Solis Hybrid inverter with DIY battery

bullit_dodger

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119404400#Comment_119404400

Missed the connection there alright. Yeah that makes a bit more sense now....

daughy

I posted this on another thread, and not sure if it was supposed to be on that section, I'll try here instead if anyone can help..

I'm new to batteries so be kind.

I recently had delivered two, 48 volt, 100 amp prebuilt batteries from alixpress.

I have paralleled them, and all is fine.

I have connected them by Can, to my solis hybrid rhi 5k 48ES, after I activated the batteries using user defined it showed me the soc on the hybrid screen, and it matched what the battery screen said, I boiled the kettle to check for outgoing power and the sokis display showed up to 2kw coming from the batteries, it was a bad day for solar but the solar was charging the battery, both batteries worked parallel to eachother. Each taking 20 amps from the battery when the kettle was activated.

My issue is using user defined mode,

If I set the equalisation voltage and the float voltage the same, and the float current to 0 amps, and floating time to 0, will this eliminate floating and equalisation.

Reading about lithium it says they don't need a float charge or equalisation.

The solis app didn't show the bms, or the soc of the battery even though the inverter display shows a percentage of the battery on screen.

I could switch battery type to pylontech or some other battery type but unsure as my battery pack consists of 16 cells.

Any help would be appreciated

daveharnett

The solis inverter uses an rj45 connector for it's CAN connector. Which pins does it use for CAN H and CAN L? I've tried probing all of them looking for a 120Ω resistance, but couldn't find it.

graememk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119998189#Comment_119998189

Pin 4 is can L pin 5 is can H

ELM327

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119778075#Comment_119778075

What make is the battery? Unless it's listed in the Solis you'd have to use userdefine and then enter the parameters from the spec sheet of the battery bank.

poker--addict

Looks like I will have OPs issue to resolve too.

graememk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120170281#Comment_120170281

What BMS do you have? Just the Neey?

poker--addict

corrct

graememk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120170339#Comment_120170339

Ah, Ok.

The Neey is just a balancer, With No CAN communication. Its a really good balancer but gives no cell protection from overcharging. (it cant tell the inverter to stop/slow down etc)

A BMS will monitor the individual cells. eg Seplos.. JK.. etc Also you'll be stuck using Lead acid mode, user defined doesn't work without a CAN connection.

I am gathering up the bits to make a "translator" for the JK (has active balancing) using https://github.com/Uksa007/esphome-jk-bms-can

I already have a spare ESP32 here and a CAN board and using the fake data toggle in the config, I've done a proof of concept and figured out how it works etc.

It worked on my ME3000. I have more ESP32 coming, CAN boards, RJ 45 breakout boards and the cable to plug into the JK. Will make it a bit more presentable than random wires on a breadboard currently

unkel

I should sell more of my UNKELL batteries 😁

poker--addict

good work graememk.

I suppose at moment I won't need to communicate. Initially the only "automation" required will be to enable some load shifting, hopefully Solis should manage it.

graememk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120174226#Comment_120174226

Haven't ran the solis without a bms, but take it conservative on the intial charge, start at 55 and slowly bump it up, and keep an eye on the cells, as there's nothing to tell the inverter to stop.

unkel

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120174364#Comment_120174364

I'm running my pack without a BMS at the moment (but with the NEEY) and that is exactly what you need to do, particularly if you haven't fully top balanced all your cells first. And not only going up, but also going down. So I would charge up to maybe 54V first and don't let it go down below 48V first either (this is still cycling between 99% and 10% or so)

poker--addict

Will the user defined settings photoed above work for lifePO4

unkel

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120232486#Comment_120232486

They will work with any chemistry, even lead acid!

poker--addict

A better question might be will they work effectively? Just want something to get me going in a way that is half right and won't harm the battery life. I can fine tune later.

unkel

Of course. Some say more effectively than if you use a BMS 🤣

You need to set the voltages right though and you need to keep an eye on the system and check your cell voltages particularly if you don't have a balancer either. Basically all the stuff that a BMS is supposed to do.

poker--addict

Yup have the JK bms. Will have that setup right,

graememk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120232617#Comment_120232617

Have this built waiting on some printer filament before sending it off for testing.

Big Lar

Lads,

Is there a max battery size for SEPLOS BMS, I read on some sites 500AH ? - considering expanding to 30Kw

Also, currently I am eyeballing the weather forecast and setting the battery charge on a nighty basis but its a bit of a pain, I am wondering if there is some way that I can have Home Assistant control the BMS when it hits a certain SOC to prevent the battery from charging fully? For instance the batteries charged fully last night and today the solar is only fair today so there will be no waste but yesterday morning they were charged fully but the sun was out most of the day, if I had not have been at home to plug in the car most my leccy would have went to grid. so looking a simple way to set the BMS to stop charging at a certain SOC. Was considering modifying one of the temp probes to simulate overheating or excessively cold temp of the battery to turn off charging.

unkel

Several people are doing that @Big Lar. Check the home automation thread in this forum

Big Lar

Thanking you @unkel, will hav a look

As you have lotz and lotz of batteries, do you know if the SEPLOS is good for 30Kw of batteries?

unkel

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120253716#Comment_120253716

Seplos and I did not get on, we got divorced. I've remarried since (JK BMS) 😁

But as for any BMS, I can't see any limitation really for the number of cells used. I've 40kWh on the JK BMS no probs

Big Lar

Deleted

poker--addict

Anyone know what the auto battery awaken new setting is?

as my JK BMS doesn't comm with Solis the battery shuts down and needs to be manually restarted at moment. Pain in the ass

poker--addict

User defined option seems to be gone in latest firm ware? So I am using Lead acid settings - but that caps charge around 40a or 2.2kw/hour....any suggestions?

