Schneider Electric / Xantrex?

Xizang

Schneider Electric sounds like some little repair shop down in the low rent industrial section of town.  And Xantrex sounds like an anti-depressant pill my ex-wife takes.  If it weren't for the fact that Schneider Electric owns Square-D electrical apparatus, I would dismiss them as a serious company.  But the more I look at them, the more impressed I am in their charge controllers and inverters.

Anyone there have any first-hand experience with them?   What do you think?

Dave Angelini

I have worked for them. One of the largest corporations in the world. I own their stock and in my opinion all the way back to Trace they have always innovated and the industry would catch up. Trace and the first decent reliable sine wave inverter. Xantrex and the first ever split phase inverter/charger along with their update and improvement of the Outback MX-60 the XW -60 150V.
Schneider with the first ever high voltage XW MPPT -80-600V charge controller and recently the COMBOX to modernize the XW platform and the inexpensive new SW. I only use the XW gear as the rest is really not commercial grade and I have never been unhappy in many installations. The grid-tie gear is really not my expertise.

The joke that was told on the old Xantrex forum when the XW line came out was, 
What does XW mean?  ans.  Xantrex wins....

Photowhit

I've been sold on Prosine inverters for a long while since I saw them on commercial fishing boats in the Gulf of Mexico. Prosine may have been an independent company purchased by Xantrex, as originally they just reference Prosine on the cases and later Xantrex. Salt air is a real test for electronics.

Xizang

So the way I get it is, Schneider and Xantrex and Square-D is really the Mercedes Benz or BMW of the electrical world?  (I've never owned a Rolls Royce, though one is on my bucket list) 

Xizang

Photowhit said:

 Salt air is a real test for electronics.

Indeed.  What sea water won't corrode, sunlight will decompose.   The harshest environment of all is out on the sea.   Thanks for the tips.

Rossman

We have all Schneider/Conext gear for our off-grid house, and love it!

WaterWheel

Both I and my local solar installer guy run Schneider/Conext.       His system is about 8 years old and runs it in grid assist mode.      I installed a XW 6848 last fall and run 90% of my house off grid and am happy with it.

Xizang

I know the host here sells equipment, but do any of you know of a really good alternate source for Schneider Electric Xantrex C-35 Charge Controllers and perhaps Xantrex inverters?   Maybe something like a Walmart of solar equipment...

(I admit I'm cheap.  But I'm retired and living on a very small fixed income, so I have to be cheap to survive)

zoneblue

The history is, in case you missed it, Trace (before that Heart) was a real off grid innovator in the 90s. They sold to Xantrex around 2000. Xantrex was then in turn bought by Schneider ("One of the largest corporations in the world") in 2008.  See http://www.midnitesolar.com/pages/frontPage/nwHistory/history.php

The Trace C40 was the bread and butter of charge controllers in  its day. You still see countless of them running in old systems everywhere, 20 years later. They are cheap, and cheerful and i believe still available.

However things have moved on. To follow the enginerring lineage through to the present day check out the Midnite Brat and Midnite Kid.

If you are on a budget C40s are virtually given away in the used market.

Photowhit

As to the Rolls Royce, I'm a fan of the Outback Inverters as well. My electronics have always lived outside in a an minimally controlled environment. Exposed to the changes of temperature in a ventilated cabinet out of the rain and direct sun. I'm likely to purchase a sealed Outback inverter, if Midnite doesn't start producing inverters when I get around to purchasing the planned size inverter for my home.

To add to Zoneblue's History lesson, Trace employed an Engineer (Chief Engineer?) Robin Gudgel, his brother boB Gudgel also worked there for a bit before they left and started Outback producing module field repairable inverters, They sold out (I think they still own a %) and later opened Midnite Solar Producing Electrical breaker boxes for solar as well as combiner boxes, then producing a Charge controller with the ability to measure the current going into the battery. (Schnieder has one that does this as well) The Gudgel bros have inverters in their heart and have been threatening to produce them lately...

littleharbor2

The price of a C-40 controller on the host's site is almost the lowest price you'll find online. Add to that no sales tax for out of state addresses and you will be hard pressed to find it cheaper.

Photowhit

Well a search finaly turned up a history of Robin and inverters;

http://hardysolar.com/inverter/inverter-history.html

Midnite no longer has it up that I could find, though I use to have a legacy link, they do have this;

http://www.midnitesolar.com/pages/frontPage/robinsCorner/robinsSystem/robinSystem.php

Xizang

Following that is a bit like trying to follow some people's marriages, divorces, kids, step-kids and all their in-laws.   Those guys are constantly changing companies - a lot like some Realtors I've known.

So after all the stories are told and the reminiscing is done, is there one best maker of charge controllers and inverters?   How about the optimum balance between cost and durability?

WaterWheel

Pick your equipment and take your chances.       I went with Conext

westbranch

the devil is in the details,  I used an MX 60 and real happy with it but now that the Classics are out and their added features, (notice there is a lot of visual similarity to the MX60?).  Great products... I am a fan. Field serviceable, great support too.
 NOTE:  Outback stuff needs a $300 part to get the 'system' to be programmed , called a MATE.
 

vtmaps

westbranch said:

 NOTE:  Outback stuff needs a $300 part to get the 'system' to be programmed , called a MATE.

That's true of their inverters, but their charge controllers do not need a Mate.

Its a very good thing that the Mate is not included with their inverters.  Three reasons:

1) The Mate is the control panel for their inverters.  I have my Mate in the house but the inverter is in the garage.  If the controls were built into the inverter I would have to pay for them twice in order to have a remote control panel (the Mate) in the house.

2) The inverters can be stacked for larger systems.  If you have four inverters stacked, you only need one Mate.  If the Mate was built into the inverter, you would have bought four of them.

3)  There are different levels of Mate.  If you don't need all the logging features you don't have to pay for them.

By the way, other full featured inverters do the same thing... i.e. the controls are a separate item for an additional price.

--vtMaps

Photowhit

Xizang said:

Following that is a bit like trying to follow some people's marriages, divorces, kids, step-kids and all their in-laws.   Those guys are constantly changing companies - a lot like some Realtors I've known.

Well, I guess you haven't been around to understand the point, The Gudgel boys have been there, when Trace designed reliable inverters, they were there, when Outback designed MPPT charge controller and modular inverters, they were there, When Midnite created a charge controller which could monitor the current going into the battery they were there....

BTW - Outback inverters do run fine without a mate, particularly if you don't intend on using the inverter as a power source for your system (Battery charging)