i also wanted the pv to only charge from 11:30am

i set depth of discharge (on grid) to say 50% ,so that i have something left for loadshedding

in economical mode i set the 1st setting to discharge at 1%  from 06h00 till 11h30

If you put this to zero it does not work

i set the 2nd setting to charge from  16h00 till 21h00

my batteries run down to 49% at night starting at 21h00

i set 21h00 because most people are in bed at that time so the load is minimal and if loadshedding should occur between sundown and 21h00 the batteries are at 100% also the batteries start discharging when pv gets low

when the sun comes up my batteries charge to 52% from pv,after the load is satisfied, then start discharging back to 49% at 0.02 kW till 11h30 (thats the 1% setting) ( if you set it to zero it charges from pv after the load is satisfied)

then batteries charge from pv from 11h30 till about 13h00 

This gives you the advantage of using more than 4.6kW output as the pv is almost at max at 11h30 ( i have 5.6kW pv)

the pv charges the batteries at max and rest is for load and grid

If you don't want to export to grid set Export Power Limit to zero

Hi Guys,

 

My Setup :

Inverter : Goodwe 5048-ES

Solar : 18 x 330w Panels (9 Panels on each MPPT) 

Batteries : 2 x Pylontech us3000

Version : 1818A (6181810)

Electricity Bill Summer : Average R4500 Per Month

Electricity Bill Winter : Average R6000 Per Month

Appliances : Gas Stove (Electric stove is never used), Gas Fire Place, 1 x Solar Geyser, 1 x Electric Geyser, Dishwasher, Washing Machine, Kettle, 2 x Freezers, 2 x Fridge/Freezers, 2 x Aircons used in Summer only.

 

I have been running this setup for 1 year now, I have tried the following modes :

 

1) General Mode : My Batteries never charge, it might be that my load is too high so not enough PV to charge the batteries? see attached Screenshots,  

 

2) Back-up Mode : Works fine but i feel like i am not using the System to full Capacity. (I have been using this mode 90% of the time)

 

3) Eco Mode : So i have changed to Eco Mode a few days ago,

Group 1 : Set the Charge time from 14:00 to 17:59 @ 1% Rated Power, (i will change this as the batteries Charge in about 2 hours)

Group 2 : Set the Discharge time from 18:00 to 23:59 @ 0% Rated Power

Group 3 : Set the Discharge time from 00:00 to 13:59 @ 0% Rated Power

Export Power Limit on - Set to 100w

DOD on-Grid - 60%

DOD off-Grid - 89%

 

Now based on the ECO Mode, the batteries charge full with Solar from 14:00 to 16:00, then from 18:00 it starts discharging, at this time my load is generally low but for some reason the load jumps just to discharge the batteries, so by 19:30 my batteries are down to 40%, (see attached Screenshot) Same thing happens everyday. Then once the batteries are discharged the load drops back down.

Are my settings wrong? or is there something wrong with the Inverter?

Can someone please advise the best setup to get the most out of the system? I attached Screenshots of my current Setup.

 

Thanking you in Advance.

 

 

 

Edited August 12, 20214 yr by Rehaan

Hi @Rehaan your first screen shot shows nearly 21kw/h generation for the day BUT PV is always less than load, so you used more than was generated. Also because the PV is always less than load, there is never any PV available to charge the batteries. So the battery just sits at 40% SOC as long as there is grid.

So first thing to figure out is where is all the juice going? As long as you consume more than you generate this situation will remain - the battery will stay at the 40% SOC you have reserved and any PV you do generate will be used to service the load.

The 2nd shot is a bit odd. It shows SOC increasing from 2pm (as per your rule), but PV is still less than load and there is no increase in grid consumption shown. So where is that power coming from? 

Look at this trace from my system. You can see the rule in economy mode kicking in at 2pm. PV is low, SOC is increasing and we see a big bump in the yellow grid trace - that's the grid power that is being used to charge the battery. We don't see that downward bump in your graph. Your SOC goes up, there is no increase shown in PV nor in grid, so where is the battery getting power from? Strange. 

I can't help you with connection issues, but I wonder if you have one. 

But you still need to solve the first problem. If what you use exceeds what your system generates then you won't have spare juice left for the batteries.

