Freakazoid

Hi Clinton @C solar I like what you've done with your maximum theoretical production curve. What's the total area under the "combined production" curve (total theoretical daily production) for such a system? I think the ideal setup (with 16 panels) would be an East string (5 panels), a North string (6 panels) and a West string (5 panels) with the East & West panels paralleled on the one MPPT and the North string on the other MPPT (basically what you proposed in your theoretical calc). I actually think that this setup would produce a greater daily yield (in a typical home) than a system with all panels facing North. An East, North & West string split will tend to "flatten" but "widen" your daily production curve as you start producing earlier in the morning (East string) and produce until later in the afternoon (West string). The peak production around midday (predominantly North string) would be compromised but in my experience, we won't use the full production capacity during midday of an all north facing setup. Typically, our house would only use a maximum of around 6kW at any moment so a system that can deliver 8kW would be wasted capacity. I would rather have a system with a maximum production capacity of 6kW but with the "extra" 2kW capacity available for use in the late afternoon (when we are cooking or bathing the kids). This means we start drawing power off our batteries later in the afternoon. On my system, during the summer months, my maximum daily consumption is much less than in winter which means that I probably only use between 40% and 50% (estimate) of my system's full installed production capacity. On most summer days, my geyser is warm and my batteries (15kWh) are full at around 10:00!! The benefit of being "overspec'd" on production capacity during summer is that we tend to have many cloudy or rainy days so with the extra capacity we always manage to fill up the batteries and warm up the geyser. You might only have 3 or 4 hours of sunshine on some days but with your production capacity spread over 3 directions it doesn't matter when you get some sunshine. This has become a really interesting discussion! Regards, Rudolph

Hi @C solar Please have a look at the two attached graphs of my PV1 and PV2 production. You will see the first graph was from 2022-04-05, even though the production curve is jagged, you can clearly see the general trend for the max possible production. The blue curve is for my N & E string and red is for the W string (which sees shadow until around 11:00) The second graph is from yesterday (2022-07-26). You can clearly see that it was a cloudless day, PV2 was also performing relatively well but only performing well from around 12:00. On 2022-04-05 PV1 produced a total of 22.66 kWh but was only performing at around 70% of it's total capacity (estimated). On the same day PV2 produced 9.94 kWh On 2022-07-26, PV1 produced a total of 20.54 kWh (estimated at 95% of maximum capacity) while PV 2 produced 7.91 kWh (estimated 70% of maximum capacity) Regarding your question on whether it would make sense to parallel two strings. I think it definitely does make sense, especially if you have shadows on one of your strings at any stage during the day. I don't think I would get nearly the same daily production if I opted to put a 1 x 8 panel string on each MPPT vs 2 x 5 panels on MMT1 and 1 x 6 panels on MPPT 2. Let me know what you think Regards,

Hi @C solar Thanks for your feedback regarding how the parallel strings on an MPPT should be equivalent. My panels are all the same and the two strings paralleled on MPPT1 both consist of 5 panels each. My paralleled strings are however facing different directions (N & E) but as far as I can tell this doesn't seem to be holding me back. I am struggling a bit with production in winter as 2 of my west facing panels (part of the 6 panel string connected to MPPT2) see shadow until around 12:30. There is unfortunately nothing I can do about this, I have a trickey roof. This means that during a "perfect" production day the 2 x 5 panels on MPPT 1 produce approximately 75% of my daily production. My worst production period was early June where I am only able to produce around 26kWh per day even on clear days with my system running as best it can. Current production is a bit better and if my system were to run at full capacity (my usual daily consumption is only around 28kWh) I would probably get around 32kWh per day (my 2 problem panels are seeing sun sooner in the day than what they were 6 weeks ago). That's an impressive system that you've got, shows you what a difference well orientated panels make! If your load (batteries, home consumption) has sufficient need to pull maximum production capacity from your panels you'll probably be able to produce around 55 kWh with your system on a clear summer day! Regards, Rudolph

Hi @Shain As I understand it, the Smart Load will always first pull power from the PV (when available), then the batteries and then, when the batteries reach their minimum set SOC, the grid. I don't think it is possible for it to skip the batteries and pull straight from the grid. You should, however, be able to get a workable solution by playing around with your smart load settings and minimum battery SOC value (the point at which your inverter pulls power from the grid). I hope this helps. Regards

Hi @Margaret To answer your question, to see the Battery info I think your plant's "System Type" needs to be set to "Storage System" as shown in the screenshot below. You can change this setting in the Smart App by selecting the three horizontal dots at the top right corner of your screen when you are looking at the "Real Time" data of your plant. Under the three dots menu you'll see an option for "Plant Info" and then just look under the "System Info" section for the "System Type" setting. I hope this helps...

