Hi folks. I have a Goodwe GW5048D-ES inverter with 5 x Pylontech US3000C batteries, and 18 x 335W solar panels.  Before load shedding got bad, I would typically keep it on the "General" mode which prioritises battery discharge when required.  I have now switched to "Backup" mode, which prioritises battery charging. Now I don't have too many worries for multiple two or four hour load shedding periods per day. Here's the catch:  since the batteries charge at night from the grid, they don't use much solar for charging during the day and consequently there is a lot of unused PV capacity.  Is there a better setting for this that will get better use out of the PV capacity?  I noticed that there is an "Economic" mode that allows you to set up to four charge or discharge periods. Would that work if I set a charging period for say 08h00 to 00h00 and a discharge period from 00h00 to 08h00?

I know a bit about charging in eco mode. 

You'll be asked to specify a % of rated power. The rated power in your case is 4600w. So if you set it to charge at 80%, it will charge at 0.8x4.6kw - about 73A. It will use a combination of grid and available PV.

You need to understand how much current your batteries can receive, and certainly don't exceed that. If you bought this system through an installing company, ask them for a reccomendation. 

Ok... I have 10kwh of battery. This battery can take 125A. This morning, with a forecast for bad weather and early morning load shedding, I used eco mode to charge at 80% from 4:30 to 5:30. This increased SOC by 30% over that one hour. It seems to have drawn a steady 3.6 +kw from the grid, serviced a load of about 600w, and sent 3kw to the batteries. 

I would think that on sunny days, general mode will still be your best bet. When weather isn't great, then you can probably charge faster in eco mode than backup mode, so you can use eco mode preemptively for an hour or two (I incline to two one hour slots a day, but that's just me). 

It seems to me that if you just set a charge rule or rules, outside of the specified times, the inverter behaves as if it is in general mode. 

I like to have a full battery going into the evening, so my default strategy is to charge at 80% from 15:00 to 16:00. Outside of those hours the system behaves as usual. If the battery is charged by 15:00 (usually it is on a sunny day) then nothing happens. But if SOC is low and if there is grid, the battery gets a charge. 

I don't know what the discharge setting does. I don't really need to. I just use the charge settings to charge preemptively, as described. 

Forced charging at high current might not be optimal for the batteries. Same goes for holding them fully charged. Again, get a reccomendation or seek the information. 

 

Thanks Bobster. I'll play around with this. When we go away and have a house sitter, I'll just leave on Backup mode.  It will use more from the grid, but will ensure full batteries and the house sitter doesn't have to fool around with anything.

Just a question on the rated power calculation, where rated power is a %.  I have the GW5048D-ES and the capacity is 5.048 kW.  So if I understand this calculation, if I set the rated power to 80%, it would send 80% x 5.048 or just over 4 kW to charge the batteries each hour?  I have 5 x Pylontech US3000C batteries, 3.55 kWh each or about 17.75 kWh in total.

You mentioned the amount of current that the batteries can receive and I didn't understand that correctly as in your second sentence you came up with "about 73A". According to the Pylontech data sheet, the battery has a charge/discharge current of 37 (Recommend) 74 (Max@60s) 90 (Peak@15s). So how do these current ratings equate to what rated power is used?

Also, did you say that you just set the charge times in Eco mode and the rest of the time it behaves as if it is in General mode?  If there is load shedding during an Eco mode charge time, would it revert to General mode and discharge the battery for the load?

13 hours ago, Miko said:

Just a question on the rated power calculation, where rated power is a %.  I have the GW5048D-ES and the capacity is 5.048 kW.  So if I understand this calculation, if I set the rated power to 80%, it would send 80% x 5.048 or just over 4 kW to charge the batteries each hour?  I have 5 x Pylontech US3000C batteries, 3.55 kWh each or about 17.75 kWh in total.

OK... I did check the Goodwe web site this morning, because at least one of us is clearly misinformed. They say that continuous maximum charge current is 100A. That correlates with your figure of 5kw, but it doesn't fit with what I observe (yesterday a setting of 80% of rated power resulted in 3.6kw from the grid at a time when there was no PV available.

