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Solar PV Hints, Tips & Troubleshooting

DrPhilG

Well I've reached the point of driving everyone nuts on the PV quotes thread, and since I now have my system installed and running my endless questions no longer belong there.

So I figured I'd ask here, and also provide a home for others in the same boat, with general questions and advice on managing post-install.

My first question (of many) is how do people best manage their production in order to reduce grid export? Despite being overcast and miserable a fair bit of the day, I've produced 24kWh so far today, but ended up exporting 11.

Not too bad when we're home, as the wife did a few loads of washing and drying, put on the dishwasher etc.

But we're both at work tomorrow so other than a timed or remotely activated washer/dryer run we would end up exporting a lot more.

Extra battery capacity or a water diverter would help, but they don't tend to justify their costs in the long term.

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daughy

This is the lowest I have seen it so far for the grid voltage.

daughy

I'm a little paranoid after my solis hybrid has under grid voltage for some time now, if I open the ginlong portal on Google, the main page up the top left has the word inverter, then a code underneath that, then plants, and then logger.
There is an i symbol at the right of the word inverter, if I click that it opens a page that has device information, on that page it says Safety country
EN50549PO
I looked this up and its the grid standard for Poland.
I have my solis hybrid set to EN50438 IE
I did check the main circuit board for low voltage when my inverter was getting low volts and shutting down and my house is getting low volts but my appliances can handle it. Just the inverter shuts down for safety reason.
Can anyone else verify if they're getting a different grid standard on they're ginlong portal website?

_dof_

championc wrote: »

Just another tip with MyEnergi - the Harvi can only be paired to the Master device. In my case, it struggled to to permanently send it's data to my Zappi, so I had to promote my Eddi to Master to get a solid permanent connection

I've only the Zappi and Hub, no Eddi, but sometimes the hub loses the signal to the Zappi, changing from default channel 1 to channel 4 helped a lot, but stlil some dropped signals. I think it's because the Zappi is on a wall which was drylines so there's foil backed insulation behind it, so that's probably blocking some of the signal.

championc

Just another tip with MyEnergi - the Harvi can only be paired to the Master device. In my case, it struggled to to permanently send it's data to my Zappi, so I had to promote my Eddi to Master to get a solid permanent connection

slave1

Yeah, I've gone for Harvi, when I get more time I may route CAT out of the attic and into my consumer unit to have the Hub closer to both the Harvi and Zappi2 but for the minute I'm just gonna see how I get on as is .. .

championc

slave1 wrote: »

Just got my panels in the other day and starting to figure out my hub/harvi/zappi2 and CT clamps setup, above posts explain nicely, shame I never ran CAT cables to my consumer unit when I networked the house a few years back, never dawned on me

Although the cost of a Harvi can be annoying, it's an excellent gizmo and very clever the way they used 868,mhz radio to communicate between devices.

I would recommend that people trim off excess cable off MyEnergi ct clamps cables. I had some strange issues, which cleared when I cut off the bundle of wrapped up cable

slave1

Just got my panels in the other day and starting to figure out my hub/harvi/zappi2 and CT clamps setup, above posts explain nicely, shame I never ran CAT cables to my consumer unit when I networked the house a few years back, never dawned on me

daughy

I get you now championc. Was a bit confused about it but I understand. Tnx for the help

championc

daughy wrote: »

I understand what your saying, in my case I have a CT clamp around the ac live solar flow to my main board, then it's connected to the harvi,
I also have the Eddie CT clamp around ac live grid, if in the future I get batteries I would have another CT clamp around the ac live grid connected to the harvi, and set as battery only.... would that eliminate battery drain as the harvi and hub can differentiate at that time whether it's actually solar power as il have the CT clamp on the ac solar live set in the Eddie as solar production only?
Just an idea, I haven't set up my Eddie as of yet as I need to install a new hot water tank, the one I have is corroding at the joints. Second hand home arrrghh.

I think you're still a bit off in your understanding of MyEnergi products setup. The only use for a Harvi is to bring CT clamp readings wirelessly (via radio) from a location to a Zappi or Eddi, where it was impossible or impractical to run a wired connection.

