Hey all!

 

So something has been bugging me about these Luxpower inverters for a while now, today I finally decided to investigate a bit further and this seems to have confirmed my suspicions and its quite frustrating...

 

I have a voltage protection device connected before my inverter circuit breakers (where Eskom gives power to the inverters). The voltage protection device allows me to see the voltage & current in realtime. I noticed a couple months ago that even when the load for the house is being carried by PV or if I am running on PV & Batteries, there is always current draw being displayed on the voltage protection and this current draw figure varies from time to time and is anywhere from 2.8A to 3.8A when there should be no draw from Eskom.

So I decided to stop being lazy and investigate further. I removed the cover of my DB board and used my clamp meter to assist me. Now I do not expect either the voltage protection device or my clamp meter to be 100% accurate but I do expect them to give me a fairly accurate reading. I understand the clamp meter is probably less accurate in this instance.

 

So before I started this test, I ensured that my inverter settings were as such to force the inverter to use PV & Battery only, no grid usage as per the below screenshot.

 

 

 

So below you can see a comparison of the clamp meter & voltage protection device both detecting current.

One reads 3,9A and the other 4,5A - this confirms to me that there is definitely current flowing

 

 

So I gave the Luxpower inverters the benefit of the doubt, maybe the voltage protection device is somehow consuming the power... although it seems a bit odd, lets try confirm this. So I turned off the breakers giving Eskom power to both my inverters and suddenly there was no usage displayed on both the voltage protection device & my clamp meter as can be seen below.

 

 

 

Now this does concern me and puzzles me a bit, I can understand that the Luxpower does not have an external CT coil and you have the CT coil offset to assist with calibrating it. By default mine was on 20W, I adjusted this (after I turned on the breakers, so my inverter had grid) to 199W and then to -199W and I did not see much (if any) difference to the readings on the voltage protection device or the clamp meter.

 

If we call it an average of 3,2A, since this is basically 24/7 that usage adds up quickly.

3,2A x 230v = 736W

736W x 24 hours = 17,66kWh per day

17,66kWh x 30 days = 529,8kWh in a 30 day month... Its a significant amount.

 

To be fair, this would not all be offset by solar anyways, there might only be around 7 hours in a day where this usage is offset by solar.

3,2A x 230v = 736W

736W x 17 hours = 12,51kWh per day

12,51kWh x 30 days = 375,3kWh in a 30 day month... A potential loss of 154,5kWh per month because of this.

At around R4 per kWh on the higher tier, this works out to around R618 per month.

 

 

So now, does anyone know why the Luxpower does this? Why does it draw soo much from the grid when the loads should be covered by PV or PV & Battery and it should not be drawing from the grid?

Also does anyone know whether the same is applicable to the Sunsynk/Deye inverters & Solis inverters?

That is concerning. I assume that the interface shows no current draw from the supply? I have not checked mine, I know it draws momentarily from the Eskom side when a large inductive load starts - my battery can only supply 2.4kw. But I have not seen a continuous draw, because I never suspected one or checked for one.

Edited March 3, 20242 yr by eugenedp
Spelling

20 hours ago, PsyCLown said:

Hey all!

 

So something has been bugging me about these Luxpower inverters for a while now, today I finally decided to investigate a bit further and this seems to have confirmed my suspicions and its quite frustrating...

 

I have a voltage protection device connected before my inverter circuit breakers (where Eskom gives power to the inverters). The voltage protection device allows me to see the voltage & current in realtime. I noticed a couple months ago that even when the load for the house is being carried by PV or if I am running on PV & Batteries, there is always current draw being displayed on the voltage protection and this current draw figure varies from time to time and is anywhere from 2.8A to 3.8A when there should be no draw from Eskom.

So I decided to stop being lazy and investigate further. I removed the cover of my DB board and used my clamp meter to assist me. Now I do not expect either the voltage protection device or my clamp meter to be 100% accurate but I do expect them to give me a fairly accurate reading. I understand the clamp meter is probably less accurate in this instance.

 

So before I started this test, I ensured that my inverter settings were as such to force the inverter to use PV & Battery only, no grid usage as per the below screenshot.

 

 

 

So below you can see a comparison of the clamp meter & voltage protection device both detecting current.