13 hours ago, Miko said:

You mentioned the amount of current that the batteries can receive and I didn't understand that correctly as in your second sentence you came up with "about 73A". According to the Pylontech data sheet, the battery has a charge/discharge current of 37 (Recommend) 74 (Max@60s) 90 (Peak@15s). So how do these current ratings equate to what rated power is used?

Well, see above. One of us misunderstands the inverter's charging capability. But either way, the charge current is not going to send more than that rated current over the pair of cables that exit the inverter. So I don't think your batteries are going to get charged at 37A.

At this point, both of us should be hoping that an expert will jump into this conversation. In the meantime, and remembering that I'm not an engineer, but just an owner who does use that eco mode and has spent a while trying to make sense of it. You should probably double check anything I say.

 

13 hours ago, Miko said:

Also, did you say that you just set the charge times in Eco mode and the rest of the time it behaves as if it is in General mode?  If there is load shedding during an Eco mode charge time, would it revert to General mode and discharge the battery for the load?

This must have happened to me, but I can't think of a specific date when it did. If I could, I'd go check on SEMS and see what happened. I would expect that in the absence of grid what happens very much depends on the ratio of available PV to load, and on SOC.

If PV > Load then I'd expect that it services the load and the balance is for charging the battery. But you can't use what isn't there, so if the PV after servicing the load is less than the charge current you specified, then that's what you'll get.

If PV < load then it has no choice but to use the battery to service the load.

Both are effectively the same as general mode with the grid is down - service the load, then charge the battery if it needs it and if you can. But please double check.

This, BTW, is where installers add value. We can expect them to be familiar with the equipment they sell, and thus to be able to answer this sort of question. If you can't get any information from any other source, try Goodwe support. There is a wide range of opinions about this channel, but in my experience they have been helpful.
 

14 hours ago, Miko said:

GW5048D-ES

There are by now a number of different versions of this inverter, but most of them will be 4600VA, and the eco % is a % of that. Either way, it should be easy to test, set ECO charge to 10% and note the value (assuming the batteries are not near full).

That is the upper limit on the charge rate - it may be further limited by your battery SoC or voltage as well as the BMS.

The "about 73A" part will depend on your battery voltage - since power is fixed by the setting, and the battery voltage determined by it's design and SoC, the current will obviously be the only variable left to change: P=VI.

 

Just my 2c.

With 5 x 3.5kWh Pylontechs, would one then be looking at 17.5kWh of storage, with a combined charging capacity of (37A x 5 = ) 185A ? I don't understand the logic of limiting the charging current from grid with a battery bank of this size.

Would have made sense (if one could mimic the controlling of the Sunsynk/Deye) to discharge to around 40-50% capacity, switch to grid, keep a reserve on standby for loadshedding, and then just charge and run from solar the next day with the 6kW of panels. And then for cloudy days do a top-up grid charge at full power from 3-6pm or so.

Hi Greenfields. Yes you are right about the storage capacity. I guess I'm trying to find a one size fits all setting, and that's not possible with the unpredictability of weather and load shedding schedules. I've been managing the load with PV Master either when I'm home or I message my son to switch modes with PV Master (since you cannot do it remotely).  We're going away and I have a house sitter, so don't want to school that person on how to manage the load.  So I'm going to try Eco mode for a period in the afternoon into the early evening to make sure the batteries are charged fully by nightfall. The batteries can then carry the load through the night easily and the cycle can repeat the next day. Failing that, I'll just leave it in Backup mode while we're away.

With Stage 6 being implemented just before we left for holidays, and the unpredictable weather, I left the system in Backup Mode and our house sitter has not had any issues with power.  We are consuming more electricity than if I was there to manage the load, but it is not significant and I don't have to worry about our house sitter.

On 12/8/2022 at 10:11 AM, Miko said:

... Is there a better setting for this that will get better use out of the PV capacity?  I noticed that there is an "Economic" mode that allows you to set up to four charge or discharge periods. 

Hello. without hesitation I use the Economic Mode and it is the one that I recommend.
I can only speak from my experience and testing and tell you why I don't use general mode.

