Solar PV Hints, Tips & Troubleshooting

ionapaul

Don't have a battery, but it is a hybrid inverter as we wanted to leave it open to installing a battery in the future.

Previously, the generation and consumption was tracked 24 hours a day. About 6 or so months ago, it was down to about 18 hours a day, and it's gotten worse and seems to track daylight (with some give and take, keeps tracking for a while after the sun goes down). So an internal battery on the logger might be the issue?

con747

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123237898#Comment_123237898

Hybrid inverters shut down when it gets dark unless you have a battery to keep power going to it. It starts up again when the sun comes up and the panels start producing power again.

championc

Look at data history and see / verify that it has never had data overnight

newhouse87

Have couple gaps to 10minute reporting on solis app. Even though solis didn't register would inverter have captured it and sent to grid or export for missed reporting period?

Taxburden carrier

Does anyone have instructions to change a Solis inverter to a new Wi-Fi connection that a 7 year old would understand please

championc

Give the old SSID and password to your provider and ask them to change these on your new router.

Why change 20 devices, when you only need to change one

ionapaul

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123237940#Comment_123237940

I double checked there and for the first 12 months after my Solar PV system was installed, the Solarman Smart app definitely tracked production and consumption for 24 hours a day, which obviously was very useful compared to only tracking consumption while the sun is shining (the latter misses a lot of times when our air pump is heating the house). Again I'm now wondering if the logger had some kind of internal battery or similar?

con747

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123261362#Comment_123261362

I've no idea, a ChatGPT search brings the following up.

"Yes, Solarman hybrid inverters typically shut down at night if they are not connected to a battery. The reason is that hybrid inverters rely on stored energy in a battery to provide power during times when the solar panels aren't producing electricity (like at night or during cloudy weather). Without a battery, the inverter does not have an energy source to supply the load when solar production is absent, so it will stop working."

Maybe someone else with a Solarman system can confirm or deny if it shuts down.

championc

It's dead as a dodo if it has no power - simples

graememk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123261362#Comment_123261362

An easy test.

If it's dark, is the inverter on?

If it's not on, it won't have the data.

What make inverter do you have? (An update possibly changed the behaviour)

Bannerman1969

Hi

I have the solarman smart app for my system and works very well. Up to about 5 days ago I had the ability to remotely change setting on the inverter (Ergocell aka Kstar) like charging times but the option has now disapeared from the app. Logged out and in and deleted app also but no change. Anyone throw some light on this. Cheers

Murph_D

Hello,

5.7 kWp, Solis S5 hyrbrid inverter, 10k battery (Dyness H5B x2)

System just installed, a few teething probs and of course it's a long weekend. One of the battery modules is flashing red/amber/green on all LEDs. LEDs normal on the other one, indicating state of charge etc. Does the flashing mean anything?

I'd set up the system to charge batteries 2-5am only (Self Use mode timer), but the battery has already charged one or twice during the day, including during peak hours. Also getting strange load readings - the house is actually unoccupied this weekend with the heat and hot water turned off. But as the screenshot shows, this morning the indicated load has ramped up to 7kW between 7-10am approx, with the battery discharging and the panels producing, with the load eventually reducing once the battery had discharged down to 20% (the set DOD). But still some load spikes later.

For now, I don't want the battery randomly charging at high rates during the day so I've switched the mode to 'Feed In Priority' and disabled grid charging, at least until I've talked to the installer, who needs to come back anyway and go over the controls again with me. I'll also be cross checking the above data with smart meter data in a few days when it's available. But in the meantime, any thoughts?

TIA

ionapaul

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123261816#Comment_123261816

It's a Solis 6000 inverter, if that helps!

hanloj1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123233791#Comment_123233791

Hi, I am with Swyft since Nov. They were slow to respond to me but still got back, anyways they rang me a month ago to apologise for poor communication. Basically they were snowed under with Bord Gais taking over. Long story short might be worth hassling them again.

I have solarman app with sofar (battery too) and I get full 24 hour data.

mjatkey

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123266697#Comment_123266697

Hi, yeah flashing LED's on battery not a good sign, is that the master or slave battery does the inverter show the "one" battery with a total charged amount and soc?

Load wise it looks like something in the house was drawing power, but also looks like it is tracking the PV (certainly from 11 onwards), so could be an issue with the ct or its positioning?

Maybe set the DOD to 10% and get those batteries to pay for their selves sooner (check manufacturers tech info first).

So I discharge any excess energy up to 2am then charge like you in the EV window, again shortens pay back time.

Borax2709

I had an issue at the start with the Sofar / Solarman where the TimeZone of the inverter was still set as being Australian timezone.

The installer had to do something remotely to get it to switch back to UTC to respect the configurations that I had set. (It charged during the day too instead of 2am - that's how I spotted it)

Murph_D

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123274939#Comment_123274939

Not sure if it’s the master or slave. However it does seem to be taking in the full 10kW during the charging cycle.

CTs definitely seem off - see attached. Showing export to grid while charging.

jiminho

Hi - Just got a 4.4kw system installed (10x440w jinko). Today is the first full day of energy generation and it’s a banger out there. Not a cloud in the sky here in Dublin. I have the solar man app and I noticed that the highest it’s hit is 3.6kw and it’s been at that since mid-morning and just start to peel off now in the last half hour. I have a south facing roof. That works out at roughly 82% of the total power output rating of the system. Does that sound right - will it ever get higher say on June 21 when sun is highest on the sky?

The other thing I noticed, much to my surprise, is that despite being quote for a 4kw invert, I’ve actually got a 5kw Sofar inverter. Can I technically add a few extra panels now?

10-10-20

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123278530#Comment_123278530

Yes, irradiation isn't at it's max until slightly later in the year, then the panels will loose some efficiency because of the temperature of the silicon junctions, so it's swings and roundabouts really!

championc

Expect max in May, when temps are cooler. Heat reduces generation

MOD: See new thread here:

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058403476/solar-pv-hints-tips-troubleshooting-part-2

slave1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123278530#Comment_123278530

Your systems should be oversized, I predict you will never hit 4.4kW of production even on sunniest noon

Jonathan

Testing.