diy solar

diy solar

Monitoring software for Growatt-MPP Solar inverters

So this is how I keep an eye on things - with Pv Keeper on top of the Server, show you screen shots, Joe.
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CompMan2020 said:
I swapped out my 24V unit for the 6000T and after a few hiccups, mine is working well so far. Funny that you mention Solark because I've been looking at those. Might want to set up a net metering contract with the power company and growatt won't cut it.

Hit me up, maybe I can help you with yours.
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Sorry for the late reply. Thanks for the offer and the comment on my password issues thread. I have moved on, life is way too short. I have reconciled myself with taking the loss on the Growatt. It is still mounted on the wall next to the Solark but is disconnected from everything. I'll just use it for experiments and nothing more maybe I can use it to charge my DIY 48V batteries using mains input and disregard the PV inputs. I hope it can do that without me jumping through hoops.

Once again, Thanks.

-Vince
 
First-time poster: I am getting ready to start up my Growatt 3000TL LVM tomorrow, so have been playing around with the PVkeeper software that came with it, (not connected to Inverter, just checking out the software). I thought I'd pass along what I've learned.

Password 123456 worked. Under Help I found the user manual for the PVkeeper software, (copy attached). I then tried to export the sample data from the Observations and Events screens. I noticed it was trying to use a chinese Excel format...then I got a Windows exception error and no exported data. However, I found that if I selected the data on either screen, (observations or Events), I could do a Ctrl-C to copy the data and then successfully paste the data into Excel, (Ctrl-V)...worked perfectly.

I am also using the 24V batteries from watts247, (2 100AH in parallel). A conversation with Ian at watts247 earlier this month resulted in him updating his website documentation with the proper Growatt settings for the "Cylindrical nano 24V 100AH batteries that he sells. Here's the Link: https://watts247.com/product/cylindrical-nano-24v-100ah-lifepo4-battery-built-in-bms/
 

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Hi, I'm not an expert so maybe this is really simple, but it's kicking my butt. I have an "Off grid solar inverter with MPPT controller, 10kW". It is connected to 4.4kW solar array, and 2 LiFeP04 batteries (48V / 200Ah ea.) I ordered them direct from manufacturer in China and they are not branded but the inverter is referenced in the manual as Growatt. The batteries are also not branded and they didn't have a manual or anything additional with them. I have the PVKeeper program installed and working (kind of). It shows me what the system's doing and I can make changes to some settings, and it logs data so that's all good. Thanks to Joe BoyKey.

The problem I have is that the inverter won't communicate with the batteries. I can select user defined and get the system to work, but I know it's not maximizing the power because it only charges the batteries a little over half full and then stops charging.

I attached image of the instructions and the battery face for reference. The cable connects to the BMS port on the inverter so that's easy enough, but I've tried connecting it to every RS485 port and the CAN port with no luck. Do I need to do something with the ADS switches for it to work? I'm also wondering what they mean by pin to pin and port pin assignment. I'm using the cables provided so I assumed it would be good. Any insight would be appreciated.

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Its my understanding that 05 needs to be set to LI for it to comunicate with an external BMS/Li based battery pack.
If you set 05 to USE you should set the correct voltages for the battery you have in programs 19,20,21
 
schmism said:
Its my understanding that 05 needs to be set to LI for it to comunicate with an external BMS/Li based battery pack.
If you set 05 to USE you should set the correct voltages for the battery you have in programs 19,20,21
Click to expand...
That is correct, but when I have it set to LI it tries to communicate with BMS and fails. After I get the fault code 20 which is BMS Communication failed, I switch to USE I set the voltages and it charges, but I have no way to set other values for the batteries and they never seem to fully charge in that setting. The inverter display shows batteries as full but the most I've seen on the battery display is 4 of 6 lights. On the PVKeeper it always shows the batteries at 100% also. I am really stumped on the connection for BMS.
 
schmism said:
are you useing utility(genset) to charge? because 4.4kw of solar isnt going to fully charge a 400ah battery
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No, I haven't used anything other than the solar for charging.

