Steve87

Glad this firmware and MCU files got you guys sorted. Funny the MKS4 has this issue. I have had a unit suffer this problem in the recent last 3months and yep just seems weird. Just glad you got the disco lights flashing again 😁😁

I know I’m joining this late, but I have been quoted on a Sigenergy system and I’m quite seriously considering going ahead with it soon. The installer is a Herholdt’s Premium Partner and Master Electrician, so I’m hoping they’ll do a good job.
They’ve quoted me on the following:
Sigenergy single phase gateway
Sigenergy 10KWH inverter
Sigenergy 8KWH battery (ground mounted)
12 x 550W panels (North facing)
This is within our budget for now, but the idea with the bigger inverter is to add more panels and battery storage within about a year, enabling us to run as much as possible off our system, even at night. Our primary goal is to cut energy costs, not merely get through load-shedding/outages.
We want a system that will last long and deliver well for what we’re paying, especially in terms of app usability.
We realise we’re taking a bit of a risk, but we figured that Herholdt’s has taken a HUGE risk running their whole Cape Town warehouse off Sigenergy. I also figured our findings might help other residential customers who are uncertain of making the jump.
We also use Plentify’s HotBot on our electric geyser and will enable SolarMode once our system is installed. This will ensure our geyser is never heated during loadshedding, but will default to using clean energy.

My initial thoughts: 
Clever design, good form factor across the range. Makes for scalability very easily. I  don't know the pricing but I can imagine it must be expensive. Also it uses AI to manage it's entire system on how you will use energy. So AI is great when I works but what happens when it doesn't? Imagine the frustration of trying to work with a system that is planning your usage & you not really part of that conversation. 
I like automation & lived with it in life critical equipment & it worked very well. AI unfortunately for me takes the leap a bit far because you are observed but not privy to the information. I like to know what a machine has planned for my house hold energy management. Also I think there needs to be a manual mode where one can manually do what they want to do. 
I hope there are these modes but for a residential modern home that will have an EV at some stage it's great. However, AI is relatively new...I would hate to be the guinea pig. I see that some want to use this on the Heavy C&I market & thats where I think the right tool for.the job comes to mind. It doesn't have a transformer so my guess is that it's a Gate Drive system. 
Unfortunately I don't have much confidence in that architecture for Heavy industrial places. 
Looks super modern & promising. Looks like it will be judged as time goes by but most average ppl will just buy a more simple easy cheaper manageable system that's not complicated. Maybe I'm just old & sceptical...

One can add larger panels rated at higher amps but there will big losses. So yes it will work but the panel will never reach its rated wattage quite simply because the MPPT is not designed for such a panel. 
In the early days of Grid tie inverters they had the same issues with their 11A rated strings into the MPPT. That is one of the reasons the Solis S6 is such a good prospect for the residential market. However, one must note it's the latest addition and new comer so it definitely has to have better technology. If we had a new generation Deye 5kW it would no doubt have the wider voltage band and current specs. 
I don't see Deye or Sunsynk spending money for that it makes no sense. There are bigger fish to fry...

