Design Philosophy                                                      Features

  1. Paladin manages the temperature of the hot water cylinder to take into account stratification to store the maximum amount excess PV energy
  2. Pre-emptive top-up to prevent a cold shower.  The rate of drop of temperature is monitored and a variable power level is used to manage this. As soon as the temperature stabilise, the top-up slows or stops
  3. Legionella top-up anticipated after multiple low solar days and a top-up taken at the off-peak power rate
  4. Minimum temperature maintained without the need for a manual boost feature
  5. User selectable 50C minimum temperature and special boot
  6. Hybrid Inverter hold off
  7. Max current draw option, particularly for 2-phase installation with a 5400W limit
  8. ”Set and forget” (autonomous) operation-no user intervention required
  9. Self diagnostics on start-up and during operation (element blown/max temp reached, no temperature probe etc)
  10. No temperature probe operation (in an emergency to deliver hot water)
  11. Displays solar PV
  12. Optional Auxiliary control of second cylinder element, spa pool heater, underfloor heating, storage heater etc..
  13. Compatible with PV to Electric Vehicle variable charging devices such as JuiceNet (proven in NZ)
  14. Demand Response enabled.
  1. Use of a Solid State Relay - this means that the switching circuit is in a metal hermetically sealed box and the internal circuitry has a fusible link that prevents Triac-like explosive failures​
  2. Overheating is prevented by use of over rated components (SSR designed for 40A continuous use, but rated at 16A)
  3. Larger heat sink than required.  Even at 40A at temperature of 50C is maintained, and mild deformation of the enclosure takes place at 150C
  4. The heat sink is mounted in free air with oversized vertical fins - not next to the wall where it can set fire to to wall if it overheats
  5. Automatic Legionella protection (legal requirement) - I know of no competing product that offers this. If they do, then maybe they maintain 60C minimum temperature, dramatically reducing energy storage.
  6. High powered devices are not mounted on a printed circuit board.
  7. Zero-crossing switching that minimises EMF interference and affect on sensitive people
  8. An anti-flicker induced epileptic fit design at prevent flicker (some products have been recalled due to this)
  9. Fail-to-safety design
  10. Only the SSR and the mains transformer/PSU are HV connected, and these are independently certified and imported from the factory as counterfeit products are rife. These same components are sold in New Zealand and subject to SDoC's where required.

Theory of operation

Picture
Specification
Picture

Paladin (tm)

Front Panel with Display

Charge Controller

Uses an optical Isolator to manage a certified off-the-shelf product to which controls the hot water heater element

On the drawing board

  • Control of your Pool Pump and / or Spa Heater to soak up even more solar.
  • Customization of all working temperatures using a SD card.
  • A Wifi Module to communicate with other 'things' and get information on the weather, electricity prices, time updates etc.
  • An IR control module to communicate with other electrical loads around the house without using wires.