PowMr 5000W Solar Inverter 240V Split Phase

Final edit:As of today I have been off grid nonstop with this unit for exactly one year. It hung up only once, and that might have been my fault. Not sure exactly what happened but I am very pleased with the unit. It has paid for itself.Display would go wonky occasionally when pressing buttons. Turned out I was inadvertantly also pressing on area below buttons. Stopped habit and display has been fine. I have really grown to like this unit despite a few minor quirks it has.Edit:Reconfigured my panel strings to all have nearly equal total Vmp voltages, and each string has about the same shading throughout the day. Basically pulled all of the power inflection points together. In English, each string behaves very similarly to the other strings. System is performing much better now. I have been impressed with how well this unit works once you are aware of its limitations. Been running the house on it for a month with ZERO issues. Upping to 5 stars.Edit #2:I have had numerous written conversations with (friendly and responsive) manufacturer. Some of my questions got answered but some did not, probably due to language barrier. I have set boost voltage to about 55 V, boost duration to lowest positive time, and float voltage to 54.2 V. I have a very large battery bank. As a result, even 60 Amps of incoming current barely raises voltage above resting.Be aware that there is a 20A limit on PV input current. So say you have 4.9 kW of panel power (49 100W panels as 7 strings of 7 panels each. Assume Vmp is 20V and Imp is 5 Amps. So you have 140 Volts and 5 Amps per string. PV total is 140 V and 35 A but controller will stop at 20 A so it will only harvest 2.8 kW max. Solution is obvious...reconfigure to raise string voltage. You pretty much HAVE to use high string voltages due to this 20A limitation. No big deal if you are aware up front.Bottom line: this is a very reliable, full featured unit, although it could be better. Manual needs work and the MPPT tracking software is mediocre at best. I suggest locating the 60A PowMr MPPT Controller listing and download the user manual link. That applies for charging and the manual is written MUCH better.If this unit lasts ten years then the initial price difference over less expensive units will have been well worth it. I am fairly happy with my purchase, and would be very happy if my panels were in full sun all day. Then the MPPT tracking would not be an issue. I give 5 stars if using in full sun and 3 stars if using partially shaded.Edit #1:There are some issues with the manual, although it is better written than mamy others I have seen. They never describe how the software goes about charging the different battery types. They need to, with graphs, because they do not seem to be doing it the standard way. For example, what value holds the initial voltage the charger will end constant voltage charging at? Is it boost voltage? What does boost voltage do, and to what battery types does it apply? Why does it say no float for lithium but then give flioat voltages for each lithium battery type preset? How does their equalization charge work, and what battery types does it apply to? Why do none of the lithium presets match to the typical 100Ahr LiFePO4 battery? On page 38 they describe initial settings for various lithium battery types. They use labels like LFP15 and LFP16, but never explain what the numbers mean. An internet search suggests these are just arbitrary numbers but then why not start with 1?If seller responds I will post the answers here.Original reviewAfter a cheaper inverter destroyed $400 in household appliances I decided to try this one.Have been using it about a week an am pretty impressed. It takes awhile to boot up. That is good because it indicates the unit is doing a lot of checking things out. It has worked well powering the house, and nothing unexpected has happened so far. It also puts out a real 120V, which I really like. Other units I tried put out 115V, probably to claim they support both 110V and 120V without a switch. Really bad things can happen when the voltage varies by more than 10% from what electronics are expecting.There are a lot of configuration options and a lot of alarms. This was initially overwhelming but it mostly makes sense now. This unit is incredibly flexible. You can use multiple units to do split phase and three phase. You can generate 120V, 208V, or 240V. I have a second unit arriving today to try 240V split phase, which is what the power grid delivers to most homes in the US. Note that with the second unit you double the 5kW of power capability...but you also double the idle power consumption.The idle power consumption is not bad. It has a variable speed fan, which indicates the designers were thinking. Like other units of this size, plan for at least two extra 100W solar panels and at least a 100Ah 12V battery just to handle the idle power consumption on sunny daysThe MPPT controller part will accept up to 500 VOC strings of solar panels, but note that you have to have panel strings of over 120V to generate any charging power. This is great because when you jack up the panel voltage you reduce the current. Current, not voltage, impacts wire size and efficiency. There is a potential downside, at least right now, in that the MPPT software (I have version 2.2.5) appears to pick the first inflection point instead of scanning the entire power curve. I initially had two 420V panel strings. In full sunlight it cranked out the power but if one unit was partly shaded and the other in full sun, output was very poor. I currently have 5 150V strings feeding the panel. Yesterday one string was in full sun and the other four were partially shaded. By disconnecting the four partly shaded strings I got DOUBLE the total power output (from just having one sunny string) ! It appears the inverter software is updateable and I hope manufacturer fixes this software issue. I do have blocking diodes every two panels so the power from the sunny string was NOT backing up into the 4 partly shaded panels (which is what I was testing for). It is definitely an issue with how the MPPT software works. It should periodically scan the ENTIRE power curve to find the inflection point that generates the most power. The difference in total harvested power can be substantial. Many lower priced quality MPPT converters do this, and I have two of them. Easy check is for software to try significantly higher voltage after finding an reflection point. If power is higher at test point than inflection point, start checking again from test point.I like that this has a grid transfer switch built in, but have not used it yet.

