Sungrow Hybrid Inverters with Second-Life EV Batteries

Sungrow (Hefei, China, founded 1997) ships more storage inverter capacity annually than any other single manufacturer. The SH-RS, SH-RT and SH-T families all accept a DC-coupled battery on a CAN bus using either Sungrow's native SBP/SBR protocol or a Pylontech-compatible dialect.

Short version. Three Sungrow families are relevant. SH3.0–6.0RS (single-phase, 3–6 kW residential, 80–460 V DC), SH5.0–10RT (three-phase, 5–10 kW residential, 150–600 V DC) and SH15T/SH20T/SH25T (three-phase commercial, 15–25 kW, 200–800 V DC). All models speak Sungrow-native CAN at 500 kbit/s and additionally accept Pylontech-compatible batteries. BMS-EV emulates the Sungrow SBR (residential) or SBH (commercial) message set — this is the natively supported path with the widest voltage window and no de-rating.

Supported Sungrow families

Model family	Phase	AC power	Battery DC range	Max DC current	Battery interface
SH3.0RS / SH3.6RS / SH4.0RS / SH5.0RS / SH6.0RS	1-ph	3.0–6.0 kW	80–460 V	30 A	Sungrow SBR / Pylontech
SH5.0RT / SH6.0RT / SH8.0RT / SH10RT	3-ph	5.0–10.0 kW	150–600 V (per en.sungrowpower.com/SH5-10RT datasheet)	30 A	Sungrow SBR / Pylontech
SH15T / SH20T / SH25T	3-ph	15.0–25.0 kW	200–800 V	50 A	Sungrow SBH / Pylontech HV

CAN protocol options

The BMS-EV controller supports two protocol paths for Sungrow:

Sungrow native (SBR / SBH). Widest voltage window (80–800 V depending on model), full SOC/SOH exchange, per-module diagnostics forwarded to iSolarCloud. This is the default BMS-EV firmware for Sungrow.
Pylontech emulation. Fallback for firmware releases where the native SBR handshake has changed. Voltage window is compressed to Pylontech-compatible ranges (~40–58 V for low-voltage residential; ~192–450 V for HV) — this excludes some EV pack full-charge voltages and is only recommended if the native path is unavailable.

Native SBR frames used:

0x0000 pack SOC, SOH, alarm bitmap
0x0001 pack voltage, current, average temperature
0x0002 charge / discharge voltage and current limits
0x0003 cell max/min voltage, max/min temperature
0x0004 module count, firmware version, serial

Wiring topology

┌──────────────┐ ┌────────────────┐ │ EV battery │ │ Sungrow SH-RS │ │ pack │ │ / SH-RT / T │ │ │ HV DC 80–800 V │ │ │ DC+ ────────┼───► fuse ─► contactor ──┼──► BAT+ input │ │ DC- ────────┼───► shunt ──────────────┼──► BAT- input │ └──────┬───────┘ └────────┬───────┘ │ CAN (vehicle BMS) │ CAN (Sungrow SBR/SBH) │ │ 500 kbit/s └──► BMS-EV controller ────────────────────┘ (Sungrow native or Pylontech fallback)

DC voltage matching

EV battery	Nominal V	Operating V range	Sungrow model fit
Nissan Leaf 40 kWh	350 V	300–405 V	SH-RS (80–460 V), SH-RT (160–560 V)
Nissan Leaf 62 kWh	350 V	300–405 V	SH-RS, SH-RT
BMW i3 33/42 kWh	355 V	260–400 V	SH-RS, SH-RT
Tesla Model 3/Y	350–360 V	260–405 V	SH-RS, SH-RT
VW MEB 58/77 kWh	400 V	310–450 V	SH-RT (160–560 V), SH-T (200–800 V)
Hyundai Kona 64 kWh	356 V	250–410 V	SH-RS, SH-RT
Porsche Taycan / Audi e-tron GT	800 V	610–835 V	SH-T only (200–800 V, upper limit tight)
Hyundai Ioniq 5 / Kia EV6 (800 V mode)	800 V	520–770 V	SH-T (fits inside window)

Known limitations

Firmware pairing. SH-RS and SH-RT ARM firmware ≥ SAPPHIRE-H_03011.01.02 introduces stricter SBR handshake. BMS-EV firmware 2026-Q2 or newer is required for compatibility.
Cluster count. SH-T supports up to four battery clusters in parallel. SH-RT supports one cluster of up to eight modules on native SBR, one cluster on Pylontech. SH-RS is single-cluster only.
800 V packs near the ceiling. Taycan and e-tron GT reach 835 V fully charged. SH25T has 800 V DC absolute maximum; the pack must be limited to ≤ 95 % SOC to stay inside spec. BMS-EV enforces this via the charge voltage limit in frame 0x0002.
iSolarCloud reporting. The Sungrow monitoring portal reports pack-level values. Cell-level data is retained on the BMS-EV controller and available via its local HTTP interface.
No black-start on SH-RS. Only SH-RT and SH-T include the internal ATS for backup power. SH-RS is grid-tied only.

