Phocos announced its new Any-Grid hybrid inverter series at Intersolar Europe. The first product release of this series is a 48 VDC input, 5 kW, 230 VAC output sine wave inverter with a built-in 80A MPPT PV charging controller. The Any-Grid hybrid inverter series is designed for flexible energy access to support a wide range of conditions, including grid-connected, grid-edge, and off-grid applications. This new product provides the reliability of a true sine wave inverter and the efficiency of an 80 A MPPT solar charge controller, which can manage multiple energy sources and provide customers with a cost-effective integrated solution. It will be released in the United States.

Phocos designed the Any-Grid hybrid inverter series based on customer feedback to create a scalable and powerful product line suitable for global households, businesses and industries, regardless of the unique energy access challenges they face. This product provides a real solution for grid edge applications, where power access may be unreliable, in a transitional period, or may change in the future. The Any-Grid hybrid inverter solution provides options for seamless combination of multiple energy sources, such as grid power, generators, and solar power generation systems. This flexibility helps end users maximize the use of today's available energy resource mix and provide long-term value by adapting to changing energy needs and the ability to acquire resources over time.

"We are known for developing smart solutions to improve reliable energy access for end users. This comes from decades of off-grid practical experience, and we understand the actual conditions under which our products operate," said Phoco CEO James Polcyn. "Our Any-Grid hybrid inverter series continues this tradition and truly meets the growing demand for practical, reliable and cost-effective solutions for grid edge applications. We are very pleased to have the opportunity to provide our world to this market. First-class power electronics expertise," he added.

The Any-Grid Hybrid Inverter can flexibly select a charging source with an easy-to-program charging profile through an intuitive LCD user interface and remote installation options. It is compatible with all commercially available lead-acid and LiFePO4 (lithium iron phosphate) batteries, and has a built-in data logger that can be accessed in the field or through the PhocosLink app to remotely monitor the device on a smartphone or tablet. If the grid or generator fails, Any-Grid Hybrid Inverter can immediately switch to off-grid mode, effectively acting as a UPS, so the load is always safe to supply power. In batteryless mode, the Any-Grid hybrid inverter can act as a solar UPS by supplying power to the load directly from the solar array. For customers who initially installed Any-Grid hybrid inverters in off-grid applications but experience grid expansion in the future, the transition to grid interactive operability is seamless and does not require hardware replacement. The integrated high-efficiency MPPT PV charge controller with high-voltage PV input limitation allows the use of higher voltage PV modules available on the market, thereby realizing a very cost-effective solar installation. For systems that start small and grow over time, up to nine Any-Grid hybrid inverters can be connected in parallel or three-phase to provide up to 45 kW of synchronous AC power.

Kelsey is the senior editor of "Solar World".

Is Phocos a transformer-based inverter?

Hope you can find you. My question is whether Alex can use the Phocos 5kw hybrid inverter function without a battery. For example, it is purely to subsidize electricity bills.

Hi Jason, I contacted Phoco to answer your question. If I receive a reply, I will let you know. Thank you for reading!

The response of Phocos technical team: Yes. There is no special setting (although we recommend setting menu 01 to "SUB"), just don't connect the battery, only connect the AC input, PV and AC load. Make sure that the AC output is turned on.

Yes. It can work without battery

I was in a dilemma. When reviewing the inverter, I finally narrowed the scope to Phocos based on the quotation and the specifications and functions advertised on the inverter. Electricity, generators and solar systems can be seamlessly combined. "It seems that this is not the case. If the usage exceeds the electricity generated by the PV, then any grid inverter cannot supply power from the difference between PV and the grid at the same time. I found that the inverter specifications need to be rephrased because it is misleading because Some customers like me will buy this type of inverter in order to never connect it to a battery, but to run it to minimize the cost of electricity during the day. I think my search will have to continue, although Disappointed

Hi Alex, I contacted Phoco to answer your question. If I receive a reply, I will let you know. Thank you for reading!

