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For those who may also use the 3kw Fivestar inverter, after having playing with the values, I can now give clarity on settings 09 and 10. Setting 09 is the battery voltage at which it switches back to mains to power load and charge battery. I have it now on 12,5v = 25,2v for the 24v system. Sometimes voltage will go down to 25,0 before switching. Setting 10 is the charged battery voltage when inverter switches back to solar, providing the solar inputV is at least 30v. This happens at 28,4v because I set 06 boost charge voltage at 14,2v and then things will settle with target at floating voltage. Still have not figures settings 22 and 23. My settings for working and charging priority is solar. Before I could not get any sense due to the bad PV panel configuration. Again, thanks to Scorp007 and GreenFields for their assistance.

thanks, yes I have been doing that and will apply that when situations require it, taking into consideration the limitations of my system. It has taken me a while to get to understand the system and as I wrote in the above post, still dont understand all of it. Remember my system is 24V, even if the manual setting values are as per 12V, noticed today there is more power from the panels after re-configuring and with some setting adjustments, as sun was going down, the panels kept the battery at 25V before the mains kicked in then battery picks up to just over 26V and mains turns off going to solar again (which is now the charge priority for testing the new setup), and this keeps on like this until the panels shows 28V on the inverter display. So, making progress.

Unfortunately the 3kW Fivestar inverter that I am using to basically provide power to a few items particularly during LS have limited setting options as can be seen in the attached settings table. So, after re-configuring my 4X350W PV panels to 4XP, I selected solar priority for working and charging mode, whether this is correct in my case, I dont know. I know when the sun goes down then mains charging kicks in and also supply to load and not from battery any longer. But it happens that the battery voltage is low at that stage, since solar cannot keep up. Now looking at settings 09, 10, 22 and 23, I quite understand exactly what is meant and thus what those setting values should be. I would want to have the inverter switch over to mains charging and/or mains load supply before the batteries run too low 12.6V, but dont know what settings to adress. Maybe someone knows, if so please assist.

ok, GreenFields and Scorp007, thanks for that. So, should the solar charging current ratio come down from 100%? And what working mode, mains, solar or battery mode and charging mode, mains, solar or solar only mode? Thanks.

In process to re-configure the 4 panels to parallel. Before the solar readout on the inverter panel went up to 70V on a good day (if I remember correctly) and 11A. Will see after re-configuring, but if amps go to about 30A, will that not be too high for battery charging? Then setting 05 (solar charging current ratio) should not be 100% but same as for main current ratio not more that 65%, or even 50% not so? Also please suggest which working mode (setting 02) and charging mode (setting 03) to use.

Many thanks guys, I trust your advise. I thought that to have only 37V from the panels is not good enough. Ja, still have much to learn regarding this "dark art".

Thanks guys, appreciate. Problem as I see it, to have 4 panels in parallel, will just make to min voltage due to the location of the panels. Then there will be no charging at all. Presently the V from panels is from 34 to 70 at absolute best. So must use serie connection. Solution is to add 2 more panels in S/P to present setup.

Thanks GreenFields. Had the 4 batteries tested with proper measuring device, not only voltage and the one that I thought suspect, was so. It measured 11,5V while the others were between 12,7 and 12,8 directly after the system shut down last night. I was given an exchanged battery to test out, so will see. Also reduced/adjusted the inverter settings with grid 50% max and solar 90% max and shutdown V 11,5 per battery (so 22V for the 24V system) and float V 13,1 (26,2V for the 24V system) and max charge V 14,1 (28,2 for the 24V system). Then I set working priority to battery, not mains as intended to do and charging priority to solar not mains. When the solar voltage is over 35V the inverter defaults to solar charging if the mains is switched on and I suspect this then over time results in the batteries not getting fully charged, even if the inverter indicates fully charged. Solar panel specs: 350W; Voc 41.1V; Imp 8,1A; Vmp 37,5V; Isc 9,8A. Inverter AC charger specs: 230VAC; 50Hz; 17,7A. DC output: 27VDC 10-60A. AC output: 230VAC; 50Hz; 13A Inverter Solar charger specs: Rated current 60A; System voltage 24; Min solar voltage 30VDC; Best Vmp range 30-35VDC; Max solar VOC 105. Thanks for your time and effort.