So I'm no expert but I don't understand why they wouldn't charge the batteries fully. If I set them up and didn't use any power, just let them charge for days, would it not eventually fully charge? I have the panels wired in series/parallel so they are sending +/-103Vdc. On a good sunny day they push about 40A. is this not a good way to set it up? Why would it not fully charge the battery?
I had a 24V system that this one replaced and it was much smaller. 1.2kw PV and it had 24Vdc 400Ah battery set. That charged the batteries fully on many occasions. Please help me understand your thoughts on the subject? Thanks for your help.
 
So here is my math. Please let me know what I am missing. Maybe I'm over simplifying things but it looks like it should work.

48 volts at 400 amp hour batteries will hold 48 X 400 = 19200 watt hours of energy.
Now I know I need 19200 watts and I have 4 hours of good sun per day. 19200 / 4 = 4800 watts would do it in one day.
So if I have 4400 watts from my panels and I only get half of that in real world. 4400 / 2 = 2200
It should still charge the batteries in 3 days. (2200 X 4 hours = 8800) x3 days = 26400 watts
I know there will be power usage that will impact the charging but lets say I shut everything off for three full sunny days, would it not fully charge the batteries?

I'm not trying to be a smart @$$ or argue. I am legitimately trying to understand this stuff so please point out anything that I am doing wrong or if there are other factors that I am not taking into consideration.

ALSO: not trying to hijack the thread but my original question is how to get my BMS to communicate with the Growatt inverter. I am still hoping someone can show me the golden ticket for that.

Thanks again
 
I was under the impression that you were running the system durring the non-sun hours so the battery was cycleing between not-full and not-empty

If your not useing it and have several days to charge then yes I would expect that it could eventually charge fully

The other thing to mention is that this time of year the amount of sun I am getting from the sky is roughly half of what it is in summer. So all things being equal the best I could do out of my 5500w is about 2500 just because there is less sun.
 
Dhowe003 said:
ALSO: not trying to hijack the thread but my original question is how to get my BMS to communicate with the Growatt inverter. I am still hoping someone can show me the golden ticket for that.
Click to expand...
I think your going to need to start the long process of trying to get specs for your no name batts. If I had a guess you need to understand how the RS485 port is wired on both.

another point on the full charge, its all based on voltage. You should be able to verify what the voltage is on the battery pack terminals and compare that to the specs. The other option is that the "meter" on the battery is not calibrated well. Have you run a capacity check on it?
 
I think you're right, I'm going to have to find the specs for those batteries. I haven't done a capacity check but it's on the short list of things to do after I finish the house. Thanks.
 
Top of page 8 in the manual is a continuation of the section you posted. It talks about program 36 and how to set the right protocol for the com port. This also might be a key setting. But again your going to likely need to know more about the battery bank unless your just going to guess.
 
Both PV Keeper 1.0 and 2.0 will only connect after selecting the com port like 10 times, if I try to set anything it gives an error again and says no com port.

Is it letting you change any settings on your setups?

edit: didn’t change anything with the application or it’s environment, but went ahead and setup the inverter in the menu... and now the application is working fine.

/me shrugs
 
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vincei said:
The SolarK just works. The monitoring software just works. The fans in the Solark hardly ever run even when it's drawing 3.8Kw from the array charging the batteries. I can hear myself think downstairs in the basement where I have my workshop and don't even notice the SolArk is there.
Click to expand...

Have you tried to start all your loads (not at the same time) with the Solar Ark in off-grid mode? It is a high frequency type. One of the reasons I went away from going from a 1xLV5048 to 3xLV5048s, and instead went to the Growatt 12000t, was that I didn't want to worry about starting loads.
 
Does anyone have instructions on how to update the firmware on the 3000tl lvm's?
So the charge map for "USE" I have found does not work for Lithium Chem.. The bulk charge should fly past your desired float charge set point until it reaches your desired set bulk charge voltage and once reached, should be allowed to settle to float state. My settings "Absorb. 58v / Float 54.4v" how ever the charge will only ever reach 54.4v before shutting off charge. I have found on a youtube video specifically
that there is a firmware update. I'm wondering if this update will fix this issue and if someone has specific's on how to install it. The firmware update is over on Ian's page https://watts247.com/manuals/gw/ . Thanks
 
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