One reads 3,9A and the other 4,5A - this confirms to me that there is definitely current flowing

 

 

So I gave the Luxpower inverters the benefit of the doubt, maybe the voltage protection device is somehow consuming the power... although it seems a bit odd, lets try confirm this. So I turned off the breakers giving Eskom power to both my inverters and suddenly there was no usage displayed on both the voltage protection device & my clamp meter as can be seen below.

 

 

 

Now this does concern me and puzzles me a bit, I can understand that the Luxpower does not have an external CT coil and you have the CT coil offset to assist with calibrating it. By default mine was on 20W, I adjusted this (after I turned on the breakers, so my inverter had grid) to 199W and then to -199W and I did not see much (if any) difference to the readings on the voltage protection device or the clamp meter.

 

If we call it an average of 3,2A, since this is basically 24/7 that usage adds up quickly.

3,2A x 230v = 736W

736W x 24 hours = 17,66kWh per day

17,66kWh x 30 days = 529,8kWh in a 30 day month... Its a significant amount.

 

To be fair, this would not all be offset by solar anyways, there might only be around 7 hours in a day where this usage is offset by solar.

3,2A x 230v = 736W

736W x 17 hours = 12,51kWh per day

12,51kWh x 30 days = 375,3kWh in a 30 day month... A potential loss of 154,5kWh per month because of this.

At around R4 per kWh on the higher tier, this works out to around R618 per month.

 

 

So now, does anyone know why the Luxpower does this? Why does it draw soo much from the grid when the loads should be covered by PV or PV & Battery and it should not be drawing from the grid?

Also does anyone know whether the same is applicable to the Sunsynk/Deye inverters & Solis inverters?

Can you perhaps confirm that you did not have the setting on to take load together via PV and AC? 

Did you ensure you did not have hybrid enabled? 

I can assure you that another SNA I looked at did not use even 80W from the grid by looking at the prepaid meter use. 

Based on the measurements it could be possible that you are exporting the 3.9-4.5A and the moment you switched off the grid input to your Inverters there is no path to export power. Both the tools you used for measuring just reads amps and doesn't know if it is importing or exporting. Further you are measuring VA. The Watts could be a lot less although it does not matter much for the purpose of the test. PF is important to take into account on AC circuits. 

Just a thought based on what you are describing.

A good power meter indicating direction will give a clear answer. Even the prepaid does not always give a direction of power measured. 

Perhaps someone with the same inverter can indicate if the grid use showing zero as per your picture if it will show a negative value during a period one is exporting in hybrid mode. 

I am reasonable sure that a friend with only 4 panels fitted will see this massive grid use you are reporting. 

If it was me that had to measure the self use of the inverters I would not run a load of 7.5 kW that exceeds the PV value and to call on the battery to assist. I will for the duration of the measurements run at a very low load or better still with no load apart real essentials like WiFi for the dongle. 

Also many members will be able to confirm that the grid use(self) from a Solis/Suns/Deye is quite a bit below 100W.

Edited March 4, 20242 yr by Scorp007
Spelling

So I do have take load together enabled (PV & AC).

 

Yes, I cannot tell the direction of the flow - so cannot confirm whether it is feeding back or not, however the issue is with some meters if you feed back you get charged as if it were usage. If this were the case I expect to be able to see a difference when I adjusted the CT offset - as mentioned it was on 20W by default. I changed it to 199W and then to -199W (basically the 2 extreme ends) and did not notice much difference in the reading so I set it back to 20W as per the default.

 

Yes, power factor needs to be considered but there should not be any load. Getting a reading of over 3A seems quite high and unlikely?

 

I could try again this coming weekend and reduce my loads, these are my normal loads and they are generally high - my geyser was on which added to the load and brought me over the PV limit. I could check again with the geyser off and can turn off some devices to bring the load down.

 

I am on postpaid with a smart meter but never received my CUI, I must still go to Eskom to get it - although not sure how much info is visible from the CUI.

37 minutes ago, PsyCLown said:

I am on postpaid with a smart meter but never received my CUI, I must still go to Eskom to get it - although not sure how much info is visible from the CUI.

Do they give you the CIU if you're not on prepaid? City of Johannesburg do not (though it would cost them nothing to do so). 

I am watching these smart meters people in the UK are getting (they have to apply and pay, but I doubt it's full price). They get a real time break down of how much they are using, how much that is costing, bill for the month and so on. So quite useful information. It seems to me that what's really happening is that they're trying to make you aware of how much you're using, which gets you thinking to how you can save.

