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user59781 avatar image
user59781 asked

Victron Energy for a single-family home?

Hello everyone!

I'm already using a Victron Energy MPPT charger, inverter and other products for mobile solar power, and now we're considering a fixed solar installation for our single-family home in Germany. What products does Victron Energy offer for this purpose? E.g. which MPTT chargers, inverters and other components are recommended for powering an entire house?

I'm reading a lot on Off-the-Grid planning, but I want to stay connected to the grid, and only try to cover most of our own consumption with our own production. Of course, I'd work with a local dealer for actual planning and installation, but I'd like to start doing some research first.

Thanks a lot in advance for any ideas!

MPPT Controllersoffgrid
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3 Answers
brg avatar image
brg answered ·

I would recommend that you determine how much energy you will need to run your household and what your peak loads are and that will then allow you to determine which components will be needed to create the power that you need.

Peak power requirements are going to drive the needs which can be much higher than the average power. In my house my average load is about 1375W but if my electric grid back up heat or the stove comes on it can jump to 12kW or more.

VICTRON has the capabilities to provide a whole house solution but it could be pricey. Not sure about your utility supplier but mine provides me how much energy was used in kWh with every bill and I just divide by the number days to get the average per day usage. Peak usage is more challenging and you should look at name plate ratings of the appliances you use.

I have a small UPS like backup system for my house in the US. It would be cost prohibitive for me to provide enough power for the whole house but I can run several circuits that are part of my backup system. I have 20 circuits (all 20A and below) that can be put on my portable generator. As setting up the generator can be a challenge at night or in bad weather I have put together a VICTRON system consisting of 2 Multiplus 3000/120/50 units wired for split phase with about 360Whr of 12V AGM batteries that should give me about 18 hours for my most critical loads of the refrigerator, freezer and electronics.

For whole house you would want to go with a higher voltage battery bank as the biggest basic VICTRON MPPT's can only provide about 100A to a 12V system (limiting solar panel size to 1400W, at 48V the same MPPT could handle 5600W which is the breakeven for some of my friends using solar in Maryland which is not a great place for solar).

My VICTRON system is usually fed by a 40A circuit off of the house but can be switched to the generator when needed. I have put together about 400W of solar (as a test) and have been using the Multiplus capabilities to ignore the grid to use the power. Still working with this system as it has only been together for a couple of weeks but so far I have been impressed with the VICTRON capabilities. Hope this helps.

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Matthias Lange - DE avatar image
Matthias Lange - DE answered ·

We also have a German space:

https://community.victronenergy.com/spaces/81/index.html

But the community is not the place to discuss system designs. You should do that together with your dealer/installer.

But some points:

https://www.victronenergy.com/media/pg/Energy_Storage_System/de/ess-introduction---features.html

- you need to know how much power you want to supply during a grid outage

- you need to know how long you want to supply that power

- what is your average daily power usage?

- how much PV power you want/can you install?

Answering that questions will give you an idea what components you need.

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kevgermany avatar image kevgermany ♦♦ commented ·
@user59781

Just to add, Victron has a full range - panels, batteries, MPPTs, inverter chargers, monitoring, remote monitoring. And fully supports the three phase installation you already have.

All the products are listed in groups on the products link at victronenergy.com and from the individual product you can download datasheets/manuals and other documentation. Also links to the online html docs.

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pyrorider avatar image
pyrorider answered ·

The usual BlueSolar/SmartSolar MPPT Chargers and the MultiPlus II devices (for fixed Home installation use the 48V version) and then choose if you need the transfer switch capability and if you need single phase 3/5(4.6)kW or three phase 9/15kW

I am from germany and am installing a MultiPlus II 48/5000 with 48V 5kWh battery currently

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