Rehaan definitely has a high load issue.

look at mine where the load is lower than the generation.

Hi Rehaan, agree with Bobster and Tinuva that there is something really odd with your system, Not to sure what your loads are like but your bill is extremely high, especially with your spec system.

Looking at the below, It almost looks like your load "follows" or "ride on top" your PV output, i.e. as the PV output increases, the load below seems to increase, also the imported current (yellow) does not seem to be affected by the P.V.

The two load areas marked with the red circles seems to nicely mirror the PV output.

This may also have something to do with your load "jumping" to discharge the battery.

 

 

Have you perhaps done the CT meter test by any change and did it pass?

PV Master -> Settings -> Meter Test

Below from the manual

 

 

.

On 2021/08/12 at 11:05 AM, Bobster said:

Hi @Rehaan your first screen shot shows nearly 21kw/h generation for the day BUT PV is always less than load, so you used more than was generated. Also because the PV is always less than load, there is never any PV available to charge the batteries. So the battery just sits at 40% SOC as long as there is grid.

So first thing to figure out is where is all the juice going? As long as you consume more than you generate this situation will remain - the battery will stay at the 40% SOC you have reserved and any PV you do generate will be used to service the load.

The 2nd shot is a bit odd. It shows SOC increasing from 2pm (as per your rule), but PV is still less than load and there is no increase in grid consumption shown. So where is that power coming from? 

Look at this trace from my system. You can see the rule in economy mode kicking in at 2pm. PV is low, SOC is increasing and we see a big bump in the yellow grid trace - that's the grid power that is being used to charge the battery. We don't see that downward bump in your graph. Your SOC goes up, there is no increase shown in PV nor in grid, so where is the battery getting power from? Strange. 

I can't help you with connection issues, but I wonder if you have one. 

But you still need to solve the first problem. If what you use exceeds what your system generates then you won't have spare juice left for the batteries.

 

@Bobster Thanks for your feedback, See attached Screenshot from the PV Master App while the Batteries are charging, it seems like the Batteries are charging from Solar?

I made a video while using the PV Master App, this was on the 15/08/2021 (Partially Cloudy day)

https://simplyworkwearcoza-my.sharepoint.com/:v:/g/personal/rehaan_simplyworkwear_co_za/Ee7DB6cnO7NIgqZhX0hPVA0BNzvIRj6KsTm0awTygwMgFQ?e=vk9uiw

 

Connection issue? When i connect to the Solar WIFI, then open the PV Master App, the inverter lights start flashing as if is restarting, then i have to connect to the Solar WIFI again and open PV Master again, then it seems fine.

 

 

On 2021/08/12 at 8:42 PM, WeNotGood said:

Hi Rehaan, agree with Bobster and Tinuva that there is something really odd with your system, Not to sure what your loads are like but your bill is extremely high, especially with your spec system.

Looking at the below, It almost looks like your load "follows" or "ride on top" your PV output, i.e. as the PV output increases, the load below seems to increase, also the imported current (yellow) does not seem to be affected by the P.V.

The two load areas marked with the red circles seems to nicely mirror the PV output.

This may also have something to do with your load "jumping" to discharge the battery.

 

 

Have you perhaps done the CT meter test by any change and did it pass?

PV Master -> Settings -> Meter Test

Below from the manual

 

 

 

@WeNotGood Yes i always noticed that my Load Follows my PV, Not sure why.

I made a video while using the PV Master App, this was on the 15/08/2021 (Partially Cloudy day)

https://simplyworkwearcoza-my.sharepoint.com/:v:/g/personal/rehaan_simplyworkwear_co_za/Ee7DB6cnO7NIgqZhX0hPVA0BNzvIRj6KsTm0awTygwMgFQ?e=vk9uiw

 

CT meter test always failed (CT Meter connection Error) since the day i installed the System, See attached Screenshot.

Could this be the problem?

 

I need to get the the bottom of this, my bill is way too high and i am not seeing a ROI on this system for the past year.