I have seen the same happen in COJ with the not so smart meters we get. Even that, having to watch your consumption and make sure you have enough credit instead of just letting the bill arrive and be whatever it is, has the effect of making you more aware of your useage.

So really they should let us all have the CIU. "My goodness, Clara! Have you seen how much energy that toaster is using!" I think that a lot of people could make a decent saving on their bill if they knew where it was all going, which would reduce the load on Eskom. OK... conversation around the dinner table could get a bit strained.

21 hours ago, eugenedp said:

That is concerning. I assume that the interface shows no current draw from the supply? I have not checked mine, I know it draws momentarily from the Eskom side when a large inductive load starts - my battery can only supply 2.4kw. But I have not seen a continuous draw, because I never suspected one or checked for one.

I have checked mine, zero draw from Eskom. I have PV&AC jointly enabled, because I run off Eskom between sunset and 22:00.

20 minutes ago, eugenedp said:

I have checked mine, zero draw from Eskom. I have PV&AC jointly enabled, because I run off Eskom between sunset and 22:00.

Mine is the same, I have a pre-paid meter which shows one bar most of the time but no actual usage.

The inverter may only generate unity power factor when grid-tied. So all the reactive load will be offloaded to the grid. This means that if you only measure current with something like a clamp and your load is not purely resistive, you will always measure something. This is true even when the real power is controlled to 0W. In short - you will measure current even though your eskom-supplied metering device only measures real power of 0W. A clamp is not sufficient.

Sometimes it's handy to be able to measure reverse flow IF one knows the direction. 

Here is an example where my grid tied inverter is measuring the power exported to non essential from the inverter via a Sonoff. Normally I use it to measure the power used by an appliance. 

 

Disable PV&AC Take Load jointly. All charge times and AC first set to 00:00. Then it will move from house consumption to backup power (EPS).

On 2024/03/03 at 11:52 AM, PsyCLown said:

Hey all!

 

So something has been bugging me about these Luxpower inverters for a while now, today I finally decided to investigate a bit further and this seems to have confirmed my suspicions and its quite frustrating...

 

I have a voltage protection device connected before my inverter circuit breakers (where Eskom gives power to the inverters). The voltage protection device allows me to see the voltage & current in realtime. I noticed a couple months ago that even when the load for the house is being carried by PV or if I am running on PV & Batteries, there is always current draw being displayed on the voltage protection and this current draw figure varies from time to time and is anywhere from 2.8A to 3.8A when there should be no draw from Eskom.

So I decided to stop being lazy and investigate further. I removed the cover of my DB board and used my clamp meter to assist me. Now I do not expect either the voltage protection device or my clamp meter to be 100% accurate but I do expect them to give me a fairly accurate reading. I understand the clamp meter is probably less accurate in this instance.

 

So before I started this test, I ensured that my inverter settings were as such to force the inverter to use PV & Battery only, no grid usage as per the below screenshot.

 

 

 

So below you can see a comparison of the clamp meter & voltage protection device both detecting current.

One reads 3,9A and the other 4,5A - this confirms to me that there is definitely current flowing

 

 

So I gave the Luxpower inverters the benefit of the doubt, maybe the voltage protection device is somehow consuming the power... although it seems a bit odd, lets try confirm this. So I turned off the breakers giving Eskom power to both my inverters and suddenly there was no usage displayed on both the voltage protection device & my clamp meter as can be seen below.

 

 

 

Now this does concern me and puzzles me a bit, I can understand that the Luxpower does not have an external CT coil and you have the CT coil offset to assist with calibrating it. By default mine was on 20W, I adjusted this (after I turned on the breakers, so my inverter had grid) to 199W and then to -199W and I did not see much (if any) difference to the readings on the voltage protection device or the clamp meter.

 

If we call it an average of 3,2A, since this is basically 24/7 that usage adds up quickly.

3,2A x 230v = 736W

736W x 24 hours = 17,66kWh per day

17,66kWh x 30 days = 529,8kWh in a 30 day month... Its a significant amount.

 

To be fair, this would not all be offset by solar anyways, there might only be around 7 hours in a day where this usage is offset by solar.

3,2A x 230v = 736W

736W x 17 hours = 12,51kWh per day

12,51kWh x 30 days = 375,3kWh in a 30 day month... A potential loss of 154,5kWh per month because of this.