In my case, my inverters are in my shed at the end of the garden. My Eddi is in the attic and my Zappi is right at the front of the house.

Finally, you have a hybrid inverter. You cannot monitor anything to do with battery power on Hybrid's. CT clamps are for AC cables only.

So with a Hybrid inverter, the MyEnergi app will only have a PV icon but will obviously show power coming from "PV" after sunset, which is obviously coming from the batteries. And if you were to charge the batteries from the grid, it would give the appearance of power being sent to the PV.

As I said previously, several people on this forum have SEPARATE second inverters connected to batteries only. A Tesla Powerwall is the same thing too - a dedicated inverter connected to a battery bank.

daughy

championc wrote: »

Eh ?

AC backup DOES supply power to your main board. However, this is over the same AC cable as your Solar PV which is sent out of the Hybrid Inverter (as opposed to PV power going into the batteries.

And you have two ct clamps on the main grid feed - one for use by your Inverter, and the second used by MyEnergi

Unfortunately I don't have the inverter CT clamp connected to my main grid, the inverter came with an import export meter with a CT clamp but I didn't install it, that's why I just connected a CT clamp to my live solar, and a CT clamp to my live grid, both connected to the myenergi harvi.

championc

_dof_ wrote: »

???

You only need one CT clamp on the live of the grid cable, unless you've 3 phase, then you'd need 3, but 3 phase is very rare in Ireland for domestic installations.

EDIT: Ah, I see you're referring to the myenergi CT clamp and a different one for the inverter itself. Strange that the inverter would use a CT clamp and not a directly wired meter.

I was explaining the setup that @gomamochi1 should be seeing. His Screenshot 1 is not just showing PV generation, but consumption and grid import & export. This is achieved by having a CT clamp on the grid cable. If the MyEnergi setup is to do the same thing, it ALSO needs it's own CT clamp on the SAME cable.

daughy

_dof_ wrote: »

That will only help is you have an AC coupled battery, like a Tesla Powerwall. Typically, the battery with a solar PV system is DC coupled, so the above doesn't work, since there's no AC cable to the battery to put a CT clamp around.

If you've a DC coupled battery, it's trickier to avoid draining the battery, since the Eddi/Zappi can't tell if current flow is coming from solar or the battery.

For Eco or Eco+ modes, you can set an export margin in the advanced menu, and they recommend setting that to 50W or 100W. That means the system will try to keep 50/100W exporting. The idea is that there'll only be a surplus (and therefore an export to the grid) if the current is coming from solar PV and not from the battery.

I understand what your saying, in my case I have a CT clamp around the ac live solar flow to my main board, then it's connected to the harvi,
I also have the Eddie CT clamp around ac live grid, if in the future I get batteries I would have another CT clamp around the ac live grid connected to the harvi, and set as battery only.... would that eliminate battery drain as the harvi and hub can differentiate at that time whether it's actually solar power as il have the CT clamp on the ac solar live set in the Eddie as solar production only?
Just an idea, I haven't set up my Eddie as of yet as I need to install a new hot water tank, the one I have is corroding at the joints. Second hand home arrrghh.

_dof_

championc wrote: »

Do you have two separate CT Clamps reading your Grid , with both of them on the same cable from the meter to your main board ?

You SHOULD have two CT Clamps on that cable. However, your readings appear to say different.

???

You only need one CT clamp on the live of the grid cable, unless you've 3 phase, then you'd need 3, but 3 phase is very rare in Ireland for domestic installations.

EDIT: Ah, I see you're referring to the myenergi CT clamp and a different one for the inverter itself. Strange that the inverter would use a CT clamp and not a directly wired meter.

_dof_

daughy wrote: »

This should help i hope with the avoid battery drain

https://youtu.be/c33XAp06ba0

That will only help is you have an AC coupled battery, like a Tesla Powerwall. Typically, the battery with a solar PV system is DC coupled, so the above doesn't work, since there's no AC cable to the battery to put a CT clamp around.

If you've a DC coupled battery, it's trickier to avoid draining the battery, since the Eddi/Zappi can't tell if current flow is coming from solar or the battery.

