bluwater

The above diagram is from FEEO. I bought a FEEO SPD and this is the wiring diagram I came across on the product page. I have checked many other brands and none of them use this layout. So I am confused whether to go with this or with what everyone else is recommending. Just sharing a few wiring diagram's for different SPDs. TOMZN SAHB LSP

Check out this video for Aerox 5.2KW test with non-inverter AC without any battery or grid connection.

I think the 5KW infini (not the V series) is a better option due to the fact that it is dual MPPT. But of course the price difference between the Aerox and the Infini is too much. If you're only wanting to use it during daytime and without batteries do look into the Solis 5KW Inverter. It will cost you about the same as an Aerox but it has a greater MPPT range and also features dual MPPT. Specs wise it seems good. A friend of mine got the Solis for his 10KW home setup.

I am not aware of the regulations in your location, but if it says 4mm2, then go with that. I also have a 3KW Infini and I believe the user manual also states to use 4mm2 wire

While a 4mm2 wire could handle 25amps, I would go with a higher gauge such as 6mm2 especially if your load is continuous, instead of intermittent. The reason is that the more current you are pulling through a wire, the hotter it gets, and while a cable in free air will be able to dissipate this heat, however a cable that is running in a conduit inside the wall will not be able to dissipate the heat, thus reducing its current carrying capacity.

Most of the time I am not feeding to the grid but sometimes a very small amount of power goes back may be 10-20W. For night time I am only using grid instead of battery. Below is today's solar generation chart up till now. It's a very sunny day with no clouds. You can see between 8 and 9 am I sent some power back to grid and also during 10-11am some power went back, but it is not more than 10-15W.

I have no experience with generators and how to integrate them with solar. I think a good way to start is to begin with a layout diagram with all the wiring connections and get other member's opinion on it. That's the way I began. Regarding running load off the batteries during the night. I would not recommend it. It might seem like the logical thing to do, but from a cost benefit analysis, you are better off using the grid, it's cheaper than batteries. So 1st priority is solar, 2nd is grid 3rd is battery and 4th is generator.

From which software did you get this graph?

I did it with 4 pole breakers and a 4 pole changeover switch, it's been working fine. But then, I am only using 1 phase. I also isolated all the load neutrals. So all the load that is on solar have live wires and neutral wires go into the solar distribution box. The live wires go into the breakers, the neutrals go to the bus bar. Then I used one 10mm2 wire to connect solar neutral bus bar with the main distribution box neutral bus bar.

They are Hyundai batteries not the deep cycle type. They are about an year old. I only use batteries as backup when grid is down and there is no solar.

If I was leaving for a few days, I would feel more comfortable switching it off especially if you are not exporting to grid or there are no loads to power when you are not home, then there is no reason to leave it on. Regarding your question about what happens to the voltage being generated daily... well solar will only generate power if there is a load connected, if there is no load, there is no power generated. To shutdown the system, follow the instructions that come with your inverter (some inverters specify a sequence in which you need to switch off things). Typically you will need to turn off the PV disconnect switch, turn off battery disconnect and AC input to the inverter. But even if you leave it on, I don't think its an issue if you have proper breakers installed for PV, Inverter and batteries. VRLA, gel, batteries are pretty safe. Lithium ion is very safe as long as it has BMS. The only issue is vented lead acid batteries, they need proper ventilation to be safe.

It is going to vary per hour, but it is going to be definitely lower from what it typically consumes. Below is a recent screenshot from ICC. You can see I am down to 10watts during some hours, sometimes it even goes negative.

Looking at the diagram, you're missing an earth leakage breaker on the main supply. Other than that I don't see anything amiss. A separate distribution panel for solar is recommended. At least that's the way I have designed my system. Regarding the wiring, I would go with two separate 3 core cables instead of a single 6 core cable. To keep future upgrades in mind, you might also want to go with higher gauge wire. In my case I am using a single phase inverter 3KW, but the wiring from the inverter to the distribution panel consists of two 3 phase wires (4 core 10mm2). So in future when I upgrade to a 3 phase inverter, I will not need to re-do the wiring.

