Solar PV Hints, Tips & Troubleshooting

silver_sky

Sorry, scale is probably better on this Power Import graph than above.

Jonathan

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120289089#Comment_120289089

That is looking a lot healthier alright.

Did PD send you the USB cable yet? I was recently made aware of the fact that they provide a BMS monitoring software on their website. You can see battery temps and cell voltages etc. You need to sign into the PD website and then head to firmware updates section of the website.

silver_sky

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120289170#Comment_120289170

Apparently they've sent it twice but I've got nothing. I'm gonna try call them this week.

Is that on the partner portal section? did you register?

Jonathan

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120289190#Comment_120289190

Maybe it isn't behind the registration paywall at all, only the link to it is.

https://puredrive-energy.co.uk/firmware-updates/

silver_sky

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120289248#Comment_120289248

Nice one thanks!

It looks like when the load dropped down overnight the Solis went back to it's old tricks although on a smaller scale. My house (I think) is a bit odd in that our base load is tiny. You can seem the bumps where the fridge compressor is coming on. 😂

Zappi lost it's WiFi for some reason this morning. I suspect the latest firmware update. You can see my battery has dropped out again now this morning also. From 34% down to 10% SOC and now it's importing at day rate. 😔

silver_sky

I understand now why they hid the tool. It looks like something a kid put together. Hope it does the job - just need the cable.

Bobeagleburger

Does the meter box need to be accessible for ESB workers? They don't actually open the box for readings anymore, do they?

I'm changing my side gate and would move it forward to almost flush with the side of the house as there's dead space,if allowed.

ELM327

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120296632#Comment_120296632

Yes it needs to be accessible.

budhabob

hi All,

We've had a 4kw system with Eddi, Harvi and Hub installed since last September, and very happy with it to date. Yesterday we had a zappi installed for our impending EV. All component parts are showing on the Myenergi app, but it no longer shows house draw or grid import / export.

the Zappi connection / work was all done at the meter as we are a terraced house with trip board to the rear, so no CT clamps etc should have been impacted.

Is there any i can do to get the full picture back??

slave1

Sound's like your installer never setup your system. The new Zappi is Wi-Fi enabled so your hub is now redundant, they likely never linked the Harvi to your new Zappi.

There's a fair few screens to go through to do all this, easiest is to get installer back or phone MyEnergi in the UK and they will step you through it over the phone, their support crew are extremely knowledgeable

championc

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120300715#Comment_120300715

So sounds like the idiot installer made the Zappi the Master while the Harvi is likely paired to the Eddi.

So just make the Eddi the Master again

budhabob

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120301756#Comment_120301756

Ok, will Google that and give it a go.

slave1

I disagree, I'd make the Zappi the master and sell your hub as no longer needed and just adds complexity to your setup. Link your Harvi to your Zappi and add the EDDI as a slave to the Zappi.

budhabob

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120301860#Comment_120301860

I haven't a clue what you just said. I clearly need to do some reading up.

The installer is giving me a buzz when I get home to go through settings.

silver_sky

agree with slave1, if you have a separate hub you can set it up to use the vhub in the zappi instead. That would mean the separate hub is no longer needed. I did the same and sold mine. I got 80 euro for it and many lining up for it. There's a demand there for people who have the older eddi or zappi.

budhabob

Update: installer talked me through settings etc and all appears ok. Will know better tomorrow when I see how the system behaves with some Solar.

Will read up on some of the suggestions above re freeing up why hub.

Thanks all

championc

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120301860#Comment_120301860

Depending on location, the Harvi may not comfortably link to the Eddi. I would have left the Eddi as Master if it was known as working well

The devils

If I had 12 x 200ah Lifepo4 cells - what in battery capacity would I have please?

Would this be right for 1 off

 example, let us convert 200 Ah at 12 V to kWh. (200 Ah x 12V) ÷ 1000 = 2.4 kWh or 2400 watts of energy can be consumed in one hour

championc

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120310782#Comment_120310782

12 cells would be 36v when arranged in series. 12v is only 4 cells in series, so for a 12v system, you would have 3 in parallel, giving 600Ah @12vdc12v

But everything here is all about 48v, so you need 15 cells. We do everything with 16cells which has a slightly higher voltage.

