Start up voltage Ecco 5.5 / 8.8
HI,
Newbie to the forum and hoping for some advice!
We are about to go ahead with a Sunsynk install but not sure which inverter to get, Ecco 5.5 or Ecco 8.8kW. South UK, south facing roof, no shading, array of 7.2-7.5kW with 2x 5kW Sunsynk batteries. All electric property. Looking to export excess solar (Octopus) when available and batteries are full.
Is the minimum load for the inverter to start working in in low light conditions the same for both these inverter sizes?
Sunsunk advisor I spoke to seems to 'think' it is and the same for the efficiency of both inverters in low light but then advised to check the minimum startup load in the datasheets to be sure.
Now, I am not sure what to look at in the datasheet! I can see a minimum start up voltage for the Ecco 3.6 (125V) but the 5.5 and 8.8 datasheets do not?
All but one quote we have spec an 8.8 inverter, one installer is convinced this is a waste of money....
What would you do? We are not to fussed by the price difference of the two inverters
Thanks!
So, after all your helpful advice and some calculation we decided to go with the 8.8kW inverter. Now we get different advise on the type of DNO application - from the different installers that quoted AND from the DNO that we have now called with the same question 2 occasions!
Our DNO is SSEN (england)
the answers the DNO gave us on our proposed system are:
Employee 1: you need to do full / standard G99 regardless of inverter limitations that your installer can set on the inverter.
Employee 2: you can do a G99 fast track + G100MEL if you limit the inverter to 7.36. You can then apply to have the cap removed later if approved.
So, in the first case we would have a 10 wk wait before we know what we can / cannot do and start install, with the 2nd chap we know in 2 wks which is a lot more attractive.....
Now, on the website one of the criteria for G99 fast track (regardless of category it seems) is:
"The intrinsic Design Capacity of each new and existing generating unit is no more than 32A"
https://www.ssen.co.uk/our-services/new-supplies/generation-connections/micro-generation-connections/g99-fast-track-process/
If the 'intrinsic Design Capacity' is the same as the rated output on the datasheet - for the Ecco 8.8 that would be 34.6A and 40A max - in which case fast track would not be possible? Or is that number also allowed to be 'limited' / automatically limited if the power output gets adjusted down?
Has anyone recently done a G99 fast track with a 8.8kW inverter (SG1-2 or SG1-3 form A1-2)
Confused....what a minefield!