On 2022/12/04 at 8:09 PM, Leshen said:

 The issue with using more than 5kw on the essential is if Eskom goes offline at that instant, the inverter will shutdown due to AC overload fault. 

Hi @Leshen

Question, how long would it be before it shuts down due to overload? If the sonoff loadshedder detector is used and it switches off certain appliances within a second, will that prevent the shut down?

Thanks!

44 minutes ago, abd7 said:

Hi @Leshen

Question, how long would it be before it shuts down due to overload? If the sonoff loadshedder detector is used and it switches off certain appliances within a second, will that prevent the shut down?

Thanks!

Hi. I think the inverter will shut down before the Sonoff has time to switch the appliances off. 

1 hour ago, Leshen said:

Hi. I think the inverter will shut down before the Sonoff has time to switch the appliances off. 

@Sonoff Africa Please advise as per your testing

On 2023/01/14 at 9:14 PM, Leshen said:

Hi. I think the inverter will shut down before the Sonoff has time to switch the appliances off. 

Hi

There are defiantly a lot of factors to consider in which will shut down first. The make and size of the inverter and batteries, if it’s during the day if solar is available to keep the load up. The general rule is if the system is 5kw with correctly sized battery then load shedder will do the job very consistently every time and shut down the devices.

A good example is.

1. If the Toaster, kettle and the geyser is running when load shedding happens your inverter will drop the load before as it was probably in bypass already due to overload.

2. If the Toaster, kettle are running and the geyser is on but the water is hot and the element is not running then no problem the load shedder will shut it down with time to spare.

You can also run different configurations for different times of the day or night.

Easiest way to explain it is that as long as the inverter can keep the load up for 2 seconds then the load shedder will work ever time.

Aleks

On 2022/12/04 at 11:28 AM, wolfandy said:

 

The beauty of the Sunsynk is that it is a bi-directional inverter - which means it can not only draw power through the AC Input, but also push back power through it. This means, that (if your CT coil is correctly installed) when it has access PV available (meaning when your available PV is higher than your essential load) it can push power back to your non-essentials. Hence your non-essentials can also be supplied by PV, reducing your grid draw. If your non-essential load is higher than your excess PV, it will take the balance from the grid. However, this will only work while the grid is present - so not during loadshedding.

 

Hi, can I ask how can you tell if your PV is sending power to your essentials if their is spare capacity?

On your inverter can you see the PV ramp up because they are powering the non essentials once battery and essentials are taken care of? 
 

I have a Deye but I can’t tell if mine is sending power to the non essentials when there is capacity. I turn on my geyser in full sun and the PV output remains the same, it never ramps up.

The pv will only be limited and be able to ramp up (when loads are increased) in the case where the battery is full. 

So when the battery is full, there's no where for that energy to go, so the pv is limited. Then eg when a load is placed on the inverter, the pv now has somewhere to go, hence it ramps up to the full PV being recieved currently. 

If the battery is not full, the pv does have somewhere to go, ie the battery. So full pv is being used. 

 Alsoiimportant to note is if its a sunny day or not, ie how much the pv will actually be able to produce under the conditions, based on ones panels and orientation etc. 

43 minutes ago, murphydrew said:

Hi, can I ask how can you tell if your PV is sending power to your essentials if their is spare capacity?

On your inverter can you see the PV ramp up because they are powering the non essentials once battery and essentials are taken care of? 
 

I have a Deye but I can’t tell if mine is sending power to the non essentials when there is capacity. I turn on my geyser in full sun and the PV output remains the same, it never ramps up.

Additionally will have to ensure your CT is installed correctly and that your settings are correct, I believe deye call it 'zero to ct', to be able to feed pv to non essentials. 

44 minutes ago, murphydrew said:

Hi, can I ask how can you tell if your PV is sending power to your essentials if their is spare capacity?

On your inverter can you see the PV ramp up because they are powering the non essentials once battery and essentials are taken care of? 
 

I have a Deye but I can’t tell if mine is sending power to the non essentials when there is capacity. I turn on my geyser in full sun and the PV output remains the same, it never ramps up.

Place a picture of your System Work Mode. As indicated with battery full and spare PV it should send to non essentials. Switch on any non essential load that you know is on. Using a geyser one is not sure if in fact it is drawing power as it might be o 'n it's set temp. 

1 minute ago, abd7 said:

Additionally will have to ensure your CT is installed correctly and that your settings are correct, I believe deye call it 'zero to ct', to be able to feed pv to non essentials. 

I've had that setting ticked but even then I dont see any increase solar production. I guess my question is "Will your inverter show increased solar production" if its all configured properly.

Also when I have "Zero to CT" my battery ONLY works during loadshedding. It doesn't discharge when at night (which I want it to up to a point). Also when its set to Zero to CT, my house consumption is shown as 0 constantly only until loadhsedding and then it shows as 400W or whatever as the battery is in use then.  Very frustrating. 

5 minutes ago, abd7 said:

The pv will only be limited and be able to ramp up (when loads are increased) in the case where the battery is full. 

So when the battery is full, there's no where for that energy to go, so the pv is limited. Then eg when a load is placed on the inverter, the pv now has somewhere to go, hence it ramps up to the full PV being recieved currently. 

If the battery is not full, the pv does have somewhere to go, ie the battery. So full pv is being used. 

 Alsoiimportant to note is if its a sunny day or not, ie how much the pv will actually be able to produce under the conditions, based on ones panels and orientation etc. 

Yes this makes sense - but even if I turn on Geyser/Oven/Pool pump (all non-essential) and I know the battery is full and sun is shining, PV usage never ramps up to meet that excess demand. Which seems incorrect.

1 hour ago, murphydrew said:

I've had that setting ticked but even then I dont see any increase solar production. I guess my question is "Will your inverter show increased solar production" if its all configured properly.

Also when I have "Zero to CT" my battery ONLY works during loadshedding. It doesn't discharge when at night (which I want it to up to a point). Also when its set to Zero to CT, my house consumption is shown as 0 constantly only until loadhsedding and then it shows as 400W or whatever as the battery is in use then.  Very frustrating. 

Is the CT coil correctly installed?
Even if your settings are good it is still important for the CT coil to also be installed correctly for everything to work as expected.

Seems like the CT is not installed correctly. Under normal circumstances when grid is being used, the CT reading (shown on the inverter screen) must be positive. 

Question for the folks whose system is working properly:

 

Does your Non Essentials consumption register on your inverter?

 

I.e. can you see when your geyser is on via the inverter? 

My system never shows the non essential consumption but my friends' sunsynk does.

1 hour ago, murphydrew said:

Question for the folks whose system is working properly:

 

Does your Non Essentials consumption register on your inverter?

 

I.e. can you see when your geyser is on via the inverter? 

My system never shows the non essential consumption but my friends' sunsynk does.

This may vary from product to product, but on mine I see all loads - backed up or not. I just see a total, not individual loads. I suspect it's always like this, but with a little practice you will get to recognise the signatures of devices that you use regularly.

EG here

The total load is the yellow trace. The water heating (heat pump) kicks in at 6:00. We were having a lay in this morning, so the kettle gets it first run only about 9:00. Pool pump kicks in at 9:30, but doesn't run for long because there's load shedding at 10:00. You'll soon get the hang of it.

The game I play with some new claimed time/money saver is to run it the first time when there's no load shedding, and see how that yellow line changes.