Got an idea on controlling discharge via CT on main breaker.

JohnZEBSolar · Mar 6, 2023

Hey, I am wanting to use a CT hooked up to my main breaker, to essentially tell my inverter (with batteries) how much to discharge. My inverter is a megarevo 8k hybrid. I plan to discharge through my grid feed, to avoid having to modify existing electrical system. I am interested to hear any thoughts. I feel like I'm possibly missing something. any thoughts on if this could work and any ideas for implementation would be awesome, thanks!!
Have a sunny day!!!

Ampster · Mar 6, 2023

JohnZEBSolar said:
Hey, I am wanting to use a CT hooked up to my main breaker, to essentially tell my inverter (with batteries) how much to discharge.

I assume you mean the CT is attached to the cables or bars that feed your main panel. Hopefully your inverter has the ability to use the CT input and settings to limit its backfeed. Most breakers are only on or off and are there to protect the wires and cannot limit loads except in a binary sense.

timselectric · Mar 6, 2023

I'm pretty sure that the manual explains how to do this.

JohnZEBSolar · Mar 7, 2023

Ampster said:
I assume you mean the CT is attached to the cables or bars that feed your main panel. Hopefully your inverter has the ability to use the CT input and settings to limit its backfeed. Most breakers are only on or off and are there to protect the wires and cannot limit loads except in a binary sense

Yes, CT to be attached to main panel feed. I plan to use CTs (in a binary sense) to read, then communicate load to the inverter (telling it what to discharge). Not exactly sure how this communication will work. I have been researching PLCs and talking to people who know a lot more than I do about them. It seems possible. On top of that, this could save me time, trouble, money and breaker space.

JohnZEBSolar · Mar 7, 2023

timselectric said:
I'm pretty sure that the manual explains how to do this.

The MR manual I have doesn't do a lot of explaining of anything lol.

timselectric · Mar 7, 2023

JohnZEBSolar said:
The MR manual I have doesn't do a lot of explaining of anything lol.

Understood.
I'm not familiar with the settings. But, it should be capable of doing that.

Ampster · Mar 7, 2023

JohnZEBSolar said:
I plan to use CTs (in a binary sense) to read, then communicate load to the inverter (telling it what to discharge). Not exactly sure how this communication will work.

The CT is only going to tell the inverter what the load is. The Inverter has to be able to be programmed to use that information to reduce the discharge. Not all inverters can be programmed to do that. If it is not in the manual, good luck.

JohnZEBSolar · Mar 7, 2023

Ampster said:
The CT is only going to tell the inverter what the load is. The Inverter has to be able to be programmed to use that information to reduced discharge. Not all inverters can be programmed to do that. If it is not in the manual, good luck.

The plan is to use some sort of plc to interpret the ct data and direct it to the inverter.

Ampster · Mar 7, 2023

JohnZEBSolar said:
The plan is to use some sort of plc to interpret the ct data and direct it to the inverter.

I understand that is your plan. My comment was intended to ask the question about how you were planning on having the inverter understand what the PLC is saying? Does your inverter speak PLC and can it respond to PLC commands?
Is there some mechanism now which can control the output of your inverter that you would connect to?

JohnZEBSolar · Mar 8, 2023

Ampster said:
I understand that is your plan. My comment was intended to ask the question about how you were planning on having the inverter understand what the PLC is saying? Does your inverter speak PLC and can it respond to PLC commands?
Is there some mechanism now which can control the output of your inverter that you would connect to?

So these are some of the questions I need to find answers for. As of now, I do not know if my inverter will speak plc.
On the question of the inverter, In its peak shift mode, inverter discharge can be set for a specific current flow and time period. The discharge is exported via grid side connection. So, I believe I can identify the mechanism, within the inverter's computer, that directs these functions. Then, using a plc, can change that current flow to meet my real time data from the current transformer.

Got an idea on controlling discharge via CT on main breaker.

JohnZEBSolar

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Ampster

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timselectric

If I can do it, you can do it.

JohnZEBSolar

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JohnZEBSolar

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timselectric

If I can do it, you can do it.

Ampster

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JohnZEBSolar

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Ampster

Renewable Energy Hobbyist

JohnZEBSolar

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