Sungold will be price less than the GS 12kw

Glancing through the spec sheet and their manual ( https://sungoldpower.com/products/12000w-peak-36000w-48v-split-phase-pure-sine-wave-solar-inverter-charger?variant=39652733485193 ), I made the following notes/comparisons:

• Funny that they boast "output short circuit protection"--but then you look at the spec sheet and their "protection" is a circuit breaker.  Mechanical items don't move fast enough to protect FETs...!  (Manual, page 18: "Short Circuit protection (1sec after fault)".  Yeah, sorry, those FETs are toast!)
• No-load power is very significant at 150W--at least according to the specs.  According to the manual [page 17], it's 180W!  At 48v, that's 3.125 - 3.75 amps idle.  Can't imagine the output sine is very clean there....
  • that's >3.6kwh per day in no load alone!  By comparison, I literally run a full-size refrigerator (29 cubic feet) AND a 26-cubic-foot chest freezer off my solar system for less than 3.4kwh/day off the panels...inverter no-load included!
  • oh, and the manual [page 11] says THD (total harmonic distortion) is "average THD of 8% (Max 10%)".  Whoa, whew, TEN PERCENT distortion?  I believe it.
    • we have a customer in New Jersey who has a harmonic analyzer.  His "grid power" measured at ~2.5% THD.  An upgraded PJ inverter (i.e. not as good as a full-GS!) measured as high as 1.3% THD.  Might want to send him a GS inverter for THD measurement....
• Inverter control settings are by a set of DIP switches.  Don't like the configured settings?  Tough luck.
• AC Input Battery charge settings?  Yup, you get an 8-position knob.  Don't like any of the preconfigured settings?  You're out of luck.
• Power Save mode?  I admit it's not a very useful function...but the threshold is hardware set to 25W, and you can't change that.  While I don't have a Sungold Power to test, I can pretty well guarantee you that it'll ONLY work on L1-N loads, not L2-N loads.  (Or vice-versa.  It'll only work on one 120v phase, not both.)
• From page 18 of the manual, while they're listing all their features:
  • "Back feeding protection."  I can pretty well guarantee you that's if the inverter's backfed while powered off...and when you turn it on, it'll throw an error instead of blowing up.  (That's already on GS inverters.)  If you pop a breaker onto the output of the inverter while it's running--it'll probably blow up.  (GS as well.)
    • or how about this, "The LF series Inverter has back feeding protection which avoids presenting an AC voltage on the AC input terminal in Invert mode."  Is THAT their definition of "backfeed protection"?  The mains AC on/off relay??
  • "When Over temperature /Over load occur, after the fault is cleared, the master switch has to be reset to restart the inverter."  Umm...hello?  You can literally restart a GS inverter from your phone via local or remote server.  (Even your Arduino project if you're bored.)   OR...shocker...you can actually configure a GS inverter to AUTOMATICALLY RESTART after an overtemp/overload/battery voltage error!
  • "The Low batter voltage trip point can be customized from defaulted value 10VDC to 10.5VDC turn the SW1 on DIP switch."  What if I want the inverter not to discharge the battery below 12v?  Nope, you're out of luck.
  • "The inverter will go to Over temp protection when heat sink temp. ≥105ºC, and go to Fault (shutdown Output) after 30 seconds. The switch has to be reset to activate the inverter."  105C??  That's 221 degrees Fahrenheit!  I don't know about you, but I don't think I'd feel safe with the internals getting that hot--and then continuing to run for 30 seconds before shutting down.  (Oh, and by the way, there is no way to auto-restart it.)
• "Smart Remote Control (RJ11 or RJ45)" (mentioned on page 10, and shown on page 18.)  Oh, so a 3-position switch and 3 LEDs qualifies as "Smart"?  I'd hate to have a "dumb" remote control for that inverter....what's that gonna be, bare wires??
  • let's not mention the built-in WiFi access on a GS inverter, which you can directly access and control from any Internet-capable device via both local server and remote server.  That wouldn't be fair to bring up, right?
• Cooling fans [manual, page 20].  Notice that there are only 3 fan speed settings...off, 50% and 100%.  (Curiously, this is identical to the "copied" Xantrex inverter design that all Chinese LF inverters seem to be based off of.  Interesting.)
  • they claim fans are around 60db.  I find that hard to believe.  We at GS don't make any bones of the fact that our inverters aren't exactly quiet...but the fans do get the job done.  They're also completely variable-speed controlled based on the internal temps.
• Automatic Generator Start (AGS) [page 22].  Ah, right, you get a single contact.  Sure, it might be 16A, but you'd better have a smart generator that's smarter than the remote control for this inverter...
  • GS inverter generator start comprises of TWO separately controlled relays (5A max) which can run any combination of start procedures.  "Pushing" an On or Off button?  Check.  Ignition-Start key sequence?  Check.  "Dry contact"?  Check.  Need something else?  Ask us 😉
• Dimensions [page 28].  Oh, it's 666mm long...RUN!                    (yeah, I just had to!) 
  • seriously, though, the GS12's chassis is 500mm long.
• Errors [page 35].  You need a huge sheet to decipher what the error is.  I won't mention that the GS inverters have a fully graphical LCD (i.e. not a character-only LCD, even though it's mostly just characters!) and will spell out the error cause.  Plus lots of diagnostic readouts for further diagnosing/problem solving.
• Deciphering the nameplate [page 37]?  Whew, I've never before heard of "typcial" part numbers before.  Not sure what battery "volatge" is either.

So that inverter comes with an MPPT?

I didn't see anywhere that the MPPT settings were adjustable.  There are no buttons for accessing settings on the LCD.

In other words, unless there's a missing manual, the built-in MPPT is pretty much completely useless.  I wouldn't be the slightest bit surprised if you have to hardwire the "MPPT DC Output" over to the battery terminals!

In their very own "demonstration picture" on the listing, what's next to this "solar inverter" except a Midnite Solar MPPT charge controller??

Yeah, you get what you pay for.  Oh, and shipping weight's 185lbs--so it'll have to ship freight (max package weight for UPS and FedEx is 150lbs).  "Free shipping"?  I'd be quite surprised...

I didn't see anywhere that the MPPT settings were adjustable.  There are no buttons for accessing settings on the LCD.

I hope Sean see your explanation  and it is very difficult to compare inverter .       Sungold  MPPT is useless  for my battery .    The idle draw  will destroy my lithium-ion  battery  if I  do not completely  disconnect the battery  when not in use .   

Most customers do not look at the fine print like Sid did. For most customers its about 2 main things. Price and Watts. That is why power jack sells so many inverters, they are very low priced with higher advertised watts. I try to be as up front an honest as I can be. I know we blow away the competition but its difficult to convey why.