PV not showing on inverter display

[Naboomspruit]

Good Day 

 

Thanks for accepting, i am a novice when it come to electrical and solar, but i am in, now so i better learn fast, i have installed my inverter, lithium batt and panel, and all works great, while on utility power, but when the utility is of (load shedding) the inverter draw from the battery and not changing to the PV, on the display panel it will only show the volts (40v), nothing else, amps and watt is zero, not even a picture of the PV i suspect a incorrect setting, following the handbook is not helping, so please i need some assistance with correct settings, the system is as follow, I have tested the PV and get the reading for  38,6v and 8,64amp

1) 1 x 12v 100ah Lithium batt,   2)1 x 2kva mppt inverter, 3) 1 x 360w PV

current settings is- 01=SUB--02=20ah--03=APL--05=USE--06=LFD--07=LTD, the t looks like it fell over to the left, --09=50--10=230--11=30a--12=11,5--13=13,5--16=SNU--18=boN--19=ESP--20=LOF--22=AON--23=BYD--25=FEN--26==15,5--27=13,5--29=12--30=EDS--31=14,6--33=60--34=120--35=30d--36=ADS  

please HELP, and thanks

[Coulomb]

8 hours ago, Naboomspruit said:

i am a novice when it come to electrical and solar,

Welcome to the forum, and to the world of solar and inverters.

8 hours ago, Naboomspruit said:

not even a picture of the PV i suspect a incorrect setting,

I can't see anything wrong with your settings.

What is the maximum PV voltage rating, as shown on a sticker on the side of the inverter? It's possible (though unlikely) that 40 V is too high. But if that was the case, I'd expect the PV icon to be flashing, not absent altogether.

You might need to get the solar charger repaired, or add an external MPPT charger that connects directly to your battery.

[Naboomspruit]

Hi Coulomb,

Thanks for response, Hope you are well, Brisbane is not far from where my daughter stay,  the sticker on the panel read, Model HS-120H-360W.

Pmax=360w---Vmp36.00v---Imp=10a---Voc=43.00v---Isc=10.50a---Max Series fuse=20a---Max System Voltage 1500v

[Scorp007]

11 minutes ago, Naboomspruit said:

Hi Coulomb,

Thanks for response, Hope you are well, Brisbane is not far from where my daughter stay,  the sticker on the panel read, Model HS-120H-360W.

Pmax=360w---Vmp36.00v---Imp=10a---Voc=43.00v---Isc=10.50a---Max Series fuse=20a---Max System Voltage 1500v

Try changing setting 16 to CSO and switch inverter off and on again. If no change try setting 16 as OSO and switch off and on again. And check. 

These settings mean we checking that all the PV charging options are tried. 

[Coulomb]

3 hours ago, Scorp007 said:

the sticker on the panel read...

Sorry, I meant the sticker on the side of the inverter. I'm wondering if 40 V might be too high for it, and that's why the inverter is rejecting the PV input. Again, unlikely, but I just want to eliminate that possibility.

[Naboomspruit]

22 hours ago, Scorp007 said:

Try changing setting 16 to CSO and switch inverter off and on again. If no change try setting 16 as OSO and switch off and on again. And check. 

These settings mean we checking that all the PV charging options are tried. 

Morning Coulomb

 

Thanks for your feedback, much appreciated, i have tried the settings no difference at all, i think i am going the route of a 60a mppt charge controller to the batt and switch 16 to OSO, 

[Naboomspruit]

18 hours ago, Coulomb said:

Sorry, I meant the sticker on the side of the inverter. I'm wondering if 40 V might be too high for it, and that's why the inverter is rejecting the PV input. Again, unlikely, but I just want to eliminate that possibility.

no problem Sir,

 

here is the inverter sticker,thanks for the help

[Scorp007]

25 minutes ago, Naboomspruit said:

no problem Sir,

 

here is the inverter sticker,thanks for the help

Sjis pushing 80A into say a single 12V battery might not end very well based on the sticker. 

At last we know what is wrong. This inverter needs at least 90V to charge and not 40V. Thus it needs 3 panels in series to charge. 

[Arandoza]

It looks like your solar charger requires a Minimum of 90VDC before it will see the panels. (operating range 90v-430v) 

Never exceed the Inverter VOC of 450VDC (Add the VOC of the Panels together to get the Total VOC of all the panels in series which should be lower - to allow for voltage increasing when temperatures drop - panels will produce higher voltages, so try not to exceed 420v as a rough guide),  in the MPPT Voltaage range)

So it looks like you will need at least 3 of the current 360w panels in series to get to around 129vdc, then it shoudl start working, and you can probably add a maximum of 6 or 7 of the same panels in series to get you up to or just a bit over the 2000watt  rating on the mppt.  

Just be very carefull when working with the panels as the high DC voltages can kill instantly, and be sure to have a PV panel disconnect that disconnects both + and - of the PV before entering the inverter,  So one can safely turn off the PV before connecting  or working on the panels.

[Naboomspruit]

1 hour ago, Scorp007 said:

Sjis pushing 80A into say a single 12V battery might not end very well based on the sticker. 

At last we know what is wrong. This inverter needs at least 90V to charge and not 40V. Thus it needs 3 panels in series to charge. 

Great as you say, at least we know the problem, so i just need to buy 2 more panels and hopefully sorted, anyhow at the long run it is better to go this way as our Eskom is not going to be around a lot longer, thanks for the input, have an awesome week

[Naboomspruit]

1 hour ago, Arandoza said:

It looks like your solar charger requires a Minimum of 90VDC before it will see the panels. (operating range 90v-430v) 

Never exceed the Inverter VOC of 450VDC (Add the VOC of the Panels together to get the Total VOC of all the panels in series which should be lower - to allow for voltage increasing when temperatures drop - panels will produce higher voltages, so try not to exceed 420v as a rough guide),  in the MPPT Voltaage range)

So it looks like you will need at least 3 of the current 360w panels in series to get to around 129vdc, then it shoudl start working, and you can probably add a maximum of 6 or 7 of the same panels in series to get you up to or just a bit over the 2000watt  rating on the mppt.  

Just be very carefull when working with the panels as the high DC voltages can kill instantly, and be sure to have a PV panel disconnect that disconnects both + and - of the PV before entering the inverter,  So one can safely turn off the PV before connecting  or working on the panels.

Thanks for the reply Sir, i am ordering 2 more 360w panels have great week

[Arandoza]

Remember to check what the safe Charge and Discharge Limits are for your battery, and be sure to set the charge limit correctly.

As mentioned one does not want to damage the battery or cause a fire, so too high a discharge / charge rate will do that to a battery, usualy with lead acid batteries a safe number to use is around 10-15% of the batteries Amp Hour capacity, if not sure, rather err on the side of caution and go a bit lower.

So in your case your lithium battery is 100ah rating so 10 amps charge rate would be safe, and probably your inverters next size up in terms of charge rate would be 20amps, unless you can get definate max charge rate, and even then I would keep the charging amps a bit lower than what the manufacturer suggests for safely and longevity of the battery.

[Scorp007]

As the OP is using lithium I think the 10A charge current for his 100Ah battery is very conservative. Most lithiums of this size will be safe in the 25-40A charge rate. Some good even at 100A but that I will stay well clear. 

Edited June 18, 2023 by Scorp007