Pylontech pouch cell battery modules are all 15cell units

slave1

12 X 200Ah X 3.2v = 7.68kWh capacity but you'd need 16 cells for proper mains voltage

silver_sky

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120288987#Comment_120288987

Just following on from this after the update being in place for a week or so - it's a success. There are minor fluctuations overnight when the house base load is very low but import & export during that time is small and it's for a short period. I expect that will go away in time as base load increases (it's hilariously low).

So far this week (mon-fri) we're at 88% self-use across the 5 days. Looking at some previous weeks this was more like 60-70% as the inverter was constantly exporting... all day and night.

Taking away car charging, export this week is at 4.1kWh and import 8.9kWh. Keep in mind that my PureDrive battery is still limiting to 50A discharge most of the time due to temperature. That means that bigger loads like oven, hob, kettle still have an element of import. I expect that it will go back to 100A once the temperature picks up or may change if I get the long awaited PureDrive update.

rosmoke

Wondering if someone knows this?

Background: I've a 3kw Sofar hybrid & 3kw Sofar inverters (4 strings in total) with 7.4kwp and 4.8kw Dyness battery.

Scenario: battery is loaded and fully sunny.

Question: if my load exceeds my max 3600W battery draw does the inverter also supply the production energy to compensate?

Rephrasing: is inverter capable to supply 3600W from battery and 3000W from production cumulative or it's one or the other?

Question 2: inverters aren't connected through link communication port but I'm wondering if the hybrid is not producing any energy and the other inverter is, does it cover load and any excess gets sent to the grid or the hybrid detects voltage increase and charges the battery?

Many thanks for this, to be honest not even the Solar PV install guys could answer this..

DrPhilG

How hard is it to have a full on switchover?

We haven't been too bad for power cuts this last few years but now had a few of them this year already.

I have a Solis 6kW inverter but I haven't got around to wiring in a socket yet but how hard and hoe much work (and cost) is there in being able to fully run the house, and still generate power, in the event of an outage?

Sun was splitting the stones this morning when the power was cut.

graememk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120316129#Comment_120316129

There is a couple of options, Possibly

Full changeover. :

A changeover switch gets installed before your main consumer unit (fusebox). (Ie your main tails get moved to the changeover switch)

Another cable from the inverter goes into that. and then the output of the changeover switch goes to your consumer unit.

Drawbacks : Some method is needed to prevent the inverter feeding itself its own power. eg, on my Dad's there is a MCB in a consumer unit that is on the backup supply which is also connected to a Normally Closed contactor, which feeds the inverter normal grid power.

turn on that breaker, it disconnects the Grid from the inverter, making it impossible for it to feed itself.

Procedure is that you turn on the breaker, and then flip the changeover switch, House is then running from the hybrid inverter.

Partial changeover:

Instead of the Full consumer unit being changed over, and touching the main tails etc, you could get a sub board installed with "essential circuits" with a changeover switch between the essential circuits and the main board.

Keep the heavy loads, such as the EV charger, Cooker, Solar, etc on the main board, but all your lights and sockets on the "essential board"

This also conveniently gets around the issue of the hybrid inverter feeding itself its own power. (fireman switch could be split from the solar supply to its own supply or a circuit thats on the "essential" board.

Id say both could be more or less a days work.

silver_sky

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120316129#Comment_120316129

KB put in a full changeover on my install with Solis 6kW. Caveat is that power is limited to 3kW so you have to be careful what loads you have when it's on.

silver_sky

Just to add, I'm not sure if it will generate when switched over. I've not tried it as any time I had an outage was in the evening.

graememk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120316068#Comment_120316068

The most that can leave an inverter is what its rated for.

So if you were generating 3kw on the straight inverter, and your house was 6kw,

3 will come from the straight inverter, and 3 will come from the hybrid, be it from solar or battery.

DrPhilG

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120316307#Comment_120316307

Cheers

And both options would leave the panels able to generate too?

con747

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120316602#Comment_120316602

I had the change over fitted recently by the same installer as you and got the fireman switches removed to enable the panels to keep supplying power during power cuts. Not sure on full cost yet I'm waiting on the invoice. It took less than 30 minutes to install the full change over switch. Each house would be different though for how long it takes.

DrPhilG

Thanks @con747 I'll give him a shout.