Does GivEnergy support multiple single phase inverter setups?

Do single phase 5kW hybrid Gen3 inverters connected to a Gen 3 GIV-BAT 9.5kW battery and 7kW of solar panels support adding an additional inverter, either hybrid or string, to allow the connection of additional strings of solar panels?
I already have the System described above, but would like to expand it by adding another 9.5kW Gen 3 GIV-BAT and add another string of solar panels to take advantage of solar from the West roof of my property. I currently have solar panels on my South and East facing roofs, so the generation falls off dramatically in the afternoon.

Obviously, if I was installing a new system now I would have gone for the new All in One 2, which would have solved this problem entirely because it has inputs for upto 6 strings and an enormous amount of additional battery storage if required (upwards of 60kW). I also believe the new All in One 2 is compatible with having multiple inverters working together to increase the output power. Whats not to like!

However I cannot afford to replace my existing system, so the issue is how can I add additional strings of solar panels to my existing system?

Regards
Lippy

P.S. My Installer would be doing all the work, this is just so I can understand the concept.

Lippy I can't speak from experience, but afaik if you have a second ac-coupled inverter, your hybrid inverter will charge battery from any excess power that would otherwise be exported.

A second hybrid inverter with its own battery may be complex if they fight over which covers consumption. There may also be cross-charging. But I think arranging them as main and secondary (so that one does most of the work) could eliminate that.

Adding second battery to the existing hybrid is possibly simpler.

DD Thanks DD, I think with my current setup just adding another battery would be the most cost effective choice. Trying to add more solar just sounds complicated and expensive.

GivEnergy have a lot of information on their website. However, I couldn't find anything on multiple inverter setups.

Regards
Lippy

@Lippy Hi Lippy. I have a similar setup (Hybrid 5kW running two 9.5 batteries and some PV) and had a similar thought. I raised the question in this thread: https://community.givenergy.cloud/d/5676-aio-and-hybrid-inverter-together
My original plan was to use an AIO, but as you say adding another Hybrid 5 inverter is the most cost effective route and would cover what I want. The thread explains how a second inverter - from around post 13 if I recall correctly.

The TLDR was that it CAN be done, and GE accept that it can be done, but because GE don't officially support such a setup you might have problems finding an installer who is willing to put the second inverter in for you... I don't think we are supposed to do it DIY, and most installers will be concerned about being held responsible for an unofficial setup (GE's first response to a fault is "contact your installer").

Pete.J Hi Pete.J,

Thanks for your reply. I asked my original installer for some upgrade options as we are very impressed with the performance of installation so far, although it could be very much improved, and he suggested using a string inverter to add additional solar panels. So, I wanted to get my head around that before he comes out to do a survey.

I couldn't find any information on the GivEnergy web site regarding multiple inverter setups using hybrid inverters. I did find some interesting YouTube videos made by GivEnergy which explained how the new version of the AIO 2 can be connected together, along with multiple stacks of batteries, which had the advantage of not only expanding the battery storage capacity, but also increases the charge/discharge and import/export rate!

I know getting my installer to add an additional 9.5kW battery would be easy and hopefully mean no changes to my DNO, since my export rate would still be capped at 5kWh.

I would like to add more solar though as our current setup misses out on the afternoon sun.

My initial thoughts were to ask if my installer could put the East and West strings in parallel, but I believe it would mess up the MPPT.

If my installer comes up with something that sounds promising re additional solar panels I'll let you know.

Regards
Lippy

One thing to be aware of with 2 batteries - you are still limited to the same 3.6kW charge rate as you get with one battery. This is the problem I'm looking to overcome. If I have one inverter for each battery then they will both charge within 3 hours: both batteries on one inverter means the system takes 6 hours to charge (but has twice the capacity). This isn't a problem, but it does limit the ability to fill the battery to take advantage of free or negative electricity sessions.
GE are apparently considering a HEMS (Hybrid Energy Management System?) that would be officially supported and would allow multiple Hybrid inverters to work together.

I agree that more panels is always a good idea. I chose 8 per array for my install because that was roughly the inverter limit. With hindsight I should have gone for 10 panels per side. I would hit the inverter limit during the sunniest days, but I would generate more on dull and winter days (and therefore import less, which would be nice). The cost of adding two more panels per side currently outweighs any benefits, but if I ever have scaffolding up for any roof work etc then I intend to look into it.