This is the second one we’ve tried from Pow MR. The first one was dead on arrival. This second one (this one) was making loud popping noises and then started smoking. The third one has issues with error code 21 which POW MR says is the fans.Here’s the email from Powmr.OK, please send me your inverter's product label and fill in the after-sales sheet.Tell me your order number and the purchase platform.Send me the video that shows the 21 code on your inverter's display with only battery connection. I need to send these to my manager, then try to give you the new fans for the replacement.The fact of the matter is I didn’t spend the money to have to repair their products. I expected something that works. They should’ve sent a replacement product. My husband is great with electronics and could easily fix this if it is just fans. Personally as customer with no experience in electronics, I shouldn’t have to take apart sensitive equipment to try and fix it myself. I’m sure there are a lot of people in that situation. Amazon only offers a return option for these devices. You can’t get a replacement when you return it. It says it can take up to 30 days for a refund so in the meantime, if you need an immediate replacement you have to order another device and wait for your money to come back.In conclusion I tried three different models of pow mr and all had issues. If possible, I would suggest spending a little bit more money on a more reputable brand.

I have used several of the single phase inverters before. This system has two inverters that are connected together. The literature is not adequate and the tech support site would not open for me. It took me three days to figure out how to make these work. The videos finally led me to the solution. I have now been using them for two weeks and this is a wonderful system. Based on my previous experience with the 3000 watt inverters, I expect these to perform well. My oldest 3000 is about three years old and still works great, I just wanted more power (10,000 watts). I chose these because up to six units can be linked together. If I need it I could have 30,000 watts and three phase power. I kept one of my old 3000 watt inverters dedicated to lighting because I have two well pumps that created a flicker in the lights when they started. This solved the issue. Most people probably wouldn't care, but I had the 3000 anyway.

These inverters are the best ones I can find. They have a hybrid mode which uses what it can from solar. And supplements it with the grid so you can get the maximum use from your panels.Other models say they're batteryless, however I couldn't get any of the other ones to work properly without the batteries. Including others from PowMr.Unfortunately I exchanged the first couple I bought for 220 volt split phase inverters, due to not getting these to work properly on 220 without batteries.Now I have returned the other ones for these agin. Out of the 5 I have had only one appears to have a problem and is currently being returned due to them not allowing a straight forward exchange even with the insurance I purchased. I have no idea where that went, never got the email and I am not sure of where to send it to have warranty work done.But all said and done, if your reading this review. This is the best one for the buck, both price and it capabilities.Powmr has gone above and beyond on all their products.

Getting vdc on pv right off inverter. No ac output. Just no bueno all the way around. Worked for a minute then said nope.Update; seller was very helpful. Gave refund and a discount on new inverter. Hoping for better luck with this one. Will update!Additional update; received new 10kW split phase inverter the company sold me at a discount. Didn’t last 5 minutes after sun came up. Had under 200vdc on x2 pv arrays. Pulling less then 13a. Well below specs. Fried. Looking for a full refund and will be going with different manufacturer.