Solar PV Hints, Tips & Troubleshooting

daughy

daughy wrote: »

Forgot to add the screenshot

I can see where it looked confusing, I scrolled down to far on the screenshot, I was producing approx 300 watts

championc

daughy wrote: »

I can see where it looked confusing, I scrolled down to far on the screenshot, I was producing approx 300 watts

@ 10:09 and you had consumed ZERO !!!

Your Solis CT's are either missing, misconnected or misconfigured

Your grid CT clamp is certainly backwards

daughy

The daily grid for that latest screenshot at 10:09am was 8.4kwh used.

The other one from 3 hours ago had 11.7kwh used for the day, the myenergi is still tracking data, up to over 13kwh so far.

daughy

Can you or anyone with a solis take some screenshots of your data so I can cross examine mine please.

MAULBROOK

daughy wrote: »

Can you or anyone with a solis take some screenshots of your data so I can cross examine mine please.

Have a look

championc

daughy wrote: »

Can you or anyone with a solis take some screenshots of your data so I can cross examine mine please.

Here you go

MAULBROOK

daughy wrote: »

I can see where it looked confusing, I scrolled down to far on the screenshot, I was producing approx 300 watts

How long is the system in.

daughy

Something is seriously wrong with my setup.
Thanks for the help champion, I'll have to do some fault finding tomorrow.
I honestly thought this was all fine.
Apologies for all the back and forth questions guys.

daughy

MAULBROOK wrote: »

How long is the system in.

Well the Solis was hardwired in about 2 weeks ago, the electrician installed the meter to the board and connected the ct clamp on what he said was a live grid, I'll have to double check this tomorrow.

MAULBROOK

daughy wrote: »

Well the Solis was hardwired in about 2 weeks ago, the electrician installed the meter to the board and connected the ct clamp on what he said was a live grid, I'll have to double check this tomorrow.

Tell him to get his ass back and sort this out, you are paying your hard earned cash to sort out his mistake.

To some its a minor issue but from the looks of it a lot of people are trouble shooting someone else's work.

Rant over.:P Cheers

daughy

MAULBROOK wrote: »

Tell him to get his ass back and sort this out, you are paying your hard earned cash to sort out his mistake.

To some its a minor issue but from the looks of it a lot of people are trouble shooting someone else's work.

Rant over.:P Cheers

Thanks MAULBROOK

championc

Ask 10, 100 or 1,000 questions, if it means getting the answer you need.

To be honest, because I did a self build, I got to learn so much. I made mistakes along the way, but it's always important to learn from mistakes too.

daughy

So I turned the ct clamp the opposite way. The electrician did that. Not me. Anyways..
Maybe my readings will settle down, looking a bit crazy

DrPhilG

daughy wrote: »

So I turned the ct clamp the opposite way. The electrician did that. Not me. Anyways..
Maybe my readings will settle down, looking a bit crazy

I wouldn't be farting around moving or reversing CTs. You paid a professional to do it, call him and tell him to get back and sort it.

My installer did great work at a great price, and has done at least 2 other boardsies work too. But he was not good with the CTs. Mine were up the left for a while, regarding the Zappi, Eddi etc. But he was perfectly happy to come back and get it sorted second time around.

I know a few others have had similar issues, good installs, but the CTs took some tweaking. It seems to be a weak spot with a lot of these guys!

championc

daughy wrote: »

So I turned the ct clamp the opposite way. The electrician did that. Not me. Anyways..
Maybe my readings will settle down, looking a bit crazy

It may be worth deleting your "site" from the app and re-adding it - so that all previous data is lost, so you start afresh and follow the stats for the day, to make sure that they look correct

Otherwise, take a snapshot at 12:00 and compare the two

daughy

championc wrote: »

It may be worth deleting your "site" from the app and re-adding it - so that all previous data is lost, so you start afresh and follow the stats for the day, to make sure that they look correct

Otherwise, take a snapshot at 12:00 and compare the two

Good idea. I'll do that

daughy

I had no luck doing that, but it could be a case of having 3 apps on different android devices. Il just have to see does that work by deleting each and leaving just 1, there is still over 600kwh daily energy bought.
I even cleared the data in the inverter, and I think I also factory reset it

daughy

There is a possibility I skewed up the readings when I connected the ct clamp when the grid was live, I have since reset all my trip switches on my main board, shut down the inverter manually, cleared the inverter data, deleted the plant on numerous occasions.
No idea now until tomorrow to see will a new day bring different results to the app.

championc

The main thing really is - did the live data now look correct ? With no batteries, could you see export to the grid around noon, or import into your Eddi / iBoost (can't remember if you had one) ?

