches-boun...@lists.re-wrenches.org > <mailto:re-wrenches-boun...@lists.re-wrenches.org>] On Behalf Of Kirk Herander > Sent: Thursday, January 14, 2016 12:39 PM > To: RE-wrenches > Subject: [RE-wrenches] battery-based inverter > > Hello, > Can anyone recommend a good battery-based inverter for grid-intertie? I need > both generator and utility inputs, 120 or 240 output. I have experience with > the OB Radian series but don’t know what else is out there. Thanks. > > Kirk Herander > Owner|Principal, VT Solar, LLC > Celebrating our 25th Anniversary 1991-2016 > www.vermontsolarnow.com <x-msg://73/www.vermontsolarnow.com> > dba Vermont Solar Engineering > NABCEPTM 2003 Inaugural Certificant > VT RE Incentive Program Partner > 802.863.1202 > > > > > _______________________________________________ > List sponsored by Redwood Alliance > > List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org > <mailto:RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org> > > Change listserver email address & settings: > http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org > <http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org> > > List-Archive: > http://www.mail-archive.com/re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org/maillist.html > <http://www.mail-archive.com/re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org/maillist.html> > > List rules & etiquette: > www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm <http://www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm> > > Check out or update participant bios: > www.members.re-wrenches.org > <http://www.members.re-wrenches.org/>_______________________________________________ > List sponsored by Redwood Alliance > > List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org > <mailto:RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org> > > Change listserver email address & settings: > http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org > <http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org> > > List-Archive: > http://www.mail-archive.com/re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org/maillist.html > <http://www.mail-archive.com/re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org/maillist.html> > > List rules & etiquette: > www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm <http://www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm> > > Check out or update participant bios: > www.members.re-wrenches.org <http://www.members.re-wrenches.org/>
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