PointGuard bi-directional system

[Scorpio3d]

not available in the US…. Yet.
At least this gives some hope between Nema standards being finally released and many companies chomping at the bit to sell stuff to us!

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[tearitupsports]

not available in the US…. Yet.
At least this gives some hope between Nema standards being finally released and many companies chomping at the bit to sell stuff to us!

They have specifically stated there will be a lot more info in 2 weeks and the release for sale is April in the US. It’s already released overseas.

 

[tearitupsports]

For an update on this, I have purchased and am about halfway through my install of the Pointguard system. I don't have the V2X module, but my first task is to see if the HIS system will work with it. Pointguard believes it should work, as do I.
They also said that the Pro Power onboard should work seamlessly using the generator input on their load panel. I may try that just to see as well.
I will have more info and pictures by the end of March.

 

[TechnoSwiss]

For an update on this, I have purchased and am about halfway through my install of the Pointguard system. I don't have the V2X module, but my first task is to see if the HIS system will work with it. Pointguard believes it should work, as do I.
They also said that the Pro Power onboard should work seamlessly using the generator input on their load panel. I may try that just to see as well.
I will have more info and pictures by the end of March.

Is the V2X module not available yet, or did you just decide not to go with it at this point? What do the costs look like for the PointGuard system?

 

[Henry Ford]

Video is a little misleading. Don’t you need more than some small charger to get power to the grid?

You can put energy into the grid with a source of AC power and a suicide cable. There are more requirements if you want to avoid serious injury or death.

 

[tearitupsports]

You can put energy into the grid with a source of AC power and a suicide cable. There are more requirements if you want to avoid serious injury or death.

This is a full system with a service entrance rated automatic transfer switch and hybrid inverter/battery. The generator would not work when on-grid.

 

[tearitupsports]

Is the V2X module not available yet, or did you just decide not to go with it at this point? What do the costs look like for the PointGuard system?

I can pre-order the V2X module, but I am waiting on a bit more technical info before pulling the trigger on that. I may not end up getting it if the HIS still works ok, as I don't want to completely scrap the HIS if I don't need to.

If I can get the pointguard to do a bumpless transfer of power off the battery, and then have the truck kick in a minute and a half later, I will be good with that for now. It will be nice to be able to disconnect the truck for some time if needed as well and still have house power.

As far as cost goes, I bought the Load Center (200A auto transfer switch and smart load panel), the hybrid inverter and 8kWh battery. The inverter and load center are cheaper than the EG4 grid boss and flex boss which are the closest DIY competitor. The battery is more expensive than the 48V batteries for EG4. Overall with say 16kWh of batteries, both systems would be pretty close in price.

The V2X module is about the same price as the entire HIS system, so to get the minimum system that would work (no battery) would be about 1.5x the HIS + charge station pro. That being said, It will work significantly better, and will be compatible with a lot of different EV's. It also communicates to the vehicle through the charge port pins, so no wireless issues.

 

[Henry Ford]

This is a full system with a service entrance rated automatic transfer switch and hybrid inverter/battery. The generator would not work when on-grid.

I wasn't suggesting a suicide cable is a good idea. Just offering the bare minimum to put energy into the grid.

 

[tearitupsports]

Next update:
I have fully installed the PointGuard Load Hub (smart transfer switch), inverter and battery. It is working great by itself. The nicest feature is when going off grid, the lights don't even blink. There is no disruption to any of the loads.
I do have both my SolarEdge and Delta E4-BDI inverter hooked up on the smart load ports.
I did try to use the truck power on the HIS system and couldn't quite get there. The truck connected and tried to send power (lights turned pulsing green), but the Delta Inverter would not send the power and after about 1 minute would get a PV undervoltage error (I don't even have PV hooked up to this inverter). I am going to look into how to solve this issue. I imagine that since the HIS is expecting to not have grid power when doing backup, there is some issue since it is seeing the voltage and frequency of the Pointguard system.

 

[inchman254]

There's a few things that make Point Guard different from the ones mentioned.

One difference is that the Point Guard system can charge and discharge the vehicle at 25kW DC. The dcBel appears to be 15 and the Wallbox is 11. Point Guard combines available solar, grid and battery energy to accomplish this.

