Solar PV Hints, Tips & Troubleshooting

tjalana

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121774296#Comment_121774296

As far as i'm aware the Zappi is the master now,i also have two Harvi's now (is this right).Immersion pulling off grid during the night ,say's lost comms on Eddie screen,its all over the place.Had to turn immersion off.Installers are back tomorrow to sort hopefully.

championc

So neither the Eddi nor Zappi are within cable reach of the Solar inverter nor the Fuseboard / incoming grid connection ?

A Harvi is for Wirelessly transmitting readings from CT Clamps to the MASTER unit.

Either unit can be the Master unit.

Wired CT clamps can be directly connected to EITHER the Eddi or Zappi, and any information collected is SHARED from the Slave to the Master.

Wired CT clamps can send Zero, while a Harvi must see power flowing through the CT to power it. So a Harvi should be a last resort.

delmonte4

As it happens, mine is going haywire switching on by itself and charging from the grid or batteries as it pleases. I had it set to charge from the grid with the ev rate on certain days but that’s it. I’m after trying to update firmware and has gone back to “waiting for surplus” but will see what happens.

delmonte4

No it’s still heating water as it pleases. Is the arrow here pointing the right way? The Harvi just flashes blue when I press the button. I can’t seem to get it it into pairing mode and no sign of a green light

Jonathan

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121786123#Comment_121786123

No. take it off and swap it around. Your house is the other direction.

delmonte4

This is bizarre. It’s been setup and running fine for a year. Now all of a sudden I come home from work and it’s arseways. Does the question mark mean anything in the Harvi?

Jonathan

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121786150#Comment_121786150

Could have been wired backwards in Harvi too. That might explain why it has been working for the past year.

delmonte4

So leave it as is or swap it around in the Harvi too?

championc

Open the Harvi - Red cable to the +, black to the -

The arrow ALWAYS points at the fuseboard

silver_sky

Random one, what paperwork should I have for my install? it didn't go through SEAI as property isn't covered by the grant. NC6 was submitted by the installer and accepted by ESBN. What else should I have to show for the system?

ColemanY2K

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121805044#Comment_121805044

Just the email from the ESB confirming receipt of the NC6 afaik.

championc

I thought that ESBN mark your account for your provider to let them know that you have been confirmed for microgeneration.

But I think that Electric Ireland customers have to contact EI

graememk

So, noticed my dad's solar not performing as it should.

String 1 was dead.

Answers on the back of postcard...

A little poking around the inverter, the DC isolator didn't operate (stuck in the on position)

Pulled up the pv1 voltage on the inverter, with a bit of percussive maintainance and a bit of wiggling of the knob.. 😂.. got full voltage on pv1 again.

I'll get a new isolator and get it installed in due time. Gonna be interesting to get it open, as it needs to be in the off position to release the handle. This isolator is outside.. but not really. It's under a roof but open to the outside air.

Possibly only operated a few times in its lifetime.

Jonathan

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121956922#Comment_121956922

How long has it been dead for?

graememk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121956951#Comment_121956951

7th of march by the looks of it.

Black_Knight

So are we on summer time now? Midnight to 9am night rate? Or is that not a thing with smart meters anymore?

Jonathan

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121958407#Comment_121958407

Think in terms of tariffs rather than meters. It is a thing for D/N tariffs, not a thing for smart tariffs.

Black_Knight

Found this

https://www.esbnetworks.ie/existing-connections/meters-and-readings/smart-meter-upgrade/smart-meter-upgrade-faqs#:~:text=The%20'day'%20period%20is%20from,is%20from%2011pm%20to%208am

Tree

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121958407#Comment_121958407

Just a bit of friendly pedantry, it's "Irish Standard Time" when the clocks go forward, not summer time…

Bobeagleburger

My Solis inverter didn't change the time automatically. I changed it manually myself.

A heads up for anyone with the same inverter.

funnyname

We're about to pull the trigger on a 7.74 system (two strings, one west and one south), we have an EV (with another one on the way by summer) and will be installing a heat pump in the next year so we will be quite an electricity hungry household.

We've plenty of room for more panels but I don't want to spend time going down the NC7 route straight off the bat as it could be late Autumn by the time we get everything sorted.

So when I go down the route of adding another 5kw of panels, will it be a case of getting another 5kw inverter for the new string or would it be best to get one 10kw inverter that can handle the 3 strings?

Geeyfds53573

hi all, would anyone know if the cost of a solar install in the greater New York area is comparable to Ireland. I know they get a decent 30% tax credit but any knowledge of the market would be of help.

10-10-20

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121981753#Comment_121981753

Sorry now, that's a fairly outfield question, more fitting of an economic forum. 😂

I'd have to guess that it's somewhat skewed as the labour rates in NY is higher than that here. They also have a larger market and probably better supply, so that could skew it in the opposite direction.

Geeyfds53573

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121983344#Comment_121983344

Thanks for the reply. Yea I know it is a bit out there but recalled a few USA folk on here and thought I might get an indication.

MTK_1966

Hi, I have a Solis inverter, with 5kwh battery. Installed August 2022

I get a NO-GRID alarm about every two weeks. Very frustrating, it trips a switch on the fuse board and stops production. Any ideas on what I can do to fix this?

graememk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121988936#Comment_121988936

No grid alarm is triggered by the rcbo tripping.

Is there anything else that is happening at the same time, weather conditions for instance?

championc

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121988936#Comment_121988936

Post a pic of the switch that trips

MTK_1966

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121989236#Comment_121989236

Here is the pic:

MTK_1966

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121989168#Comment_121989168

I cannot think of any particular weather patterns. It certainly can happen on days when there is lots of production and that pisses me off as I can lose half a day if I am not around to reset it. But I think ti also happens on less productive days also. I must wait to see when it next happens

Tree

Here's a fun one, I got a fancy 3D printer/lasercutterCNC a while back and not paid much attention to it. I stuck a shelly plug on it so I could monitor it for a bit and it's now permanent cause I like turning it off remotely when it's done. The power fluctuation is wild when 3D printing and is throwing the inverter/battery/Eddi axis out of whack. It's nicely in tune when the printer is off, but when it's on, it's import/export/diverting to the point that the Eddi is drawing down from the battery in the evening because both it and the inverter are too slow to follow the printer.

Any thoughts on what to do (while printing)?