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Solar PV Hints, Tips & Troubleshooting

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    #1772
    Alkers
    Registered Users Posts: 6,830 ✭✭✭Alkers


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118128359#Comment_118128359

    Is this your setup?

    We have a decent size garage roof which is all north facing so would be an option for us



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    #1773
    championc
    Registered Users Posts: 6,135 ✭✭✭championc


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118129657#Comment_118129657

    Yes - never overlook the use of a garden shed. It's even worth a few panels with micro inverters



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    #1774
    Blue4u
    Registered Users Posts: 547 ✭✭✭Blue4u


    I have a GIVenergy system, recently had a firmware upgrade on the battery and now seems to have a regular issue when the battery shuts down so I need to push the black button on the side, after that it fires up and works but can go again. So Friday pushed it, today it was off again. Anyone seeing similar issues? is it the firmware or bigger issue with battery?



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    #1775
    reklamos
    Registered Users Posts: 793 ✭✭✭reklamos


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118131013#Comment_118131013

    Check the logs/errors/warnings on the battery/inverter. The most likely reason for battery to shut down is either over voltage or under voltage. I would think it would be under but logs would give more insight why this is happenings. Also talk to your supplier maybe there is a know issue with that firmware revision. What was the reason for upgrade in the first place?



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    #1776
    Blue4u
    Registered Users Posts: 547 ✭✭✭Blue4u


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118131338#Comment_118131338

    They done a remote firmware update, no idea why. I asked the installer but just wondering if anyone else seeing.



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    #1777
    samdeluxjones
    Registered Users Posts: 361 ✭✭samdeluxjones



    Is there anyway way to fully control that solis inverter remotely?

    Even something that can be hardwired to the machine itself?



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    #1778
    reklamos
    Registered Users Posts: 793 ✭✭✭reklamos


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118143041#Comment_118143041

    There is, through modbus. The same way that the data can be pulled out of it using modbus, the same way data can be sent to it using modbus. There are docs floating around the internet with registers and what they do but I would say this would slightly vary based on model and firmware.

    I have it done through node-red but honestly there is very little that you would need control/change.



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    #1779
    championc
    Registered Users Posts: 6,135 ✭✭✭championc


    It should be said that Modbus gives immediate access to live streaming data rather than 5 min intervals snapshots.

    Of course, with Node-Red, you can create your own dashboard.

    Screenshot_20211109-202559.png




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    #1780
    reklamos
    Registered Users Posts: 793 ✭✭✭reklamos


    I would not call it streaming as you still need to poll the multiple registers and modbus is not the fastest thing in the world. On Solis baud rate is set to 9600 which is slow. But this is as close as you will get to real time data. This is not that critical system and for me once a minute is enough. I'm a sucker for fancy dashboards :)

    image.png




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    #1781
    MAULBROOK
    Registered Users Posts: 1,469 ✭✭✭MAULBROOK


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118143468#Comment_118143468

    It's at times like this I realise I know feck all.

    Bravo Sir



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    #1782
    Pique
    Registered Users Posts: 3,049 ✭✭✭Pique


    Question about using a battery to power the entire consumer unit in the event of a grid failure.

    I understand that everything shuts off in the event of a grid failure in order to prevent an electricity line man working on a line that is live due to a feed from a domestic PV setup. Yep, sounds like a sensible idea.

    But that is exactly the time that you would want your stored energy useable imo.

    So I also heard that by adding a cutover switch of some kind, the battery can indeed power your house consumer unit. Is this true? Is it safe? Is it legal?



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    #1783
    randomname2005
    Registered Users Posts: 1,962 ✭✭✭randomname2005


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118118517#Comment_118118517

    I think this is a maybe depending on what you might want to do and the house.

    If air tightness is an issue then you will need to plan how to get the cables into the house while retaining air tightness and it might be easier to plan that now.

    If you are thinking about getting an immersion diverter it might be good to see how easy it will be to get wires from the attic to the hot press and then to the fuse board. The installers had to do a lot of work in the crawl space in our case.



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    #1784
    irishchris
    Registered Users Posts: 3,204 ✭✭✭irishchris


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118144440#Comment_118144440

    Just on the diverter the installer won't need to run anything from attic to hot press. You simply have to install it along the line from consumer unit(fuseboard) to your immersion. I currently have mine fitted next to consumer unit. You will need to run a clamp cable from the diverter to the consumer unit.



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    #1785
    samdeluxjones
    Registered Users Posts: 361 ✭✭samdeluxjones


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118143238#Comment_118143238

    Do I need extra hardware for modbus?

    So can all the settings/advanced be changed with this?

    For the bad weather a few weeks ago I set the battery to charge fully during the night but these days there is enough sun to do a half charge during the day.

    Changing the settings via laptop/phone would be hell of a lot handier than running to the inverter every time.



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    #1786
    idc
    Registered Users Posts: 561 ✭✭✭idc


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118144573#Comment_118144573

    Unless you have completely independent immersions and temperature stats such as that having a first and second immersion attached to the diverter makes sense - but expect most electric immersions are the normal bath/sink (long/short rod) type which means just rerouting existing immersion cable as you suggest.



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    #1787
    reklamos
    Registered Users Posts: 793 ✭✭✭reklamos


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118144642#Comment_118144642

    It really depends. I have used elfin modbusTCP adapter that is connected to wifi stick port as at the time I did not find other way. But someone earlier mentioned code https://github.com/MichaluxPL/Sofar_LSW3 that allows to connect and pull data using wifi stick. As the code is using modbus to pull data out then it should be possible also to send data to it. It just needs to be modified and I just had no time to properly look into it.