Hi hope I don't qualify as a "bakkie-brigader" however, I think this article may have a good intention but the explanation is a bit inaccurate. 
I have seen this arguement being had a lot and once again it's a little lack of what is the actual risk. What is risky here ? The MPPTs are a DC driven device. It extracts power by the product of Voltage and Amps. What is the limitation to observe the Volts or the amps and what happens to either if you exceed them??
The MPPT will have a 500V max voltage for example. If you go and connect enough panels in series like 10 in series at 52V per panel (520V) you will exceed the raw voltage input & the MPPT can be damaged.
Let's say there is a amperage total expressed as 11A on the MPPT. What happens if I use a 550W JA Mono panel rated at 52V per panel Voc and Imp at 14A. What will happen to a string length of 8 panels??
A lot of ppl and probably the author of that article believes that we ok in the Voltage range because 52V x 8panels = 416V total. So voltage is GOOD. What about the current? They believe the MPPt will blow and get damaged because the panels at Max power current will deliver 14A and fry the MPPT. This is grossly incorrect!! The MPPT will drink 11A from the panels because that's all it needs. It won't kill itself trying to get drunk. 
If someone including this author feels anything differently let's try to compare logic if not science. You have a 5kWh or 100ah battery attached to this same inverter. It's rated battery max input current draw is 100A. If I attached another 5kWh (100ah) battery to this is parallel what will happen?? Everyone knows the inverter doesn't blow up. However if you connect them in series to get 100V you have a problem and will damage the inverter. 
Some ppl mock the humble Bakkie Brigader, however, there are some basic fundamentals that need to be understood before we point fingers. 
Now we can argue further that there will be losses with the 550W panel because it will never reach full rated power and I agree with that. The 460W panel is a better fit because it has 11A Imp rating. But let's just say the message to pass on is that poorly integrated equipment can cause damage and losses in production but the fear mongering of ppl saying the amps will damage the MPPTs is just a camp fire story. 
Sorry to be a pain but even an electrical engineer at a Multi million rand project wanted me to connect an Atess inverter at 1100V. The max MPPT voltage is 1000V and the MPPT range is 450V to 800V. I was carrying out the commissioning & I refused. So the moral of this story is that Solar is a relatively new technology and a lot of operators/ installers/ electrical engineers/ Bakkie Brigaders and plumbers know what they are doing and a lot don't know. I couldn't care less the title of the person, we don't all know the same things neither do we have the same experience levels.

If it helps Zola I have a Frankenstein operation at my place. One is the same as yours 10/8 by FreedomWon, another is a repaired Livoltek 5kWh and the last one is 6kWh LFP DIY pack. 
The SoCs actually stay within 5% of each other and I use comms to the available 10/8 and because they so close its a good indicator for bank SoC. 
But @Youda speaks wise words they must be the same cell count ie only 51.2V can pair with 51.2v & 48V to 48v anything different and you looking for trouble because the charge settings of these 2 arrangements is widely different. 

While it is technically possible to combine some models of batteries with the others, there's a lot of caveats and limitations.
Some of them being:
Voltage Cell count Chemistry BMS communication Warranty Based on that I can't recommend doing so. 
Upgrade as per manufacturers guidance, or sell what you have and rebuy from scratch.
 

One can add larger panels rated at higher amps but there will big losses. So yes it will work but the panel will never reach its rated wattage quite simply because the MPPT is not designed for such a panel. 
In the early days of Grid tie inverters they had the same issues with their 11A rated strings into the MPPT. That is one of the reasons the Solis S6 is such a good prospect for the residential market. However, one must note it's the latest addition and new comer so it definitely has to have better technology. If we had a new generation Deye 5kW it would no doubt have the wider voltage band and current specs. 
I don't see Deye or Sunsynk spending money for that it makes no sense. There are bigger fish to fry...

I guess any engineered product will have a margin of safety designed in over and above the rated performance. In the case of an inverter's MPPT I'd look to the Imp rating first, which is what the IGBT's will be setting/controlling the max draw at normally - say 13A for the Deye. Next there's the Isc rating, and that's the fault current that you'd expect the device to be able to handle without being permanently damaged - 17A. And over and above that there should be an ultimate current limit at which the device will overheat and maybe burn out. What that is? 20A or 25A? No idea.
But I'm not convinced that a 545W panel with say 13.2A Imp, 13.9A Isc or thereabouts, which operates at below that current most of the time, and only really sees 13A around noon in summer, is excessively overloading a 5kW Deye. Not a fan of the idea of putting 17A panels on it though. Maybe some folks out there with this 550W panels can comment on their experiences.

What some people don't realize (know) is that most (if not all) of the inverters MPPT's design has a safety factor of x% on top of the allowed Amps.
i.e max input is 20A, but the design max is maybe 28A.
That's why Sunsynk as an example can up/down the max. by simply altering the Firmware.

Hear that? That's the sound of a penny dropping.
Thanks Steve for explaining the blindingly obvious.

