FixAMess

Sadly i think the Pylon BMS is just very outdated at this point,i doubt they have done much in terms of development over the years to improve it , if you look at the latest BMS's in the market they offer lots more flexibility and features . JK , Seplos v3 ect

This is the responsible thing to do!

I updated 2000Plus and 3000C. 
I have the .bin file for 2000Plus, the 3000C is a bit more tricky, the upgrade versions are different, 2 available the last time I looked. Search on the forum for differences and related file.
If you just want to connect the 2000Plus to 3000C, you only need to upgrade the 2000plus. I stacked 1x3000C, 4 x 2000 plus, 3x3000C.
Let me know if you need the 2000plus .bin. and installer.
Also remember you will need 2 different cables to connect to the console port on the battery, plus vs "C".

Hey Greglsh, so its limiting the battery being discharged beyond 50%.
During the day PV will charge the battery and it will reach or attempt to reach 100%.
Most days now especially with the change in weather my battery is charged by 14:00.
 
@FixAMess @GreenFields during this period I very rarely if at all consume from the grid as my battery is on 100% by then time PV is no longer substantial to carry my load which is generally around 16:00. I will then be on battery until it hits 50% which can happen as early as 21:00 or as late as 02:00. Even during cloudy days I don’t recharge the battery from grid. If its a very bad day…battery doesn’t charge much and is 50% and then we have LS from 18:00 for example…at most we will use is about 10%. So at 20:00 when grid is available the battery will charge back up to 50%. This though has not happened in 4months since I have this system.
 
My aim is to use as little from the grid as possible, in fairness its a selfish reason to reduce spend on prepaid units…but indirectly I’m doing a little bit to reduce load on the fragile grid.

If one looks at the above charge from grid settings, 17:00 -> 21:00 is set to charge from grid.  Is this correct?
I suggest all inverter owners try to supply their own power (battery) , where possible,  at SA peak usage times  I.e. 17:00 -> 21:00.
Will this not aid the overall power issue we are experiencing now?
 

In my experience a minimum of 15kWh battery backup is required for the average SA home, taking LS, cloudy days, family requirements etc. into account.
One can do with less, but then you have to act like a Nazi electrical usage guy.
 
 

I think there is a misunderstanding.
Normally the DB is split into essential and non-essential.
The inverter will feed both but is fed from 1 battery bank and the same solar panels. So the battery bank is not separated.
Where are you based?

You are confusing balancing of different batteries in a stack with the actual cells in a battery. Disconnecting a battery will never allow it to balance or  as you say 'equalize', only way to do that is to get your voltage per cell up to 3,5V plus. So you set the voltage on the inverter manually and watch the BMS via monitoring software .

All of the above are possible to set in the Deye, and then some.
As for the comment below about point 4, it is possible to set your battery to export to the grid if  you choose the mode "Selling First" and use it in conjunction with the the "Time of Use" timer settings. If you don't want this, use "Zero Export to Load(or CT)" with Solar Sell box ticked. You'll sell solar power, but no battery power..
 
I would still suggest putting your larger loads on non-essential loads, because then you can supply to all loads in the house up to the maximum load capacity of the house, for example a 63A circuit breaker, blending grid and solar power. If you put all on essential loads, you are limited to the pass-through current that the inverter allows. I'd say not to be tempted to exclude the fitment of the CT coil.
Maybe you've got it the wrong way around regarding the power flow before adapting to force zero usage. The point is to zero the current that is flowing out of the house, not inwards, in other words, if your solar can generate 5kW duing the day, or for the matter the battery can supply 5kW at night, but your load is 4kW, then it will scale back the production to just what you need. You can in any case reduce the Zero-export value to 0 if you'll be exporting to the grid, and so save on the consistent small draw.
In a hybrid grid-tied system like this I think you need to make peace with frequently trading some amounts of power, either for short transient periods as your load level changes, or otherwise for longer bouts of bad weather.