GENERAL MODE
1) WITH MAINS GRID ENERGY AVAILABLE

Situation A) When there is enough PV power:
A.1) Covers all loads (essential and non-essential), A.2) Surplus PV power is used to charge the batteries until fully charged to 100% SOC or SOC configured with PV Master, A.3 ) if there is still surplus, it is exported to the grid up to the maximum value in watts indicated elsewhere in the configuration of the PV master application (can be 0)

Situation B )  If there is no excess PV or it is at night:
The energy that is missing to cover the essential and non-essential consumptions is extracted from: 1) Batteries to the extent possible (battery discharges can be huge up to the Nominal Total of 4600 vA depending on the GRAND TOTAL (ESSENTIAL + NON-ESSENTIAL) of the loads in your home and the limit of that discharge (in amps) will be given by what the BMS reports to your inverter, while the total energy extracted from the batteries will be given by the configured DOD and only when the batteries are discharged ( DOD reached) or if the totality of the Power of the batteries supports only the essential loads and there is a requirement of the Non-Essential Loads that the batteries cannot cover:, it will use the GRID to maintain its TOTAL Loads
Here we stop to expose one of the 2 reasons why I do not use the General Mode: Although the Batteries are DISCHARGED, IT DOES NOT USE MAINS ENERGY to charge them. That is, General Mode will only charge your batteries with excess PV, it will never use GRID, you will have to wait for PV Power to be available to charge your batteries.

2) THERE IS NO GRID AVAILABLE
It works as a backup mode, the batteries supplement the energy that is missing from the photovoltaic. Only essential loads are taken into account. Due to anti-islanding protection, non-essential loads are cut off. Economic mode, in the case of GRID Cut also works exactly the same.

From the above description it is clear why the GENERAL MODE "is not cheap at all". It is true that it prioritizes your pocket from the point of view of importing energy from the GRID, but it does not take care of the most valuable part of your installation: the batteries.

Second reason I don't use general mode is that there is no current limit it draws from batteries with GRID available. It is "on demand" and the more violently the battery discharges, the shorter its life cycle.

Correctly configured with Economic Mode you will not have these problems and you will be able to make the most of your photovoltaic surplus.

 

Edited December 27, 20223 yr by Cef

9 hours ago, Cef said:

no current limit it draws from batteries

Of course there is. It's the limit set by the BMS. If that limit is so high that it shortens your battery life - then that is a battery design flaw.

But there are limits to what the Goodwe can send to or draw from the batteey.

The first is the construction of the Goodwe. The model is 4600, and that is 4600w or 92A. Thats what the Goodwe can deliver or draw continuously without damaging itself. You can burst at 10% more than that for 10 seconds. 

If the BMS allows it.

Even without comms any halfway decent BMS would detect the high current and shut down.

Finally, aren't their fuses on the line between the Goodwe and the battery? There should be. They're only there to stop cables burning, but they still impose a current limit. As with all fuses, they need to be appropriately sized. 

There's plenty of protection, all irrespective of mode. 

I do use eco mode, but only for one hour a day. I like my batteries to be charged by 15:30 to 16:00, so I set eco mode to charge at 80% from 15:00 to 16:00. Its not often necessary, but it's my safety blanket. If the battery is fully charged, that setting does nothing that I can discern. And outside of that one hour a day, the machine behaves as if it is in general mode. 

Possibly you could fry an SLA bank if you were running in self define mode & set the current too high, but with LIFE batteries, if nothing else protects them, the BMS will. 

10 hours ago, Cef said:

one of the 2 reasons why I do not use the General Mode: Although the Batteries are DISCHARGED, IT DOES NOT USE MAINS ENERGY to charge them.

Which is why we have eco mode. As already stated, I use eco mode for one hour each day, so that if loads have been great & PV low, the battery is charged from grid in the afternoon. If it needs charging. (on a clear day, it is charged by about 11:00)

This is what we should want. Use PV during the day. Manage your loads so that most days PV will do the job. I do get twitchy but shouldn't, if my batteries (10 kwh) are only 95% charged at 4pm. The reality is that usually they're low 60s by 8am. I have plenty in hand, that 5% isn't going to cause me major problems. 

Of course, thus all depends on the situation within your home. If you must unavoidably use power at nights, then my strategy is no good to you. If you want one set of settings that will always give you a full battery at certain times of day, then my strategy is no good to you. 

