Well I have to say this post is an anti recommendation, if there is a word for that. I guess a warning! Don't buy a Solax system until you read the below and know what your getting yourself into.
I had a Solax based system installed end of Nov and to be honest its performing far from my expectations.
So firstly I have worked out that its basically impossible to get an accurate generation figure from solax based systems.
The daily total is "yield" which is a combined total of what is generated plus used from battery. Unless you know the starting and ending point of the battery you cannot therefore get an accurate generation number. More on batteries below.
You can download data, in 5 minute or 30 minute segments. However it isn't apparent exactly what this data is.
It seems what it actually is is a delayed "spot" value. So for example if I download my daily data it will time stamp it something like 12:48:30 but it in reality is from 12:45
5 minute data and 30 minute data will supply the same values at the same time, so 12:48:30 will have the same voltage, amps etc for both the 5 minute and 30 minute windows, the only data that will display differently is the daily "yield" etc
Anything thats live will be a snapshot, so eg to from grid, from panels etc all just a snapshot in time. Totals will be incremented to that point in time.
So there seems to be no actual way to get hold of a simple figure like whats actually been generated. A 5 minute snapshot will of course be pretty accurate, but its not going to be super accurate. I assume many manufacturers will take a 5 minute snapshot rather than fully real time calculating generation/usage etc
Now hardware.
There is good and bad here.
The good, the install looks neat, probably the neatest of any I have seen. The system is modular and stacks nicely, either in a single stack or multiple stacks.
If you have multiple stacks then you will have a small amount of cabling between the "boxes" but that is minor.
Otherwise its pretty much all contained in a stack, isolators etc built in. It really does look like the picture, bar the main feed coming in from supply meter.
https://www.solaxpower.com/x-ess-g4/ The key part is however optional, the mate box which sits above the BMS and below the inverter. This is basically pre wired in the factory so everything is basically connected to that.
The batteries as well charge like hell, as long as they are not holding back they will charge at 5.5kwh from the grid. So should there be a short window you want to charge in, such as with Go, or maybe some other tariff then they will charge quickly.
Unfortunately thats about the end of the good.
The bad.
The software, I mean all of it, is just flawed. As above it doesn't show you generation, you have to kind of calculate that yourself. The terminology is kind of weird everywhere with Chinglish in many places.
Parts of the web portal don't always work, such as the daily generation didn't work for around a month. Often just times out, can take 5-10 minutes to load a previous days data.
If your into data, and software and want a decent seamless experience, then Solax is not for you. Likewise if you want to just be able to go, oh I generated 3.5kwh today, its not for you.
Oh actually one minor point of software is good, they were very quick to push a firmware upgrade to BMS and batteries when requested.
No idea how often they update firmware, but my BMS and batteries had different versions and were suspected to be behind an issue I will get to in regard batteries.
So the really bad bit. Well for the UK its batteries.
I first logged a "I'm not sure this is right" query in regards my batteries about 5 days after installation when I was convinced that I was falling well short of advertised output. I was told its all fine.
They are 12.3kwh with 10% DOD, specs quote 11kwh useable.
I am fairly certain based on really low generation days that my battery output is 8.4kwh give or take a little.
When we had the cold spell they stopped charging, I know from calling the installer that this happened to plenty of others since I was told I was one of a fair few calling in with the same issue.
Now bear in mind, these batteries are marketed as "combining the latest technology the X-ESS can withstand temperatures as low as -30 degrees celsius and as high as 50 degrees celsius".
So you wouldn't have thought that hitting zero or just below would stop them working completely, but it did and was again told thats what they do.
I would point out at this point, the installer at no point ever said there was a high chance that there would be times they would not work AT ALL.
I recently checked the input values since I charge during the Go window I have a very flat base line of energy usage.
The website values gave me a similar value of input from both Solax and Octopus. I was in fact only drawing around 9kwh of energy rather than something around 11.5 that I was expecting.
And yet the batteries were showing them charging from 10% to 100%. With a max draw of 5.5kwh they were claiming to draw enough to charge to full in 1hr 40 minutes.
No amount of wonky maths will get 1.66x 5.5 to be 11+
So I again contacted the installer about this issue, with examples and data to support my "they are not working correctly".
They came back to me to say thats working as expected when it warms up they will perform better oh, but not if it gets too hot.
Now bear in mind they were installed towards the End of November, it wasn't particularly cold then, and they did not perform to expectations at that point.
I am wondering now when they will. I am trying to get into contact with UK support, but got a bounce back message from the email they listed so thats not great either. I want to know what actual range they want. bear in mind the batteries are saying they are between 12-20 degrees and they aren't charging fully.
Once generation gets up and its warmish, I am going to have to make sure my batteries are basically drained so I can charge them overnight, its the only way to see what they will actually store, since the SoC (state of charge) basically lies.
Sorry for the long post and being a bit ranty at times. I really think anyone considering a Solax system should be aware of the above.
I don't think its much to ask that you can see your generation, and batteries that are claimed to withstand temperatures of -30 can actually work in typical UK temperatures.
I will report back if I make any progress. If not then take that as a further warning!
