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wolfandy

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Everything posted by wolfandy

  1. Hi all wasn't sure if I should post this in the Inverter or Battery section. I am running 2x Suynsynk 5kW and 5x Pylontech (1x US3000C as master and 4x US3000A). My system was running smoothly for months. After a recent Sunsynk firmware update (not by choice, but one of my inverters went in for repairs and came back with an update firmware - so I had to also update the other one) to Comm: E433 and MCU: 3384-0513, I have been problems with my system after my batteries are fully charged. The PV does not track the Load anymore. Instead, PV is throttled to below Load for a while and Battery is used to supplement. Then PV ramps up again to recharge Battery. This cycle repeats. and This obviously is not healthy for my batteries. After raising this with Sunsynk, their feedback is: 'The difference between the battery current and BMS current is too large. Please contact the battery engineer to check the battery and upgrade the battery firmware.' As my system has been previously been running smoothly, I struggle to see a bit how this is the Pylon firmware's fault (since I did not make any changes to them). I am currently running and I have reached out to Pylontech Support with this and requested the latest firmware. I have lost track where here in the forum I can find the latest firmware. Is @Youda's post from 02 Feb still the latest? And should I upgrade my Pylons as per Sunsynk Support? Or does anyone else have any other views?
  2. Anything connected as non-essentials is connected to the main DB board before your inverter. You can connect whatever you want on that side - it is fed directly from your incoming Eskom mains and not the inverter. Inverters like the Sunsynk will push excess PV back to your main DB to help reduce the Eskom consumption of your non-essentials, but obviously only to the max inverting capacity of the inverter (minus whatever your essentials are using at that point). The balance will come from Eskom mains AC overload fault should only occur when your consumption through the inverter (essentials + Aux) exceeds the inverters rating (inverting capacity if mains are down, inverting capacity plus passthrough when mains are available)
  3. Just to be a bit more specific - the common busbar will allow all systems to measure the battery voltage, not SOC
  4. Correct But as each inverter has 2 MPPT, with 2 inverters in parallel you then have 4 MPPT with each 13A available
  5. You don't wire individual circuits to individual inverters. You wire your whole essential DB board to both inverters in parallel. Same with your batteries. You connect your batteries to a busbar and connect the battery-in for each inverter to the busbar. Paralleled inverters share both the load as well as the batteries - no individual connections (assuming you have a single-phase system - different story for 3-phase system) When everything is wired correctly as above, they will split the load automatically. See my system below:
  6. The R10k+ for getting the required meter and engineering drawings required for the application (to my understanding) is what in my view is killing it I have spare PV capacity in my system to feed back to the grid for most of the year. In summer probably around 15kWh a day, in winter less. But at the current rate the city is paying, it will take me 5 years or so to recover the initial capital required Why would I do that??? I do remember, though, reading comments from the CoCT that they understand that the cost of the meter is very high and that they are looking for cheaper alternatives, so maybe there is hope for the future
  7. +1 on Solar Shop. Have bought inverters as well as a couple of Pylons from them in the past. And their price includes shipping (which for Inverter Warehouse I think still needs to be added)
  8. If you want a single device, then I would suggest the SONOFF Smart Stackable Power Meter Alternatives would be 4x Sonoff POW (either 16A or 20A). Using these, I do not see a real risk of their time settings getting out of synch as they all rely on the same server
  9. Thanks Any idea about changes in this version?
  10. Have you switched off the inverter via the button on the bottom? After I made changes to my system last time, it also gave me an error message and did not go into Normal mode. Briefly switching off the inverters (after disconnecting load and PV) got everything working again. Seemed just to have been a hick-up...