The response of the Phocos technical team: Any-Grid PSW-H can actually mix AC input power and photovoltaic power at the same time, and there is no opposite wording. We are not sure what makes you think that PSW-H "cannot provide differential electricity from photovoltaic and grid at the same time"? This is incorrect, so please let us explain, because it is born to do this. Yes, you do not need to connect the battery to use this device. In fact, in some cases, you can even use only PV and AC loads (no AC power and batteries), as described on our website in this blog post – https://www.phocos.com/product-news /The only use case for any grid -psw-h-increase-utility-grid-independence/. For faster response, if you have any further technical questions, please fill in the technical request form at the foot of http://www.phocos.com. We are happy to support you.

I see that the phono has galvanically isolated common positive and negative connection options inside the inverter. Does this apply to solar panels whose positive pole is connected to ground? For example, traditional solar panels?

Hi Richard, I contacted Phocos to answer your question. If I receive a reply, I will let you know. Thank you for reading!

Phoco technical team reply: Thank you for your question. What needs to be clear is that the wording in the data sheet is "the galvanic isolation of the battery allows the positive or negative pole to be grounded." It is not mentioned that the photovoltaic array is isolated from AC output or AC input, but this is not the case. So the positive or negative pole of the battery can be grounded. But it is not allowed to ground the PV+ or PV- wire because the PV is not isolated from the AC side. We have an attachment to share with Kelsey Misbrener, which shows the topology overview to make it clearer, the only galvanic isolation is the "isolated bidirectional DC buck/boost converter". We hope there is a way for you to understand this.

Hi Trevor Refer to your comment on January 3, 2020, shouldn't the link port you indicated be the opposite?

That is, the battery-to-battery cable from the main battery should be "empty" on link port 0 (master) to link port 0 (slave).

Secondly, the dial switch... If the master is at 1000, the slave should be at 0000, according to the Phocos-Pylon manual? Please give an opinion

I have connected a pylon tech 48V 2.4kw battery to my 5KVA Phocos inverter, but it keeps flashing error 61

Thank you for your question. Phocos technical team will be able to provide support quickly. If you can fill out the technical support form (https://www.phocos.com/contact/), they will help you solve this problem so you won't feel frustrated anymore. As another option, this week we just updated the battery interface description of the brand. You can find it under "Battery Interface" here https://www.phocos.com/product/psw-h-3-kw-5-kw/

Please tell me how to connect two or more inverters in parallel to achieve more kva in string connection. Do I need to connect the outputs of two or more inverters in parallel

Thanks for your question. Please refer to the manual for further support. Go to https://www.phocos.com/product/psw-h-3-kw-5-kw/ to enter the product landing page. Then scroll down to just above the first video to view the manual section. We provide customers with English and 5 other languages. Also, if it helps, you can watch part 1 or part 2 of the 3-part webinar series to get more support on priorities and wiring. https://www.phocos.com/psw-h-any-grid-videos/

A 5kva Phocis inverter has just been installed, and 8 jJA 325w solar panels are connected in series. Two U2000 48v Pylon Tech 2,4 kW are used in parallel for the battery. Please confirm that the cable connection between the battery and the inverter and the communication cable between the batteries are necessary. There are 61 fault warnings (flashing), which I cannot identify from the manual. Can you give advice. Thank you very much D Riley

Your batteries are not connected to each other, nor to the inverter. You need to connect the Pylontech battery RS cable to link port 0 of one battery and link port 1 of battery two. Once you have done this, select 1000 on the first battery on the ADD, which will make the first battery the main battery. Select 0100 on the second battery on ADD to make the second battery a slave device. Connect the communication cable connected to the RS485 port on the battery to your Phocos communication port. Restart the entire system and your problem should be resolved. Make sure your battery terminals are diagonally connected to the negative and positive terminals before opening

Hi Kelsey, could you please tell me how much your 5kw phocos solar inverter is and how much it costs to ship to Zambia, Africa

Please contact Phocos directly to obtain this information.

Thank you William for your request. Phocos does not sell directly, but we have this landing page to help customers find resources to buy our products. Please visit this website page and select your region. You will be able to access the application form, contact information of Phoco representatives, and sometimes distribution options based on your country/region. Thanks again for your attention. https://www.phocos.com/where-to-buy/

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