I think @Steve87 is, at least in part, defending the smaller companies. I have seen a few articles in local papers that seem to be saying "deal with the big companies. They have the expertise." I don't think it is beyond the realms of possibility that there may be collusion to plant such stories, or that the journalist writing the report has phoned some big company - they're easier to find - and asked one of their managers for some input. And so that manager is quick to point out that you shouldn't deal with those small businesses because you don't know what they don't know. And since the name of his company has already been mentioned ("We asked the chief technical officer of SuperSolarBob...") this helps his business in particular and big companies in general. 

But it is not the case that a smaller company doesn't have standards and expertise. Anybody who has dealt with Steve will know that he has both, that's why he's one of the highest ranked and most appreciated contributors to this forum.

Hi hope I don't qualify as a "bakkie-brigader" however, I think this article may have a good intention but the explanation is a bit inaccurate. 
I have seen this arguement being had a lot and once again it's a little lack of what is the actual risk. What is risky here ? The MPPTs are a DC driven device. It extracts power by the product of Voltage and Amps. What is the limitation to observe the Volts or the amps and what happens to either if you exceed them??
The MPPT will have a 500V max voltage for example. If you go and connect enough panels in series like 10 in series at 52V per panel (520V) you will exceed the raw voltage input & the MPPT can be damaged.
Let's say there is a amperage total expressed as 11A on the MPPT. What happens if I use a 550W JA Mono panel rated at 52V per panel Voc and Imp at 14A. What will happen to a string length of 8 panels??
A lot of ppl and probably the author of that article believes that we ok in the Voltage range because 52V x 8panels = 416V total. So voltage is GOOD. What about the current? They believe the MPPt will blow and get damaged because the panels at Max power current will deliver 14A and fry the MPPT. This is grossly incorrect!! The MPPT will drink 11A from the panels because that's all it needs. It won't kill itself trying to get drunk. 
If someone including this author feels anything differently let's try to compare logic if not science. You have a 5kWh or 100ah battery attached to this same inverter. It's rated battery max input current draw is 100A. If I attached another 5kWh (100ah) battery to this is parallel what will happen?? Everyone knows the inverter doesn't blow up. However if you connect them in series to get 100V you have a problem and will damage the inverter. 
Some ppl mock the humble Bakkie Brigader, however, there are some basic fundamentals that need to be understood before we point fingers. 
Now we can argue further that there will be losses with the 550W panel because it will never reach full rated power and I agree with that. The 460W panel is a better fit because it has 11A Imp rating. But let's just say the message to pass on is that poorly integrated equipment can cause damage and losses in production but the fear mongering of ppl saying the amps will damage the MPPTs is just a camp fire story. 
Sorry to be a pain but even an electrical engineer at a Multi million rand project wanted me to connect an Atess inverter at 1100V. The max MPPT voltage is 1000V and the MPPT range is 450V to 800V. I was carrying out the commissioning & I refused. So the moral of this story is that Solar is a relatively new technology and a lot of operators/ installers/ electrical engineers/ Bakkie Brigaders and plumbers know what they are doing and a lot don't know. I couldn't care less the title of the person, we don't all know the same things neither do we have the same experience levels.

