Solar PV Hints, Tips & Troubleshooting

Jonathan

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120664830#Comment_120664830

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120664944#Comment_120664944

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120665351#Comment_120665351

@DC999 got it. Starting and stopping when clouds come over. I have the stop time as 30 seconds, and the start time as 120 seconds.

Next task is to play around with Home Assistant to get inverter to force discharge at a rate roughly equal to the average generation over the last x mins. It should dip into battery to keep the Zappi charging on cloudy days.

@idc That is something I hadn't considered. Worth doing even if I implement the forced discharge idea above. Thanks!

bullit_dodger

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120666120#Comment_120666120

I don't have an EV, but I like that. Could do something as simple as ....

if SOC = 100% and time <16:00....then

discharge until its at 90%.

Worst case scenario you'll not get back up to 100% again. Big deal, it's not as if the energy is "wasted"

As for monthly production for me. I broke the 800Kwh mark and when I add on my shed (seperate telemetry) I get 1.05MWh. First time in that esteemed 1mWh club :-)

I did get 3x panels added in late March (29th as I recall), so the spike up in Apr is explained by that. Even still, it's worth noting that May is 10x times the generation in Jan! Such a shame it's not reversed and we could heat our houses from Solar. Alas....

micks_address

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120666348#Comment_120666348

There is a setting in the zappi to dip into the battery.. slider between 0 and 100.. if you set at 100 in eco + will only use solar excess if it can support 1.4kw.. ive mine set at 60% so if solar dips will use the battery.. so even if solar excess is only 1kw it will charge the car etc (sorry for cluttering the thread)

bullit_dodger

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120666368#Comment_120666368

I think small tangents in conversation are ok, otherwise we'd have carnage on threads or nobody would ever share useful tidbits - and that would be a shame. Full long blown conversations naturally are to be discouraged, but that's just my own thoughts.

silver_sky

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120666120#Comment_120666120

Could you not have an automation to switch the zappi into ECO mode rather than changing the inverter settings? it should continue and pull from the battery. Switch back to ECO+ when generation stabilises.

System

This discussion was created from comments split from: Solar PV Performance Thread - Post your monthly output.

Jonathan

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120667132#Comment_120667132

Cleaning up the off topic mess I created. 😂

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120667122#Comment_120667122

No. Can't do that. Zappi is fed from meter box and is upstream of the inverter CT, so inverter never sees the Zappi load.

silver_sky

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120667139#Comment_120667139

Ahh I see then your way would be the only option. You probably wouldnt even need to export the full 1.4kW, just enough to get it going again.

bullit_dodger

I'm perhaps not the "best" person to comment here, but I'd be worried a little if your voltage was getting into the 260v region. Sure fixing the inverter alarms is good, but it could be the case like "turning off that annoying smoke alarm and going back to bed".

Might be worthwhile to additionally open/start a convertsation with ESB networks that they are "getting up there" with the voltage they are delivering to your house. Also, the frequency range that they allow there (from 47-52Hz) is crazy. It's ok to vary the voltage, but freq generally need to be pretty tight or "bad things" happen. I realize that this is just what triggers the alarms and that your actual freq is probably very close to 50hz but still.

Jonathan

Anyone run the gauntlet and updated their MyEnergi system V5 firmware yet? Seems to be lots of issues without any major gain if you don't have a Libbi.

stimpson

Just had my Zappi V2 delivered. I’ll be holding off on the firmware update for a while if there are issues.

graememk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120671143#Comment_120671143

I've been bitten by updates breaking things too many times.

I think I'll hold off for now as currently don't have any issues

jkforde

I'm in the ME beta group and I can tell you that Chris and the ME dev & test team are passionate and dedicated to their products so I'm willing to help them out with their testing... but I do get a sense that they've birthed a very complex IT ecosystem.. and now with the Libbi (which won't work without v5 firmware on all linked devices).

I have the latest v5 firmware on a Zappi v2.0, Eddi v1 (both without integrated wifi hub), hub v1, harvi (grid) and the system is working great, once the devices (esp. master device, Eddi in my case) are restarted to reset comms pairing. so far so good..

silver_sky

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120671143#Comment_120671143

I did the update a few days ago. Only issue was my Eddi (no WiFi) took about 2.5 hours to update. I've the Zappi V2 (with WiFi), Eddi (no WiFi), and harvi.

Jonathan

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120671358#Comment_120671358

That's good to hear. I have the same set of products. There are reports of grid CT issues with V5 firmware. How is your grid CT connected? Mine is connected to the Zappi.

jkforde

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120671824#Comment_120671824

I've a harvi in the meter box paired to Eddi master upstairs in hotpress in middle of house. I'm not experiencing those GT detect issues myself so can't comment. if you restart the Eddi it says 'Grid CT Lost' for 1-2 secs, then displays waiting for surplus (if that is the case)

jasgrif11

Has anyone successfully resolved Grid Over Voltage Alarm 1010 errors on their Solis inverter? I have 2 inverters (Solis and Sofar), and I only get these errors with the Solis. They are random enough except for the current really fine weather where I'm seeing 5 of these alarms per day.

What are the steps to resolve this?

championc

It's GRID. So no point in posting DC string voltage graphs

jasgrif11

On the ginlong website it mentions this as one of the main causes

Are multiple inverters concentrated in one grid connection point? For example, multiple single-phase inverters connected to the same phase of the grid can cause the voltage of this phase to increase.

Could this be it, as I have two inverters (soon to be 3) all connected into the consumer unit. It doesn't give a fix for this though

Jonathan

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120673742#Comment_120673742

Try setting the Solis grid standard to ESB-Micro.

jasgrif11

The default setting is EN50549IE and when I set it do ESB-Micro and save the Operation light never illuminates and it just stays in a waiting mode

Jonathan

Looks like MyEnergi V5 firmware rollout paused....

IMPORTANT

Unfortunately a number of customers have experienced problems with their zappi 2.0 charger following the update to V5 and are unable to charge their cars as zappi reports "Waiting for EV"

To prevent further issues we have temporarily paused the release of the V5 firmware.

If you have not already started the update process please wait until we have identified the issue and have rectified it.

Thank you for your patience and support

silver_sky

They should have rolled it out in batches. I suppose it's consistent with their past issues of poor regression testing.

jasgrif11

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120674560#Comment_120674560

Is there a way to retroactively capture the Grid Over Voltage value on Solis so that I can try create a service call with the ESB?

Jonathan

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120667200#Comment_120667200

Working away on this. Used the statistics integration within HA to create a 'noisiness' sensor for PV generation over the last 15 min interval. Intermittent clouds today so got to test it, and it seems to be working well.

DC999

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120682118#Comment_120682118

What's the 'noisiness' sensor tracking? Is that the gap between the PV output and the 1.4kW the Zappi needs to keep running?

I take it 'solis inverter DC power' is the actual generation from the PV?

Bobeagleburger

Has anyone ever received a No-Grid alarm on Solis Inverter? Alarm code is 1015.

The box next to the Inverter had the second switch down, see pic below.

I powdered down the inverter as per procedure. Then I flicked the switch back up. Then finally powered the Inverter back up.

All seems fine now.

Any ideas on potential causes?

samdeluxjones

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120679503#Comment_120679503

I had same issue and changed to ESB Micro and not a bother since.

jasgrif11

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120682914#Comment_120682914

@samdeluxjones Do you see the Operational light illuminated after you made this change?

samdeluxjones

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120686766#Comment_120686766

Yes nothing changes.

When you choose it first it assumes you are going to edit parameters but there is not need as it is designed for ESB, then press ESC and it gives you the choice to save and send or cancel, choose save and send and job done walk away..