So a little tinkering is required, and a little observation of what really happens. Observation before tinkering. Followed by more observation. 

5 hours ago, P1000 said:

Of course there is. It's the limit set by the BMS. If that limit is so high that it shortens your battery life - then that is a battery design flaw.

Obviously this is the case, "but tastes are tastes...".
It is like someone who, based on laboratory tests with lithium batteries, prefers to limit the charging SOC to a maximum of 90%, interspersed with a few cycles at 100%, to extend the life of the battery a few more cycles.
Specifically, when the GRID is available, I prefer to tell the system myself how much I want the batteries to be consumed, I prefer my own decision, especially in summer where the air conditioners at home are turned on at night on more than one occasion.

With another very simple argument as well: if I consume my batteries very very quickly, uselessly having GRID available, I can run out of charge to face a grid supply cut..., but again:  "tastes are tastes...".

Edited December 27, 20223 yr by Cef

4 hours ago, Bobster. said:

Which is why we have eco mode. ...

So a little tinkering is required, and a little observation of what really happens. Observation before tinkering. Followed by more observation. 

Ok, of course, the exact and best-suited configuration of Economy Mode requires observation, trial and error.

Hi Cef

So could you give me an example of how you configure your system in Eco mode. Also, what is your battery capacity?

When I am back in Johannesburg, I am definitely going to start tinkering with Eco mode as that seems to be the best way to get maximum use out of PV and batteries, while minimizing the need for the grid.

Like I said earlier, we are away for a few weeks and I didn't want to have to school our house sitter with the ins and outs of PV Master. I also didn't want to leave it on a particular Eco mode setting for fear that there might be some days (weather or heavy load shedding) when the batteries would not have enough charge to see out a load shedding event. So I just left it in Backup mode, which ensures a 100% charge. I have noticed that our PV generation in Backup mode is about 50% of what is used to be when I managed the system, and our grid consumption has gone up.

Cheers, Miko

On 2022/12/10 at 3:03 PM, GreenFields said:

Just my 2c.

With 5 x 3.5kWh Pylontechs, would one then be looking at 17.5kWh of storage, with a combined charging capacity of (37A x 5 = ) 185A ? I don't understand the logic of limiting the charging current from grid with a battery bank of this size.

You can't charge at a higher rate than the inverter allows. The Goodwe ES4600 has a steady maximum of 92A. It can't deliver more. 

I have less battery than you have, and what I have is limited by the BMS to 125A. Again, more than the Goodwe can deliver. 

Part of the art of assembling a system from components (panels, inverter, batteries) is a good match between inverter & battery. I learned this from experience. 

The inverter (any inverter) is built to a specification. If it was possible to pull 185A out of my Goodwe, something inside it would go pop.

An 8kw Sunsynk might do a better job. 

In reality, my set up gives me adequate performance, and the real takeaway here is that there is no one solution that works for all.

Hence my comments about observe & adjust & then observe again. By doing that I was able to move loads around with timer switches and, because half my panels face East, have generally done the heavy lifting in the morning and leave some recovery time in the afternoon. I agree that this solution might not work for @Miko, we all have to live & learn.

As regards settings on the inverter we may make a not so good choice, but observation makes that clear and we refine our choices. 

Edited December 28, 20223 yr by Bobster.

@Miko

Ok. There are many variables. We will try to take the most important ones. We will start with an example for the 1st Period to be defined in ECO Mode
Its PV rating is 6030 watts. Let's say you have the strings facing north and it's summer. We will take 2 hours before Solar Noon (Time in which the Sun is at its Zenith) and 2 hours after. We'll assume an average efficiency of 80% over those 4 hours, that is, you have about 4800 watt hours left for 4 hours. Please understand that there are many other variables involved that we do not consider, such as cell temperatures, wind, clouds, dirt on the panels, etc. that can make that average efficiency be greater or less than 80%.
Its batteries nominally have about 17.5 kWh. Suppose you put your DOD ONGRID at 70% and during the night you reached that DOD (30% of SOC remained), so you consumed about 12.25 kWh, which is what you have to try to recharge with Solar Energy.
Let's further assume that the average consumption in your home between the two hours before solar noon and the two hours after it is about 800 watts. This leaves us with 4,000 Watts available for charging.
Those 12.25 kWh can be replaced in approximately 3 hours 15 minutes.
Ok, now we have all the Data to configure our first Mode (Charge). If it is solar noon, say: 12:30 p.m
Start time: 11:00 a.m.
End time: 2:30 p.m.
% nominal GRID charge = 10% (this would be around 460 watts) coming from the GRID "to help" the PV if needed during these charging hours.
Those % and the start and end times you should experiment and test until you find the optimal one for your requirements.

