Skip to content
View in the app

A better way to browse. Learn more.

Power Forum - Renewable Energy Discussion

A full-screen app on your home screen with push notifications, badges and more.

To install this app on iOS and iPadOS
  1. Tap the Share icon in Safari
  2. Scroll the menu and tap Add to Home Screen.
  3. Tap Add in the top-right corner.
To install this app on Android
  1. Tap the 3-dot menu (⋮) in the top-right corner of the browser.
  2. Tap Add to Home screen or Install app.
  3. Confirm by tapping Install.

Flouw

Members
  • Joined

  • Last visited

  1. You will have to provide more details.
  2. Ok. Will wait for photos. But if its the older units. And all requires refurbishment and repairs. Then the price doesnt realy make sense.
  3. Are any of them the plus/king units?
  4. does anyone have feedback regarding the automation on the Luxpower units using Solar Assistant as yet? im looking at upgrading my inverter to a Luxpower unit. but is essential to my system that the automation still works
  5. perhaps post the exact Axpert inverter model you have. alot of the issues/challenges you have mentioned, i have been able to resolve with Solar assistant. And a Victron smart shunt, as this monitors the SOC correctly, unless your battery communicates correctly with the inverter. Solar Assistant does have some automation options aswell now, that makes it alot less IT intensive than having to set up home assistant and and and. BUT, the likely best change i made was to an Axpert Plus model, that has better blending options. (SUB being one of the more important ones)
  6. HI. what is all included? bracket? cables? meter? and do you have any idea if Solar assistant supports this inverter for monitoring purposes?
  7.    Ed S reacted to a post in a topic: GROWATT 3kva with Esener 25.6v
  8. 1. i have the inverter set to USE. 2. only have essentials connected, i run from UTI from sunset to around 22:00. base loads that time is varying as the fridge goes on and off. but it consumes 6/7% per hour. solar assist helps me to maintain the battery. i choose to cycle the battery, as it makes space to harvest PV. the next day- i need to add another battery, as mine is fully charged by 10:00 in the morning already, and the PV system is then just idling. 3. i set the float and bulk the same, as the float bug is a reality if your voltage doesnt go low enough, especially charging on PV. it only charges to float voltage. BUT, once the PV drops, it tops it off from Utility till it reaches the SOC maintainer. that is why i raised the float to where i want it to be. the 3.4v resting voltage is exactly that. resting voltage. and what i have learned with the LiFePo4, Voltage doesnt tell you much. i use to think my battery is almost empty after 4 hour load shedding, lights on, TV on. fridge running. till i fitted the Smart Shunt. then realized after a 4 hour outage, that my battery was still at least 50%.
  9.    Ed S reacted to a post in a topic: GROWATT 3kva with Esener 25.6v
  10.    zsde reacted to a post in a topic: GROWATT 3kva with Esener 25.6v
  11. my previous inverter didnt have the bulk timed charge function. and the floating bug is pretty much in all the inverters/batteries that cant communicate. im not running a big system. so i dont have to fast charge (less than 2 hours), so i set the bulk the same as float. 27.6 is safe. and its not in the upper curve of the voltage, so it wont run away with the PV system. i would not even use the equalization function, as i dont see the need for lithium. the esener battery BMS is apparently an active balancer, so it always balances. not only from a certain voltage. i cant give more details, as i have yet to open one to see. but i set my batteries to charge at 28.2v for 12 hours once a month. and it seems to be OK with that, lithium will only absort the power it needs, and you cant overcharge them, unless you over voltage them. do not charge them to the absolute max, and keep them there, they need to settle, otherwise it gets bloated and gas's i do have PV on the roof yes, that charges and supports all the essentials the whole day, and at night i let the battery run down to 40% SOC by 06:00. which ever comes first, as PV starts producing from there, although not much, but has enough power left for another 4 hours untill either PV is enough, or Eskom is back online if its rainy. Solar assistant helps maintain the battery, has that function. so if the battery drains faster than the graph, it switches to grid untill everything catches up. i dont charge from Eskom at all. unless the weather is really bad. IF i had to install a system again, as an backup, or for someone else, and dont have the capability to read SOC, i would again set the bulk and float to 27.6. and forget about it. ill do some tests on a lower voltage for bulk and float, to see when the "floating bug" starts setting in.
  12.    Ed S reacted to a post in a topic: GROWATT 3kva with Esener 25.6v
  13. i use a Axpert type inverter. and the battery setting is on USE. as i can set the float and bulk to whatever i want. and the bulk does have the timed bulk charge function aswell (not the equalize charge function). also no comms between inverter and battery. i also had alot of questions, and sat with multimeters and and and for days and hours. so i just bought a Victron smart shunt and a Raspberry, in loaded Solar assist. yes there is still flaws. but atleast i can try resolve this myself while i am not home, as i work out of country for weeks at end. even after installing the monitoring stuff, giving me a better idea of what is going on, and and and. i still run it on 27.6v. of bulk and float. and i play around ever so often with different settings to see what effect it has. again, i cycle the battery daily, so it doesnt sit at 27.6v the whole day, probably for 4 hours or so, and then solar decreases to where it starts using battery again.
  14. Ive set bulk and float on 27.6 v on my setup. And its been like that for some months. Yes i do cycle the battery every day. Discarge to 40% soc max.
  15. Edit two questions where answered by reading the inverter spec sheet. What are the settings? If the battery is fully charged. The panels wont do anything. Some inverters cant "blend" Unless you switxh over to battery only. Trip the mains and see what it does. And did you make sure (+) and (-) on the PV panels are not swiched around.
  16.    Coulomb reacted to a post in a topic: Mecer inverter
  17.    Chris Louw reacted to a post in a topic: Mecer inverter
  18. Flouw replied to Rodger1's topic in Inverters
    EDIT(ive added a screenshot of the setting) also known as power sensing. if the current draw is very low, the inverter swithces off what mecer model is it? and there is a "power saving" setting that you need to disable. check the manual. im not 100% sure what is is called. Power saving. Standby. or something like that
  19. send screenshot of your settings page on solar assistant. also, sign into the inverter with your phone's bluetooth, and screenshot the setting page of each. last but not least, can you confirm that both inverters are on the same firmware, and that they are "talking"to one another in parallel mode.
  20. as a test. disconnect the batteries from one another. and see what the SOC indicators indicates for each battery.
  21. Are the batteries communicating with one another? I would think that so many batteries is series, if not communicating, one of them could very easily go out of sync. Voltage can not be used to indicate SOC on lithium. Ive tried it. How is the equipment wired together? And where do you get the SOC reading from?

Account

Navigation

Search

Search

Configure browser push notifications

Chrome (Android)
  1. Tap the lock icon next to the address bar.
  2. Tap Permissions → Notifications.
  3. Adjust your preference.
Chrome (Desktop)
  1. Click the padlock icon in the address bar.
  2. Select Site settings.
  3. Find Notifications and adjust your preference.