Hypervolt Home 3 Pro and the Hypervolt Home 3.0 are now fully compatible with Charge Anytime

Hi Oho, can you confirm if you have both a Hypervolt and hybrid inverter? When my installers installed the Hypervolt, the manual clearly specified not to use a 2nd CT clamp if my solar has a hybrid inverter. Keen to know what your system looks like, if it’s working!

​@sanjoo  We do indeed have a Hybrid Inverter, its a LUX LXP6K.

The 2nd CT clamp is a necessity for supporting OVO CA otherwise there is no detection of solar rather than supply charging the EV (dependent how your Hypervolt has been wired I might add).

My point about the 3rd CT being spliced into the solution was not a requirement for the above, this element was to prevent the home energy battery from discharging into the EV, which is not what I wanted. There are also other ways of dealing with that issue.

Going back to the 2nd CT clamp, I am unable to find any indications in the manual stating it should not be used. In fact Hypervolt themselves advised me it should be used in this scenario.

https://support.hypervolt.co.uk/en/knowledge-base/home-battery-system-setup

If you are having problems with your system, if you describe them, we might be able to assist or provide some insight.

Hi again, see Hypervolt link that says do not install a 2nd CT if the house has a hybrid inverter: https://support.hypervolt.co.uk/en/knowledge-base/2nd-ct-installation-guide

my issue is exactly the same as yours I.e I don’t want my battery to discharge into the EV. At the moment when I charge at night for example, it draws 5kwh from my solar battery and only 2kwh from the grid and this is not favourable at all. My workaround at the moment is to increase the threshold of my battery to stop discharging completely during the charging session which also means that during these hours my house is also using grid power at standard rate!

I think that section of the Hypervolt manual very much depends on your system and how its setup. I’m not sure but if Hypervolt are referring to BatterySafe Mode, that doesn’t work when the Hypervolt is under OVO control. Are you using OVO CA and is it the Hypervolt or your EV that is integrated? Mine is the Hypervolt.

If you dont have the 2nd CT, OVO can’t detect (via the Hypervolt) the home energy supply, only the grid supply. Also without that I was unable to benefit from solar EV charging (which requires a spare 1.4kw+ from solar) Again I must caveat this as it depends on how its all wired and where the CT clamps are positioned.

The problem of your home battery discharging into the EV is a common issue present with most systems. Some workarounds require you to wire the Hypervolt grid supply before the main inverter CT clamp (via a Henley block in the meter cupboard) or move the inverter CT so that it doesn’t detect the Hypervolt EV load. None of these were an option for me as I have the Hypervolt via a 2nd CU in a detached garage.

I looked at various alternatives including what you are having to do with battery thresholds. I even discussed with the inverter manufacturer about enhancing their design with an additional CP CT clamp. I wanted it all to be automatic and still get the full benefit 24/7 from the home battery (but not for EV). Anyway my installer came up with a very easy workaround with the additional CT clamp spliced into the inverters CT link as explained in an earlier post. The idea is that it prevents the inverter seeing the CP/EV load and hence stops the battery-battery discharge. This has worked perfectly since it was setup.

Thanks for your detailed response. I have exactly the same set-up as you. I have a submain in a detached garage which the Hypervolt is wired to. 
your solution seems to be working and might be the way to go.

Is it possible to share details of your installer? Perhaps they might be able to advise if I send pictures of my setup.

If you check towards the end of the page in the link I sent, it is quite clearly advising against a 2nd CT for hybrid inverters, irrespective of installation and my Hypervolt didn’t come with a 2nd CT.

my Volvo is connected to the Hypervolt (again a must by OVO is you have Hypervolt and solar), so same as urs

​@sanjoo    I’ll try and separate the points out for clarity.

My installation has 2 CTs at the grid supply point. 1 CT for the inverter and 1 CT for the Hypervolt. This I imagine is fairly standard and enables each system to see the household grid load.

We also installed the CT2 for the Hypervolt on the inverter AC side. This allows the Hypervolt to see the solar/battery supply in addition to the normal grid supply with CT1. Without this it won’t properly integrate with OVO CA. I understand your point about the Hypervolt manual, but we are merely talking about CT monitoring here. You can discuss with Hypervolt if you have any concerns, they are quite approachable. I should add, we did run without CT2 for some time, until I discovered you need this to resolve a number of issues. It is also required if you want to charge your EV under solar whilst its integrated with OVO CA and under their control. You are correct the Hypervolt does not contain CT2 in the box, but I contacted them and got that delivered (don't forget obtain the small green connector which is required in the CT2 port).

At this point everything works as it should in the solution…….but…….EV charging can discharge the home battery. As I mentioned this is a common problem, and the inverter is doing its job and meeting household load, which is what the Hypervolt is part of.

To resolve this problem, the typical alternatives such as wiring the Hypervolt via a Henley block or moving the inverter CT were not practical for me with a 2nd CU in a detached garage. It can be done but would have involved a lot of extra work and cost. Other alternatives such as battery thresholds, inverter programming schedules and manual switching were also undesirable for me. Too much hassle and meant I couldn’t use the system as I intended.

We installed an additional CT on the Hypervolt supply (in the garage CU). This is connected to the inverter and spliced via the main CT link cable. But its positioned in reverse on the Hypervolt supply. This has the effect of “cancelling” out the EV load in the inverters CT monitoring (technically if you are drawing say 10kw from the grid and 7kw is going to the Hypervolt, the inverter only see's the remaining 3kw). This stops the battery-battery discharge. The Hypervolt with just draw from the grid under OVO CA when required. Also when the household load and home battery are fully met from solar, the inverter pushes the excess for export. When that goes above 1.4kw, I get some additional solar EV charging (if EV plugged in) or if below 1.4kw is just goes into the OVO SEG export agreement. You need the Hypervolt CT2 to make this work.

The only slight downside is the inverter statistics don’t show the EV load and export stats are slightly skewed, but that’s minor for me and I can live with that. It has no impact on grid supply or OVO metering.

I don’t want to publish the installer details on here as I still have a couple of unrelated gripes with them. Once that’s dealt with I can let you know via PM.

Hope this helps.

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Thanks so much for the detailed response. Very helpful. I’ll convey this to my installers and see if it’s something they can do for me. Will keep you updated. Thanks again.

Hey ​@sanjoo,

It sounds like you’re getting the answers you’re looking for. Thanks for helping out ​@oho 😃

I’ve added a couple of badges to your profile to show you’re part of our EV and energy storage community.

​@oho ​@sanjoo I’ve been reading your past comments with interest. As someone who will be getting a Hypervolt installed next week with an EV on its way, and thinking about solar early next year, how are your set-ups working out?

Many thanks,

​@darren_p My setup has been great and works exactly as I needed it to (after the various changes I’ve mentioned in the previous posts)…….only downside is the OVO 14p grab. But like many on here I’ve worked out my costs will be less with several other suppliers, so I’ll be moving when my fixed rate ends in November. I’m expecting the Hypervolt to continue working fine with other suppliers.