Solar PV Hints, Tips & Troubleshooting

SD_DRACULA

Just FIY it did not make a difference when I changed it to reserve, same thing still happens.

I think the BMS inside the battery is garbage (or sending garbage data to the inverter) the only thing that fixes the issue is power cycling the battery which makes the backup part pointless as you lose power to all devices connected to the AC backup port when power cycling the battery.

I think the fix is to cycle the battery from grid to keep the soc guesstimate correct - stupid excuses from Solis on this, estimating SOC is not rocket science ffs

samdeluxjones

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118378406#Comment_118378406

Mine too, but when battery stopped charging it ran down to 10%

samdeluxjones

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118377801#Comment_118377801

Got the latest firmware, what does HMI stand for?

Bif

Update: When I gave the battery access to the grid it appears to be drawing current at approx 1kw but the % charge reading for the battery remains at 1%. Similarly it is taking 0.3 kw from PV at the moment but the charge level remains at 1%.

Before PV cut in this morning and I turned off the grid to battery it did discharge to the house at about 0.1kw but no more. Any thoughts?

Green light on Battery still flashing.

reklamos

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118381132#Comment_118381132

HMI = Human Machine Interface

championc

Yesterday was somewhat of a pretty dull day in South Dublin. But my output was ZERO for large parts of the day which really made no sense. Anyway, looks like I have 2 x dead optimizers. They are an older type so should be able to get them replaced under their waranty, but just bl00dy annoying. Might just leave them off and take the hit on production, which is only in the later evening anyway as next doors' roof starts to throw a shadow on my panels closest to their roof

ELCAT2009

This is for anyone with Solis inverter. For some reason in the solis cloud app it doesn't seem to register solar generation correctly on the coloured bar summary. For example my yield today is 3.3kw but it shows 0kwh self usage. Battery charging showing at 4kwh and battery discharging at 6kwh! My battery is only a 4.8kw so when I charge at night rate as I did last night that accounts for the 4kwh charging. Now I suspect that the battery possibly charged up another 2kwh during the day to make the 6kwh recorded as discharge total and them the remaining 1.3kw from today's yield of 3.3kw I used as it was generating. So what does it not show self consumption at 1.3kwh and battery charging at 6kwh on the Generation bar graphic? Is there something I have set up wrong or is it a flaw in the solis software? I have only seen self consumption bar showing readings when I generate bigger amounts. Eg it might show self consumption of 1.8kwh ona a day I have a yeild of over 7kwh even though I have used it all either by having appliances running or by storing in battery's. Anyone else have this issue?

The fact that in the generation bar it shows 4kwh is misleading as it counts charging the battery from the grid at night as this figure and not the 3.3kw I actually generated from my panels during the day!

Jonathan

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118408000#Comment_118408000

Yeah, I noticed that myself. Very annoying.

yankinlk

Same Here. Tbh I only use that app for the pretty graphic , for the accurate data I always open the Solis Home app.

worlds goodest teecher

Can someone confirm if my system is set correctly?

Should the System Type not be self consumption?

graememk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118443015#Comment_118443015

Its correct, yours is all "on grid", as you dont have any storage etc.

championc

All on Grid = Standard In inverter

Storage System = Storage inverter (ME3000) and possibly Hybrids

Geeyfds53573

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118443363#Comment_118443363

Storage also for Hybrids

worlds goodest teecher

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118443360#Comment_118443360

Thanks, I was flicking through the app and wasn't sure if I changed it by mistake.

samdeluxjones

Has anyone got their panels on a steep incline to suit the low winter sun that generate well on a sunny day like today?

Mine are 33 degrees and seem to be great in the summertime but catching full sun in winter only generate half of full capacity, max 3kW from 6kW array.

I have a ground mounted system so can fabricate extension legs to change the angle if It's worth my while.

SD_DRACULA

Well according to this http://www.solarelectricityhandbook.com/solar-angle-calculator.html it should be at 90 - 14, 76 degrees for winter in Dublin

Check that with your location and find out.