For Eco or Eco+ modes, you can set an export margin in the advanced menu, and they recommend setting that to 50W or 100W. That means the system will try to keep 50/100W exporting. The idea is that there'll only be a surplus (and therefore an export to the grid) if the current is coming from solar PV and not from the battery.

championc

AC grid powers the house, with that power coming from Solar, Battery or Both simultaneously. The system will deliver, as best it can, your house load at that moment in time.

AC Backup is EXACTLY what it says on the tin. If grid mains fails, it can deliver power as backup. So some people could ask an installer to install some emergency sockets off that connection

graememk

daughy wrote: »

Im confused a little, my hybrid solis has, + and - ac grid, it also has + and - ac backup, it also has the dc + and - for the batteries, the hybrid has 2 inputs for the solar, 2 strings,
My dc from the solar is converted to ac and leaves the ac grid from the inverter, travels to the main board in the house.
The ac backup has nothing attached to it, are you saying that if one day I bought batteries, I have no need to use the ac backup ? The existing ac grid cable uses the battery to power the house?
Sorry for asking but I was confused about the ac backup on the solis hybrid, and the manual is a piece of sh-t

Yeah the ac backup is to supply emergency power, if the grid goes down.

Normally just wired into a socket for simplicity, but can be wired into a sub board with a switchover for a couple of circuits. Like what would be done with a generator.

daughy

championc wrote: »

Eh ?

AC backup DOES supply power to your main board. However, this is over the same AC cable as your Solar PV which is sent out of the Hybrid Inverter (as opposed to PV power going into the batteries.

And you have two ct clamps on the main grid feed - one for use by your Inverter, and the second used by MyEnergi

Im confused a little, my hybrid solis has, + and - ac grid, it also has + and - ac backup, it also has the dc + and - for the batteries, the hybrid has 2 inputs for the solar, 2 strings,
My dc from the solar is converted to ac and leaves the ac grid from the inverter, travels to the main board in the house.
The ac backup has nothing attached to it, are you saying that if one day I bought batteries, I have no need to use the ac backup ? The existing ac grid cable uses the battery to power the house?
Sorry for asking but I was confused about the ac backup on the solis hybrid, and the manual is a piece of sh-t

championc

daughy wrote: »

That's good to know champion, I was under the assumption the ac backup supplied the power to the main board from the batteries.
Sorry for going off topic.
So you basically need two ct clamps on the grid live if you have an eddie, and separate batteries?

Eh ?

AC backup DOES supply power to your main board. However, this is over the same AC cable as your Solar PV which is sent out of the Hybrid Inverter (as opposed to PV power going into the batteries.

And you have two ct clamps on the main grid feed - one for use by your Inverter, and the second used by MyEnergi

daughy

championc wrote: »

The AC cable from the Solar PV is the same AC cable which carries AC power derived from the batteries.

An Eddi actually only needs one CT clamp - the one on the Grid cable. The Eddi reads the excess and then ensures that it itself uses that same amount of power, meaning that excess is reduced to zero

A CT clamp on solar is purely for informational purposes when it comes to the Eddi. It's used for the Zappi

That's good to know champion, I was under the assumption the ac backup supplied the power to the main board from the batteries.
Sorry for going off topic.
So you basically need two ct clamps on the grid live if you have an eddie, and separate batteries?

championc

daughy wrote: »

Does the ac backup on the hybrid solis not feed ac power to the main board? My understanding of this setup is, the Eddie ct clamp is connected to the main grid, the second ct is connected to the solar live main ac, then the third ct clamp is connected to the battery ac main live to the board, the dc conversion happens from the inverter and outputs to the ac backup which connects to the main board in your house.
Did that video on YouTube help at all gomamochi1? Did your supply grid settings on your eddie already have avoid battery drain enabled already?

The AC cable from the Solar PV is the same AC cable which carries AC power derived from the batteries.

