# Major Upgrade to My Solar Setup (20kW Hybrid System)

**URL:** <https://community.victronenergy.com/t/major-upgrade-to-my-solar-setup-20kw-hybrid-system/46135>\
**Category:** Show us your system\
**Tags:** ac\_coupling, parallel, multiplus-ii, vrm, offgrid, diy\
**Created:** [28 September 2025 13:06 UTC](https://community.victronenergy.com/t/major-upgrade-to-my-solar-setup-20kw-hybrid-system/46135 "2025-09-28T13:06:08Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![bigbrovar](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/victron/user_avatar/community.victronenergy.com/bigbrovar/32/22011_2.png) [@bigbrovar](https://community.victronenergy.com/u/bigbrovar)\
**Post date:** [28 September 2025 13:06 UTC](https://community.victronenergy.com/t/major-upgrade-to-my-solar-setup-20kw-hybrid-system/46135/1 "2025-09-28T13:06:08Z")

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I recently finished a major upgrade to my solar setup in mostly sunny Abuja Nigeria. Previously I was running a 10 kW PV array with:

- 2 × Victron Smart MPPT 250/100

- 10 kVA Multiplus II

- 28 kWh LiFePO₄ storage

I’ve now expanded to a **20 kW hybrid setup** :

### **PV Generation**

**DC Coupled**

- 5.4 kW Canadian Solar → Victron Smart MPPT 150/100

- 5.2 kW Jinko → Victron Smart MPPT 250/100

- 3.5 kW Jinko → Victron Multi RS (MPPT1)

- 4 kW Jinko → Victron Multi RS (MPPT2)

**AC Coupled**

- 2.5 kW Longi → Deye SUN-M220/225G4 Micro Inverter (AC coupled to heavy load inverter output)

### **Inverters & Loads**

- **Victron Multiplus II 10 kVA** → Dedicated to heavy appliances (3 × 1.5 HP AC, 2 × 2 HP AC, 3.7 kW induction cooker, 3 kW oven, multiple water heaters).

- **Victron Multi RS 6000 VA** → Handles lighter loads (lighting, TV, sockets, etc).

- Both run on **separate house circuits** (wired this way from the start).

### **Battery Storage**

- 14.7 kWh × 4 (≈ 56 kWh total) LiFePO₄ banks

- JK Inverter BMS (4 units, parallel and data linked )

- Integrated with GX device via CAN

### **GX Device**

- Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 (eMMC) + dual CAN hat + cooling fan in DIN-rail case

- Running Venus OS Large

- Chose this route to leverage Node-RED automation & extra compute power (also had spare Pis).

- DIY GX solution was more cost-effective and very flexible.

 ![IMG_20250928_140242](https://europe1.discourse-cdn.com/victron/original/3X/c/4/c4a6182fb4198e099e45bee4811760911016dc82.jpeg)

### **DIY & Cost-Saving Hacks**

- Built my own “poor man’s Lynx distributor” using a SmartShunt + busbars — works perfectly.

 ![IMG_20250928_134916](https://europe1.discourse-cdn.com/victron/original/3X/7/6/76f7e42853392b1b46892c8e9422b338c027eb49.jpeg)

### **AC Coupling Behavior**

The Deye Micro Inverter impressed me: it reacts quickly to frequency shifts from the Multiplus.

- At absorption (55.2 V), the system smoothly adjusts as the Deye ramps down.

- The Multiplus manages frequency shifts to keep balance without issue.

I’ll post a more detailed review of the Deye soon, since there’s very little info here about its performance in **AC-coupled mode**.

### **Automation & Monitoring**

- Heavy use of **Node-RED** for smart automation.

- Example: weather forecast automation (via Solcast) predicts next-day solar yield and adjusts grid-input allowance automatically.

- Monitoring migrated to **Grafana** (self-hosted) → richer metrics than VRM and full data ownership.

 ![IMG_20250808_135023](https://europe1.discourse-cdn.com/victron/original/3X/3/3/3345e26bde070a04948f9e7d90d7f2107d76178b.jpeg)

 ![IMG_20250924_065101](https://europe1.discourse-cdn.com/victron/original/3X/d/0/d0f0692912dc979da2d11592d0eef6c4cc3f5123.jpeg)

 ![IMG_20250915_111956](https://europe1.discourse-cdn.com/victron/original/3X/3/e/3ec1b63bb754f273892d51a0baf1e9c7d7c1fed0.jpeg)

👉 **Live Dashboard:**  
[https://helio.openculture.org.ng/public-dashboards/867d6afd562543508eaf080533e7b652](https://helio.openculture.org.ng/public-dashboards/867d6afd562543508eaf080533e7b652)

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Marc\_HD](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/victron/user_avatar/community.victronenergy.com/marc_hd/32/9108_2.png) [@Marc\_HD](https://community.victronenergy.com/u/Marc_HD)\
**Post date:** [28 September 2025 18:48 UTC](https://community.victronenergy.com/t/major-upgrade-to-my-solar-setup-20kw-hybrid-system/46135/2 "2025-09-28T18:48:55Z")

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Hello bigbrovar,

very nice and clean installation. Very impressive use of grafana👍

Only a question (grafana):

Where are the 1.2PWh🤭 from? Do you have any clue what happend there?

 ![IMG_7744](https://europe1.discourse-cdn.com/victron/original/3X/6/7/67d88b6f1fdda7382cf5922d85fb93922a290a17.png)

Have fun

Marc