What you're missing is that hex files for the '28066 processor are now called .inv files. I don't like that idea, but it's what the Arena reflash tool is looking for. I've updated the firmware upload instructions to mention this.

I believe that if you're wanting to update via the flash drive method, you have to rename the .inv file to dsp.hex, not just any name with a .hex extension. Voltronic don't seem to think that the flash drive method is as important any more, or they'd mention something about this in the manual.

You can't update display firmware with the flash drive method.

Thank you very much! I didn't quite understand how to update the display firmware. Do service pack versions 72.66 and 272.66 also include a display update?

By watching the MPPT voltage graphs, I found that the solar panel voltage actually lingers at 90 volts. But during this period, the generation of solar energy is very insignificant. As soon as the total current of the panels (PV1+PV2) reaches approximately two amperes, the MPPT voltage jumps to 215 and higher. I don’t observe any problems due to the delay at 90 volts in the morning and evening, but this may be due to high solar activity. I want to see what happens in low clouds and see how much of an impact being stuck at 90 volts has on power generation. 

The calculated no-load voltage of my solar station is approximately 270 volts (6 panels connected in series with 72 cells each). Energy is generated by five such assemblies.The total power of panels is 9 kW (the actual power output did not reach 7 kW).

By the way, on the dessmonitor website I found a tab that offers to update the firmware via Wi-Fi. Has anyone used this update method?

Edited September 12, 20232 yr by Monos

 

I didn't quite understand how to update the display firmware. Do service pack versions 72.66 and 272.66 also include a display update?

No. Display firmware is totally separate.

 

By watching the MPPT voltage graphs, I found that the solar panel voltage actually lingers at 90 volts. But during this period, the generation of solar energy is very insignificant. As soon as the total current of the panels (PV1+PV2) reaches approximately two amperes, the MPPT voltage jumps to 215 and higher.

I believe that this is how it's supposed to work, as long as the two amps mentioned is battery current, not panel current. 2 A at 50 V is just 100 W, but 2 A at 90 V when it's supposed to be at 215 V means 180 W instead of 430 W (42% of available PV power is being delivered). My understanding is that all this hanging around at 90 V is supposed to be for easy starting, and making sure that there is enough power for the solar charge controller circuitry (gate drivers etc).

Certainly the acid test is in cloudy weather. Users have reported being stuck at 90 V for most of a cloudy day.

 

 

As

Edited September 12, 20232 yr by Monos
Error

 

No. Display firmware is totally separate.

I believe that this is how it's supposed to work, as long as the two amps mentioned is battery current, not panel current. 2 A at 50 V is just 100 W, but 2 A at 90 V when it's supposed to be at 215 V means 180 W instead of 430 W (42% of available PV power is being delivered). My understanding is that all this hanging around at 90 V is supposed to be for easy starting, and making sure that there is enough power for the solar charge controller circuitry (gate drivers etc).

Certainly the acid test is in cloudy weather. Users have reported being stuck at 90 V for most of a cloudy day.

As I already said, exit from the “90 volt” mode occurs at approximately 2 amperes of solar generation. Regarding the mppt mode, I believe that with this inverter topology, the generated power does not matter. Since the transfer of energy from the solar panel to the 400 volt dc filter (for further conversion of this voltage into alternating current) occurs by “pumping” the chokes of two boost converters with current. Here is the formula: W = L I² / 2, where W is the energy stored in the inductor, L is the inductance of the inductor, and I is the current through the inductor. As can be seen from this formula, the input voltage level does not matter for the energy in the boost converter. Thus, we can conclude that only the input current from the solar panel is important, and therefore "stuck" at 90 volts does not matter. I hope I managed to get my point across. If I'm wrong, please correct me...

P.S. I would like to further develop my idea regarding the incoming voltage from solar panels. The boost converter has three modes of transmitting current to the load: continuous, boundary and discontinuous modes. By choosing the voltage level of the solar panel, you can select the operating mode (current transmission) of the boost converter and thus select the amplitude of the current ripples in the inductor and in the input circuits of the converter. Operating the converter in continuous current mode is preferable, since it causes fewer dynamic losses in semiconductors, losses from the skin effect in wires, etc. But this mode of operation requires either a choke with a higher inductance, or an increase in the conversion frequency of the converter (compared to discontinuous and boundary modes). I think that the MPPT mode in this case is to maintain the converter operating mode in the continuous current mode and reduce the amplitude of the current ripples...