 

 

 

 

Hi Rehaan

Possible issues for the CT test failing may be due to:

1. Position of the CT clamp

2. Direction of the CT clamp,

The clamp is directional so will need to be the correct way around, perhaps the easiest (alternative) way to check is to switch on e.g. the geyser and see if the change in consumption on PV master corresponds to the load, e.g. for a 3kW geyser the consumption should be > 3kw as it will be the total of the Geyser and the other loads, if after sunset this will be supplied by the grid and / or battery (if the battery still has capacity) .

If you look at the below youtube video @ around 1:14, it will give some pointers on doing the CT test:

 

Below a diagram showing the ideal position of the CT clamp:

 

 

5 hours ago, WeNotGood said:

 

Hi Rehaan

Possible issues for the CT test failing may be due to:

1. Position of the CT clamp

2. Direction of the CT clamp,

The clamp is directional so will need to be the correct way around, perhaps the easiest (alternative) way to check is to switch on e.g. the geyser and see if the change in consumption on PV master corresponds to the load, e.g. for a 3kW geyser the consumption should be > 3kw as it will be the total of the Geyser and the other loads, if after sunset this will be supplied by the grid and / or battery (if the battery still has capacity) .

If you look at the below youtube video @ around 1:14, it will give some pointers on doing the CT test:

 

Below a diagram showing the ideal position of the CT clamp:

 

 

I had 2 Installers look at the CT Meter. They both said its connected correctly. 

 

I was under the impression that my Geyser, oven, aircons, etc are not connected through the inverter, hence the load will not increase on the PV master App when these Appliances are turned on. Or am i wrong?

7 hours ago, Rehaan said:

I had 2 Installers look at the CT Meter. They both said its connected correctly. 

 

I was under the impression that my Geyser, oven, aircons, etc are not connected through the inverter, hence the load will not increase on the PV master App when these Appliances are turned on. Or am i wrong?

The non-essentials, eg. your geysers, oven and aircons will most definitely put load on the inverter when in on-grid mode (when there is not loadshedding).

That is why the CT is there. So that the inverter know how much the non-essentials pull from eskom, it then will take whatever energy is available from solar or battery and push back so that those devices use less eskom. Assuming inverter is set to not push back into the grid.

I think this is the only problem I have with the goodwe, and why I use home assistant to manage the DoD during the day to allow the battery to recharge first, before geysers etc. come online and chow into the PV generation.

On 2021/08/12 at 9:20 AM, Rehaan said:

Electricity Bill Summer : Average R4500 Per Month

Electricity Bill Winter : Average R6000 Per Month

Appliances : Gas Stove (Electric stove is never used), Gas Fire Place, 1 x Solar Geyser, 1 x Electric Geyser, Dishwasher, Washing Machine, Kettle, 2 x Freezers, 2 x Fridge/Freezers, 2 x Aircons used in Summer only.

This does not add up. Your bill can't be that high with the appliances mentioned.

If you have large AC units I can maybe understand the summer usage but why would winter be that much higher?
Any electric heating maybe?

 

Did your bills drastically increase once you installed the solar system?

On 2021/08/12 at 11:05 AM, Bobster said:

Hi @Rehaan your first screen shot shows nearly 21kw/h generation for the day BUT PV is always less than load, so you used more than was generated. Also because the PV is always less than load, there is never any PV available to charge the batteries. So the battery just sits at 40% SOC as long as there is grid.

So first thing to figure out is where is all the juice going? As long as you consume more than you generate this situation will remain - the battery will stay at the 40% SOC you have reserved and any PV you do generate will be used to service the load.

The 2nd shot is a bit odd. It shows SOC increasing from 2pm (as per your rule), but PV is still less than load and there is no increase in grid consumption shown. So where is that power coming from? 

Look at this trace from my system. You can see the rule in economy mode kicking in at 2pm. PV is low, SOC is increasing and we see a big bump in the yellow grid trace - that's the grid power that is being used to charge the battery. We don't see that downward bump in your graph. Your SOC goes up, there is no increase shown in PV nor in grid, so where is the battery getting power from? Strange. 

I can't help you with connection issues, but I wonder if you have one. 

But you still need to solve the first problem. If what you use exceeds what your system generates then you won't have spare juice left for the batteries.

 

I agree it seems a lot of juice is being used.  The scale on his graphs are very high at  20kW and 16kW. The graph is small but load seems to go up to 10kW.  Goodwe can't supply that much so should the grid not supply the balance of 5kW?