I have a 3kW Fivestar 24V hybrid inverter with 4X12V 100Ah gel batteries connected in series/parallel to give 24V and 200Ah. 4X350W solar panels in series/parallel to be in spec with the inverter. I have a second DB connected to the inverter with wiring and a few plug points in the house in order to run a few items off the inverter. The original requirement was to provide power during LS to these selected few items. Attached is the inverter settings from the manual. As was pointed out in many other postings, the values can be confusing, since they are 12V system values, but the panel readout on the inverter is for a 24V system. So just X2 the values in the manual. Been running this setup for just on 1 year now to cover load shedding and in summer using it much more to run fridge, micro wave (short times) TV, computers and some lights. As can be deduced, did not truly stick to LS use only and possibly over used the batteries. Now suddenly notice battery SOC falls very fast during LS and does not last for 2hrs. Have managed 4hrs before, but no more. Will have the batteries tested, but suspect at least 1 of the 4 is "kaput". I initially did not go for a Lithium type battery, since having studied the manual before, I realised it is possible to select incorrect battery settings, even though I unsuccessfully tried to get clarity on the meaning and values of the settings. I suspect used incorrect battery settings, particularly mains charging current ratio at 90%. Only recently found out this setting controls the charging amps (setting 04 on attached sheet). This would have damaged the batteries. On Solar charging also set to 90%, but the solar amps were always under 20A. Also intentionally set the the battery lockdown voltage lower to accommodate the power surge when fridge and other devices starts up, but most likely at times have drawn too much power thus damaging the batteries. Been using Solar working priority (setting 02) and solar charging priority (setting 03). Another mistake I made, was to not have the mains connected all times to the inverter. In summer the PV can fully charge the batteries, so only connected to mains when batteries were low. The resulting mistake is that the inverter would eventually show batteries charged, but I suspect not really fully charged, since not enough time. Also noticed that often the indicator light on the inverter shows battery not fully charged. At times I would then switch mains on to charge the batteries, particularly when there is not much sun. I need to have the correct battery settings. I now intend to use the system as intended, and change working mode to mains priority (setting 02) and charging mode also to mains. Please comment on this aspect also. Please look at the settings and values as per the manual, remember X2 to accommodate the 24V system, and advise what values I should use.

My inverter output goes to a separate DB that provides power to various lights/appliances. The inverter has AC mains input which uses the house grounding/earthing setup. I have installed a separate earthing spike setup and connected this to the earth/ground inverter AC output that goes to the DB. The DB has a main breaker and earth leakage. Question. Should the earth spike wire be connected to the earth AC input or output of the inverter? I measured resistance between these 2 connections and they seem to have zero resistance. So with that, I reasoned that it should not matter where the earth spike is connected, but to me it seems more correct to connect to the AC earth output of the inverter that goes to the DB. I want to ensure that the earth leakage breaker on the new DB will trip, should a short happen in the connections to the DB.

Maybe look at the settings I use on a 3kW Fivestar 24v with 4x 100ah 12v gel batteries. 4 x 370W panels in 2 strings. You must view the inverter settings as for a 12v system. It is important to try a fully charge batteries often. Select USER as battery type. Float Voltage 13.8v. Working mode and Charge mode Solar. Charge voltage 14.2v. Battery lockdown voltage 10.5v (this might be a bit too low but I use this to allow for a quick peak switching of a load).

I have the exact same inverter. The settings are as for a 12V but the readout on the system will give you a 24V system readout. Example, battery readings will be 24.4V or 25.5v even up to 28.4V. So simply double the setting values to give the real time operation values. Hopes this makes sense. Just be sure to get the batteries up to "fully charged" when the charging light stop blinking.

I cannot find the answer to this question, so will appreciate if an answer can be provided. Does the inverter/charger adapt the battery charging profile and parameters according to the battery type selected? Example on my 3kw 24V Fiverstar there are 6 different battery types that can be selected. Will the inverter adapt the charging profile by itself say between GEL and LiFePO4 or must the user make the changes?

thanks guys, appreciate your explanations. Yes, as Coulomb earlier stated, view GEL as lead acid and I accept that. Also assumed "use" mean user, but what does that mean? Do I then create my own battery settings?

There are a number of "battery type" settings, one being "use". What is this? Also setting for "ternary lithium battery"? It seems that this inverter has a default setting for lead acid battery. I am using GEL but the battery lockdown voltage is just over 22.3v, which is too high for GEL. Would it have a better effect if I change "battery type" setting to lithium?