It's got to do with the power, Amps that your inveter can draw and the capability of the battery bms to provide.
E.g your inverter can draw 100A, but battery only provide 50 A then you'd need a fuse for 70A. If you have 2x100Ah batteries and your inverter can draw 200A that then you'd need a 250A fuse.
So you need to Match the inverter draw with what the battery can provide and add 25%..
A 5kW inverter can nominally draw 100A, so a 125A fuse will do. A 2 pole breaker , 1 for positive, 1 for negative will do. 

They have to upgrade 8 batteries and then add 4 type "C"....My usual solar electrician/troubleshooter, my wife,) is not keen.😆

They have to upgrade 8 batteries and then add 4 type "C"....My usual solar electrician/troubleshooter, my wife,) is not keen.😆

Not quite true , without grid available the 3 phase 12kw inverter will trip if one of the phases goes over about 5kw. 

The advice is to switch off all the loads. When all loads are off, that include batteries, you will not have current flowing from the PV panels and it will be safe to switch them off. Always work safe 😉

I would use 45kWh x 1.2 = 55kWh, allows one to take battery  DoD to 80% only. Also people forget,  irrespective of panels and inverter sizing, pv production follows a bell curve so one does not generate power at 10x550W from sunrise to sunset, and don't forget cloud, rain, hot weather as well.

I import batteries with PACE BMS. On a new 10kWh battery we found the BMS to be faulty.
A quick call to my supplier and a new BMS was immediately posted. I received and fitted the BMS a day later. No issues with warranty, no arguing etc.
One cannot just "wipe" the BMS, they are password protected so your electrician would need the software and password to change BMS logs etc. I doubt if he has this.
If the poster likes he can contact me and I'll see if I can source him a new BMS at his cost. 

"Activate lithium battery, when the BMS of the lithium battery is protected, battery will not power inverter or
the inverter cannot charge the battery."  
This setting is to charge a battery that has been discharged too deeply and is in protected mode.  it's not for making 2 batteries discharge/ charge equally.
Charge each batter to full indepenindely and then parallel them, maybe that will help.

You can limit the charge from grid to a SOC of 90%, but any surplus PV will always charge up the battery to 100%

I don't really see why using a particular brand of battery should void an inverter's warranty as long as they are the correct voltage. The inverter and battery communicate via the BMS, or if not, the battery is just operating by voltage, but in either case the inverter is always in control of the battery. 
The main issue usually relates to the BMS comms and if the inverter manufacturer has validated a particular battery works with their inverter. As mentioned above by others, many batteries support the Pylontech BMS protocol and if they do, will work fine with the Solis. 
 

The SS 5kVA, Goodwe,Solis, provide 2 strings into the MPPT. Many 5kVA  inverters have this functionality.

@Steve87, could you please post the document for download?  It seems like its a "good practise" document and we can all learn from it.

@Steve87, could you please post the document for download?  It seems like its a "good practise" document and we can all learn from it.

I am curious about this too and how it will affect the warranty.
 
What about DIY batteries?

This criteria for selection of an inverter is probably not the best of criteria to use when deciding on an inverter. Design vs manufacturing origin comes to mind.
What is "better" ? Usually, one decides what you want to achieve, go off grid, combat loadshedding, saving on elec bills etc.
Any inverter that comes with a CT coil can usually feed back to the non-essential load without feeding back to the grid. So Deye, sunsync, Goodwe, Luxpower, Solis can do this. 
It usually comes down to price, support, warranty, software (ease of use), functionality  (generator input, parallelable, fancy output ports etc..), battery compatibility etc..
For my money if I was looking for a 5kW inverter look at 6kW Solis, deye, sunsync, luxpower. These brands all offer a hybrid inverter in a similar price range...Hint 6kW solis is similarly prices to the 5kW Deye, Sunsync.
For 8kW maybe someone else can provide input, other than Deye, Sunsync. 
Personally, I think Sunsync, Deye are overpriced. There are other inverters that provide what most people require at a lower cost.
 
 
 
 
 
 

This is a fault of the battery manufacturers. 
We should insist on knowing what the BMS is!