Hi hope I don't qualify as a "bakkie-brigader" however, I think this article may have a good intention but the explanation is a bit inaccurate. 
I have seen this arguement being had a lot and once again it's a little lack of what is the actual risk. What is risky here ? The MPPTs are a DC driven device. It extracts power by the product of Voltage and Amps. What is the limitation to observe the Volts or the amps and what happens to either if you exceed them??
The MPPT will have a 500V max voltage for example. If you go and connect enough panels in series like 10 in series at 52V per panel (520V) you will exceed the raw voltage input & the MPPT can be damaged.
Let's say there is a amperage total expressed as 11A on the MPPT. What happens if I use a 550W JA Mono panel rated at 52V per panel Voc and Imp at 14A. What will happen to a string length of 8 panels??
A lot of ppl and probably the author of that article believes that we ok in the Voltage range because 52V x 8panels = 416V total. So voltage is GOOD. What about the current? They believe the MPPt will blow and get damaged because the panels at Max power current will deliver 14A and fry the MPPT. This is grossly incorrect!! The MPPT will drink 11A from the panels because that's all it needs. It won't kill itself trying to get drunk. 
If someone including this author feels anything differently let's try to compare logic if not science. You have a 5kWh or 100ah battery attached to this same inverter. It's rated battery max input current draw is 100A. If I attached another 5kWh (100ah) battery to this is parallel what will happen?? Everyone knows the inverter doesn't blow up. However if you connect them in series to get 100V you have a problem and will damage the inverter. 
Some ppl mock the humble Bakkie Brigader, however, there are some basic fundamentals that need to be understood before we point fingers. 
Now we can argue further that there will be losses with the 550W panel because it will never reach full rated power and I agree with that. The 460W panel is a better fit because it has 11A Imp rating. But let's just say the message to pass on is that poorly integrated equipment can cause damage and losses in production but the fear mongering of ppl saying the amps will damage the MPPTs is just a camp fire story. 
Sorry to be a pain but even an electrical engineer at a Multi million rand project wanted me to connect an Atess inverter at 1100V. The max MPPT voltage is 1000V and the MPPT range is 450V to 800V. I was carrying out the commissioning & I refused. So the moral of this story is that Solar is a relatively new technology and a lot of operators/ installers/ electrical engineers/ Bakkie Brigaders and plumbers know what they are doing and a lot don't know. I couldn't care less the title of the person, we don't all know the same things neither do we have the same experience levels.

Hi hope I don't qualify as a "bakkie-brigader" however, I think this article may have a good intention but the explanation is a bit inaccurate. 
I have seen this arguement being had a lot and once again it's a little lack of what is the actual risk. What is risky here ? The MPPTs are a DC driven device. It extracts power by the product of Voltage and Amps. What is the limitation to observe the Volts or the amps and what happens to either if you exceed them??
The MPPT will have a 500V max voltage for example. If you go and connect enough panels in series like 10 in series at 52V per panel (520V) you will exceed the raw voltage input & the MPPT can be damaged.
Let's say there is a amperage total expressed as 11A on the MPPT. What happens if I use a 550W JA Mono panel rated at 52V per panel Voc and Imp at 14A. What will happen to a string length of 8 panels??
A lot of ppl and probably the author of that article believes that we ok in the Voltage range because 52V x 8panels = 416V total. So voltage is GOOD. What about the current? They believe the MPPt will blow and get damaged because the panels at Max power current will deliver 14A and fry the MPPT. This is grossly incorrect!! The MPPT will drink 11A from the panels because that's all it needs. It won't kill itself trying to get drunk. 
If someone including this author feels anything differently let's try to compare logic if not science. You have a 5kWh or 100ah battery attached to this same inverter. It's rated battery max input current draw is 100A. If I attached another 5kWh (100ah) battery to this is parallel what will happen?? Everyone knows the inverter doesn't blow up. However if you connect them in series to get 100V you have a problem and will damage the inverter. 
Some ppl mock the humble Bakkie Brigader, however, there are some basic fundamentals that need to be understood before we point fingers. 
Now we can argue further that there will be losses with the 550W panel because it will never reach full rated power and I agree with that. The 460W panel is a better fit because it has 11A Imp rating. But let's just say the message to pass on is that poorly integrated equipment can cause damage and losses in production but the fear mongering of ppl saying the amps will damage the MPPTs is just a camp fire story. 
Sorry to be a pain but even an electrical engineer at a Multi million rand project wanted me to connect an Atess inverter at 1100V. The max MPPT voltage is 1000V and the MPPT range is 450V to 800V. I was carrying out the commissioning & I refused. So the moral of this story is that Solar is a relatively new technology and a lot of operators/ installers/ electrical engineers/ Bakkie Brigaders and plumbers know what they are doing and a lot don't know. I couldn't care less the title of the person, we don't all know the same things neither do we have the same experience levels.

As someone once explained to me  You have a 40A mains CB.  Does your 8A Air Fryer blow when you switch it on?