On the second graph you ask where the power is coming from.  The charging battery seems to coincide with a drop in power usage.  Very odd that power usage would drop when you start charging batteries.

Why is the power export limit set to 100W and not to 0W?

 

18 hours ago, Rehaan said:

 

@Bobster Thanks for your feedback, See attached Screenshot from the PV Master App while the Batteries are charging, it seems like the Batteries are charging from Solar?

I made a video while using the PV Master App, this was on the 15/08/2021 (Partially Cloudy day)

https://simplyworkwearcoza-my.sharepoint.com/:v:/g/personal/rehaan_simplyworkwear_co_za/Ee7DB6cnO7NIgqZhX0hPVA0BNzvIRj6KsTm0awTygwMgFQ?e=vk9uiw

 

Connection issue? When i connect to the Solar WIFI, then open the PV Master App, the inverter lights start flashing as if is restarting, then i have to connect to the Solar WIFI again and open PV Master again, then it seems fine.

 

Hi @Rehaan when I said "connection" I meant the way that your system is connected. There is something up here. The behaviour you describe above is not usual. To be sure of what I'm saying  I just fired up PV Master and watched my inverter.  Does this happen every time? Or is it just that your system is restarting often?

Your inverter is telling you there's a problem with your CT, since the CT and the inverter are made to work as a pair, and since Goodwe embed a test routine for the CT in the inverter, I'd believe what the inverter is saying. 

I don't have enough technical knowledge to troubleshoot your system, so I won't go any further down this road.

BUT, as we discussed and according to SEMS, your loads are exceeding the PV you generate. The loads seem high, and you are saying that your electricity bill is high (the two confirm each other). So you have to identify all these loads and see what controls you can impose. The graph you posted earlier shows 20 kw/h of PV in a day, but loads > 20 kw/h and so all your PV is supplementing the load and there's nothing to charge the battery. So you need to understand where all that electricity is going and then see if you can reduce or better control the loads.

31 minutes ago, Bobster said:

Hi @Rehaan when I said "connection" I meant the way that your system is connected. There is something up here. The behaviour you describe above is not usual. To be sure of what I'm saying  I just fired up PV Master and watched my inverter.  Does this happen every time? Or is it just that your system is restarting often?

OK... when you are about to exit there is a prompt to reset the system. It's badly worded and sometimes redundant. If you have just changed from one mode to the other, or adjusted your eco mode settings then there is no need to reset. But you have to take the "yes" or "no" to exit the app. So unless I've been changing something that I shouldn't change, I always choose "no". If you choose "yes" then the system will restart (but you will still have power). So maybe that's what happening. 

But I know from trial and experience that if I change the eco mode settings (or change modes) and I choose "no" at that prompt, when I go back in with PV Master I will find the changes I made are in place and the system then operates as I have set it.

@WeNotGood @Tinuva Ok so at 10pm one evening i switched on my 36000BTU aircon and the load did not increase on the PV master or SEMS app. My electric geyser is always switched on (No Timer). So this means my non essential loads are not running through the inverter or not getting detected through the CT meter.

 

@Pietpower Regarding the export power limit, i always had export power tunred off. I had an installer look at my system recently and he switch it on with 100w limit. 

 

@Bobster - I know that after making changes to the settings it asks to restart the inverter. I choose no. However my problem is as soon as i connect to my Solar WIFI and open the PV master, the Inverter lights start flashing and clicking as if its restarting. I then have to wait a few seconds, reconnect to the Solar WIFI then it seems fine.

 

Now for the past 2 days the WIFI light on my inverter is off, not blinking at all. I tried resetting by pressing the reset button, short press or long press, the light flashes once then goes off.

 

I need assistance here urgently. Is there someone that can come out to check my setup and installation and do some troubleshooting so i can get to the bottom of this.

If not my only other option will be to get this Inverter replaced by Goodwe, can you guys suggest the procedure to do this?

Edited August 20, 20214 yr by Rehaan
None

12 hours ago, Rehaan said:

@Bobster - I know that after making changes to the settings it asks to restart the inverter. I choose no. However my problem is as soon as i connect to my Solar WIFI and open the PV master, the Inverter lights start flashing and clicking as if its restarting. I then have to wait a few seconds, reconnect to the Solar WIFI then it seems fine.

