How do my solar generation stats compare? Discussion.

I’m really sorry but this isn’t something I can help with. I will review the entire thread just in case though, please bear with me as my thread trawls can take a while!

Ok, thread trawl complete! Thanks very much for your patience! :)

@M.isterW @nealmurphy this seems right up your street. Would you be happy to stop by?

• @BPLightblog; great; 4x batteries would do the job.
  Our inverter can handle it, i.e. it is 4000W. Also we were told (afterwards) that 2 batteries would be needed for 3500W but that the inverter can handle it; I still think that one battery on 60A would do the job if the ceiling is raised from <=37A to <=60A. We would not fill two batteries, generally speaking.
• Ah, you saying that the data are somewhat wrong but that nobody can explain to me, if the data are taken every 3min or 5min, then the instantaneous measurements taken should not show the grid taking over when it should not.
• I had asked for the real-time switching data; that would help to assess whether the data are right or wrong. I will try to see how to get those data.

@ogeitenhoeve yes, the system controller switches every few seconds - bear in mind that it is coping with changes in PV production, coupled with demand, coupled with battery energy and so it is juggling these to try to make the best match. The app however, only updates every few minutes ( I see an update today with the time stamp of the latest reading taken) and so if you refresh your screen, you will see the slower reading record - the time does not update until the next record slice
 

• @BPLightlog Yes, I know system only updates every 5min but:
  - instantaneous measurements should be correct and they are not;
  - when the battery is >=90% the system, stops loading the battery with max current & instead leads a large amount for free or at a low rate to the grid; I don’t want that but it is completely unclear how to block that (app owners probably made some deal with the energy suppliers such that they can snoop a little bit of many to gain a lot)
  - when I run something above max sun-input then the battery should step in if it is loaded >=10%, not 5min later; the issue is that the controller is not a local program uploaded and acting fast (on [sub]second scale) but seems to be steered from outside only every 5min, meaning also that if there is no wifi one is screwed and delivers again for little or nothing to the grid. (E.g., Arduino technology puts the controlling program on a local chip and one can upload updates if one wants to so the functionality needed exists but apparently there are some external motives not to make it happen, see above?).
  - When the battery fails and needs [we had one within 5wks] a manual reset is needed and then the default settings kick in being that grid loads the battery even when there is full sunlight so one manually has to reset everything on the app while there should be an automatic default set by the individual users [i.e. if one is not checking the system continuously one can be messed up for days].
  - All the above indicates that the controllers are very poorly designed.
  - Who controls the app, from the outside? If from the upside does that mean when there is a crises the country with the app can mess our solar energy supply up?  How independent is the system for the user? What happens if the grid falls out? 
  - My supplier refuses to answer these questions.

Morning @ogeitenhoeve 

Let me see if I can give some more info for you one by one …

- instantaneous measurements should be correct and they are not;

If you are only seeing readings every 5 mins how do you know the instantaneous measurements are not correct.

 when the battery is >=90% the system, stops loading the battery with max current & instead leads a large amount for free or at a low rate to the grid; I don’t want that

At a certain level the charging current needs to reduce otherwise the battery could be damaged and with Li-Ion that can be dangerous. 

 when I run something above max sun-input then the battery should step in if it is loaded >=10%, not 5min later

The controller reacts to the instantaneous changes of PV generation, demand and Battery Power availability but (and I agree here it could be quicker switching) only adjusts its balance every few seconds.

When the battery fails and needs [we had one within 5wks] a manual reset is needed and then the default settings kick in 

I have not had a failure but I don’t believe that my settings reset to default as they are stored separately. 

Who controls the app, from the outside? 

The only people with access to change settings are the user and the installer (possibly the manufacturer .. not sure)

What happens if the grid falls out?

Unless you have a standby battery installed and a separate feed from the controller, the system will shut down and not operate.

You should be able to get more info from your installer and (as I mentioned) you can connect directly to the controller by its wi-fi dongle feed. 

• @BPlight: Ah, useful. Many thanks.
  - We are in essence getting no info from the installer and have the system 7 weeks now; so far I have not found the manual for our inverter online since the ones I found seem to have more settings than we do
  - I meant to say that the 5min readings are either incorrect or indicate incorrect settings since from those readings I can see that the grid gets used while it should not; but it may be as you say that this happens because the system reacts every 3s so in that gap the grid can take over and that is what we intermittently see; however sometimes it is longer than 5min that the grid takes over while the battery is charged.
  - that is useful and clear, but why 90% and not 97% (or 95%) as battery level above which to slow down the charging since the maximum charge current for us is at the moment ~1900W and by just looking the going from 90%-2-97% generally takes quite long, longer than 5min.
  - I did not get that, the battery and controller are side-by-side close to the panels; why does it not or can it not act like a standby battery when the grid goes down? That shut down in part defeats the purpose of independence?

@ogeitenhoeve 

I’m not sure I have full answers for you but it’s worth looking at your current settings in the app. 
 

You can set the Feed-In level and Charge Rate. 
The back up situation is as it is because the controller needs power to do its work. Also they limit the output so that you can’t overpower the output when the grid is down. 
 

@BPLightlog Thanks.

Our app setting is different; we only have “Power Back up enable/disable” and not the other settings; Also you seem to indicate you have to switch matters on/off by hand, as if I have time to check every 5 minutes of the day.

What I would like is no grid use till the battery is depleted to its minimum of 10%; no grid feedback till battery is full, with no tapering of input current to battery till 95%. But that one should program in a program, not by having to switch functionality by hand. I program in Arduino, Matlab, C, C++ and Python; and, the app appears medieval to me with poor functionality. I have also not been able to find an appropriate manual.

Battery broke down 4x and we had to reset 4x in 10 weeks, 2 during last week, in which we had to monitor the system a lot to catch the battery malfunction in time because otherwise, the grid kicks in and no solar energy is used or stored onto the battery. The supplier is pretty much useless: they finally will pass by after 11 weeks even thought we have reported poor settings and malfunctions for 11 weeks. I doubt they will fix matters at all or well, given their record to dat.

Are there blacklisted or poor suppliers known? We checked but they may have covered their tracks?

 

@ogeitenhoeve I'm not sure which inverter you have but perhaps this page might give you some more info and a copy of the user guide

https://luxpowertek.com/download