Hi,
Does victron plan on making any high voltage inverters? Like 135 - 600V dc input?
Seeing a few new batteries in this range, like FreedomWon Lite HV range.
Thanks
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High Voltage Inverters
As noted in the Community Guidelines this isn't the place for discussion about possible future models or lineups from Victron. Should there be plans for high-voltage inverters, there will certainly be an announcement of that when the time is right; until then, however, speculation is fruitless.
Victron has announced a HV inverter. Multi HS19 15kW
https://www.victronenergy.com/blog/2023/06/08/will-we-see-you-at-intersolar-europe-2023/
Just currently no ETA.
A lot of systems prefer to keep the DC voltages below 60V, because if you go above this the safety regulations mean much more stringent rules about construction/insulation/shielding of the entire DC circuit (batteries, busbars, fuses, contactors, switches...) and this puts costs up (and reduces supplier/component choice), as well as needing more stringent certification.
The AC part is all designed for 230V with readily available low-cost components designed for this.
I agree and in the control system I design we are required to keep things below 50V for regulation. Just seeing a lot of the EV industry moving to 600V-1000V and there are a lot of advantages too, efficiency gains to name one. SolarEdge is running 600V strings so I think the industry as a whole is moving into high voltage as the future.
I think you talk about Solar inverters. Victron don't have that at all. Victron only have battery inverters.
SolarEdge already makes a Hybrid inverter using LG Chem batteries.
https://www.solaredge.com/us/products/the-solaredge-energy-hub-solution/battery
Battery runs 350V to 450V DC
https://es-media-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/media/components/panels/spec-sheets/200211_Data_sheet_RESU10H_type_R_ver5.0.pdf
This provides both ESS and backup incase of an outage.
BEVs are using high voltages (400V now, 800V in new designs) because they need power outputs of 100kW or more (lots more in many cases), which is impossible with 50V systems.
For most domestic systems (and boats...) the power levels are much lower, 50V is fine for 10kW or even a bit higher, and probably still cheaper and easier than a HV system.
As the power levels go up HV systems becomes more attractive, the cost will come down as these become more and more common (SolarEdge, PowerWall etc.), and the power crossover point will also fall.
Sooner or later Victron will need HV solutions or they're be squeezed out of the higher-power market segment...
Exactly, We consistently build systems that are 36 to 48kVA. It is a massive pain and expense to have thick cables and huge busbars.
We have looked at other options but really like the easy of controlling victron products and have an existing software stack. The limit of 180kVA is also a problem for us on some sites. I know this isn't a real problem for most victron customers as there are very few people building systems this big but we have existing software that plays really nicely with Victron.
Would really like to have the ability to use high voltage batteries with Victron. We have real world experience that there is a 8~10% efficiency gain with high voltage batteries and much easier wiring.
Voltage is cheaper than amperage. I'd rather run a bunch of LifePO4's in series at say 300V/200AH to make a 60kW battery bank. A 48V/ system would need 1250AH batteries in parallel that will need constant balancing plus monster charging requirements. Plus, no cell balancing in series. High voltage is win-win.
High voltage is dangerous to work with, I would expect, at some point, a product for this, but this isn't the place where it will be discussed.
The RS architecture is well suited to it, and it is more efficient for large systems.
Locally, the Chinese brands are doing quite well with their new HV lines.