Secondly, the Point Guard system is not standalone. You have to have at least one battery , the EV charging module and the controller. So you're in for a minimum of about US$9,000 plus install. Obviously, if all you're trying to do is charge your truck, that's not a good spend. But, with one of the standalone systems, if you're trying to do time shifting or operating a solar/battery/home backup solution and the truck is gone, there is no battery to charge or discharge or backup your house. I do have a fixed generator but it's an ugly cutover when the power fails because it takes 30 seconds for it to kick in. With a Point Guard system (and Franklin WH) it's a zero second cutover. Not even a blink, apparently. And if there's a long outage (as we are having in Ontario this week due to an ice storm this past weekend) the system can seamlessly charge with the generator.

I'm just in the process of finalizing a choice of solar/battery combination for my home and have decided on the Point Guard system after considering it and Franklin. I already have an Emporia charger, but will be adding the V2x module to my system and removing one of the two batteries from what I had planned and selling the Emporia that I installed in October (technology changes so fast...)

I was originally planning two 8 kWh batteries and am now replacing one with the (very slightly cheaper) V2x module. Now I will always have at least 8 kWh of home battery (4 to 5 hours of backup/timeshift) and (realistically) ~90 kWh of truck battery (2 to 3 days), for the same price as the 16kWh combo. I will occasionally start the gennie if there's not enough sun to bring the Lightning back to 80%.

According to my vendor, Point Guard's V2x system is currently operational in Australia and widely testing in the US and there are a number of vehicles that it works with, according to them.
https://solwel.ca/archives/pointguard-solar-powered-bidirectional-ev-charger-with-backup/

 

[tearitupsports]

There's a few things that make Point Guard different from the ones mentioned.

One difference is that the Point Guard system can charge and discharge the vehicle at 25kW DC. The dcBel appears to be 15 and the Wallbox is 11. Point Guard combines available solar, grid and battery energy to accomplish this.

Secondly, the Point Guard system is not standalone. You have to have at least one battery , the EV charging module and the controller. So you're in for a minimum of about US$9,000 plus install. Obviously, if all you're trying to do is charge your truck, that's not a good spend. But, with one of the standalone systems, if you're trying to do time shifting or operating a solar/battery/home backup solution and the truck is gone, there is no battery to charge or discharge or backup your house. I do have a fixed generator but it's an ugly cutover when the power fails because it takes 30 seconds for it to kick in. With a Point Guard system (and Franklin WH) it's a zero second cutover. Not even a blink, apparently. And if there's a long outage (as we are having in Ontario this week due to an ice storm this past weekend) the system can seamlessly charge with the generator.

I'm just in the process of finalizing a choice of solar/battery combination for my home and have decided on the Point Guard system after considering it and Franklin. I already have an Emporia charger, but will be adding the V2x module to my system and removing one of the two batteries from what I had planned and selling the Emporia that I installed in October (technology changes so fast...)

I was originally planning two 8 kWh batteries and am now replacing one with the (very slightly cheaper) V2x module. Now I will always have at least 8 kWh of home battery (4 to 5 hours of backup/timeshift) and (realistically) ~90 kWh of truck battery (2 to 3 days), for the same price as the 16kWh combo. I will occasionally start the gennie if there's not enough sun to bring the Lightning back to 80%.

According to my vendor, Point Guard's V2x system is currently operational in Australia and widely testing in the US and there are a number of vehicles that it works with, according to them.
https://solwel.ca/archives/pointguard-solar-powered-bidirectional-ev-charger-with-backup/

PointGuard confirmed to me that the V2X could work without a battery in the stack. I'm not sure the use case for that though. It would work just like the current Ford/Sunrun system (although the 0ms cutover might be possible if the EV was connected and active).

Eventually I plan on having 2 inverters. One with batteries and one with just V2X. Right now I just have one battery, but I purchased a second one today, which I will install on Monday. I am able to load shift my usage for major savings though, which is the only reason I needed that.
I can fully confirm the 0ms UPS like backup. There is not even a flicker of lights, or any issues with my PC when cutting over to off-grid.

I do think the 25kW charge rate on the V2X is a gimmick, because you can only pull 11 kW from the grid. The rest is only if you have that much solar or other batteries in the stack. I don't really see a benefit using the home batteries to charge the EV except in some sort of random emergency.
I do have the Ford HIS system, so right now I am trying to get that to work with the PointGuard to save some of my investment. If I can't make it work, I will eventually get the V2X as well.

PointGuard also confirmed that the pro-power could work with the generator input on the load hub.
I think if you have the one battery, your V2X, and use your existing generator, you will have a really nice setup.

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