Recommended EV battery pairings

EV battery	Usable capacity	Best-fit Sungrow model	Notes
Nissan Leaf 40 kWh	36 kWh	SH5.0RS / SH6.0RS	Single-phase residential, ~2× daily coverage
BMW i3 33 kWh	27 kWh	SH4.0RS / SH5.0RS	Compact, well-matched
BMW i3 42 kWh	37 kWh	SH6.0RS or SH5.0RT	1-ph if single meter, 3-ph if new build
Tesla Model 3 SR+ (55 kWh)	50 kWh	SH8.0RT / SH10RT	Three-phase, matches PV export
Tesla Model 3 LR (75 kWh)	70 kWh	SH10RT or SH15T	SH15T if higher discharge C-rate needed
VW ID.4 77 kWh	72 kWh	SH10RT / SH15T	Best DC-window match on SH-RT
Porsche Taycan 93 kWh	84 kWh	SH25T	Cap SOC ≤ 95 % (Vmax ≤ 800 V)

FAQ

Which is better — Sungrow native or Pylontech emulation?

Sungrow native (SBR / SBH). It has a wider voltage window, faithful SOH and cell-level max/min reporting, and matches Sungrow's firmware upgrade path directly. Pylontech emulation exists as a fallback and compresses the operating window to Pylontech's specs, which cuts off the top and bottom SOC of most EV packs.

Can Sungrow inverters actually work with an 800 V Taycan pack?

Only the SH-T commercial series (200–800 V). The Taycan reaches 835 V at 100 % SOC — the BMS-EV controller caps the charge voltage at 800 V, which corresponds to ~95 % SOC. You lose 5 % of capacity but stay inside the inverter's spec and its warranty.

Can I run PV plus an EV battery on one Sungrow inverter?

Yes — every SH-series inverter is a true DC-coupled hybrid with two independent MPPTs (SH-RS/SH-RT) or three MPPTs (SH-T). PV, battery and grid share the internal DC bus and the inverter arbitrates in real time.

Does Sungrow's iSolarCloud show individual cell voltages?

No. iSolarCloud shows pack SOC, voltage, current, temperature and alarm state — everything the SBR CAN protocol carries. Cell-level diagnostics remain on the BMS-EV controller's local web UI (accessible over LAN).

What happens if I lose CAN communication mid-operation?

Sungrow inverters expect an SBR frame every 1 s. After a 5 s timeout the inverter drops battery mode, opens its internal DC contactor and raises alarm code 069 ("battery communication timeout"). BMS-EV in turn opens the pack contactor within 100 ms of losing the vehicle BMS heartbeat.

Can I parallel two EV batteries on one Sungrow SH-T?

Yes — up to four clusters. Each pack needs its own BMS-EV controller, and all controllers publish to the same CAN bus with unique node IDs 0x0000, 0x0100, 0x0200, 0x0300. The inverter treats them as four Sungrow SBH clusters.

Does Sungrow require terminating resistors on the CAN bus?

Yes, 120 Ω at each end. The SH-series inverter carries one internal terminator on its BAT-CAN port; the BMS-EV controller carries the other, jumper-selectable. Do not add a third — mid-bus reflection will corrupt frames intermittently.

Order a Sungrow-compatible BMS-EV controller

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Last updated: 2026-09-18

Current firmware: 15.0.14

Technical author: BMS-EV engineering team (Clima Boost sp. z o.o., Poland)

Reviewer: Jakub Lipiński, founder/lead engineer BMS-EV

Revision: 2026-09-18 — aligned with firmware 15.0.14, SOFAR 180–800 V DC verification, Kia EV6 + SOFAR HYD 15KTL case study reference

Parameter	Value	Source
SH5.0/6.0/8.0/10RT battery voltage range	150–600 V DC	Sungrow SH5.0-10RT datasheet V1.2.1
SH15T/SH20T/SH25T battery voltage range	200–800 V DC (commercial)	Sungrow SH-T series datasheet
Communication	Sungrow SBR/SBH native CAN + Pylontech emulation	Sungrow BMS Communication Protocol