I edit the comment to add:
When using economy mode, be sure to cover all four possibilities (periods) 24 hours a day to avoid encountering unexpected behavior.

 

Edited December 28, 20223 yr by Cef

i just want to add my 2 cents

PV master economical mode is the only way to charge or discharge when you want it to, but having said that ,the chinese dont think like we do

So in economic mode you have to ask yourself what don't i want the inverter to do

Firstly if you change between modes leave no 1 setting alone on charge at 10% from 00h00 to 23h59 otherwise if you pick ups mode your no 1 setting will be lost every time

So in my case i have 6.8kw of solar connected 4kw to 1 string and2.8kw to other string

Sun gives most power between 10am to 2pm

so i only want to start charging from 10am onwards to get the most out of the pv

i set no 2  to discharge at 1% from 7am to 10am          (if you set discharge mode the inverter will not charge and visa versa if you set charge mode the inverter will not discharge the batteries) The hours you dont set anything it will behave as if in general mode

Then because we are in stage 6 loadshedding i know that in the evenings i will get between 2 to 6 hours of loadshedding every night

that could pull my 10kw of batteries down to 50% and then i would not have enough to see me through till the next morning when the sun takes over the load till 11am

so i set no3 to charge at 21% from 3pm till 11pm ( because i am in charge mode the inverter will not discharge the batteries during this time, remember loadshedding will kick in for 2 to 6hrs in this time so that when the power comes on the batteries will charge from the grid seeing as the sun has set

Always try to set on on or off on odd hours as loadshedding always starts on even hours ,that way you will always get half the benifit if loadshedding is only for 2 hours

also try to use a lot of power between 10am till 2pm if its loadshedding as the inverter will just throw away the extra pv as the grid is down

i get on average about 5.2 to 5.3kw out of the PV while its charging the batteries  i put dishwasher on and try to get the load to 3kw and rest gets pumped into the grid if its not loadshedding otherwise you just lose that pv power

I have already got 7kw out of the array this way for about half an hour. 4.6 kw between the load and export to grid  and maximum charging of the batteries

Although i think this is a bit wishfull as my goowe says the backup output is about 248v and if i measure it it is about 225v

The best i have achieved out of my 5048D-ES is 38Kw in 1 day 24 and 25 dec 2022, Yesterday i got 37Kw 15-1-2023 and i live in pretoria east

Hope this helps someone out there

Edited January 16, 20233 yr by paul99

Hi @paul99. Thanks for the interesting set up tips.  So are you saying that if you only set 1 mode, it will be "lost" every time?  I noticed I had a mode 1 setting and when I checked a day or two later, it was reset. 

My DB board is wired so that big load demand items (pool pump, two geysers, washer/dryer, dishwasher) are on a separate circuit from the inverter fed circuits. So, when we have load shedding during the day, the PV mostly charges the batteries.

I have been using Eco mode and it has made a difference--I had left it on Backup mode while we were away overseas so that the house sitter didn't have to do anything with the system.  SInce I've returned and set it on Eco mode, the PV amount has gone up significantly--the contribution ratio has gone from 50% or below on Backup mode to over 80% on Eco mode.

I'm curious why you set no 2 to discharge at 1% for the morning hours.  Also, is there a science behind the 21% charging from 3PM to 11PM?  I had my charge hours set at 80% from 16h00 to 20h00 but scaled it back down to 50% after a microwave caused the inverter to trip.  My reasoning was that unless there was a four hour load shedding between 16h00 and 20h00, this charge setting would ensure full batteries for the rest of the night. From 20h00 to 07h00, my batteries will go from 100% to 35-40%.