At around R4 per kWh on the higher tier, this works out to around R618 per month.

 

 

So now, does anyone know why the Luxpower does this? Why does it draw soo much from the grid when the loads should be covered by PV or PV & Battery and it should not be drawing from the grid?

Also does anyone know whether the same is applicable to the Sunsynk/Deye inverters & Solis inverters?

The problem with most AC clamp meters is that it measures Apparant power not True power. The formula for apparent power is P= VxI. True power:  P = Voltage x Current x Power Factor.

As can see in the formula you need voltage x current x power factor. The clamp meter assume the voltage is 230v and assume the power factor is 1.

Unfortunately, the power factor is not constant. It varies from device to device, and how active that device is. What you need is a meter which plugs into a mains socket, so it can sense the voltage and phase, and has a clamp connection, also known as a CT.

My brother in law stays in London UK and bought me a nice power meter Dola Tek power meter with CT that plugs into a 230v socket outlet. They are now available on Online Store.

I have measured quite a few households that power factors varies between 0.4~0.25.

On 2024/03/03 at 11:52 AM, PsyCLown said:

If we call it an average of 3,2A, since this is basically 24/7 that usage adds up quickly.

3,2A x 230v = 736W

Let us do your current of 3.2A and assume your voltage is 230v and power factor of 0.4. P= 230 x 3.2 x 0.4 = 294W.

Link for the Dola Tek power meter.

 

https://reliablestore.co.za/products/pzem-022-open-and-close-ct-100a-ac-digital-display-power-monitor-meter-voltmeter-ammeter-frequency-current-voltage-factor-meter-with-split-ct?variant=36606096769185&sfdr_ptcid=28846_617_662111363&sfdr_hash=b353f4d63665d4823cd3ba1d8f8afc9f&gad_source=1

 

@PsyCLownI have the exact same issue, I thought there was something wrong with my settings but now you have confirmed I am not mad. Have you maybe found a solution to this usage? Is there not a way to let the inverter move the load from LOAD to UPS even when gridA is available? Otherwise I was thinking of installing a relay on the dry contacts that can disconnect GridA when the battery is in float stage and connect it again when not.

1 hour ago, SwitchVanDam said:

@PsyCLownI have the exact same issue, I thought there was something wrong with my settings but now you have confirmed I am not mad. Have you maybe found a solution to this usage? Is there not a way to let the inverter move the load from LOAD to UPS even when gridA is available? Otherwise I was thinking of installing a relay on the dry contacts that can disconnect GridA when the battery is in float stage and connect it again when not.

I still question the fact that the own power use of a Luxpower is not 294-736W for 24/7. One should not make such statements if not sure where this power goes. 

I am not smart enough to without a doubt say I know where the power is going but I definitely know that the inverter is lying. 

Did a quick test this morning where a switched on a moderate load and the usage on my eskom watcher increased from 1amp to 3amps but the inverter is in self consumption mode.

As you can see on the attached pictures the 3phase monitor is what is coming in from Eskom and the single phase monitor is what is going out of my inverter to my loads

While this 8amp load was running the inverter was showing the following on its screen. No arrow from grida

This is my current settings and I am using 2 x nenergy 24v batteries connected in series and have 2 x strings of 5 x 550w panels coming in

1 hour ago, SwitchVanDam said:

This is my current settings and I am using 2 x nenergy 24v batteries connected in series and have 2 x strings of 5 x 550w panels coming in

This advisement is not related to your problem as your settings in general looks ok. Just the charge voltage of 54.5v is too low for cell balancing to happen as the bms initiates cell balancing at 3.45v/cell so i would increace the charge voltage to 55.2v but leave float as is. Also the battery warning voltage you could increace to 50v and increace the battery cut off voltage to 48v that gives you approx 10%Soc. I see the charge/discharge current is set to max (30A) as allowed by battery manufacturer. You do not have comms between batteries and inverter as the Nenergy 24v does not have comms ports so you need to protect the batteries by voltage and current settings.

11 hours ago, SwitchVanDam said:

@PsyCLownI have the exact same issue, I thought there was something wrong with my settings but now you have confirmed I am not mad. Have you maybe found a solution to this usage? Is there not a way to let the inverter move the load from LOAD to UPS even when gridA is available? Otherwise I was thinking of installing a relay on the dry contacts that can disconnect GridA when the battery is in float stage and connect it again when not.