  11. Most inverters will disconnect the grid if outside specified parameters On my Sunsynk I felt that the standard parameter range was a bit too wide, so I manually set tighter limits Same for the Sonoff POW range I actually have a 63A smart breaker right after my incoming mains and am running disconnected from the mains for most of the time. As a result, my inverter does not follow the voltage swings of the mains but rather provides 'clean' 230V to my house. Only when I see that my batteries might not be able to carry me through the night do I reconnect to the grid
  12. Looks like a good starting point. As mentioned, you need to play around a bit. See how you run with these settings - and then tweak when you see that something does not work the way you want it Correct To me this is normal and to my understanding the batteries are built for this. Especially happens on days when you have overcast weather this happens. Like my day today: I am using Sonoffs on my major consumers (heat pump, 2nd geyser, pool pump) to manage by major consumers only to come on when usually I have sufficient PV. A normal day for me looks like this: I do not believe this is possible only for a specific time. 'Prioritize load' is the relevant setting - but if I am not mistaken this can only be set globally
  13. I think you can use Aux to supply power only when you battery is above a certain SOC. But am not sure if it will use grid or simply not provide power if below the SOC Correct Am not 100% sure, but think so
  14. That understanding is incorrect. For as long as the grid is present and your SOC is higher than in your setting, the Sunsynk will draw on whatever energy source it has available (PV and/or batteries). When the SOC is at or below your setting, it will use grid to supply both essential and non-essential load. If you have PV available at that point, it will use whatever PV is available and supply the balance from grid. When the grid is down, it will only supply your non-essentials (either from PV and/or batteries) Correct. You need to play around a bit and find the settings that best work for you. Here an example of mine: At the moment I have 20h00-02h00 set to 45% because we are going to have loadshedding from 02h00-04h00 (usually set to 40%). The 02h00-10h20 is currently at 35% because we will have overcast weather tomorrow morning (usually 30%). I typically do now draw my batteries below 30%. I would rather make my geyser 'smart' (e.g. with Sonoff device) and put it on a timer to better control when it comes on. And then set it to only come on during times when I have sufficient PV available
  15. I would also compare price against 2x Pylontech US3000C as alternative option (I have no clue about current pricing and availability)
  16. I have previously used an external MPPT to charge the batteries using a busbar. The batteries, the MPPT, and the battery input of the inverter were all connected to it. Worked perfectly. Biggest challenge is getting the charging settings right across all devices connected - e.g. synchronizing multiple MPPT or between MPPT and grid charging. Other small downside is that the inverter obviously is always thinking that it was running on batteries while in reality the power feed comes from the MPPT. But that's only a 'display' problem and not a functional one.
  17. Correct. Take a Pylontech US3000C as example. It has a capacity of 74Ah and should not be discharged/charged continuously with more than 37A (roughly 1,800W). So even if your inverter is capable of providing 5kW, your battery will limit your system to around 1.8kW while running on batteries. Which for your case of lights, TV, etc. should be enough. But it also means being diligent and not switching on a kettle while running on battery. Of course, if you add more batteries to your system (at a later stage), then your system capacity will increase (e.g. 3x Pylontech US3000C will allow you to fully utilize the 5kW inverter) No, the C rating is only relating to continuous power draw. E.g., for a Pylontech US3000C the depth of discharge is 90% (so down to 10% state of charge). Hence of a nominal capacity of 3,552Wh you can use 3,374Wh Correct. A Pylon US2000C with 50Ah capacity has a max. continuous discharge/charge of 25A (roughly 1,200W) Correct. A Pylon US2000C with 50Ah (2400Wh) nominal capacity and 90% depth of discharge has a usable capacity of 2,280Wh. That roughly means 1,100W load for a period of 2h
  18. Check out the SolarAssistant website (https://solar-assistant.io/). There you can see all features in detail. For me, it is much more user-friendly than the Sunsynk app
  19. I have a 'basic' setting that I use for normal days and light loadshedding. If we're in higher stages, then I dynamically adjust my settings based on the expected time of loadshedding. That's where for me SolarAssistant is absolutely worth the investment as I can change my settings whenever I want to and from wherever in the world
  20. Yes. Between purchasing my 1st Pylon and my 5th was probably around 2 years. You can add batteries whenever you want (can afford)
  21. To my understanding the derating is not outside a sweet spot - but if you exceed the MPPT voltage range. In this case the upper limit of the voltage range is 425V and the hard limit is 500V. @Coulomb at one point explained this in more detail for an Axpert, but I cannot remember exactly where...
  22. Take a look at SolarAssistant
  23. MPPT Voltage range is stated as 150-425V. So I would try to not exceed 425V. Usually the MPPT derates above that. I would probably start with 8 panels and see how my string voltage performs for a while. Alternatively there is a calculation tool from Victron somewhere online that you can do detailed calcs with based on your panels specs, expected temperatures, etc. Oversizing should only be done on Amps, not Voltage. If you exceed the MPPT voltage, it will ' go poof' So yes, try to get to the 425V as close as possible, but make sure that never ever you could exceed 500V (e.g. sunny days in cold weather)
  24. Agree with @Kalahari Cruiser Rather put 1 string with 8 or 9 panels. Do the exact math to make sure you stay under the 450V limit of the MPPT
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