Edited September 13, 20232 yr by Monos
P. S.

 

As I already said, exit from the “90 volt” mode occurs at approximately 2 amperes of solar generation.

Yes, but 2 amps of panel current, or two amps at battery voltage? The data page for "PV current" is typically the latter, which is very different to the panel current.

I'll be the first to agree that it's highly confusing for Voltronic to provide "battery side current" when (a) the solar converter outputs to the DC bus, not the battery, and (b) some or all of the current might not end up in the battery, but supporting the load. In these high PV voltage models, power that supports the load never even gets converted to battery voltage at all.

 

Regarding the mppt mode, I believe that with this inverter topology, the generated power does not matter.

? How can the generated power not matter (I assume you mean power generated from sunlight, i.e. panel voltage times panel current) ?

 

Since the transfer of energy from the solar panel to the 400 volt dc filter (for further conversion of this voltage into alternating current) occurs by “pumping” the chokes of two boost converters with current. Here is the formula: W = L I² / 2, where W is the energy stored in the inductor, L is the inductance of the inductor, and I is the current through the inductor.

That's the energy stored in the inductor. It doesn't relate much to the power that flows through the inductor.

 

As can be seen from this formula, the input voltage level does not matter for the energy in the boost converter.

Again, the energy stored in the inductor of the boost converter.

 

Thus, we can conclude that only the input current from the solar panel is important, and therefore "stuck" at 90 volts does not matter. I hope I managed to get my point across. If I'm wrong, please correct me...

Ignoring losses, which are quite small for solar chargers (of the order of 2%), the power delivered to the battery and/or load is equal to the power into the solar charger. That input power is simply the panel voltage times the panel current. The boost converter is a switched converter, so energy is stored in the inductor for part of the cycle (and delivered to the output from the capacitor), and transferred out of the inductor to the capacitor and the battery/load. You are correct in that the instantaneous energy stored in the inductor does not depend on the panel voltage. Similarly, the energy stored in the capacitor depends only on its voltage, not the current into or out of it. But the panel voltage most definitely and directly affects the rate (speed) at which energy in the inductor increases. Analogously, the current out of the  capacitor directly affects the rate at which the energy stored in the capacitor decreases, or current into the capacitor affects the rate of increase in the capacitor's stored energy.

When the panel is dragged down to 90 V when it could supply almost the same current at 215 V, it is very far from its maximum power point, and will deliver approximately 90/215th of the power that it could. That's 42% of the available power, or some 58% of available power being needlessly discarded.

 

P.S. I would like to further develop my idea regarding the incoming voltage from solar panels. ... I think that the MPPT mode in this case is to maintain the converter operating mode in the continuous current mode and reduce the amplitude of the current ripples...

I think that you are attributing way too much design consideration to this converter. It's not even maximum power point tracking, let alone considering whether the operating mode is continuous or not.

I have an inverter with two mppt, 10.2 kW. For some reason the controller is trying to get the maximum current. As a result, I lose 30-40% of my power. Everything worked well on the previous controller. Normal mode was 220v 8a. In the new 100v 10a. I use 5 jincko solar 550w panels. Do you think your firmware version can work on my inverter?

 

That's a little weird. It's possible that you are getting noise from the PV interfering with communications. There is a capacitor mod that is supposed to address this.

Flashed back to 291.70 runs fine, tried 391.70 again and still gives display communication fault 32 as soon as there is pv voltage, so would assume it’s a firmware thing or a miss match with the extra code 

 

I have an inverter with two mppt, 10.2 kW.

That sounds non-standard. What is your present main (U1) firmware version?

 

Flashed back to 291.70 runs fine, tried 391.70 again and still gives display communication fault 32 as soon as there is pv voltage, so would assume it’s a firmware thing

It certainly sounds like I screwed up. I had a quick check just now, and could not find the problem. I'll have to take a longer look when things aren't so hectic. Sorry.

 

That sounds non-standard. What is your present main (U1) firmware version?

U1 = 33.02

 

Yes, but 2 amps of panel current, or two amps at battery voltage? The data page for "PV current" is typically the latter, which is very different to the panel current.

Two amps of current from the solar panel. I’m talking now only about solar generation, leaving the battery out of the picture.

 

How can the generated power not matter (I assume you mean power generated from sunlight, i.e. panel voltage times panel current) ?

Absolutely right, when talking about power, I mean U * I, which is generated by the solar panel.