Hi hope I don't qualify as a "bakkie-brigader" however, I think this article may have a good intention but the explanation is a bit inaccurate. 
I have seen this arguement being had a lot and once again it's a little lack of what is the actual risk. What is risky here ? The MPPTs are a DC driven device. It extracts power by the product of Voltage and Amps. What is the limitation to observe the Volts or the amps and what happens to either if you exceed them??
The MPPT will have a 500V max voltage for example. If you go and connect enough panels in series like 10 in series at 52V per panel (520V) you will exceed the raw voltage input & the MPPT can be damaged.
Let's say there is a amperage total expressed as 11A on the MPPT. What happens if I use a 550W JA Mono panel rated at 52V per panel Voc and Imp at 14A. What will happen to a string length of 8 panels??
A lot of ppl and probably the author of that article believes that we ok in the Voltage range because 52V x 8panels = 416V total. So voltage is GOOD. What about the current? They believe the MPPt will blow and get damaged because the panels at Max power current will deliver 14A and fry the MPPT. This is grossly incorrect!! The MPPT will drink 11A from the panels because that's all it needs. It won't kill itself trying to get drunk. 
If someone including this author feels anything differently let's try to compare logic if not science. You have a 5kWh or 100ah battery attached to this same inverter. It's rated battery max input current draw is 100A. If I attached another 5kWh (100ah) battery to this is parallel what will happen?? Everyone knows the inverter doesn't blow up. However if you connect them in series to get 100V you have a problem and will damage the inverter. 
Some ppl mock the humble Bakkie Brigader, however, there are some basic fundamentals that need to be understood before we point fingers. 
Now we can argue further that there will be losses with the 550W panel because it will never reach full rated power and I agree with that. The 460W panel is a better fit because it has 11A Imp rating. But let's just say the message to pass on is that poorly integrated equipment can cause damage and losses in production but the fear mongering of ppl saying the amps will damage the MPPTs is just a camp fire story. 
Sorry to be a pain but even an electrical engineer at a Multi million rand project wanted me to connect an Atess inverter at 1100V. The max MPPT voltage is 1000V and the MPPT range is 450V to 800V. I was carrying out the commissioning & I refused. So the moral of this story is that Solar is a relatively new technology and a lot of operators/ installers/ electrical engineers/ Bakkie Brigaders and plumbers know what they are doing and a lot don't know. I couldn't care less the title of the person, we don't all know the same things neither do we have the same experience levels.

@Steve87
You driving a single or double cab?😜
Roofrack or canopy?🤣

Hi hope I don't qualify as a "bakkie-brigader" however, I think this article may have a good intention but the explanation is a bit inaccurate. 
I have seen this arguement being had a lot and once again it's a little lack of what is the actual risk. What is risky here ? The MPPTs are a DC driven device. It extracts power by the product of Voltage and Amps. What is the limitation to observe the Volts or the amps and what happens to either if you exceed them??
The MPPT will have a 500V max voltage for example. If you go and connect enough panels in series like 10 in series at 52V per panel (520V) you will exceed the raw voltage input & the MPPT can be damaged.
Let's say there is a amperage total expressed as 11A on the MPPT. What happens if I use a 550W JA Mono panel rated at 52V per panel Voc and Imp at 14A. What will happen to a string length of 8 panels??
A lot of ppl and probably the author of that article believes that we ok in the Voltage range because 52V x 8panels = 416V total. So voltage is GOOD. What about the current? They believe the MPPt will blow and get damaged because the panels at Max power current will deliver 14A and fry the MPPT. This is grossly incorrect!! The MPPT will drink 11A from the panels because that's all it needs. It won't kill itself trying to get drunk. 
If someone including this author feels anything differently let's try to compare logic if not science. You have a 5kWh or 100ah battery attached to this same inverter. It's rated battery max input current draw is 100A. If I attached another 5kWh (100ah) battery to this is parallel what will happen?? Everyone knows the inverter doesn't blow up. However if you connect them in series to get 100V you have a problem and will damage the inverter. 
Some ppl mock the humble Bakkie Brigader, however, there are some basic fundamentals that need to be understood before we point fingers. 
Now we can argue further that there will be losses with the 550W panel because it will never reach full rated power and I agree with that. The 460W panel is a better fit because it has 11A Imp rating. But let's just say the message to pass on is that poorly integrated equipment can cause damage and losses in production but the fear mongering of ppl saying the amps will damage the MPPTs is just a camp fire story. 
Sorry to be a pain but even an electrical engineer at a Multi million rand project wanted me to connect an Atess inverter at 1100V. The max MPPT voltage is 1000V and the MPPT range is 450V to 800V. I was carrying out the commissioning & I refused. So the moral of this story is that Solar is a relatively new technology and a lot of operators/ installers/ electrical engineers/ Bakkie Brigaders and plumbers know what they are doing and a lot don't know. I couldn't care less the title of the person, we don't all know the same things neither do we have the same experience levels.