An Eddi actually only needs one CT clamp - the one on the Grid cable. The Eddi reads the excess and then ensures that it itself uses that same amount of power, meaning that excess is reduced to zero

A CT clamp on solar is purely for informational purposes when it comes to the Eddi. It's used for the Zappi

daughy

I understand the confusion champion, I should have said the ct clamp connected to the live ac battery in my original post

daughy

championc wrote: »

You cannot control the battery attached to a hybrid inverter, because battery power cannot be measured on the DC cables. CT Clamps are for the AC cables only.

That's why a number of us here have specifically installed separate Storage Inverters (to essentially have a Powerwall

Does the ac backup on the hybrid solis not feed ac power to the main board? My understanding of this setup is, the Eddie ct clamp is connected to the main grid, the second ct is connected to the solar live main ac, then the third ct clamp is connected to the battery ac main live to the board, the dc conversion happens from the inverter and outputs to the ac backup which connects to the main board in your house.
Did that video on YouTube help at all gomamochi1? Did your supply grid settings on your eddie already have avoid battery drain enabled already?

championc

daughy wrote: »

I'm no expert at the moment with the Eddie, but if you have the ct clamp connected to the live battery, and connected to the Harvi ct3 for instance, is there not an option on the Eddie to configure the ct3 connected live battery to avoid drain? I have my grid ct on ct1, my solar on ct2, and if in the future a zappi or batteries connected to ct3.

You cannot control the battery attached to a hybrid inverter, because battery power cannot be measured on the DC cables. CT Clamps are for the AC cables only.

That's why a number of us here have specifically installed separate Storage Inverters (to essentially have a Powerwall

championc

Do you have two separate CT Clamps reading your Grid , with both of them on the same cable from the meter to your main board ?

You SHOULD have two CT Clamps on that cable. However, your readings appear to say different.

daughy

This should help i hope with the avoid battery drain

https://youtu.be/c33XAp06ba0

daughy

I'm no expert at the moment with the Eddie, but if you have the ct clamp connected to the live battery, and connected to the Harvi ct3 for instance, is there not an option on the Eddie to configure the ct3 connected live battery to avoid drain? I have my grid ct on ct1, my solar on ct2, and if in the future a zappi or batteries connected to ct3.

DrPhilG

gomamochi1 wrote: »

Have a complication with my setup would appreciate help= the eddi is draining battery power this morning at 8am from the Solis hybrid inverter charged 4.8kw batteries when there was no sun out. The eddi reads like there was 2.2kw solar gain but in fact it was draining from my battery which I have started charging on night rate meter. I thought I had set up solis inverter to only discharge batteries from 2PM to 8PM daily. Not sure why this is happening. Thanks for the help. See below screenshots of myenergie hub and solis inverter hub.

If you go into the Eddi icon on the myenergi app and check the total power used, does it still give you a high figure? In the consumption history?

The myenergi app does sometimes throw up odd numbers but 5 minutes later they're settled. Like in my screenshot you can see a few little wobbles around 10am, but the total consumed is still 0kWh.

If your consumption history shows that you DID actually consume a large amount then I'd contact myenergi support. Their phone support is very good in fairness.

gomamochi1

Have a complication with my setup would appreciate help= the eddi is draining battery power this morning at 8am from the Solis hybrid inverter charged 4.8kw batteries when there was no sun out. The eddi reads like there was 2.2kw solar gain but in fact it was draining from my battery which I have started charging on night rate meter. I thought I had set up solis inverter to only discharge batteries from 2PM to 8PM daily. Not sure why this is happening. Thanks for the help. See below screenshots of myenergie hub and solis inverter hub.

[Deleted User]

Funny thing is you can make inverters last 15 years. They're the only kind I buy.

Yet we don't. Then we callit green.

My latest addition to the fleet is 12 years old.

20 year old design mind...and still beating the new kids on the block.

Newer's cheaper...not better.

unkel

Sir Liamalot wrote: »

Per spec sheet it's not because cost per kWh extracted ought outlast the lifetime of a lottov installations

Haha, yes this is true. I can imagine the people having had "cheap" battery installs done courtesy of the very generous tax payer and then a few years in (just outside of warranty) their ridiculously expensive hybrid inverter fails and they get a quote of €2k to get it replaced :eek: