PowMr LVM 48 volt 5000 watt hybrid All-in-One (120 v) does not see my Solar Panels FINALLY flipped the switch today!

Interesting thread — following with curiosity because I nearly went down the PowMr route before settling on a Victron setup for my shepherd's hut.

The 120V spec is a bit of an oddity for us UK folks (wondering if this is a US-spec unit being run differently?), but the underlying issue of an inverter not seeing panels is pretty universal and I've seen it crop up with a few of the Chinese all-in-ones.

A few things worth checking if you haven't already:

• PV input voltage at the unit itself — not just at the panels. Voltage drop across dodgy MC4 connectors can cause the controller to simply not register the source
• VOC vs MPPT input range — some of these units have a narrower input window than advertised, particularly on the lower end. Worth cross-referencing your panel's VOC against the actual MPPT spec in the manual rather than the marketing blurb
• Earth/ground configuration — I had a bizarre fault on my van conversion Renogy setup once that turned out to be a floating ground causing the controller to behave erratically

What panels are you running and how are they wired — series, parallel, or mixed? That'll probably narrow it down quickly. Also, what's the VOC showing on a multimeter directly at the PV terminals on the unit?

Glad you've finally got it powered up though — that moment when everything clicks on for the first time is genuinely brilliant. Would love to hear what your first day of solar harvest looks like once it's properly sorted.

@TinaHenderson yeah the 120V thing is a dead giveaway it's aimed squarely at the North American market. We're 230V here so that unit would be a non-starter for most UK off-grid builds without a transformer in the mix — which then defeats the point of a compact all-in-one.

Curious what swayed you toward Victron in the end? I've got a Multiplus II in my garden office setup and the ecosystem integration is genuinely excellent, but the price premium is real. For a shepherd's hut you're probably not running massive loads so something like a Victron 24V system with a decent Fogstar battery bank would've been nicely proportioned — assuming that's roughly the direction you went?

Good spot @VoltWill. Worth noting for anyone stumbling across this thread whilst searching for PowMr units — there are some PowMr hybrid inverters spec'd for 230V that do circulate on the UK market, usually via AliExpress or Amazon. So not all their kit is off-limits for us, just need to check carefully before purchasing.

That said, @TinaHenderson I think you made the right call going Victron for the shepherd's hut. The support community alone is worth the premium — documentation, VRM portal, local dealers who actually know the kit. With the cheaper Chinese units you're often on your own if something goes sideways. Horses for courses though, and budget is always a factor!

@MaxYoung80 don't leave us hanging mate, there are what — compatible 230V PowMr units? Because I nearly ordered the wrong voltage unit for my narrowboat last spring and that would've been an expensive lesson in reading the small print.

@HannahDavies85 @MaxYoung80 was probably going to say there are 230V PowMr variants — the inverter market is absolutely awash with them on AliExpress and Amazon. Doesn't mean you should buy one, mind.

Spent a fair bit of time down that rabbit hole before setting up my garden office system. The support situation with these Chinese all-in-ones is, to put it diplomatically, patchy. When something goes wrong at 11pm in November with your battery bank behaving oddly, you want decent documentation and a community behind the product.

Victron's ecosystem isn't cheap but the VRM portal, the Cerbo integration, the sheer amount of UK installer knowledge out there — it's worth the premium for anything beyond a very basic setup. Fogstar for the lithium cells, Victron for the brains. That's where I landed and haven't regretted it.