Cheers, Miko

59 minutes ago, paul99 said:

Although i think this is a bit wishfull as my goowe says the backup output is about 248v and if i measure it it is about 225v

Did you measure at the inverter? I would suggest that you check all your connections and make sure the wire gauge is sufficient. That's just in case - it could very well just be a measuring error, but if it's not it could be dangerous.

52 minutes ago, Miko said:

Hi @paul99. Thanks for the interesting set up tips.  So are you saying that if you only set 1 mode, it will be "lost" every time?  I noticed I had a mode 1 setting and when I checked a day or two later, it was reset. 

I find that it remembers (but turns off) settings 3 & 4, and completely forgets 1 & 2. Go figure.

On a more general note, you have 15kwh of battery. Why are you are worried about getting through the night? I have 10kwh. If my battery is fully charged come 16:00, I know that I am good until at least 8 the next morning.

3 hours ago, paul99 said:

i just want to add my 2 cents

PV master economical mode is the only way to charge or discharge when you want it to, but having said that ,the chinese dont think like we do

So in economic mode you have to ask yourself what don't i want the inverter to do

Firstly if you change between modes leave no 1 setting alone on charge at 10% from 00h00 to 23h59 otherwise if you pick ups mode your no 1 setting will be lost every time

So in my case i have 6.8kw of solar connected 4kw to 1 string and2.8kw to other string

Sun gives most power between 10am to 2pm

so i only want to start charging from 10am onwards to get the most out of the pv

i set no 2  to discharge at 1% from 7am to 10am          (if you set discharge mode the inverter will not charge and visa versa if you set charge mode the inverter will not discharge the batteries) The hours you dont set anything it will behave as if in general mode

Then because we are in stage 6 loadshedding i know that in the evenings i will get between 2 to 6 hours of loadshedding every night

that could pull my 10kw of batteries down to 50% and then i would not have enough to see me through till the next morning when the sun takes over the load till 11am

so i set no3 to charge at 21% from 3pm till 11pm ( because i am in charge mode the inverter will not discharge the batteries during this time, remember loadshedding will kick in for 2 to 6hrs in this time so that when the power comes on the batteries will charge from the grid seeing as the sun has set

Always try to set on on or off on odd hours as loadshedding always starts on even hours ,that way you will always get half the benifit if loadshedding is only for 2 hours

also try to use a lot of power between 10am till 2pm if its loadshedding as the inverter will just throw away the extra pv as the grid is down

i get on average about 5.2 to 5.3kw out of the PV while its charging the batteries  i put dishwasher on and try to get the load to 3kw and rest gets pumped into the grid if its not loadshedding otherwise you just lose that pv power

I have already got 7kw out of the array this way for about half an hour. 4.6 kw between the load and export to grid  and maximum charging of the batteries

Although i think this is a bit wishfull as my goowe says the backup output is about 248v and if i measure it it is about 225v

The best i have achieved out of my 5048D-ES is 38Kw in 1 day 24 and 25 dec 2022, Yesterday i got 37Kw 15-1-2023 and i live in pretoria east

Hope this helps someone out there

Hi Paul thanks for this post.  My setup is similar to yours except I only have 6.205 Kw panels installed. During normal summer sunny days the inverter clips PV production at 4.7Kw from 10h30 to 14h00.   I noticed that it was possible to exceed this value if I still have battery capacity to load, in the screenprint 6.5kW is being generated of which 4.3kW is being sent to the battery, this was during an on grid episode with some cloud.  When off grid PV production fluctuated signifcantly as if the inverter produced power up to a point and then reset and slowly built up to a value over 4.7 kw and repeated the process.  This appeared to be inefficient. I contacted Goodwe and they modifified some settings.

I dont like using PV master as I never know if the settings were actually changed.  Would it be possible for you to post screenshots of the different "sets" that you refer to in your post?  I've only once used economical mode when I had to charge my batteries from the Grid due to successive rainy days and LS.  In theory with your setup  it should be possible to produce 3 to 4 kW extra on a day depending on the SOC of your battery, if it is possible to avoid the clipping.

By the way during our heatwave from Monday the 9th the inverter generated 38-39kW per day where my normal daily average is 21 kW, I am now at 29kW per day for the month, I've inserted a screenprint showing the clipping at 4,7kW.  I am able to feed into the grid.