Usually the loads are split. There are essential loads that the system will always try to supply, and non-essentials that the system will drop when there is no grid. 

OK... my inverter is a different brand from yours, but we can look at some general principles. With mine, the non-backed up loads are essentially wired to the grid. The main DB is essentially split to accomodate this. It is possible for the inverter to not be able to "see" the grid, but the non-essentials will receive power from the grid.

So first thing to check is if you have loads that are supplied from grid rather than by the inverter, or that the inverter will stop supplying under certain conditions.

We have an interesting problem where I live (and, I am told, in other areas) - the grid voltage is too high. Now my inverter is set for the South African grid code. If the grid voltage gets outside of the specified range (230V plus or minus 10%) then the inverter disconnects. The backed up circuits are now fed by PV and/or battery depending on what is available and what the load is. But the grid is up, and the grid is now directly powering the non-essential loads. If we get a disconnect during the night this makes no never mind. Everything in the house is on, and the house would be running off of battery anyway. We don't use anything on the non-backed up circuits at night.

But during the day this situation can arise.
1) Pool pump starts running when the timer turns it on. The pool pump is one of the non-essential loads.
2) Grid goes higher than 253 V
3) Inverter disconnects. Everything in the house keeps running, and so does the pool pump. But the pool pump is now powered only by grid.

And so at point (3), if you measured the current at the point at which the municipal feed enters my property you would measure about 3A. That's the pool pump. And it could be the sunniest day with free power raining down on the roof, but the inverter is going to remain disconnected and the pool pump is going to be supplied directly by grid.

If you measured the AC output of the inverter it would show you a different figure. The inverter is not lying, it is just supporting a different load and so has to supply a different current.

So the figure of what is being drawn from the grid does not tell us the whole story.

Another thing: I have never had a day when I use NO grid. This might be something to do with the design of my inverter, but it always will draw something. But on sunny days when the grid voltage is not up at 260V (as it was on Saturday night), the draw from the grid could get as low as 1 kWh for the whole day. 

Edited December 30, 20241 yr by Bobster.

8 hours ago, TaliaB said:

This advisement is not related to your problem as your settings in general looks ok. Just the charge voltage of 54.5v is too low for cell balancing to happen as the bms initiates cell balancing at 3.45v/cell so i would increace the charge voltage to 55.2v but leave float as is. Also the battery warning voltage you could increace to 50v and increace the battery cut off voltage to 48v that gives you approx 10%Soc. I see the charge/discharge current is set to max (30A) as allowed by battery manufacturer. You do not have comms between batteries and inverter as the Nenergy 24v does not have comms ports so you need to protect the batteries by voltage and current settings.

Thanks @TaliaBfor the info on the batter voltages as I thumb sucked those that I have but yeah always willing to optimize. 

Issue I have with the Lux setup is I installed it to save on my eskom bill but currently yeah I am saving but I am saving more when I manually switch the eskom breaker of each morning and switching it back on when I get home from work.

7 hours ago, Bobster. said:

Usually the loads are split. There are essential loads that the system will always try to supply, and non-essentials that the system will drop when there is no grid. 

OK... my inverter is a different brand from yours, but we can look at some general principles. With mine, the non-backed up loads are essentially wired to the grid. The main DB is essentially split to accomodate this. It is possible for the inverter to not be able to "see" the grid, but the non-essentials will receive power from the grid.

So first thing to check is if you have loads that are supplied from grid rather than by the inverter, or that the inverter will stop supplying under certain conditions.

We have an interesting problem where I live (and, I am told, in other areas) - the grid voltage is too high. Now my inverter is set for the South African grid code. If the grid voltage gets outside of the specified range (230V plus or minus 10%) then the inverter disconnects. The backed up circuits are now fed by PV and/or battery depending on what is available and what the load is. But the grid is up, and the grid is now directly powering the non-essential loads. If we get a disconnect during the night this makes no never mind. Everything in the house is on, and the house would be running off of battery anyway. We don't use anything on the non-backed up circuits at night.

But during the day this situation can arise.
1) Pool pump starts running when the timer turns it on. The pool pump is one of the non-essential loads.
2) Grid goes higher than 253 V
3) Inverter disconnects. Everything in the house keeps running, and so does the pool pump. But the pool pump is now powered only by grid.

