Sunsynk PV Low Power Production

[Jacodebeer]

 

Sunsynk PV Power

Good morning,

 

I have the following system installed

- 5.5kVA Sunsynk Inverter

- 12 x 450W JA solar panels, two strings of 6

- Hubble 5.5kWh battery

- Solar panels installed on roof facing north without any obstructions

 

The readings in the photo is a test I conducted to confirm the power being generated by the PV. The load was 3.79kW, the PV produced 2.71kW and the remaining 1.1kW was drawn from the grid (Taken at peak solar production time 12:00).

 

My question is for the max theoretical solar power delivery of 5400W is the current value of 2.7kW acceptable?

I have been performing a couple of tests and the max PV power delivery I could achieve was 3.4kW

 

But I have no idea if this is good or bad, some guidance will be greatly appreciated.

[Jacodebeer]

[WannabeSolarSparky]

Why was it drawing from the grid at midday, that does not seem right, those panels should give at least 4 kW at midday?
Maybe some screenshots of all your settings?

AND MOST IMPORTANT - Is the CT coil correctly installed and setup?

Also confirm that the 2 strings of panels are 6 on same angle/string/mppt and another 6 on same angle/string/mppt
The flatter string will produce less during the early mornings and late afternoons, which should not be a problem if they are on a single string and mppt.

Edited March 18, 2023 by WannabeSolarSparky

[Jacodebeer]

This is what I also thought, the power seems low for the number of panels.

There are two strings of 6 panels. They produce very close to the same power. Will take a pic of the panel input tomorrow 

[Jacodebeer]

[Jacodebeer]

There in so CT coil on the system

[GreenFields]

In the pics the lower string has got cables strewn all over the panels. Can I assume that this was NOT the situation at the time you were measuring power?

Other than that, try setting the charge amps to 100A. Just speculating here that the inverter may limit the PV production if there's not a readily available dump for solar power if the load drops away.

[I84RiS]

1 hour ago, Jacodebeer said:

There in so CT coil on the system

Do you have single Hubble? If so, the battery capacity of 200Ah is incorrect. 

Also, why is charge Amps set to 40A, is this not a 1c battery therefore charge Amps can be 100A.

You will need to post the Amps and Volts reading of each MPPT to give an idea of what's happening with the panels. You should get about 4500w at peak easily from the panels as long as it is not to hot outside.

Edited March 18, 2023 by I84RiS

[Jacodebeer]

9 minutes ago, GreenFields said:

In the pics the lower string has got cables strewn all over the panels. Can I assume that this was NOT the situation at the time you were measuring power?

Other than that, try setting the charge amps to 100A. Just speculating here that the inverter may limit the PV production if there's not a readily available dump for solar power if the load drops away.

Yes, the cables have been properly routed. Will adjust the charge amps and try again 

[Jacodebeer]

10 minutes ago, I84RiS said:

Do you have single Hubble? If so, the battery capacity of 200Ah is incorrect. 

Also, why is charge Amps set to 40A, is this not a 1c battery therefore charge Amps can be 100A.

You will need to post the Amps and Volts reading of each MPPT to give an idea of what's happening with the panels. You should get about 4500w at peak easily from the panels as long as it is not to hot outside.

I have adjusted the charge amps. I will take a photo of the peak solar production tomorrow. 

[I84RiS]

2 minutes ago, Jacodebeer said:

I have adjusted the charge amps. I will take a photo of the peak solar production tomorrow. 

Are you sure each row of 6 panels are connected in series, top row in one string and bottom row in another string. Each string then connected to a separate MPPT (they should not be paralleled and connected to one MPPT).

The only plausible explanation is that amps are being clipped at 13A (the max amps for the 5.5 sunsynk mppt) but that would require a paralell connection somewhere.

[MeepMoop]

9 hours ago, Jacodebeer said:

I have adjusted the charge amps. I will take a photo of the peak solar production tomorrow. 

Also check the battery wattage at the time. I have this funny situation where once the batteries hit 100%, the inverter decides to use some battery power mixed with PV power to cover the load, even when PV power is way below what it was right before the batteries hit 100. 

 

 

[WannabeSolarSparky]

11 hours ago, Jacodebeer said:

There in so CT coil on the system

You need the ct coil installed that is an important part to help the sunsynk work correctly.

[Jacodebeer]

2 hours ago, MeepMoop said:

Also check the battery wattage at the time. I have this funny situation where once the batteries hit 100%, the inverter decides to use some battery power mixed with PV power to cover the load, even when PV power is way below what it was right before the batteries hit 100. 

 

 

How did you solve this ?

[Jacodebeer]

So some very interesting results. After making the battery changes all of a sudden the PV is much higher. 

I got to around 4.3kW at 10:30

Do I call it a day or is there more PV power to be had ?

[Jacodebeer]

2 hours ago, WannabeSolarSparky said:

You need the ct coil installed that is an important part to help the sunsynk work correctly.

I confirmed the CT coil is there and working correctly 

[Nexuss]

24 minutes ago, Jacodebeer said:

I confirmed the CT coil is there and working correctly 

You dont have any non essential items ? Why are you limiting to load?You should also prioritize the load so you dont waste as much PV.

Edited March 19, 2023 by Nexuss

[Jacodebeer]

16 minutes ago, Nexuss said:

You dont have any non essential items ? Why are you limiting to load?You should also prioritize the load so you dont waste as much PV.

Can you please tell me what setting I need to change?

[Nexuss]

14 hours ago, Jacodebeer said:

 

Untick "limit to load" and tick 'priority load'

[GreenFields]

1 hour ago, Jacodebeer said:

So some very interesting results. After making the battery changes all of a sudden the PV is much higher. 

I got to around 4.3kW at 10:30

Do I call it a day or is there more PV power to be had ?

In terms of the seasons we are pretty much at the equinox. You should see better peak generation at the height of summer, and also considering that your lower string is at a rather low angle, I don't know, looks like around 20 degrees or so, you should see sub-optimal generation on that string from here on going into Winter.

Beyond that, peak generation is not at 10:30, weather permitting it should be at 12:00 noon if you're around 30 degrees East longitude near Musina or everywhere South from there, or closer to 1pm if you're in the West around Alexander Bay or South from there.

Might be some system tweaks you could still make, don't see any off the top of my head, although I also don't see the CT coil in the system feeding to non-essential loads.

[GreenFields]

2 hours ago, Jacodebeer said:

I got to around 4.3kW at 10:30

Do I call it a day or is there more PV power to be had ?

Except if your panels are oriented more Eastwards and you genuinely get a peak at 10:30 as a result of that, but then the problem is more environmental in terms of installation orientation, and lower peak power is baked into the cake.

[MeepMoop]

3 hours ago, Jacodebeer said:

How did you solve this ?

Not solved

[I84RiS]

8 hours ago, Jacodebeer said:

I confirmed the CT coil is there and working correctly 

Are you sure, the CT coil is not showing in your system flow chart ?

Edited March 19, 2023 by I84RiS

[Nicholas Strachan]

On 2023/03/18 at 8:42 PM, Jacodebeer said:

This is what I also thought, the power seems low for the number of panels.

There are two strings of 6 panels. They produce very close to the same power. Will take a pic of the panel input tomorrow 

With 1 hubble am2 to amp setting should be 100 not 200