Markus_EG4
I am from Germany. Don't mean to come off rude
Generator Boost with newest Firmware
EG4 18kPV Q+A general thread
- Thread starter SignatureSolarJames
- Start date
Is this basically just protecting the generator input port to only what it's capable of producing without overloading the generator? What happens if the loads try to pull more than the gen+solar/bat are capable of providing per the max generator boost config?
Thunderproof
New Member
Can someone help me understand why my new 18kpv would randomly switch off of battery to grid for a few minutes several times per day? For context I do not have solar installed yet and am just running off of battery in a grid tied scenario.
I asked Markus and he said it was from grid frequency going out of spec so he made some changes but it is still happening just as much. Has anyone seen this with their 18kpv? I can understand why it might switch from grid to battery if there’s an issue but why would it switch from battery to grid seemingly at random?
I asked Markus and he said it was from grid frequency going out of spec so he made some changes but it is still happening just as much. Has anyone seen this with their 18kpv? I can understand why it might switch from grid to battery if there’s an issue but why would it switch from battery to grid seemingly at random?
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EG4_Jared
Online Support for EG4 Electronics
If you could DM your station name and serial number for the inverter, I will look into this.
Thunderproof
New Member
Good to know, I will give it a try. Does it still seamlessly switch when necessary?
It don’t know, this is what some one’s else on the forum said “4ms transfer turns into 20ms”. But I had to turn mine off, my ac couple inverter absolutely hates it. My 18Kpv and my ac coupled inverter would shut out together about 20 times a day. And a lot of time the EG4 monitor site would not catch it, because it would happen in the five minute snapshot window.
I've tried both ways and honestly can't tell a difference in switching speed. Maybe the EG4 guys will weigh in
Thunderproof
New Member
Turning off seamless switch seems to have stopped the issue with the grid switching periodically although I still don't quite understand why (I'd prefer to have it enabled).
I'm now experiencing a new issue with PV installed yesterday. For several hours this morning everything was working great but starting in the afternoon PV started throttling and only powering loads with little or no power being used to charge the batteries. I have 2 Power Pro batteries and this was happening earlier when they were under 50% SOC. As I type this, they are sitting at 83% SOC with 0W going into them and all PV is throttled just to match loads. I've tried PV charge priority both on and off and it happens either way. What am I doing wrong here?
I'm now experiencing a new issue with PV installed yesterday. For several hours this morning everything was working great but starting in the afternoon PV started throttling and only powering loads with little or no power being used to charge the batteries. I have 2 Power Pro batteries and this was happening earlier when they were under 50% SOC. As I type this, they are sitting at 83% SOC with 0W going into them and all PV is throttled just to match loads. I've tried PV charge priority both on and off and it happens either way. What am I doing wrong here?
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I have my AC coupling set up not to exceed my total net metering. Growatt tech told me if I had more solar panels than I needed, the Growatt could be limited. With RS485 CT meter
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wpns
Solar Joules are catch and release
Nice! No chance I could use a Honda EU 3000 (120 V) generator, or two in parallel (?) On the generator input? Then I wouldn’t need the (unavailable) 2 chargeverters that I have on back order.
Ok. But are you limiting the 18 as well?
My hope is that the 18 setting limits both it's own PV and the AC Coupled PV
My understanding is when the Ac coupled is connected to the grid, the grid controls the frequency curtailment . And when the 18Kpv is off grid the frequency curtailment is controlled by the 18Kpv. So the grid is ether on or off, so it would not curtail the amount of power. So you would have to balance your export ac couple to your net meter total.
So off grid the ac coupled watts would be controlled but on grid it’s either all or nothing.
And PV is always curtailed by the 18Kpv.
So off grid the ac coupled watts would be controlled but on grid it’s either all or nothing.
And PV is always curtailed by the 18Kpv.
I have 12995 PV, 7140watts ac coupled and my export net meter is set to 6.5 kw. I should not get over 6.5 kw because I have 2kw of panels facing east. 2kw facing west and 3000 facing south. So usually I can see 4kw from ac couple and the PV curtailed to 2.5kw plus loads.
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wpns
Solar Joules are catch and release
It might sound a little sideways, but how about putting the AC coupled inverter’s CTs at the meter?
wpns
Solar Joules are catch and release
Another quick question about the 18Kpv:
Other threads have talked about the fact that in on grade mode when trying to do net zero, it’s really hard to control for large loads dropping off suddenly.
How does the 18 Kpv deal with large loads dropping off (or starting up) suddenly while in offgrid mode?
Other threads have talked about the fact that in on grade mode when trying to do net zero, it’s really hard to control for large loads dropping off suddenly.
How does the 18 Kpv deal with large loads dropping off (or starting up) suddenly while in offgrid mode?
The issue here is how the control system operates for each mode.
In on grid mode with net zero export, the system is pumping energy into the local load and monitoring the CTs to prevent export. The CTs are slow devices, you basically have to measure a half or even full cycle to know the current, more or less. This can be some number of milliseconds. That makes the control response from load drop take a while in electrical terms. So the unit pumps out a bit more energy in that moment until the control system catches up. When a new load appears, the problem isn't as big a deal since the grid will pick up the load momentarily and then the control system will catch up and produce more output, so the critical test is load drop. You simply can't make the inverter respond fast enough to the CT response during load drop to have perfect zero export.
In off grid mode, the inverter is the only source of power and it can measure the output voltage instantly. The inverter simply drives the circuits to reach the desired voltage curve. If a load appears, this will take more current, but it can respond in a few microseconds to get the voltage on curve. Load drop or appearance is handled fairly swiftly. This is called transient response and is a factor in all power supply designs, even tiny low power ones like in a cell phone.
Inverter design is not unlike class D audio amps which are basically bidirectional switching regulators. These audio amps can precisely create a 20 KHz waveform with music fidelity, so precisely creating a 60 Hz waveform is not very difficult. You could, in theory, take the basic inverter circuit and make it into a multi KW audio amplifier. 240 VAC into an 8 ohm speaker is 7.2 KW. A rock concert uses a lot more power than that!
The above is not specific to the EG4 18KPV, but describes any inverter with net zero export capability, which is the ability to servo the power generation to the load while remaining attached to the grid.
Mike C.
zanydroid
Solar Wizard
I'll add that if you want to play the zero export with no interconnection agreement game, you need to understand things like how what you see on your CTs or energy meter may not be as good as what the POCO sees at the smart meter if they really want to catch you. IE they could increase the sampling frequency beyond what you're using, or maybe even turn off some smoothing / averaging to try to increase sensitivity.
IOW I'm not a fan of trying to game this by buying the best inverter, esp when zero export error/responsiveness/whatever isn't even an advertised spec on hybrid inverters.
IOW I'm not a fan of trying to game this by buying the best inverter, esp when zero export error/responsiveness/whatever isn't even an advertised spec on hybrid inverters.
Doesn't this also mean that the POCO side measurement is also going to have some lag? Are they really this laggy / have poor high frequency response? I guess it depends on the specific CTs being used.
wpns
Solar Joules are catch and release
If the CTs are at the meter then yes. If the AC coupled inverter can’t/won’t throttle, that’s a different problem.
Yes,.
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Markus_EG4
I am from Germany. Don't mean to come off rude
New iOS app update is ready now guys
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