I saw about 60% of peak production today, full sun, on the front roof panels which are probably around 35 degrees.

Deagol

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118462914#Comment_118462914

I think you're not taking into account that in winter time, the suns rays have to travel through 2-3x as much of Earth's atmosphere and because of the angle, the sunlight is spread over a much larger area of ground. Changing the angle of your panels won't significantly alter the amount you produce vs the maximum the panels are specified for.

bullit_dodger

I was playing around with that very idea yesterday sam in another thread. Using ...

https://re.jrc.ec.europa.eu/pvg_tools/en/#PVP%20that's%20the%20calculator%20for%20Europe

and then plug in 6Kw and 0 azimuth (assuming your array is south facing?), it generates the following production is for various angles.

So "in theory" for Dec & Jan if you swapped out your 35 degree panels and replaced them with 75 degree panels of the same 6Kwp, your production would go from

35 deg = (173+175) = 348 units

75 def = (218+210) = 428 unit

So an efficiency bump of ((428-348)/348)x100 = 22%.

In theory it sounds good, the drawbacks is that you potentially could have panels which are now "sails" for wind, and you have to fabricate the adjustable mounts which maybe more flimsy than the fixed mounts. Dunno if I would do it. Might be worthwhile maybe if you have 3-4 settings and change it every 2 months or so to the optiimum.

Might just be easier to add 2 more panels :-)

mrm

Is the new Capital grants system restricted for domestic applicants for installations up to 5.9kW, or is this only on non-domestic proposals?

graememk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118463560#Comment_118463560

It's going to be the same as it has been with the SEAI for domestic properties.

Bobeagleburger

Help needed.

I've a Day/Night meter installation scheduled for tomorrow (Finally!), and want to change my battery charging/discharging settings in the solis inverter.

Currently, the battery charges from excess solar.

Required from tomorrow:

• Charge during night hours.
• Discharge during day hours.
• Charge from solar excess during the day

Has anyone a screengrab or instructions on this? The search on this site is frustrating to say the least.

Battery is Pylontech US2000 2.4kWh, currently have one and will be adding another soon.

Thanks!

yankinlk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118468674#Comment_118468674

Here is a few useful KEY POSTS on this subject:

My Own Settings: https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118158276#Comment_118158276

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118158276#Comment_118158276

I learned from : https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118116818/#Comment_118116818

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118116851#Comment_118116851

Also OFC and OC:

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118122154/#Comment_118122154

Bobeagleburger

Thanks for that, much appreciated. Will get to the inverter this evening or the morning and report back!

paulbok

Have my Solis Home app going now, but am a little unsure of some of the data I'm seeing.

First, on the image, what is the backup feed on the bottom?

Secondly, I can't figure out why it is exporting to the grid in this scenario. If my consumption is 840 and production is 110, then should it only pull 730w from the battery to make up the difference?

DrPhilG

The back up feed is a socket that you can wire a plug into for use in a power cut.

The imbalance in the calculations of the rest is standard enough. There's always a little bit of an error there, something to do with inefficiency and the grid balancing as the power generated adjusts with the power from the battery. That's why you'll also sometimes see a small export reported even though you're generating and charging.

I'm sure I've made a balls of that explanation so someone else will clarify.

Same for me though.

paulbok

Cheers, that reminds me I need to contact the installers as I can't see where the back up socket is located. Right now it's showing as pulling 130w.

bullit_dodger

Jeez - if that was 130w all the time, that could be annoying. Can you disable the backup socket via a setting - (to help isolate down what's using it?)

MAULBROOK

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118489512#Comment_118489512

paulbok

Connector is plugged in, but not wired to anything yet.

Will see if I can find a setting for it. Sporadic pull from it, usually 0.

yankinlk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118489623#Comment_118489623

You can. We have done it (in this thread somewhere in the past) - in Solis - Advanced Settings - Export Power Set. Off.

I turned it off - even though i was told it proabbly isnt doing anything - it just annoyed me. I dont have anything plugged in to run off battery tho.