“Lumin extends the life of my battery by giving me control over what is powered on during an outage. That additional layer of protection and peace of mind made a huge impact on my decision to invest in a battery backup system that will last years.“
When Stephen K. planned to build a new house in 2018, he knew that solar + storage would be an important component of the green build design. What he didn’t know was that the location of his new home – near the end of a long winding road in a new development – would mean long waits for the rural electric cooperative to restore power during outages.
Adding the Lumin Energy Management Platform has solved the uncertainty of lengthy outages, says Stephen. “The Lumin Smart Panel gives me the ability to prioritize, schedule, monitor, and dynamically control the loads in my backed-up sub-panel to maximize the life of my battery during an extended outage and control the circuits most important to me at any given time.
I can prioritize the HVAC if it's hot outside by turning off other less important circuits like outlets or lights, or I can limit the HVAC to conserve power for other things, like ensuring the circuit for the fridge always stays on. And I can do it all remotely via web app.”
For Stephen, it’s all about managing priorities, like choosing the right time to turn the HVAC on. Why is this important? Without Lumin, the HVAC system may run during periods when it’s not truly needed, leading to battery depletion due to power overdraw and/or accelerated energy depletion. Lumin helps balance and control the right circuits at the right times to maintain a comfortable living space and keep the fridge going throughout an extended grid outage.
On a day-to-day basis, actionable data about system performance is important. Stephen adds that “Lumin adds another layer of resilience and control to my home, helping to maximize the capabilities of my solar and battery backup system and showing me, in real time, the load on each of my connected circuits, as well as the overall grid draw and solar generation. This lets me monitor the overall health of my system and identify any potentially misbehaving circuits.”
System Specs
• 25 x Silfab SLA-M 310 solar panels @ 7.75kWp DC
• SolarEdge SE7600H-US wave inverter @ 7.6kW AC
• Simpliphi system:
>OutBack Power Radian GS8048A inverter @ 8kW
>SimpliPhi Power battery: PHI 3.5 kWh 48V DC 60 Amp (x4) rated at 14 kWh
>OutBack Charge Controller FLEXmax 80 (x2) @ 8kW max output power
>Internet connected monitor: OPTICS RE
On a day-to-day basis, actionable data about system performance is important. Stephen adds that “Lumin adds another layer of resilience and control to my home, helping to maximize the capabilities of my solar and battery backup system and showing me, in real time, the load on each of my connected circuits, as well as the overall grid draw and solar generation. This lets me monitor the overall health of my system and identify any potentially misbehaving circuits.”