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    #1788
    AndyBoBandy
    Moderators, Social & Fun Moderators Posts: 15,328 Mod ✭✭✭✭AndyBoBandy


    Does anyone know what the minimum usage penalties are with Electric Ireland? And is there a separate minimum use for day units & night units? or is it counted as a whole?


    edit: found it, it's 2units per day;

    What is the Low Usage Standing Charge? 

    This is an increased Standing Charge that only applies where you use two units or less of electricity on average per day in a billing period (typically 61 days).

    How Much is it?

    It is 8.63 cents per day more that the normal standing charge.


    So as long as you use more than 122kWh in a 61 day period, you're grand.. so charging the car from the grid once a week would probably see you through.. (or charging a storage battery once a night in winter)

    https://www.electricireland.ie/residential/help/billing/what-is-the-low-user-standing-charge

    Post edited by AndyBoBandy on


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    #1789
    Jonathan
    Moderators, Education Moderators, Home & Garden Moderators Posts: 8,165 Mod ✭✭✭✭Jonathan


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118144910#Comment_118144910

    Yeah, I posted that last week. It works, but is very clunky, and needs a good bit of work to support writing to registers.

    Have written a new python program from scratch to query Solis inverter using modbus using the stock data logging stick. Basically is a wrapper around a python modbus library to encapsulate the RTU frames in the V5 frames (A5 protocol) that the data logging stick speaks on port 8899.

    Will tidy up and publish on GitHub later in week. Should be easy to use it to underpin any automation.



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    #1790
    randomname2005
    Registered Users Posts: 1,962 ✭✭✭randomname2005



    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118144573#Comment_118144573

    Ill take your word on this and that was my initial understanding. However, in my case the installers were adamant that they had to go through the hot press. Maybe that was the easiest way of get the panel wires from the attic through to the fuse board on the opposite corner of the house but figured I would mention it just in case.



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    #1791
    AndyBoBandy
    Moderators, Social & Fun Moderators Posts: 15,328 Mod ✭✭✭✭AndyBoBandy


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118149806#Comment_118149806

    The Eddi Hot Water diverter I have is on the wall mounted outside my hot press (I asked for outside as inside is very hot....). My hot press is in my office, so I don't mind it being external, as I can also see it and how it's acting etc....

    Basically, it's just wired into your existing Immersion line, and all the Eddi is is a fancy on/off switch that sits between your existing switch for the immersion, and the immersion element itself going into the hot water tank.

    Once installed, the existing immersion switch becomes the on/off button for the Eddi Device, and is left 'always on'. At this point the Eddi becomes the controller (on/off switch) deciding when to send power into the immersion element in the tank.


    I was surprised at how little internal wiring was needed on my install. It was all mostly up in the attic hidden away, then the line from the inverter to the meter was run externally, and didn't go near the consumer unit at all!! the Eddi was installed in no time when I popped up to the shops, with minimal fuss



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    #1792
    Blue4u
    Registered Users Posts: 547 ✭✭✭Blue4u


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118131338#Comment_118131338

    Sorry to bring this back up, still waiting for support. I found the logs and it is all BMS undervoltage.

    Any idea what would be causing that issue?



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    #1793
    reklamos
    Registered Users Posts: 793 ✭✭✭reklamos


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118151317#Comment_118151317

    Well if this started happening since the upgrade it could be the that new firmware has raised the under voltage level but this is only a guess.

    Does it happen when the battery is idling at minimum SOC or under load? If it shuts under minimum SOC, just raise SOC higher also check what is force charge value set on inverter as this should prevent battery going to low.



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    #1794
    Blue4u
    Registered Users Posts: 547 ✭✭✭Blue4u


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118151517#Comment_118151517

    Seems to be when idle....went back to manufacturer as well just to ask them as well as installer, it has only happened since the firmware.....but if I check the history the battery did have errors like that before but it never shut down the battery that I had to restart it



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    #1795
    batmanzed
    Registered Users Posts: 84 ✭✭batmanzed


    Help! Got an email yesterday telling me that the firmware had been updated on my solis inverter. Didn't get the chance to look at the unit, but noticed during the day that the battery was offline on the app. Checking the inverter now and it's dead. No power lights, no display. Can't see anything tripped. Tried switching off and on the emergency switch to see if that reset anything, but dead as a dodo. Has anyone experienced anything like this?



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    #1796
    batmanzed
    Registered Users Posts: 84 ✭✭batmanzed


    Just thinking this through, I was away all day and only just got back after dark. Is it possible that the upgrade has wiped all my settings, and now that there's nothing being generated the inverter isn't being powered?



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    #1797
    graememk
    Moderators, Home & Garden Moderators Posts: 6,063 Mod ✭✭✭✭graememk


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118152962#Comment_118152962

    Is it a hybrid inverter or just a standard solar inverter?



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    #1798
    batmanzed
    Registered Users Posts: 84 ✭✭batmanzed


    Hybrid inverter



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    #1799
    reklamos
    Registered Users Posts: 793 ✭✭✭reklamos


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118153165#Comment_118153165

    Wait till the morning. I think I had the same when I shutdown the inverter in the evening. It did not came back till it got some sun. I do not fully understand this behavior since it still has grid power coming in.



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    #1800
    Blue4u
    Registered Users Posts: 547 ✭✭✭Blue4u


    I was reading up and wondering is anyone using  Solcast to integrate with system and charge the batteries based on the predicted sun the following day?



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    #1801
    samdeluxjones
    Registered Users Posts: 361 ✭✭samdeluxjones



    RCBO tripped again last night at 3am

    Error given is BIT00 but can't find any reference to it anywhere.

    I have exported the detailed data xls sheet but can't see anything either.

    Does this mean stitching the RCBO for something less sensitive?



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