Big Lar

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120945604#Comment_120945604

To solve that problem I set the inverter Over Discharge voltage to above the JKBMS so that the inverter disconnects the battery before the JK switches off.

poker--addict

Thanks will try that

poker--addict

Will yours charge any faster than 2.2kw per hour ?

Big Lar

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120948331#Comment_120948331

Yes

poker--addict

Hmm interesting- any idea why mine won't go over 2.2kwh, I also have jk bms

ps is that a home assistant interface?

poker--addict

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120948275#Comment_120948275

So this hasn't worked can't set higher than 48v, and think I need to be 49v?

Big Lar

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120979603#Comment_120979603

I have the BMS lower than 48V, inverter here turned off the battery last night at 3:00am(2:00am inverter time)

For me the JK reads 0.3V higher than the Solis inverter, the lad in "Off grid Garage" saw the same difference, also see the BMS graph below the voltage just dips down and recovers, from here the battery will only power the inverter and not feed back to the house until it starts charging again.

Cell 9 which is the lowest cell I have drops to 2.94v so no harm done.

poker--addict

My JK also reading 0.3V higher than solis.

some of my cells seem to drop of scale quickly once below 3.0. As BMS cell UVP is 2.65- so presumably that is what is getting hit and triggering cut off. Crap cells or not properly balanced? Would have expected with active balancer they would have sorted themselves out?

dermotx

Hi. I have a 3kW Solis hybrid inverter RHI-3K-48ES-5G which has a max charge/discharge current of 62.5A. I have 16 cells on order from NKON. My next purchase has to be the BMS.

Now from this thread and others there appears to be lots of difficulty with various BMS models communicating with the Solis inverters. Some people have been successful with the Seplos and others with the JK.

Which is the easier to use?

Dermot

dermotx

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121458828#Comment_121458828

I'm thinking of going with the JK BMS because it has an active balancer built in. However as I'm new to this I'd like to use the BMS that is easiest to use with my Solis hybrid inverter.

Any advice would be very much appreciated.

Regards

Dermot

graememk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121468338#Comment_121468338

There isnt any experience yet with the solis and the new JK that communicate with the solis.

The old one does work with the interface board, (the one on off grid garage) but user defined mode is possibly needed.

dermotx

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121468489#Comment_121468489

Thanks for that. In light of that would I be better getting a Seplos? Has the Seplos BMS been shown to work with the Solis inverters?

theRed73

I have a Solis s5 6k and ordered a master/slave kit to go with my pair of older JKs and DIY battery banks. Hopefully I can share what works or not in a month or so.

on_the_roots

Is there any trick to remove the AC Backup connector?

I've tried to spin the locker on the top anticlockwise but nothing happens, even with quite a bit of force but it won't move. I'm afraid of breaking the thing...

Scoobydoobydoo101

What works for me is lightly pressing a screwdriver into the hole on the side of the twist lock whilst applying gentle twisting pressure to unlock.

Normally one side is enough to disengage it...

on_the_roots

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121623846#Comment_121623846

I tried it as well but no luck.

It seems so easy to connect, but I'm simply unable to do the reverse.

https://youtu.be/L5GFE72gLYQ?t=252

Also hard to believe we would need a special tool just to disconnect this thing. There is no information at all on the user manual...

theRed73

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121623567#Comment_121623567

Have a closer look, there's two tabs in the recesses either side of the nut that lock it in place. You need to press those in for it to release and unscrew.

on_the_roots

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121625024#Comment_121625024

Is this something extremely hard to press in order to unscrew? I've tried it with a considerable force and it won't move a bit.

The nut is very sturdy and doesn't "deform" in order to release any locking inside. I even tried with a combination pliers tool to see if any difference and no luck.

I've open a support case with Solis anyways. This is hilarious 😅

theRed73

You'd have to "press in" on the left edge of the indent while applying a light anticlockwise twist on the collar nut. I do one side at a time. Don't try to force it or you might end up breaking the inverter side connection and that'll be a more difficult repair.

I'll take mine off and post some pics tomorrow. It makes more sense when you can see it disassembled.

theRed73

Here you go, there's a single 'tab' on the RHS that springs out into on of the recesses on the connector. It may be jammed so if you tighten clockwise slightly that may be enough to release the pressure. You'd only need maybe .5 mm so not much force.

Then you can press the tab in with a screwdriver in the RH recess and twist anticlockwise a ¼ turn.

20240117_095258.jpg

on_the_roots

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121627823#Comment_121627823

Thank you so much, I was now finally able to remove it!

Very bad locking design btw. That 'tab' faces the Grid connector, which makes it much more difficult to access with a screwdriver. I had to use a small "L" shaped torx key instead.

buzz11

What are the solis settings needed for 2 Seplos Mason batteries which are B envision 305Ah cells and seplos 10E BMS ?

Battery capacity; 610Ah (2 x 305Ah packs)

Battery OVV 58.3v and Battery UNV 45v -- these were given to me by seplos support

Absorption voltage; 58.3v (given by seplos)

Imax discharge 60A and imax charge 60A -- both given to me by seplos support but seems a bit low. Also should the same charge & discharge limit be entered into the 'Time of use for self use' screen?

gman127

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121680989#Comment_121680989

You've probably seen it already at this stage but remove the discharge time or it will dump the battery power to the grid

mattsmith

Hi all

Im building a DIY battery setup. Have acquired a used Solis Hybrid inverter. It came without the battery cables. Im trying to find the Amphennol connectors to make up my own leads. Im struggling to find anything locally. Anybody know where to get cable plus connector or even just the connector and I can add my own cables. Thanks