OK... that is not normal behaviour. So you have this, you have the system warning you that the CT is incorrectly installed, you have posted some data from SEMs that doesn't add up. I think there's an installation problem here.

12 hours ago, Rehaan said:

Now for the past 2 days the WIFI light on my inverter is off, not blinking at all. I tried resetting by pressing the reset button, short press or long press, the light flashes once then goes off.

This seems to be quite common with the ES series Goodwe inverters. There are two sets of firmware on the inverter. One handles the power generation and usage, the second handles the wifi. I suggest you get the second updated and then restart your system.

13 hours ago, Rehaan said:

 

@WeNotGood @Tinuva Ok so at 10pm one evening i switched on my 36000BTU aircon and the load did not increase on the PV master or SEMS app. My electric geyser is always switched on (No Timer). So this means my non essential loads are not running through the inverter or not getting detected through the CT meter.

 

Hi Rehaan,

The non essential loads will not run “through” the inverter but should be detected by the CT meter in a correctly installed system.

 

The reason is that while grid connnected, the Goodwe will also supply the non essential loads, up to the maximum capacity of the inverter, in order to maximise the self usage of the generated “and stored” energy”.

Agree with @Bobsterthat there most likely appears to be an installation problem, based on the data you supplied.

 

Thanks guys.

Can someone suggest the right installer to sort my problem out?

 

 

On 2021/08/21 at 11:17 PM, Rehaan said:

Thanks guys.

Can someone suggest the right installer to sort my problem out?

 

 

Hi Rehaan, i am sure someone on the forum will be able to recommend an installer, have you already indicated where you are based?

Thanks. 

I am based in Centurion. 

At the moment i cannot access the PV master and inverter shows offline on SEMS. I cannot make any changes to settings nor can i view data.

 

 

On 2021/08/16 at 5:43 PM, Bobster said:

OK... when you are about to exit there is a prompt to reset the system. It's badly worded and sometimes redundant. If you have just changed from one mode to the other, or adjusted your eco mode settings then there is no need to reset. But you have to take the "yes" or "no" to exit the app. So unless I've been changing something that I shouldn't change, I always choose "no". If you choose "yes" then the system will restart (but you will still have power). So maybe that's what happening. 

But I know from trial and experience that if I change the eco mode settings (or change modes) and I choose "no" at that prompt, when I go back in with PV Master I will find the changes I made are in place and the system then operates as I have set it.

I am in Australia and have 3 x GoodWe SBP 5000 so AC coupled only - but i see the exact opposite behaviour in the PV Master app - if i change something and exit the app with doing the reset - i find that most of the time it does not take effect.

I have never seen a worse app in my life -it appears that they let the Work experienc kid loose on it with no input as to functions and operation.

Craig

8 hours ago, curto said:

I am in Australia and have 3 x GoodWe SBP 5000 so AC coupled only - but i see the exact opposite behaviour in the PV Master app - if i change something and exit the app with doing the reset - i find that most of the time it does not take effect.

I have never seen a worse app in my life -it appears that they let the Work experienc kid loose on it with no input as to functions and operation.

Craig

I don't think that PV Master is the best designed app I've ever seen. But the version I am running warns me at launch time that it only supports "energy storage" inverters, which I take to mean the ES series, and if you're running a grid-tied system you should use the SolarGo app.

Thanks for this - but my version of PV Master tells me the same thing and then lists my inverters

I have been backwards and forwards with GoodWe support and they have never suggested to try SolarGo - will download it now and see what it says.

Interestingly enough - i have now converted one of my inverters back to WIFI and i can see difference in the main screen - it is fairly obvious whoever wrote it never contemplated someone using 3 of these with LAN adapter.

When i have the LAN adapters in installed - the initial screen lists 3 devices as HF_E20 - no other identifiers - you have to select one and go to the next screen to see which is which and if you pick the wrong one - you go back to the main window and start again - however if you have the WIFI dongles it lists then as Solar-WiFi and then part of the serial number of the inverter so you can differentiate from the main screen - just poor UX design

Craig