Hi @Tariq If you need to "Kickstart" your AUX port by switching on the kettle then it means that your Smart Load (AUX) power setting is set too high... The inverter can't determine the maximum PV power available, it looks at what you're currently producing (which is partially determined by what load your drawing). I set my value quite low, around 200W. I then know that my Geyser can then still switch on until approximately 30 minutes before sunset... @Brickman, yes, my AUX port switches On at 95%SOC. I found that in the last 5% SOC there is actually very little usable power in my batteries... Also, my BMS seems to slow down the charging rate to top up those last few percent so there isn't much sense in waiting for the SOC to reach the full 100% before my Geyser kicks in, 95% is "full enough" (if that makes sense)

Hi @Brickman Yes, I have the Deye 8kW and also run my Geyser off the Smart Load (AUX) port. Works like a charm and exactly how you explained it! With my setup, the PV will supply my load first, charge the batteries second and then, once the batteries are pretty much charged up (95%SOC), switch on the geyser. It is basically fit and forget and one always has the option to manually switch on the geyser using the "On grid always on" option! This is also a handy future of you want to manually switch on the geyser if you're not at home (using the Solarman Smart app with your account enabled for remote management). In my opinion, the AUX port is the perfect option to run a geyser off.

Hi All I sent Deye Technical support an email last week asking why the inverter is clipping the current at 20A and not the stated 22A as indicated on the technical datasheet. They came back to me stating that the inverter clips the current at 20A as a safety feature as too much current is not good... (as shown below) Not a very technical answer and it also doesn't answer my question as to why the clipping happens at 20A and not the stated 22A... But it confirms that it is current clipping that I am seeing in my PV data. Anyway, guess I'll just have to live with it...

Hi All I think this is a relatively easy question and I'm sure it has been asked before I just can't seem to figure it our for myself. I have a Deye 8kW hybrid inverter. Under the System Work Mode (SWM) menu I am only able to set my battery SOC to 35%, no lower. I want to set this value down to 25% but there must be another setting somewhere that is stopping me from doing this. The inverter is set give a low battery warning at 35%,shut down at 20% and restart at 50% Could anybody please tell me what else I need to set to be able to bring my SWM battery SOC down to 25%. Thanks in advance!

According to the Deye datasheet and label on the inverter, the max PV input current is 22A per MPPT but as per my original post, it seems as if my inverter is clipping at 20A. I'm not sure if anybody else with a 8kW Deye has seen currents higher than this??

Thanks @Sc00bs, I checked the sticker on the side om my 8kW Deye and it clearly states 22A+22A for the "PV input current". @Scubadude, my inverter has been constantly connected to our WiFi for more than a month and I don't think it has ever done a firmware update... My device software details are as follows HMI : Ver c34c MAIN1: Ver 3881 MAIN2: Ver 717 How does it compare to yours? What is the latest version?

Thanks @Kalahari Meerkat Yes, I agree with you that it is unlikely that the north and east facing panels will be running at peak production at the same time and we're very unlikely to see a total of 26A on my PV1 string... This was my reasoning when putting these two strings together. Losing capacity due to clipping should be negligible... However, I don't think it is unreasonable to expect a current in the region of 20A to 22A on PV1. It does however look like my system is clipping the current at 20A and not 22A as indicated in the datasheet.

Hi Guys This is becoming a really interesting discussion... You are right, at this time of day, it is mainly the batteries being charged (max set to around 5kW for charging). It might be that it is the MPPT busy doing its job but the fact that the curve is perfectly flat and always flattens out at 19.89A just seems like too much of a coincidence?? Since I've had my system I have not see the PV1 DC current exceed this value... @Kalahari Meerkat, I'm not sure that I understand your comment regarding that the fact that the north-facing panels only produce most of their power later in the day and that that may the the real problem... Would you mind explaining what you mean? Thanks for all your comments.

Hi Guys Thanks for all the comments. I will have a look at the sticker on the side of the inverter later today but I do remember that is lists 22A + 22A. Here are the graphs of the DC Current, DC Voltage and DC Power. I doubt whether it was a WiFi issue as there is data available in the "flat" section of the DC Current graph and there is a variation in the other parameters around this time. The curve is just to consistent for it not to be due to the current being clipped... What's the process for updating the firmware on a 8kW Deye?? Regards,

Hi @YellowTapemeasure Please see the attached datasheet, I have the JAM72S30-540/MR panels. Voc is listed as 49.6V What are you trying to work out? Regards, JAM72S30_525-550_MR_Global_EN_20200904A.pdf