And so at point (3), if you measured the current at the point at which the municipal feed enters my property you would measure about 3A. That's the pool pump. And it could be the sunniest day with free power raining down on the roof, but the inverter is going to remain disconnected and the pool pump is going to be supplied directly by grid.

If you measured the AC output of the inverter it would show you a different figure. The inverter is not lying, it is just supporting a different load and so has to supply a different current.

So the figure of what is being drawn from the grid does not tell us the whole story.

Another thing: I have never had a day when I use NO grid. This might be something to do with the design of my inverter, but it always will draw something. But on sunny days when the grid voltage is not up at 260V (as it was on Saturday night), the draw from the grid could get as low as 1 kWh for the whole day. 

Thanks for the reply @Bobster.

I know about the essential and non-essential loads setup as my Sunsynk at the shop works like that but the sna5000 lux does not work like that as it does not have an external CT clamp. 

So from Eskom the +live wire goes through the eskom meter then through my earth leakage then my voltage protector (the one that shows usage when it shouldn't) then through a breaker directly to the inverter gridA input. No other loads connected to that line. 

Same as @PsyCLowntests shown at the start of this thread the inverter shows zero watts imported from grid but in actual fact it does use grid according to the voltage protector and a clamp meter, and it's not a constant 1amp that one can say it's consumed by the inverter, it increases as the load increases as shown by my photos when I ran the microwave that drew 8amp from the inverter grid drew 3amp.

2 hours ago, SwitchVanDam said:

Thanks for the reply @Bobster.

I know about the essential and non-essential loads setup as my Sunsynk at the shop works like that but the sna5000 lux does not work like that as it does not have an external CT clamp. 

So from Eskom the +live wire goes through the eskom meter then through my earth leakage then my voltage protector (the one that shows usage when it shouldn't) then through a breaker directly to the inverter gridA input. No other loads connected to that line. 

Same as @PsyCLowntests shown at the start of this thread the inverter shows zero watts imported from grid but in actual fact it does use grid according to the voltage protector and a clamp meter, and it's not a constant 1amp that one can say it's consumed by the inverter, it increases as the load increases as shown by my photos when I ran the microwave that drew 8amp from the inverter grid drew 3amp.

Just a question. The battery type is reported as lead acid. Are you using lithium? 

Thanks for the detail in your posts. I don't know this inverter but the tech should be close to the Axpert/Mecer and is normally below 100W. 

Earlier there was a good post that as the inverter works on a PF=1 your meters will in fact measure amps which could just be reactive power back to the grid and not actually Watts used. This is the danger of only looking at amps and not easy to know is it import or export. 

If reactive power the power meter from the grid should not trip as the Watts could be zero. Difficult to say unless one is at the inverter and know where what measurements are taken. 

One might want to see the PV power and battery power and AC in real time. 

2 hours ago, Scorp007 said:

Just a question. The battery type is reported as lead acid. Are you using lithium? 

Thanks for the detail in your posts. I don't know this inverter but the tech should be close to the Axpert/Mecer and is normally below 100W. 

Earlier there was a good post that as the inverter works on a PF=1 your meters will in fact measure amps which could just be reactive power back to the grid and not actually Watts used. This is the danger of only looking at amps and not easy to know is it import or export. 

If reactive power the power meter from the grid should not trip as the Watts could be zero. Difficult to say unless one is at the inverter and know where what measurements are taken. 

One might want to see the PV power and battery power and AC in real time. 

@Scorp007I am using Nenergy Lifepo4 batteries (2x24v in series) they don't have CAN or RS485 communication abality so yeah set them up as Lead acid and works great. 

I hear you regarding the reactive power and pf but my issue is the mismatch between the voltage protector and the inverter stats, if it was reactive power why does the inverter not show a negative watts amount at GRIDA? It shows 0watts

I would really like to hear from @PsyCLownas he started this thread way back and maybe he has found the solution.

Hi @TaliaB

I have increased my charging voltage, discharge cut-off and EOD voltage. Thanks for the suggestions. Can you please just double check what I have now.

 

Now I just need advice on how to move the load to UPS even when GridA is available.

@SwitchVanDam I have not found a solution and was advised that it is likely due to PF and have not bothered spending money to get a clamp meter which displays PF as well.

I have just accepted it and I am still saving monthly at least but I still have a bit of doubt and that will likely only go away when I upgrade my inverters - if I go for something other than LuxPower or if I decide to spend some money to try investigate further.