 

 

But the panel voltage most definitely and directly affects the rate (speed) at which energy in the inductor increases.

This is true if the converter is powered from a voltage source. To do this, there must be a capacitive filter at the input of the converter (the same as at the output). But in my inverter, easun 8k max, at the input of the boost converter there is only a 1 µF blocking capacitor to suppress RF oscillations (as at the input of the power factor corrector of a conventional power source).

The voltage at the output of the boost converter is formed from the sum of the input voltage and the self-induction emf voltage of the converter choke. Therefore, it is advisable to maintain the voltage on the solar panel as high as possible, while the inductor needs to pump out as much current as possible from the panel in one cycle in order to charge as much energy as possible. Although the panel produces maximum current at short-circuit current, the voltage ripple on the solar panel will be unacceptably high...

Today I connected an oscilloscope to the solar input of the inverter. The boost converter there operates at a constant frequency of 20 kHz, only the duty cycle of the pulse changes, depending on the load or illumination. Voltage ripple amplitude is 30...50 volts. In the "90 volt" mode, the ripple is approximately 20 volts.

Mode "90 V":

Load 3 kW in normal lighting

Load 150 W in normal lighting:

P. S. The caption to the oscillograms indicates only the power consumed by the 220 volt AC load, without the power required to charge the battery.

Edited September 16, 20232 yr by Monos

 

U1 = 33.02

That is indeed non-standard. I've never seen a 33.xx firmware, so no patched firmware is possible, sorry.

I don't know if your machine is a clone, or if instead it's made by Voltronic but with a different rated power and firmware to that of other brands.

 

 

Yes, but 2 amps of panel current, or two amps at battery voltage? The data page for "PV current" is typically the latter, which is very different to the panel current.

Two amps of current from the solar panel.

Is this two amps verified with a clamp meter, or does it come from the front panel and/or monitoring software? If the latter, it's usually presented as the current that would charge the battery, if all the solar power was going to the battery. Or in some cases, it's net current into the battery.

 

Is this two amps verified with a clamp meter, or does it come from the front panel and/or monitoring software? If the latter, it's usually presented as the current that would charge the battery, if all the solar power was going to the battery. Or in some cases, it's net current into the battery.

I looked at the solar panel current using the dessmonitor program. There it is possible to observe in graphic mode separately the incoming current/voltage of the panels, battery charge/discharge current and other parameters.

 

 

Edited September 16, 20232 yr by Monos

hi Coulombo, do you remember that you changed the voltages of the mpp range on a Solarpower inverter that I use on a wind turbine and you changed it from a minimum of 200v to 260v, could you change it again to do some tests to see how it is better, I would like try one with 235v to 300v and one from 250v to 300v thank you very much

Edited October 10, 20232 yr by bubu_bubu

I'm so embarrassed... I had this post ready yesterday and failed to press the send button. Sigh.

On 2023/10/10 at 5:33 PM, bubu_bubu said:

do you remember that you changed the voltages of the mpp range on a Solarpower inverter that I use on a wind turbine and you changed it from a minimum of 200v to 260v, could you change it again to do some tests to see how it is better, I would like try one with 235v to 300v and one from 250v to 300v

I don't recall if I patched 252.29 or 252.31, and you didn't say which. I'll assume the former for now.

This zip file contains 4 hex files (plus dsp.hex for convenience): the original, 252.29 as before, and now 352.29 and 552.29:

252.29: 200V min, 260V max

352.29: 235V min 300V max 

552.29: 255V min, 300V max

Hopefully the underlined digits will make it slightly easier to remember which one is which.

This is patched firmware version x52.29 (x = 2, 3, 5) for the Infini V II Twin 5 kW with '2809 DSP, patched to fix the premature float bug, and the minimum and maximum MPPT voltages as above. This will likely ONLY be of use to those with wind generators. As always, only use with the specified model; do NOT use with any Axpert (off-grid) model, or other Infini models, and only if the original firmware was version 52.xx. Use at your own risk. See the text file for how to copy and rename hex files so you can reflash any of the 4 firmwares (including the factory 52.29 firmware).

dsp x52.29 wind - Patched.zip

Colombo you are great, thank you very much, send me the link of the coffee, tomorrow I will try them to see how it goes better with the wind

Hi Colombo, please send me the link for the coffee, I can't find it, thanks

Sorry, I was away from keyboard when I read your first request for the Buy Me a Coffee link. It's in my signature, but for whatever reason, you can't see that when using the mobile version.

