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Indra charger and solar battery - can't set start time?

  • July 23, 2025
  • 8 replies
  • 107 views
R
New Member**
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I have an Indra pro and solar power system with battery. I don’t want the car charger to draw from the house battery as this will reduce its lifespan. I manage this by setting a period in the inverter (eg 1030pm - 330am) as a window for charging the car.

this means I need to specify a time for the charger to start. This used to be simple - set a schedule on the car and plug it in when I liked.
 

since the new app has rolled out it seems this is impossible as I can’t set a start time. Is this the case?

Best answer by oho

​@rich_bennett2000 

Hi, this is not just a problem with Indra, its a fundamental way solar/battery inverters work as they are doing what they are designed to do and supplying a load demand. The EV charging is merely another load.

In my case I have a Hypervolt which also supports solar charging with CA, but still has the same issue with house battery draining into the EV battery. I’ve written a number of posts on here in previous threads about this. You will also see numerous posts on the web about the same problem. I have overcome the problem with some CT clamp changes.

Depending on the inverter features, how your system is wired, the CT clamp positions and also the termination of the Indra in relation to the rest of your supply and CUs, there are methods and changes you can make to deal with this issue.

8 replies

Blastoise186
Plan Zero Hero
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  • Blastoise186Plan Zero Hero
  • Plan Zero Hero
  • July 23, 2025

Hi ​@rich_bennett2000 ,

As this is Indra functionality, you’ll need to chat with their team.

https://www.indra.co.uk/contact/

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Abby_OVO
Abby_OVO
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  • Abby_OVO
  • Community Manager
  • July 23, 2025

Hey ​@rich_bennett2000 

 

I’m glad to see one of our community members has already stopped by to offer some helpful advice here.

 

If you’ve not done so yet, I’d definitely recommend getting in touch with Indra to see if this is something they can help change.

 

It’ll be helpful to know how you get on as I can imagine others might have similar questions, so please do pop back and let us know how you get on.

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R
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Thanks Abby.

Here’s what Indra have to say:

When using OVO Charge Anytime you will set a "Ready by time" in the Charge Anytime app and OVO will then optimise your charge to meet this time. Scheduling functions in the Indra App will not work whilst linked to OVO Charge Anytime.

This is a real shame. The Indra charger was supposedly designed for PV systems but it makes the house battery useless as it drains it completely. It was fine until the latest shift to the Indra app as I could schedule a start time to the charging period that coincided with shutting the house battery down. Now this functionality is disabled.

Is anything likely to be done about this?

O
Carbon Catcher*
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  • oho
  • Carbon Catcher*
  • Answer
  • August 3, 2025

​@rich_bennett2000 

Hi, this is not just a problem with Indra, its a fundamental way solar/battery inverters work as they are doing what they are designed to do and supplying a load demand. The EV charging is merely another load.

In my case I have a Hypervolt which also supports solar charging with CA, but still has the same issue with house battery draining into the EV battery. I’ve written a number of posts on here in previous threads about this. You will also see numerous posts on the web about the same problem. I have overcome the problem with some CT clamp changes.

Depending on the inverter features, how your system is wired, the CT clamp positions and also the termination of the Indra in relation to the rest of your supply and CUs, there are methods and changes you can make to deal with this issue.

Peter E
Ben_OVO
Ben_OVO
Community Manager
  • Ben_OVO
  • Community Manager
  • August 4, 2025

Thanks for your help here ​@oho.

 

​@rich_bennett2000 this is a solution that ​@oho let us know about previously:

 

The installers had interpreted the direction wrong on the dial. It was pointing to 3 instead of 8, which is directly opposite. Therefore set at 16A instead of 100A for monitoring the main incoming supply.

The reason I was able to get the CP running at 32A previously with grid+battery is because the solar/battery sit further upstream from the CT clamp and hence were not restricted by the ALM dial.

 

You can read the full thread here:

 

 

I hope this might help!

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Peter E
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  • Peter EPlan Zero Hero
  • Plan Zero Hero
  • August 4, 2025

​@rich_bennett2000 

 

You are not the first person to be in this situation and the location of the EVSE feed can be as important as the location of the current clamps. Have a look at this discussion and see if it is relevant to your case and look for similar posts.

 

https://myenergi.info/moving-ct-clamp-to-avoid-battery-drain-possible-t15019.html

 

Peter 

Reducing my yearly fossil fuel usage with an EV (-900 litres petrol), A2AHP (-8,500 kWh gas) and Timed Immersion heater (-1,500 kWh gas)
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Peter E
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  • Peter EPlan Zero Hero
  • Plan Zero Hero
  • August 8, 2025

​@rich_bennett2000 I’ve also found a good YT video that explains what the problem is and how to fix it. It does have some side effects and limitations though.

 

 

I’ve also sent a document to ​@Ben_OVO on the generic method of preventing the problem but I also found that some EVSE units also have extra clamps and menus to detect this issue and stop it happening, presumably without rewiring the system. At some point OVO will publish the information after it has been reviewed and smartened up for customers so that they can point their electricians in the right direction. Some electricians know how to do this already but others say it’s not possible to fix.

 

The manufacturers that were helpful with their documentation were the Zappi (myenergi) and the Hypervolt. The ones that had very little technical information and help were the Andersen and the Indra.

 

Peter

 

Reducing my yearly fossil fuel usage with an EV (-900 litres petrol), A2AHP (-8,500 kWh gas) and Timed Immersion heater (-1,500 kWh gas)
juliamc
O
Ben_OVO
Community Manager
  • Ben_OVO
  • Community Manager
  • August 11, 2025

Thanks for your help on this ​@Peter E, I’ve got some time set aside to get your article prepared today 😁.

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Peter E
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