Daily pv production

Boscoirl

I am not even going to get 5kwh today!

Just noticed one of my strings is down(the good string )

Ummagumma_78

First full day with our new install. 5.1 kWp array and generated 20.6 kW so pretty happy with that. Still trying to get a handle on the system so have sent 6 kW back to the grid but not too bothered as the meter is spinning backwards. Have seen it mentioned elsewhere to try and ensure that the meter is not reading “negative”at bill time. Is the simplest approach to that to use the grid as a battery or is there any setting on the inverter (Solis hybrid) that can help here?

Have noticed as well that at times we appear to be drawing from the grid when the house has no requirement for grid energy. Any suggestions as to why that may be?

slave1

I think there's micro events here and there where I've observed grid import without apparent need, adds up to a couple of cent so I just ignore.
There should be a setting on your inverter to limit grid export, I haven't bothered to use this so someone will probably pop along later with advice on how to do it.
Enjoy your back spinning meter!!!

DrPhilG

DrPhilG wrote: »

I won't be getting that today either. Been a fairly crap day, only 12kWh so far. Power was only out about an hour altogether but sod's law that was the sunniest time I've had.

I stand corrected, ended up on 22.8kWh.

championc

Ummagumma_78 wrote: »

Have noticed as well that at times we appear to be drawing from the grid when the house has no requirement for grid energy. Any suggestions as to why that may be?

If you were generating surplus and If you then clicked on the kettle, it takes a few seconds for the inverter to switch to discharging, so it would draw from the grid for a few seconds.

The opposite would happen when it turns off, that it would export to the grid until the inverter sorts itself out.

But look at the front panel of the inverter and you can keep an eye on instantaneous readings.

People should seriously consider using the RS485 interfaces to collect and display data on the likes of a Node Red Dashboard

graememk

DrPhilG wrote: »

I stand corrected, ended up on 22.8kWh.

Much better day farther north 44kwh,

The over sized array is pulling it's weight, maxes out the inverter on the sunny, but colder days

irishchris

I thought Solis inverters had anti islanding which avoided export during an outage. With no fireman switch on the DC surely then the pv would continue to produce for domestic off the EPS without exporting?

championc

irishchris wrote: »

I thought Solis inverters had anti islanding which avoided export during an outage. With no fireman switch on the DC surely then the pv would continue to produce for domestic off the EPS without exporting?

But the EPS should be to it's own specific circuit, not connected to the houses' main fuseboard

mp3guy

championc wrote: »

But the EPS should be to it's own specific circuit, not connected to the houses' main fuseboard

Not true, perfectly fine to put it ahead of your main fuseboard on a changeover switch.

irishchris wrote: »

I thought Solis inverters had anti islanding which avoided export during an outage. With no fireman switch on the DC surely then the pv would continue to produce for domestic off the EPS without exporting?

There should be a shunt on the DC line from your panels that disconnects when your property loses power. This shunt needs to be powered to allow DC power to passthrough so if you have no battery you're dead, chicken and egg problem. If you have a battery/hybrid inverter it's a different story as it can run on the stored power when the grid is out. So the inverter detects loss of grid power to ensure it feeds no power out of its main AC output. In the case of an EPS, the inverter will happily supply battery power on that separate output when the grid is down. If you also want to be able to use the PV (for immediate power and charging) you need to power the shunts. You can only do this if there is a route from your EPS to the board the shunts are on. Easiest solution, wire the EPS into a changeover switch upstream of whichever one the shunts are on. Could be your main one.

More info in Section 4.9, page 10 here https://www.seai.ie/publications/Code-of-Practice-Solar-PV-Grant.pdf

irishchris

mp3guy wrote: »

Not true, perfectly fine to put it ahead of your main fuseboard on a changeover switch.



There should be a shunt on the DC line from your panels that disconnects when your property loses power. This shunt needs to be powered to allow DC power to passthrough so if you have no battery you're dead, chicken and egg problem. If you have a battery/hybrid inverter it's a different story as it can run on the stored power when the grid is out. So the inverter detects loss of grid power to ensure it feeds no power out of its main AC output. In the case of an EPS, the inverter will happily supply battery power on that separate output when the grid is down. If you also want to be able to use the PV (for immediate power and charging) you need to power the shunts. You can only do this if there is a route from your EPS to the board the shunts are on. Easiest solution, wire the EPS into a changeover switch upstream of whichever one the shunts are on. Could be your main one.

More info in Section 4.9, page 10 here https://www.seai.ie/publications/Code-of-Practice-Solar-PV-Grant.pdf

I thought the fireman switches were only a necessity for the grant and not a regulation requirement? In the case of my ground mount I have a DC switch beside panels and one inside before the inverter in case of needing to cut power for maintenance. On recent power cut my panels continued to charge battery and supply power to eps. Is this not correct?

graememk

irishchris wrote: »

I thought the fireman switches were only a necessity for the grant and not a regulation requirement? In the case of my ground mount I have a DC switch beside panels and one inside before the inverter in case of needing to cut power for maintenance. On recent power cut my panels continued to charge battery and supply power to eps. Is this not correct?

Yeah it's only a grant requirement.

And your setup is proof that you can charge your batteries when the power is off.

