ricardocello
Watching and Learning
First, find out what brand you have. Like all hobbies, there are people out there who love this stuff.How would one go about researching their electric meter to see what all it can do?
First, find out what brand you have. Like all hobbies, there are people out there who love this stuff.How would one go about researching their electric meter to see what all it can do?
Depending on your technical prowess:Now I have to figure out how this thing is programmed without garnering unwanted attention.
It is called Emporia Vue Utility Connect.. It requires the utility to register it so that it can read the Zigbee signal. In my case PG&E did not allow those to be used for solar customers with a NEM agreement. Check with your utility. Those devices are called HAN devices and the Emporia is the least expensive and does not require a subscription. Rainforest and others also sell similar devices some of which require a subscription.Which one intercepts the meter's zigbee signal?
What kind of idle draw do the chargeverters have when they are not supplying any current? I was thinking of just hooking up a chargeverter but having it set at a very low voltage, so it would only supply power to the DC circuit when it either dips under heavy load, or the batteries/solar are depleted.@kolek this is kind of what you were alluding to correct?
What kind of idle draw do the chargeverters have when they are not supplying any current? I was thinking of just hooking up a chargeverter but having it set at a very low voltage, so it would only supply power to the DC circuit when it either dips under heavy load, or the batteries/solar are depleted.
When the DC circuit gets up to whatever that low voltage is, the chargeverter wouldn't be outputting anything (of any significance) and the solar would resume charging the bank back up when the sun comes back up.
This way I don't have to worry about when to turn it on or off, it would just always be supplying converted AC to DC from the utility as needed.
Around 7w.What kind of idle draw do the chargeverters have when they are not supplying any current?
The fans run all the time? Not temperature controlled?Around 7w.
But the fans will be annoying.
This is why mine is controlled by the dry contacts.
They speed up with more load and/ or temperature.The fans run all the time? Not temperature controlled?
I am not a lineman but of all the videos I have seen of linemen at a break they usually ground the lines at a junction before the work.I would probably follow the standard procedures to check that a line wasn't being backfed when working on it. More things than a grid tied / synced inverter can cause a line to be live in a power outage.
More and more people are getting prebuilt AIO solar generators with batteries in them and using them as UPS's. I would imagine almost every one of those devices is like this growatt and does spurious backfeeding as they are probably using the exact same hardware inside. They are getting bigger and bigger, many of them are up to 3-4k output already.
The power companies aren't concerned about the lineman. They are concerned about their gravy train.
It is.I am not a lineman but of all the videos I have seen of linemen at a break they usually ground the lines at a junction before the work.
Not sure if that is standard practice or not..
Sorry, I wired mine up and tested them one time from my genset to test them and do a test charge to verify they work, but did not test anything else.What kind of idle draw do the chargeverters have when they are not supplying any current? I was thinking of just hooking up a chargeverter but having it set at a very low voltage, so it would only supply power to the DC circuit when it either dips under heavy load, or the batteries/solar are depleted.
When the DC circuit gets up to whatever that low voltage is, the chargeverter wouldn't be outputting anything (of any significance) and the solar would resume charging the bank back up when the sun comes back up.
This way I don't have to worry about when to turn it on or off, it would just always be supplying converted AC to DC from the utility as needed.
EDIT.. answering my own question.. the new Chargeverter claims 10w idle. Couldn't find that spec for the old one.
Your generator, or your gender?Sorry, I wired mine up and tested them one time from my genset to test them and do a test charge to verify they work, but did not test anything else.
My gender is controlled via my magnum inverter
Changed mode to SOL, on that mode grid and inverter output are not mixed at any point so no chances of any small momentary export to them.OP... what was the outcome? Did they make you take stuff down physically or were they content that you disconnect from the utility?
sounds like a win in the end. do you have a time of use fee schedule for using power? if its cheaper at night then its still a win i think.Changed mode to SOL, on that mode grid and inverter output are not mixed at any point so no chances of any small momentary export to them.
On this mode my solar and battery works at day, unless capacity is overwhelmed by usage, or battery reaches a low set point, or no sun at all, then it switches to Utility automatically until those other requirements are recovered. So, while the smart meter does not detect a constant more than 5 second grid export, there is no chances I will get disturbed by my electric company.
Yes, is still a win. My current contract is free weekends, I may switch next year when it expires, to free nightssounds like a win in the end. do you have a time of use fee schedule for using power? if its cheaper at night then its still a win i think.
You haven’t seen any issues with the fans turning off as soon as you cut the AC power?on my setup, using my inverter's dry contactor and LOW BATTERY trigger, and SSRs my AC outlet is OFF when battery voltage is above 43.5v. When voltage reaches 42.5v the trigger is reached and the SSRs are enabled allowing AC to hit the CV
I target 43v (lowest on the CV) as the target voltage to run loads and stablize battery. It then waits until the sun comes up and charges the batteries. Then when voltage reaches 43.5v, the trigger is cleared
So in normal times (voltage above 43.5v) only the DC side is connected and looking at the Clamp meter, very little DC current flows - in the noise really.
Having the AC on all the time, I haven't done that
Usually you can switch for a termination fee of some sort. Run the numbers, you might save money just paying the fee.Yes, is still a win. My current contract is free weekends, I may switch next year when it expires, to free nights