Question Auditory behavior idle and under load: decibels and noise

@laurjam 

To make sure you're not making the wrong assumption, the Chargeverter has a cooling fan and it's fairly loud too. Mine is only intended for emergency charging, and when it's running there will also be a generator running just outside. So, no issue for me. Just don't think you will be able to use it for "silent charging" at night from the grid.

I just measured 56 dB at 6 feet using a phone app.

@jlankford Not sure how the Chargeverter is involved, but no intention of separate charger.   Yes, 56 dB is super obnoxiously loud but agree who cares if a generate is also at work.  Not my case.

I'm after the quietest DD-DC solar to battery inverter in terms of fan noise dB, but also the subjective noise quality which can be far worse than the dB.

So far, EG4 has not responded to my  inquiry here or in the email I sent.  Maybe it's the holidays.  Deferring decisions until I can (somehow) get information that I can make a decision from.

Posted by: @diglloyd

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@jlankford Not sure how the Chargeverter is involved, but no intention of separate charger.   Yes, 56 dB is super obnoxiously loud but agree who cares if a generate is also at work.  Not my case.

I'm after the quietest DD-DC solar to battery inverter in terms of fan noise dB, but also the subjective noise quality which can be far worse than the dB.

So far, EG4 has not responded to my  inquiry here or in the email I sent.  Maybe it's the holidays.  Deferring decisions until I can (somehow) get information that I can make a decision from.

laurjam mentioned the possibility of using a Chargeverter to mitigate the noise.

@jlankford A-OK.  I had missed that then. I would not consider a separate unit unless it had some huge advantage like low noise, so it's a good data point to have. Thx.

@caesarv @jared Thank you again Caeser.  This was the most helpful note of all.  My understanding is that the 12kPV should perform the same as the 18kPV other than having a bit less input/output capability.

I am hoping that EG4 could provide some specific guidance eg at 80°F with 4k PV input and 300 watt AC load do the fans run at all, and if they run, at what dB?

My observations using my 13 kW solar array follow. You can read about my system in detail here:

https://macperformanceguide.com/autoTopic.html?dglyTP=solar+power

Regarding noise under cool conditions (up to 65°F or so, summer has not arrived):,  the 18k PV with either 2 or 3 14.3 kW EG4 batteries:

• When solar input exceeds  6kW or so, the fans ramp up  rapidly.  At 12 kW solar, they are screaming with a high pitched noise at least 65 dB at 3' from the unit. VERY annoying, and there is no reason for it that I can see, since nil heat is being generated in turning the solar into battery charge (should be 99.9% efficient).  Exit air from fans has no trace of warmth.  Just seems stupid.

• Silent with low AC loads (ignoring the first point).

• Silent under about 5 kW AC-out.  Starting at ~5+ kW, the fans ramp up in a very binary way to the same obnoxiously loud high frequency sound issue.

The weird thing is that the fans are very much binary — on or off. And once they are on, the noise really ramps up.  

Posted by: @diglloyd

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@laurjam Interesting comments, thank you.

I didn’t realize that the battery had fans also.  That might not be correct? After all, the rack batteries are just batteries with cables attached.   But if true, that's  a bad combo because two sets of fans can interact and create an oscillating highly irritating noise pattern—essentially sounds waves overlapping and creating a choppy surface. It might not be annoying, but it might be very annoying.

I can't believe that customers out there are willing to put up with noise. Also, outdoors is actually a worse case if one enjoys a backyard in moderate temps (most of the year where I live!). So outdoor is worse, not better, for me.

"Quiet fans" are largely an oxymoro—if you can hear it, then it's intruding and having an impact. Noise is actually much more than irritating; noise is a health hazard that degrades learning and cognitive function. I would rather forget about solar panels than put up with constant noise.

There seems to be no way to experience the various products. Could easily spend $7K and then find the noise is intolerable.  Dunno about you, but that's not a risk I want to take, so I have to find credible information on it.

My guess is that EG4 units are among the best available for noise. And that the larger units like the 12000XP, 12kPV are much quieter than the 6000XP or smaller.  

It sure would be nice if EG4 could speak to their own products.  I sent an email, but no response so far.

I'm seconding this concern even though it was raised 6 months ago. I'm brand new to this world and working with my first inverter (EG4 6000XP). So far I'm impressed by the performance but disappointed in the high pitch fan noise. It's in my basement but reverberates through the entire house. 

Does anyone know whether EG4 has responded with a firmware update or post regarding the noise on these units? Is there nothing that can be done other than removing the inverter from living spaces or just living with it? 

@mccully-mike    I went with the 18kPV. In retrospect, anything else would have been a bad idea.

The 18kPV is silent so long as it is not asked to exceed 4-5 kW of power output or more than ~7 kW of solar input.  Above those levels, those fans are a nuisance.

I suspect that a 6000XP, being a much smaller box, has to run its fans at much lower loads to cool itself.

IMO, nothing but the 18kPV will do

The thing is also weird:  DC/DC as per solar input should not generate much heat. Yet the fans go bonkers once there is 8 kW solar input on up.  Then they scream for a few hours until batteries full.  Luckily I anticipated this and located it in the far side of my garage.