Here it is:

https://buymeacoffee.com/Coulomb07

Thanks in advance for any donation.

Done, grazie mille Colombo

On 2023/08/10 at 3:21 PM, Coulomb said:

It won't, sadly.

Hello Coulomb, could you be more specific what is exactly this "premature float bug" ? On which versions of the Infinisolar V2 is present? I have seen inverters with following SW versions: 52.20, 52.29, 56.60

Also another question: Would it be possible to limit the energy feed to grid? I have 2 Infinisolar V2 running in parallel and I want to limit the energy fed to grid to 2.5 or 3KW on each inverter.
 

Edited October 16, 20232 yr by sethmad

19 hours ago, sethmad said:

could you be more specific what is exactly this "premature float bug" ?

The details (perhaps out of date now) are here, but in essence, Voltronic gets the condition for transition from absorb to float stage wrong. The condition should be: current is below a certain threshold (and their threshold is designed around lead acid batteries), and the voltage has to be within about half a volt (48 V models) of the bulk charge voltage. They get the current part right (for lead acid batteries, not ideal for LFP batteries), but for some reason they use the float voltage as the voltage criterion.

So with utility charging, the battery voltage goes to the bulk voltage, stays there for an appropriate absorb time, and progresses to float stage as it should. But with solar charging, if there is a cloud early in absorb stage, the current can fall below the threshold, but since the battery is not yet full, the battery voltage will fall. What should happen is that the firmware sees that it's not near the bulk voltage, and it should continue charging. Instead, it compares the battery against the float voltage, which it's usually over even if nowhere near full, and the firmware thinks "Aha! The battery is full! Let's go to float stage."

In float stage, the battery takes much much longer to charge, and typically won't get to full by the end of the day, even after the cloud passes and there might be plenty of sun to fully charge the battery. This can reduce the life of lead acid batteries, and it frustrates owners that run out of energy during load shedding, or just uses more utility energy than needed.

There are various work arounds for this.

20 hours ago, sethmad said:

On which versions of the Infinisolar V2 is present?

It's present in every Axpert (off-grid) firmware that I've looked at, which over a hundred of them. I'm far less familiar with the Infini firmware, but I'm 90% sure that all of these are similarly afflicted. The source of the bug in the firmware is completely different between the VM models and the other models, yet they implement the same faulty logic in the two completely different parts of the firmware. It's like it's policy at Voltronic. Very strange.

20 hours ago, sethmad said:

Would it be possible to limit the energy feed to grid? I have 2 Infinisolar V2 running in parallel and I want to limit the energy fed to grid to 2.5 or 3KW on each inverter.

Sorry, I'm not familiar enough with the Infini firmwares to even comment on that. The equivalent part of the Axperts' code (surprisingly similar in many ways relevant to this question) is very complex, and I've not made much headway with it.

So that's a no, basically, unless someone else figures out a patch.

On 2023/10/15 at 1:56 AM, Coulomb said:

I don't recall if I patched 252.29 or 252.31

It looks now like 52.31 is later than 52.29. So I've applied the patches to 52.31 as well.

It should be easy to change these voltages again, now that everything is set up.

This is patched firmware version x52.31 for the Voltronic Infini V II '2809 (note: NOT Axpert), based on factory firmware version 52.31, where x is 2, 3, or 5. These are likely only to be of use to @bubu_bubu .

As above, the voltage limits are:

252.31: 200V min, 260V max

352.31: 235V min 300V max 

552.31: 250V min, 300V max

Use at you own risk.

dsp x52.31 wind - Patched.zip

Edited October 19, 20232 yr by Coulomb

Thanks so much Colombo, I'll try them and let you know

Hello to all, first post here!

I'm in need of some help from you guys with the upgrade of my AXPERT MAX 8KW (the usual orange Solarpower24 sold in Italy) . I'm a bit lost in the thread after reading back and forth the various pages and I'm not sure what are the option for me.

The main goal for me is to resolve the famous 90v "bug" that holds back the MPPT from upping the voltage. On one MPPT i have 2s6p of these used 275w panels that are listed for 9.3a ISC and 38v VOC. Being with a parallel the max voltage is low so i need the right firmware i suppose.

Actually i'm on there FW's: Main CPU 72.03 , Secondary CPU 112.14

Edited October 24, 20232 yr by sugar0