You may need to delete your plant from the solarmanpv website in order to then loose all of the historical totals

daughy

championc wrote: »

The main thing really is - did the live data now look correct ? With no batteries, could you see export to the grid around noon, or import into your Eddi / iBoost (can't remember if you had one) ?

You may need to delete your plant from the solarmanpv website in order to then loose all of the historical totals

Yes the live data was correct, I tested the digital meter on the main board using a high load and it coincided with the solar app data, also the digital meter was exporting a fraction of watts when over producing, the Eddie works fine for heating with excess solar power, I never had an issue with the myenergi other than higher overall kwh data. Hopefully tomorrow with a new day the data will reset.
I deleted the plant from the ginlong site and started again but the 600kwh daily energy bought was still they're, really head scrstching stuff.
Will know more tomorrow.
Tnx again champion.

worlds goodest teecher

This has probably been answered before, apologies if it has.

Installer assessed my house today. He recommended for my house that the inverter is situated in the attic as I have nowhere great to place it downstairs. Anyone any advice?

daughy

worlds goodest teecher wrote: »

This has probably been answered before, apologies if it has.

Installer assessed my house today. He recommended for my house that the inverter is situated in the attic as I have nowhere great to place it downstairs. Anyone any advice?

Its a bit sh*tty alright being in the attic, if you had a ladder installed for your attic door it might help, if that's the only place it will go then you might just have to do it, unless you build a weatherproof outdoor unit, a shed even? Insulate a battery box to keep them close to warm. Anyone else have any ides?
Just suggestions

worlds goodest teecher

daughy wrote: »

Its a bit sh*tty alright being in the attic, if you had a ladder installed for your attic door it might help, if that's the only place it will go then you might just have to do it, unless you build a weatherproof outdoor unit, a shed even? Insulate a battery box to keep them close to warm. Anyone else have any ides?
Just suggestions

Do I need frequent access to the inverter?

DrPhilG

worlds goodest teecher wrote: »

Do I need frequent access to the inverter?

No. I'd say the vast majority of systems are in the attic. Not many people have a suitable space for the otherwise. Probably not ideal due to the highs and lows of temperature, but such is life.

worlds goodest teecher

daughy wrote: »

Its a bit sh*tty alright being in the attic, if you had a ladder installed for your attic door it might help, if that's the only place it will go then you might just have to do it, unless you build a weatherproof outdoor unit, a shed even? Insulate a battery box to keep them close to warm. Anyone else have any ides?
Just suggestions

Yeah, stira in the house.

championc

Realistically, you don't ever need to go anywhere near it. They are nearly all Ip65 rated (so are waterproof). If you are interested in what's going on with it, you'll watch the system stats via an app.

However, if you planned batteries, then indeed, you are best sticking to the attic

worlds goodest teecher

Having 10no. 320w panels + 3kW single string inverter installed in February. The intention is to add more panels + battery down the line.

championc

worlds goodest teecher wrote: »

Having 10no. 320w panels + 3kW single string inverter installed in February. The intention is to add more panels + battery down the line.

Well would you not then try and get a 5kW inverter instead ? That would totally future proof you. If you went with a standard 5kW unit now you could add a separate Sofar ME3000SP for the batteries when you get them.

MAULBROOK

worlds goodest teecher wrote: »

Having 10no. 320w panels + 3kW single string inverter installed in February. The intention is to add more panels + battery down the line.

What type of inverter as that will dictate what you can expand on.
Get a 5kw min inverter as to future proof your expansion

alesironi

Hi all

I understand in 2021 sooner or later there should be available Feed In Tariffs so anyone with Solar PV and a smart meter will get something back for every bit of electricity produced not used and sent back to the grid.

What I do not understand is this: from a technical perspective, apart from the "Smart Meter" that should be installed by ESB sooner or later, are there any other technical requirements to be considered for a Solar PV system? I mean, once I have any Solar PV system installed and connected to provide electricity directly to my house and sending back to the grid any excess, whateever brand is it (and a smart meter, of course), do I need anything else to get the benefit of FIT once they are available? Not talking about contracts/agreements, only from a technical perspective.

Little bit confused as I am looking to a SOlar PV system but I want to be sure it's future proof for FIT.

thanks
ale