As your isolators are easily accessible too, if there ever is an issue.

On my install the panels are a long way away from the inverter, and where they come off the roof, can be very in accessible at certain times of the year. So I have one there.

irishchris

graememk wrote: »

Yeah it's only a grant requirement.

And your setup is proof that you can charge your batteries when the power is off.

As your isolators are easily accessible too, if there ever is an issue.

On my install the panels are a long way away from the inverter, and where they come off the roof, can be very in accessible at certain times of the year. So I have one there.

Yes mine were both easily accessible. One just as of enters building and other beside ground mounted panels.

Assume your setup is the same then that you can use pv panel power when there is an outage?

graememk

irishchris wrote: »

Yes mine were both easily accessible. One just as of enters building and other beside ground mounted panels.

Assume your setup is the same then that you can use pv panel power when there is an outage?

Nope, Solar inverter is completely grid tied. (out in the barn, across the road)
Battery system is in the garage beside the house.

Can run the EPS off the batteries only.

DrPhilG

Couple of crappy days, 16.1 and 18.3 but back on form today with 33.8 and only 1kWh exported.

slave1

New high of 38.7 yesterday but unfortunately the cars were full and hot water too so way too much exported.
Look to Sofar and Aliexpress battery setup maybe in a few months, too many other house stuff on at the minute

Zzippy

Would it be an idea for people to put their installed kWp system in brackets for each of these posts, so we can relate the power produced to the system capacity?

E30M3

Zzippy wrote: »

Would it be an idea for people to put their installed kWp system in brackets for each of these posts, so we can relate the power produced to the system capacity?

Or on the Signature line. Thats what I've done to save typing it every time

DrPhilG

E30M3 wrote: »

Or on the Signature line. Thats what I've done to save typing it every time

Signature line doesn't show for those using the mobile touch site though.

tails_naf

AnswerIs42 wrote: »

Just an FYI for those with ginlong/solis inverters.

I noticed the screenshots are all using their older app. They have a new one called "SolisCloud". It seems to be updated every few weeks where as the old app "Solis Home" hasn't been updated since mid 2020.

It's not a perfect app by any shout but some people might prefer it.

Google Play Store Link

I installed this app, it's nice enough, but has anyone noticed the totals on the horizontal bar charts are often wrong, and sometimes in the graphs too. For example, if switch to yearly view it says I has 64kwh energy total from grid for 2021 so far, but indivual month data is more than that. Not sure why these numbers are wrong, the monthly graph shows 0 for battery charging, despite the yearly graph show non zero (of course, as the batter is charging daily).... but at least the daily graph looks ok

Bobeagleburger

Does the Solis Cloud app have battery/water diverter details too?

I'm setting mine up at the weekend

graememk

6 wrote: »

Does the Solis Cloud app have battery/water diverter details too?

I'm setting mine up at the weekend

Battery, it should, water diverter, No as it can't measure anything external to it

Ummagumma_78

tails_naf wrote: »

I installed this app, it's nice enough, but has anyone noticed the totals on the horizontal bar charts are often wrong, and sometimes in the graphs too. For example, if switch to yearly view it says I has 64kwh energy total from grid for 2021 so far, but indivual month data is more than that. Not sure why these numbers are wrong, the monthly graph shows 0 for battery charging, despite the yearly graph show non zero (of course, as the batter is charging daily).... but at least the daily graph looks ok

My install is in about a week now and have been keeping a close eye on the Solis cloud app. The detailed numbers during the day can certainly be a bit squirrely but it seems to me that over the course of the day those errors are likely evened out. I do find the lag a bit frustrating as I’d like to get a handle on exactly where the consumption is going. My monthly and yearly numbers match up.

graememk

Today is looking to be a record breaker for me, currently on 47kwh. Still generating ,4.5kw

Car is home, so no export.

Today is the first day I'm noticing a slight flat top on the curve (on a good day)

Have noticed "flatness" on days with sunny spells but that was with scattered cloud.

8.6 kwp, se/nw low slope. 6kw inverter.

DrPhilG

Waiting with baited breath to see if I set a new personal best. 35.7kWh currently and still generating 1.2 last check.

35.9 is the record.

6.2kwp system.

Bobeagleburger

Wasn't as good good over in the west today. Will be lucky to hit 17 kWh.

Yesterday was 31 kWh as a comparison, and yesterday wasn't perfect either.

5.7 kwp SW

DrPhilG

DrPhilG wrote: »

Waiting with baited breath to see if I set a new personal best. 35.7kWh currently and still generating 1.2 last check.

35.9 is the record.

6.2kwp system.

Nailed it!


New personal best and didn't export a drop.

Put about 15kWh into this weekend tester. Shame I won't get the benefit as it's going back to the dealer tomorrow.

Boscoirl

Nice numbers. Only generated 10kWh here today(4kwp,S facing)

deravarra

Boscoirl wrote: »

Nice numbers. Only generated 10kWh here today(4kwp,S facing)

what part of the country are you in?

Boscoirl

North Tipp

Don’t have the solis app up and running yet so can’t see the curve for the day. But it was very over cast here today.

DrPhilG

Funnily enough my curve was sh*te but still managed my best ever production.