I have a fairly straight forward [I think] system which includes a mains grid connection,
and battery bank ,I already have a plug and play Epever 5kw working but want to swap to victron.
I have a friend who retired from electronic work and will help me install ,Do you think the pre-programming offered by “bimblesolar” [or any other retailer ] would be a good investment [starting at £250 ] ?
Depends on where you buy the hardware and what you pay for that.
thankyou for response, Bimble solar offer a price match guarantee so im happy getting a good deal ,the question is really ,how difficult is it to programme an “easy solar” and how much time would said programming take?
Well, you answered your own question there. I don’t think you will find any other installer willing to the work for less on equipment not bought with them.
So this is a classical case of value selling versus margin buying. Does it matter how much work it is for a trained professional when the job is too difficult for you to do yourself and/or will take you too much of your own valuable time to learn?
250 is a bit high, maybe you can ask them to get a lower price if you only have one device.
The time you need depends on the system.
You have to unpack the device, place it on your workbench, hook it up to AC and DC, install all FW updates, do the settings, test it, remove all wires and put it back in the box.
If you know what you do that takes around 10-15min for a single EasySolar.
For a 3-phase system it could be 20-30min.
Our price here in Germany is around 50-100€.
Do you also provide offer that price when the equipment is bought elsewhere and/or does your company provide a price match guarantee as well? No offense, honest question.
This is the point of the matter:
We don’t offer such things.
If you find it cheaper somewhere, buy it there but if you have question and ask us you have to pay for our service if you didn’t buy it from us.
Most cheap online stores can’t offer you support.
So you have to decide.
Pay a few bugs more and get free after sales service or save a few bucks, don’t get any support and pay later if you have problems.
Knowledge/Service costs money so the prices needs to be a bit higher.
You could also invest the time to study all the manuals and do all the trainings at Victron Professional so you can DIY.
1 Like
great answer, thankyou. I would be willing to learn as i like to be capable of maintaining equipment .I wasnt sure what was involved . now I do
I would be happy to learn but wasnt sure if my skills would be up to the job .perhaps i should just get it installed professionly if its only less than an hour to programme . thanks
@alanb Don’t forget to program the system you may need a MK3 dongle to program it, but not not required if you will connect it to VRM and do so via the remote veconfigure option. (you also have to install the software on your PC to configure the downloaded config file and upload it again.) Another option is to have it remotely configured once set up and in place.
Surely you meant ‘deerskin’ : https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/233575/why-do-people-say-buck-for-a-dollar
Yes, it was a typo.
Just joking.
Anyway, asking £250 for ‘programming’ a single EasySolar does come across pretty steep if no further site dependent customisations are involved. Makes me wonder what exactly is getting ‘programmed’ besides firmware updates and maybe some basic battery parameters then. But if it involves on-site / after installation work and/or involves a Cerbo GX setup all the way to a functional system and VRM access it might turn out to be a steal. OP’s question doesn’t provide enough information to make this call really.
1 Like
I’ll do it for 249 
1 Like
The price does include remote help after install but .I think I will just get the installer to do the full job .
I had thought if it’s just swapping out the old epever for essentially a plug and play victron (preprogrammed) my electronics buddy could do the job ,as he did before .
It sounds like I need some after install assistance ,plus additional tools if thinking of DIY thankyou for the advice