Solar PV Hints, Tips & Troubleshooting

Well the first thing I would do is to disconnect the comms cable between the pylontechs and see will it start up. Then try with only one pylontech unit

It looks like it can’t find the battery it was set for so suggest re hook the original setup - then disconnect from inverter through the menu then plug all in together and reselect on inverter menu. Firstly make sure all batteries are on? Try the start red button. Always confusing why red is a start button on the Pylontechs. Also on off switch on that inverter.

Think I'll be going in and turning off the battery charging at night in the next few days or so....

Turned on battery charging from grid on about 1st November, so about 52 days before shortest day of the year... so will be around that same time past the shortest day in a few days...

Also haven't run a clothes washing or dishwashing load at night over last 2 weeks or so, as there's been plenty of excess during the day to take these loads... (I think 1 day it was a bit cloudy, and production was low, but the battery took up the slack).

yeah it's that hour or 2 from 8am til about 10am when production starts to meet demand.

I think I slowed the charging rate to 8 amps, and it finishes at around 7am, so maybe a drop first to perhaps 4 amps, to half fill it for that morning demand (as well as any buffer the washing machine/dishwasher might need).

Regarding the battery:

• is it correct to only charge to max 90% capacity and discharge to 10% (if Depth of discharge allows)? Therefore only 80% capacity available per charge/ discharge cycle?
• do losses further reduce this 80% discharge?

Thanks for this info -- mine was also set to zero and its making a big difference after just a few days 👍️

How is it different than charging the battery at full 100A/5kwh from the PV, which can happen in summer time.

One issue could be is that usually in winter the temp of the battery is lower but if it's not under 0 it should be ok perhaps.

Wondering if someone can help me with a question please.

Looking at 15kw panels and 12kw inverter for a dairy farm. My peak demand is 8-10am and 5-7pm which would be around 50-60 amps at those times. I have read through posts and looked at the spreadsheet where daily and monthly figures are quoted but that does not answer my question. Panels would be on east / west roof about 20 degree slope. Roughly what kind of output could I expect at those times during the summer on a sunny day and also on a dull day. Just trying to get an idea of sizing v my demand. Thanks

Thats a good point - still in my first year with this tech. I sure am hoping for my battery to get a full whack of sun this summer :)

The other reason I dont use the EV rate - is im using the D/N meter at the moment. If someday in the future I do switch to a Smart Meter - and I charge over that short 2 hour EV slot... What happens at 5am to the battery? In my system it will immediately start discharging to cover house load - during the cheaper night rate period. By charging over the full 8 hours i finish at 8am - just before the day rate kicks in.

That makes perfect sense actually my bad.

1C would then be 15kwh

So the more batteries the better for them as they get less Amps each

Champion what is red node

I work in telemetry and probably should know this 🤔 (rtus etc..) however I've read some of your threads somewhere else and it's very impressive..love looking at data mind you sometimes I dont know what I'm looking at..

Cheers n

Yes completely possible as have similar set up here. Any excess been exported to grid from the non hybrid will be diverted to the hybrid for battery charging.

One thing to note is you need to not exceed the 6kw export limit to the Esb network

Extra CT clamp (at meter box) connected directly to 5kw inverter should cover that.