Do you service Selectronic systems you did not install?

Yes. Many of the systems we are asked to look at were installed by someone else, often a company that has since closed. Send us photos of the inverter and the battery and we will tell you what we would check.

Can my SP PRO run a lithium battery?

Often. PowerPlus publishes its settings for the SP PRO, and the inverter is then set up to the battery maker's guide. We check the exact inverter and its current settings before advising, because a lithium bank charged on lead acid settings will not last.

My select.live monitoring has stopped. Can you fix it?

Usually. The cause is often a changed modem or wifi password, or the Select.live unit itself, which has been replaced in Selectronic's range by the Select.live 2. We check the connection and the unit on site.

Is my battery still under warranty?

That is between you and the battery maker, so check with them directly. On PowerPlus, the warranty terms depend on the model, registration matters for the later years, and every module must reach a full charge at least once a week.

Selectronic and PowerPlus

Service and upgrades for Selectronic SP PRO and PowerPlus systems.

Size my system Get a quote 1300 3458 00

Yes, we service Selectronic SP PRO inverter chargers and PowerPlus Energy batteries, and we upgrade them: more storage, a tired bank replaced, monitoring back online. Send us photos of the inverter and the battery and tell us how last winter went, and we will tell you what we would look at first.

The signs

When a system is asking for a look.

Most off grid systems do not fail in one go. They tell you over a couple of winters, and the signs are the same whatever the brand.

The generator runs more each winter than it did the winter before
The batteries no longer get the house through the night, or the morning starts with the generator
Faults or alarms on the inverter, or the house tripping when the kettle or the pump starts
The monitoring has gone offline and nobody can see what the system is doing
The company that installed it has closed, moved on or stopped answering

What we check

Measure first, replace second.

Before anything is replaced we find out what the system is doing and what the house actually uses. A new battery will not fix a system that was never big enough, and an old one is sometimes a settings problem rather than a worn bank.

The real daily load, from the monitoring or the inverter's own records
The SP PRO's settings: the battery type, the charge settings it has been living with and the generator start
The battery bank, module by module on a PowerPlus bank, since each module has its own battery management and its own DC breaker
The model and serial numbers of every battery module, which decide what can be added
Panel output and the charge controllers, string by string
The generator, its start battery and the changeover wiring
Earthing, protection and the switchboard against the current standards

More storage

Battery upgrades and adding to the bank.

PowerPlus modules are added one at a time, which makes a PowerPlus bank easy to grow, but not across generations. PowerPlus's own rules say an Eco4847P cannot join an older Eco4840P bank, and LiFe4838P modules either side of a serial number change cannot be mixed. That is why we read every serial number before we quote an addition.

PowerPlus publishes its settings for the Selectronic SP PRO, down to how many modules each inverter needs, so a PowerPlus bank and an SP PRO are set up to the maker's own guide. Moving an older SP PRO system from a lead acid or gel bank to lithium means new battery settings as well as the new bank, and we check the inverter and its settings before advising. PowerPlus's warranty also asks for every module to reach a full charge at least once every seven days, which off grid in a Victorian winter is a design point: enough solar to get there, or a weekly generator top up.

The federal battery discount can apply to an off grid battery on a home people live in. It is one battery per dwelling, so it is worth checking before you buy what has already been claimed at the property.

PowerPlus Energy, in detail.

The three current modules, how they are made, the warranty terms and how they pair with an inverter.

PowerPlus batteries

Monitoring

See the system from your phone again.

A Selectronic SP PRO reports to Selectronic's select.live web portal through a small Select.live unit wired in beside the inverter. Selectronic lists the original unit as discontinued and the Select.live 2 as its current version. A Victron system reports to Victron's VRM portal through its GX controller, such as a Cerbo GX.

When monitoring drops out the cause is often simple: a new modem, a changed wifi password, or the monitoring unit itself. Once it is back we can see the system's history, which tells us more about a tired bank or a busy generator than any single visit.

What to send us

Photos and a winter, that is enough to start.

You do not need to know the model numbers. A handful of photos and a few lines about last winter let us tell you what we would check first and what a visit would involve.

A photo of the inverter, close enough to read the label
Photos of the battery bank and the labels on the modules, serial numbers included if you can reach them
A photo of the switchboard and the generator
How a recent winter went: how often the generator ran, and whether the house got through the night
A screenshot from select.live or VRM if the monitoring still works
The address, and what is going wrong

Older system, or one that is struggling?

What fails first in an older off grid system, moving to lithium, and how to stage an upgrade so nothing is wasted.

Upgrades and repairs

Questions

Asked about this, often.

Do you service Selectronic systems you did not install?: Yes. Many of the systems we are asked to look at were installed by someone else, often a company that has since closed. Send us photos of the inverter and the battery and we will tell you what we would check.
Can I add PowerPlus modules to my existing bank?: Usually, if the new modules are the same generation as the old ones. An Eco4847P cannot join an older Eco4840P bank, and LiFe4838P modules either side of a serial number change cannot be mixed. We read the serial numbers before we quote.
Can my SP PRO run a lithium battery?: Often. PowerPlus publishes its settings for the SP PRO, and the inverter is then set up to the battery maker's guide. We check the exact inverter and its current settings before advising, because a lithium bank charged on lead acid settings will not last.
My select.live monitoring has stopped. Can you fix it?: Usually. The cause is often a changed modem or wifi password, or the Select.live unit itself, which has been replaced in Selectronic's range by the Select.live 2. We check the connection and the unit on site.
Is my battery still under warranty?: That is between you and the battery maker, so check with them directly. On PowerPlus, the warranty terms depend on the model, registration matters for the later years, and every module must reach a full charge at least once a week.

Every off grid question we get asked

Sources

Written by the Trentham Energy team. Figures without a source are our own sizing model or our own installs.

Off grid sectionSizing tool What it costs Off grid or connect to the grid Standalone power systems (SAPS)Rural connection costs Why Victron Upgrades and repairs Generators PowerPlus batteries Case studies Questions

Tell us about the property.

Where it is, what is on it, and what you need to run. We will tell you honestly whether standalone power stacks up and what it would take.

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