We want to pump excess solar to the non-essential side where the geyser is (JHB metro installed a separate Ripple Geyser Control System). We tried before and from what was read/seen/done everything was installed correctly but instead the Itron IHD 102 Smart Electricity Meter (2014) showed the excess power was pumping back into the grid. 
I'm sure it's user-error but I can't tell what I'm doing wrong.
Is it possible the Itron is reading the excess solar pumping to the non-essentials? Or is it reading the excess solar pumping to the grid?

System:
1x SunSynk 5kW
2x Hubble AM2
4x panels on MPPT 1; 6 panels on MPPT 2
1x Father with a panic attack each time he looks at the Itron electricity meter

 

1x CT coil will be attached between the grid and non-essentials, and to inverter pins 3&4 with the arrow facing the grid
Ticked: Zero export to CT
Grid trickle Feed: 50 watts
Zero Export: Ticked
Priority Load: Ticked

 

The attached pictures are from the last time we tried to get the CT coil to work.

Edited January 14, 20232 yr by StepbyStep

Arrow should point to the inverter, not the grid. The CT should be on the main incoming eskom feed. The circuits between the CT and the inverter will then be 'non-essential' and then you can export to them because the CT will. Block exporting to the actual grid

@mzezman Thanks! 

If there's a reading above the CT coil, e.g. 2158 Watts, is that the power that's fed to the non-essentials? So it's not going to the grid?

If the above is true could you send a photo of your system flow chart, please? The Father part of my solar installation works better with as much proof as possible.

Edited January 15, 20232 yr by StepbyStep

9 hours ago, StepbyStep said:

1x Father with a panic attack each time he looks at the Itron electricity meter

Hehe, that item in the bill comes with the territory 🤣

Check your manual. On the 8kw sunsynk the CT should be connected to port 5/6 I'm sure it's the same on the 5kw

This particular item this morning is drawing me pictures. "We're" not changing anything because we were getting small spikes feeding back to the grid according to the JHB Itron meter.  Those small spikes and warning messages aren't appearing anymore but we're keeping things as is because "it's too much work to get it sorted."

This is our setup:

Grid > Cut-off switch > JHB issued Itron Electricity Monitor > CT Coil > Fuse to the inverter > Line 1 Inverter; Line 2 anything else.

 

Thanks for everyone's help so far. I'm going to have to wait for an older male installer when we do the CoC and ask him to streamline things. 

Edited January 15, 20232 yr by StepbyStep

11 hours ago, StepbyStep said:

We want to pump excess solar to the non-essential side where the geyser is (JHB metro installed a separate Ripple Geyser Control System).

Ripple switches (if the municipality is using them) are a minefield for anything but a bog standard electrical setup.

Once upon a time I had a solar geyser, with an electrical backup. I asked an electrician to put a timer switch onto the backup supply. Which he did. This really only invoked the backup in the early morning and there was still a thermostat, so if the water was still warm from the day before, electricity usage was not great.

Then we had a run of overcast days and the water got colder and colder. Why wasn't the backup kicking in? I checked the timer switch.

The answer was eventually traced to this. And it's hard to predict exactly what will happen and when but

1) Timer is on, municipality sends the signal to turn the ripple switches off.

2) Timer is off, municipality turns the ripple switches on again, but the signal never gets to my ripple switch because the timer prevents it.

The solution in this case was to move the timer so that it was between the ripple switch and the geyser.

How one controls this via the aux port on the Sunsynk it is not a puzzle I can solve in my head, but I think the potential for this problem is still there.

I wonder if COJ are using ripple switches at the moment. It's very hard for them to control with load shedding. Say they send the off signal at 6 am. Then my area is shed from 8 and they send the on signal at 10. Oops! My geyser isn't turning on.

Edited January 15, 20232 yr by Bobster.

1 hour ago, StepbyStep said:

This particular item this morning is drawing me pictures. "We're" not changing anything because we were getting small spikes feeding back to the grid according to the JHB Itron meter.  Those small spikes and warning messages aren't appearing anymore but we're keeping things as is because "it's too much work to get it sorted."

I found my system was always drawing a little from grid. Mostly at night. The answer turned out to be that most systems will stop drawing from the battery if load falls below a threshold amount AND there is grid power. In my case about 220ish W.  So when all the fridges all happened to be not running at the same time, and there was grid power, the system would draw from grid until something knocked the total load above that threshold. I started running my outside lights at night, which reduced but did not eliminate the problem. I could put in some big ass halogens, but then with the increased load for several hours, I may run my battery down earlier. So, like you, I just leave it.

My inverter is a Goodwe. But I know from other posts on this forum that it is not the only one that works in this way.

3 hours ago, Chris_S said:

Check your manual. On the 8kw sunsynk the CT should be connected to port 5/6 I'm sure it's the same on the 5kw

For 5K it's pins 3 & 4 and for 8K it's 5 & 6.

Make sure the arrow on the CT coil is pointing the right way:

6 hours ago, StepbyStep said:

@mzezman Thanks! 

If there's a reading above the CT coil, e.g. 2158 Watts, is that the power that's fed to the non-essentials? So it's not going to the grid?

 

If there is a reading above the CT coil on the flow chart that is power coming from (positive reading) or going to the grid (negative reading)

If there is a reading above the house in the flow chart, that is power going to non essential loads.

11 hours ago, Bobster. said:

Ripple switches (if the municipality is using them) are a minefield for anything but a bog standard electrical setup.
I wonder if COJ are using ripple switches at the moment. It's very hard for them to control with load shedding. Say they send the off signal at 6 am. Then my area is shed from 8 and they send the on signal at 10. Oops! My geyser isn't turning on.

I don't think JHB is using theirs. Our geyser is chowing electricity.

The CT Coil seems to be installed correctly. It's there in the 1st picture.

13 hours ago, BritishRacingGreen said:

Hehe, that item in the bill comes with the territory 🤣

All fixing has been put on hold because I'm female AND his daughter. I can't beat the double negative.