Hi hope I don't qualify as a "bakkie-brigader" however, I think this article may have a good intention but the explanation is a bit inaccurate. 
I have seen this arguement being had a lot and once again it's a little lack of what is the actual risk. What is risky here ? The MPPTs are a DC driven device. It extracts power by the product of Voltage and Amps. What is the limitation to observe the Volts or the amps and what happens to either if you exceed them??
The MPPT will have a 500V max voltage for example. If you go and connect enough panels in series like 10 in series at 52V per panel (520V) you will exceed the raw voltage input & the MPPT can be damaged.
Let's say there is a amperage total expressed as 11A on the MPPT. What happens if I use a 550W JA Mono panel rated at 52V per panel Voc and Imp at 14A. What will happen to a string length of 8 panels??
A lot of ppl and probably the author of that article believes that we ok in the Voltage range because 52V x 8panels = 416V total. So voltage is GOOD. What about the current? They believe the MPPt will blow and get damaged because the panels at Max power current will deliver 14A and fry the MPPT. This is grossly incorrect!! The MPPT will drink 11A from the panels because that's all it needs. It won't kill itself trying to get drunk. 
If someone including this author feels anything differently let's try to compare logic if not science. You have a 5kWh or 100ah battery attached to this same inverter. It's rated battery max input current draw is 100A. If I attached another 5kWh (100ah) battery to this is parallel what will happen?? Everyone knows the inverter doesn't blow up. However if you connect them in series to get 100V you have a problem and will damage the inverter. 
Some ppl mock the humble Bakkie Brigader, however, there are some basic fundamentals that need to be understood before we point fingers. 
Now we can argue further that there will be losses with the 550W panel because it will never reach full rated power and I agree with that. The 460W panel is a better fit because it has 11A Imp rating. But let's just say the message to pass on is that poorly integrated equipment can cause damage and losses in production but the fear mongering of ppl saying the amps will damage the MPPTs is just a camp fire story. 
Sorry to be a pain but even an electrical engineer at a Multi million rand project wanted me to connect an Atess inverter at 1100V. The max MPPT voltage is 1000V and the MPPT range is 450V to 800V. I was carrying out the commissioning & I refused. So the moral of this story is that Solar is a relatively new technology and a lot of operators/ installers/ electrical engineers/ Bakkie Brigaders and plumbers know what they are doing and a lot don't know. I couldn't care less the title of the person, we don't all know the same things neither do we have the same experience levels.

I'm confused. I thought the MPPTs only drew as much as they needed. 
Or as it that they draw as many WATTS as they need, but the current could still be too high? Which is why it is necessary to pay attention to serial & parallel connectiond between panels.
Cheap connectors I understand. 

Turn all the batteries OFF Remove ALL data cables, except the one leading to SA. Connect batteries together with the UTP cables wired like this: Turn all the batteries ON one by one. Start with the master (the one having connection to SA), then follow the UTP cable and turn each battery on.

Yoh that was like arguing with an angry Russian bear! Thank you Youda!
 

 

Eish my friend, long time no see 🙈 

Makes for an overall much neater installation & complies with the code. That trunking is the 100mm X 100mm trunking. It's very large on the inside & I prefer the extra space.