Lippy I know getting my installer to add an additional 9.5kW battery would be easy and hopefully mean no changes to my DNO, since my export rate would still be capped at 5kWh.

If you add a string inverter, that can potentially export in parallel to your 5kW inverter, so if your G99 only allows 5kW, then something may be required. That said, it may be that the existing inverter can be configured to curtail its output if it detects that more than 5kW in total is being exported. Seems plausible that it should be able to do so, but ..? (May not matter in practice because of the different orientations.)

Lippy I have the same 9.5 kWh battery and 5kw hybrid inverter as you with 8.5 kWp panels all facing south.
In March this year I had 3 extra West facing panels installed with enphase micro-inverters to take me up to my theoretical 6 kW DNO limit, however because of the orientation, the whole system very rarely exceeds the max output of the original ge install.
The 3 extra West panels have performed very well and extend the generation day nicely.

Pete.J Yes Pete, unfortunately I'm aware that the charge/discharge rate of the batteries is still limited to 3.6kWh, which is disappointing. From what I could glean from GivEnergy is that this is a limitation of the low voltage battery systems. There is no such limitation on their high voltage battery systems, such as those used by their AIO or their stack system. In a similar vain I am not sure why the 5kW hybrid inverter is limited to 3.6kW unless there is sufficient PV input at the same time. So, I have gone for what I believe is going to provide the most bang for my bucks, adding another 9.5kWh battery. I'll be able to export more at the premium rate during the summer when there is ample PV and hopefully run the house effectively on the cheap rate all day in the winter, without the lucrative export rate.

How I wish I had spent more time researching before committing to an installation. I would have definitely gone for a high voltage battery system from the start. In stead of trying to make the best of what I have.

Maybe, with a bit of luck GivEnergy will provide some updates for the low voltage battery systems in the near future, which will help a lot of us out.

Regards
Lippy

Lippy How I wish I had spent more time researching before committing to an installation. I would have definitely gone for a high voltage battery system from the start. In stead of trying to make the best of what I have.

Depends on when yoi bought your system. The high voltage hybrid inverters and stackable batteries only came out in the last year, the AIO about 2 years ago. Doubtless others will correct me on the dates.

I had my hybrid inverters installed in January 2023 and the only choice was 3.6 vs 5kW hybrid or 3kW AC coupled. At the time the Gen 2 hybrid had just been launched but was in short supply due to post-Covid Chinese shipping delays and my installers fitted Gen 1 hybrids which are of course limited to 2.6kWh charge/discharge rate. If I knew that there was a difference then maybe I would have pushed for Gen 2 but there are others on here that had waited months for their Gen 2 and still ended up with Gen 1 as that was all that was available.
And within 6 months of my Gen 1 being installed the Gen 3 had been launched and the Gen 1 had been declared end of life by GivEnergy - which is a bit annoying to say the least.

Still I have what I have and it works well enough. Adding another battery is the only obvious upgrade for me but at the moment the economics don’t stack up for me

geoffreycoan Hi Geoffrey, our installation was in December 2024 and we were lucky that they installed the Gen 3 Inverter and a Gen 3 Battery. My original brief was for a system that could provide whole house backup in the event of a power cut, provide sufficient solar generation to completely cover our electrical demand during the summer months and significantly reduce costs during the winter months.

What we have is a compromise, but we were not made aware of the other options GivEnergy provide at the time.

In the end, with the second battery providing additional capacity and some thoughtful use of when we put the washing machine, dishwasher, emersion heater on we will make some good savings.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing they say. Although there are a couple of (small) things I would do differently if buying my PV system new today (8kW inverter so it can run the shower without import, and high voltage batteries so I can charge at 8kW in the cheap slots) I have to say that I am still very happy with my GE system as it stands now. I have enough battery capacity to see me through the day on battery alone and overall we've generated more electricity last year than we consumed. Yes, there are things I'd like to tweak with hindsight, but it's still very much a win.

Add in Home Assistant, Predbat and Octopus Agile and I've saved much more than I expected compared to my previous electricity bills.

Other tips to look at might include cooling fans for your inverter to help keep the temperature down a bit under full load, and if you are enough of a geek to be running Home Assistant (or a similar smart home package) you can add in other smart features. I recently added a Shelly 16A switch so the immersion heater automatically runs whenever Agile goes negative - I might as well get paid to heat the water when it does... There are lots of tips for things like this on this forum.