Hi Forum, I have a safari camp in Malawi with 3 separate off grid systems as the 3 areas are quite a long way from each other.

I would like to start with the largest one which has 2 AXPERT 5kva Inverters with 5 - 6 Pylontech batteries and 4 "strings" of PV panels.

I want to ensure longevity of the batteries while getting maximum efficiency out of the system.

The settigs are as follows:

01   UtI

02 . 30a

03 . APL

04 .  NOi-

05 . USE

06 . LtE

07 . ttE

11 . 30A

12 . 47v

13 . 48v

16 . SnU23 . byE

26 . 53.2v

27 . 52v

29  46v

31 56E

Any comments would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Chris

 

 

Hi Chris  5 Pylontechs can easily handle  125A charging so you could set charging to 50A for each inverter and not compromise your batteries. I would install ICC and buy the communication cable for Pylontechs so that you can monitor your system. You may not  be able to load to the cloud but a record of how your system behaved on a particular day is invaluable.

Setting 27 can be a little higher 52.8V thereabouts. The Pylons BMS does some syncing but only at 95% full (52.0 V) might be too low - I cannot remember).

Setting 12 should be 48V and Setting 13 should be 51V but in an off-grid system it is a moot point.

Setting 29 should be 47.5V (SOP for Pylons and Axperts).

Hi Chris, Thanks very much for your input. Most appreciated1

The "Axpert" inverters come with software called WatchPower. I have downloaded it to PC (Windows 10) and it does not communicate with the Inverter. Perhaps it needs another driver? is this software comparable to ICC and if not, is it possible to download ICC from the internet that will work on Apple Mac?

Thanks in advance,

Chris

Hi Chris

WatchPower is not the greatset software. ICC is avilable as a Windows product of for a Raspberry Pi. I ran the Windows version for nearly two years but recently moved over to a headless RPi. This has the advante that you can still view your data on your MAC.

 

Hi Chris, Thanks again for your informative reply. As mentioned earlier, we have 3 separate solar systems. Will I be able to use the same software for Raspberry PI with all 3 systems and just plug into the inverter of any one of them?

3 separate systems I would then have 3 separate Rpis . Data logging is a 24/7 business. If something were to go wrong I would want data  in the period before the failure.

I have 2 inverters running of 1 Pi but the two inverters are in parallel.

Wow OK. I am hoping that I will only need to buy ICC once that can be used on all 3 systems? I have 2 systems each with 2 inverters in parallel and one with one inverter.

Contact Manie perhaps he will do a deal.

Hi Forum,

Going back to the settings on the off-grid Axpert inverters with Pylontech US2000 plus described above, I now have the following questions:

27 Floating charging voltage: This is set at 52.8v but does it apply with the set up as I read that LiFE batteries do not like a trickle charge?

26 Bulk charging voltage: What is the maximum this should be set at without stressing the batteries?

29 Low DC cut-off voltage: Chris said that SOP is 47.5 V for Axperts and Pylontechs but often the Axperts show a warning light for low cut-off when batteries LEDs are around 50% charged and the Axperts are showing a voltage of around 49v.

Thanks in advance for any feedback.

 

 

 

 

4 hours ago, Chris Buckley said:

27 Floating charging voltage: This is set at 52.8v but does it apply with the set up as I read that LiFE batteries do not like a trickle charge?

26 Bulk charging voltage: What is the maximum this should be set at without stressing the batteries?

Use 52.0 and 52.5 V, as per Youda's excellent post here, giving reasoning:

https://powerforum.co.za/topic/2322-youdas-off-grid-lab/?do=findComment&comment=64125

 

6 hours ago, Chris Buckley said:

 

29 Low DC cut-off voltage: Chris said that SOP is 47.5 V for Axperts and Pylontechs but often the Axperts show a warning light for low cut-off when batteries LEDs are around 50% charged and the Axperts are showing a voltage of around 49v.

 

 

 

 

 

ICC would solve this problem since it gets the SOC accurately from the pylons and tells the axperts what to do.

The problem is I have 3 separate systems as follows:

1. 24 x 295w Canadian solar PV with 6 x US2000 Plus Pylontech and 2 x 5KVA Axperts

2. 18 x PV as above with 5 x Pylontech and 2 x 5KVA Axperts

3. 12 x PV as above with 3 x Pylontech and 1 x  5KVA Axpert

The cost of 3 ICC kits is expensive and not sure I need all that info to plough through. Or does one only need to look through it once there is a problem?

Would the cable by itself not help with the communication between batteries and axperts?

20 hours ago, Coulomb said:

Use 52.0 and 52.5 V, as per Youda's excellent post here, giving reasoning:

https://powerforum.co.za/topic/2322-youdas-off-grid-lab/?do=findComment&comment=64125

 

Sorry for being so thick but is 52v for 27 Floating charging voltage or 26 Bulk charging voltage?

24 minutes ago, Chris Buckley said:

52v for 27 Floating charging voltage or 26 Bulk charging voltage?

Float has to be the lower of the two; you can't enter them the wrong way around. So 52 V for float (setting 27), 52.5 V for bulk/absorb (setting 26).

8 minutes ago, Coulomb said:

Float has to be the lower of the two; you can't enter them the wrong way around. So 52 V for float (setting 27), 52.5 V for bulk/absorb (setting 26).

20 hours ago, Coulomb said:

Use 52.0 and 52.5 V, as per Youda's excellent post here, giving reasoning:

https://powerforum.co.za/topic/2322-youdas-off-grid-lab/?do=findComment&comment=64125

 

Sorry for being so thick but is 52v for 27 Floating charging voltage or 26 Bulk charging voltage?

Thanks so much for your help!

3 hours ago, Chris Buckley said:

The problem is I have 3 separate systems as follows:

1. 24 x 295w Canadian solar PV with 6 x US2000 Plus Pylontech and 2 x 5KVA Axperts

2. 18 x PV as above with 5 x Pylontech and 2 x 5KVA Axperts

3. 12 x PV as above with 3 x Pylontech and 1 x  5KVA Axpert

The cost of 3 ICC kits is expensive and not sure I need all that info to plough through. Or does one only need to look through it once there is a problem?

Would the cable by itself not help with the communication between batteries and axperts?

ICC is currently the only way to get the axperts and pylons talking to each other. Without ICC you effectively half your battery capacity. ICC reads the SOC from the pylons and tells the axperts what it is. 

Those expensive pylons are only being drawn down halfway without ICC.

Thanks Root for the useful feedback!

So does it follow that until I get the ICC software installed, while the Axperts are not getting correct SOC from the Pylons that I should temporarily keep the settings of 52.8v and 53,2v for 27 and 26 respectively rather than further reduce the range of the batteries by applying the new settings of 52v and 52.5v?

4 hours ago, root said:

ICC is currently the only way to get the axperts and pylons talking to each other. Without ICC you effectively half your battery capacity. ICC reads the SOC from the pylons and tells the axperts what it is. 

Those expensive pylons are only being drawn down halfway without ICC.

Why do you say that? Can't a BMV 700/702/712 be connected onto Pylon batteries?

11 minutes ago, GVC said:

Why do you say that? Can't a BMV 700/702/712 be connected onto Pylon batteries?

Don't know the blue stuff. But given that the OP uses axperts its unlikely that a BMV wil work in his setup.

I was asking because I am using a BMV 702 on my Lithiums with an Axpert (no extra cable). The software I use reads the battery voltage, SOC, Amps, Watt etc. from the BMV and regulates the inverter accordingly. I however don't know the Pylons and don't know how difficult it would be to connect a BMV to them...I mean they do use those plug connectors..