 

 

 

 

which  

hi guys

sorry i was away for 2 days

Firstly Miko i set no 2 to discharge at 1% (less than 100w) ,because i dont want the batteries to be charged during this time [remember that if you set discharge mode the inverter wont charge at all during the hours set and visa versa] so that i can utilize the full pv power from 10am

My ongrid setting is 52% so it will go down to 47% min then if loadshedding should kick in for 4 hours on a cloudy day i still have enough power  [hopefully]

i only run my batteries down to about 50% at night and then i keep them there till 10am or lower if its loadshedding, because i dont want them to charge up to say 65% or 70% by 10am when the pv is starting to give max power

If i dont discharge at 1% the pv will charge the batteries to 100% too fast, and if its loadshedding during 10am till 3pm and i will loose the extra pv power as it has nowhere to go

I find that during 10am till 2pm i get about 4-6kw out of pv, my house pulls about 1Kw so if its loadshedding i loose all that extra power if the batteries are at 100%

Thats also why i run my dishwasher and washing machine at that time if its loadshedding to use the extra pv

I am in the lucky situation to have and old electricity meter so what i pump into the grid i can just draw out again at a 1:1 ratio

I have had my 4x pylontech 2.4kW US2000plus batteries for 4 years at the end of march  + 1 more US2000C added beginning of last year , and my SOH just clicked over to 98% in December

I set my offgrid to 89%  seems to always go down 1% more than what you program

I read somewhere that the less you draw down your lithium batteries the longer they will last and i dont think i have ever pulled my batteries down to less than 30%

Logical since the cycles will then take longer

Mr google says

You complete one charge cycle when you've used (discharged) an amount that equals 100% of your battery's capacity — but not necessarily all from one charge. For instance, you might use 75% of your battery's capacity one day, then recharge it fully overnight and then use 25% the next day  This is then 1 cycle

The 21% is just what i ended up thru trial and error to get my batteries to charge up to 100% before 23h00

This might change as the loadshedding gets worse

Also if you charge your batteries at say 50amps i am pretty sure they wont last as long as when you charge them at 20amps

anyway manual says it recommends 25A and 50A max

Now about the measured and reported voltage

I just went to measure irt at the inverter db board about 1m from inverter

Inverter said 250v  and i measured 249v with 1 meter and 246v with another meter for the grid and inverter

then loadshedding kicked in and backup output is now 231v on pv master and i measure 233v  so meter is a bit out

The 250v worries me a bit is the grid voltage really that high?

i will measure it again later as it is now 00h30 and let you know

7 hours ago, paul99 said:

anyway manual says it recommends 25A and 50A max

That's per battery. You can safely do 25A*(number of batteries), which is more than the GoodWe can deliver, so don't worry about it, the BMS will take care of them.

hi guys

Its now 08h00 and i just measured the grid and inverter again

loadshedding is now off

Grid measures 245v-246v inverter output is about 1v more and pv master says 245.8, so i guess my grid voltage is just a bit high,

Do any of you know what detection mode under advanced settings does?

I have set mine to full wave detection as i assume it detects the surge when loadshedding ends and cuts those out as it is running on batteries at the time

I see you can get meters for your db board that do the same thing except that they cut off the power for a certain time and then restore the power

Do any of you have surge plugs on your refrigerators?

I am thinking of putting them on my 5 fridges as i have a ups on my computer and modems and every time loadshedding starts and ends the ups kicks in for a few milliseconds so there was definitely a surge coming thru when i had the detection set to support voltage ride thru

Still busy checking if the full wave detection does anything

Loadshedding just kicked in and the ups still kicked in for a few milliseconds so i guess the full wave detection doesnt do what thought it did

I see you can get surge arrestors 20Kva and 40Kva

I wonder if one of those would maybe help for the surges?

Another thing that used to bother me is under diagnosis message i have a posting of:

SOC delta over range

Please check the settings for battery capacity and charge voltage

But this has been like this for 4 years and one of my neighbours who has the same system with a us3000 battery has the same message, so i have just ignored it as  i just picked the standard pylontech 2.4  x4+ setting

 

Edited January 18, 20233 yr by paul99