The Infini 3KW+ consumes about 80W from the grid, this is despite the fact that you have excess solar power available. It adds up to about 1KW during the daytime just for the inverter. So why does this happen and how can you reduce it? The reason for this is that if you don't have net-metering and have disabled feed-in to the grid feature, Infini will always take some power from the grid to prevent accidental feed-in to the grid. You can try and reduce this self consumption by tweaking a setting in the solar power software. Go to parameter settings. By default the "feeding grid power calibration" is set to 0W. At 0W the Infini 3KW+ will consume about 80W from grid. But you can also lower this setting up to a maximum of -300W. I have set it to -100W. You can experiment with different numbers until you hit a sweet spot. -100W works for me and my Infini's self consumption from grid has come down considerably. The objective is to choose a number that keeps grid consumption as close to zero as possible without sending any extra power back. So what's the downside... Never do this if you have an energy meter that is sensitive to grid feedback, otherwise you might run into trouble with your utility company. Secondly, it is inevitable that you will be sending some power back to the grid. How much you send back depends on your setting. Since you won't have a bidirectional meter the power that goes back could also be added to your overall consumption, so do keep that in mind before setting it very high... like -200W or -300W.

For the past few days, I was only getting maximum 1500W from a 3800W PV installation. Previously I was getting up to 2900W max from the same array. Diagnosed the fault to these fuses. The fuse is rated at 20amp and maximum continuous current draw on the wire was only about 15amp. The fuse is still functional but the housing has melted probably due to poor internal connection. The two on the right have melted and fused together. Bought these from Aliexpress. If you are looking to buy fuses, stay clear of these. https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1pc-Fuse-Holder-Protective-MC4-Connector-Protection-1000-VDC-Male-To-Fem-PV-Photovoltaic-Solar-Diode/32884207033.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.27424c4dhTAMXi

You can add more panels as long as you stay within the inverter's MPPT voltage range.

That's strange. Have you tried connecting to the inverter's RS232 port instead of USB?

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction. I have no experience working with scripts, so it might take me a while to get the hang of it. I also found another script link below for Eastron energy meters. In your opinion which one of these would be better/easier to implement considering that I have absolutely no experience with python. https://github.com/jrbenito/eastron-pvoutput

Hi, I installed an energy meter Eastron SDM230, before my Infini 3KW+ inverter to monitor actual energy import and export which also includes the power that the inverter is drawing. The meter supports MODBUS output, so I can get real time data from the energy meter. I used some MODBUS software and confirmed that the energy meter is sending data to my Windows 10 PC. However I don't really know how to log the data and use it to form a chart in which I can track daily and monthly import and export of energy. Is there a software that can do this? Alternatively, I was wondering if I can send the energy meter data directly to PVOUTPUT.ORG. Can this be done? Would like some guidance this.

If you are combining two wires a much cleaner method is to use a 2 wire ferrule like the one below. But it only recommended if both wires are the same size.

Did you buy these online? Have you tried contacting the manufacturer? When I had a problem with my balancers, I contacted them and they were quite responsive and helped me solve the issue. I would suggest contacting them directly.

I ordered 4 balancers and I actually replaced 2 of these because they were not working properly. If the ON/OFF LED on all balancers is green then its ok. If it stays red on one or more balancers then you have a problem. The second LED only comes on when the battery is charging or discharging while balancing. If the second LED is off, it means, the batteries are balanced. You can verify this by checking the individual battery voltage.

I was googling apparent and reactive power a few days back and I came across that beer mug description. It makes it so plain and simple to understand.

I was also facing a similar issue with my Infini 3KW+, so I ordered a din rail energy meter that can measure actual energy consumption from grid. This energy meter can measure volts, amps, watts, power factor and also kwh, so it should give a more accurate picture of the Infini's actual power consumption.

This is true, it happened on 4th Oct. I am also from Pakistan. There was a hailstorm at my home as well, but the size of the hail was much smaller as compared to this. But I live in a city quite far away from where this massive hailstorm hit. I've never seen hail so big. Some more pics.