An Enphase Ensemble Installation

GXMnow said:
I tried it and it does work on my system, but the data I get is not very useful. Since I do not have consumption CTs or storage etc. most of the data is zeros.
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Frustrating as this morning it changed each time I invoked it, now it updates when it feels like it. Definitely missing something.

I'm still trying to figure out what the fields are. ;)


Thursday, April 27, 2023 10:54:41 AMMonday, May 1, 2023 7:40:37 AMMonday, May 1, 2023 11:26:42 AM
JSON: 
"pv": {
            "agg_p_mw": 1270768,
            "agg_s_mva": 1444769,
            "agg_p_ph_a_mw": 1270768,
            "agg_p_ph_b_mw": 0,
            "agg_p_ph_c_mw": 0,
            "agg_s_ph_a_mva": 1444769,
            "agg_s_ph_b_mva": 0,
            "agg_s_ph_c_mva": 0
        },
JSON: 
"pv": {
            "agg_p_mw": 460510,
            "agg_s_mva": 690765,
            "agg_p_ph_a_mw": 460510,
            "agg_p_ph_b_mw": 0,
            "agg_p_ph_c_mw": 0,
            "agg_s_ph_a_mva": 690765,
            "agg_s_ph_b_mva": 0,
            "agg_s_ph_c_mva": 0
        },
JSON: 
"pv": {
            "agg_p_mw": 6131165,
            "agg_s_mva": 6158528,
            "agg_p_ph_a_mw": 6131165,
            "agg_p_ph_b_mw": 0,
            "agg_p_ph_c_mw": 0,
            "agg_s_ph_a_mva": 6158528,
            "agg_s_ph_b_mva": 0,
            "agg_s_ph_c_mva": 0
        },


p​

For example, agg_p_mw looks like aggregate power milliwatts. What is an aggregate of power??

Aggregate rated electrical power output means (i) the sum or total rated electrical power output for all affected units involved in the application or (ii) in nonattainment areas, the sum or total rated electrical output for all electric generating units, permitted or exempt, located at the facility. ref
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As of 11:30 the system has generated 8.2 kWh this morning, not sure how that maps to 6,131,165. Ah Ha! The wattsNow from https://envoy.local/api/v1/production is 6140, so agg_p_mw that does look like the number of milliwatts being generated at that point in time?

ph​

ph sounds like phase, three of them after all - but there's nothing in b or c so it can't be right or they populated it incorrectly. Possibly b & c are only populated if 3 phase, otherwise it all goes into one phase? Earlier in the JSON it does have:
JSON: 
"is_split_phase": 1,  // 1==True
"phase_count": 0,


s​

Finally, there's the "s". Usually Enphase gives VA over watts to separate apparent and real power. The number is higher so possibly S is the "sum" of real and reactive power? 6158528 - 6131165 = 27363, or 27 watts.

From https://envoy.local/ivp/meters/readings we see:
Phase 1Phase 2
JSON: 
"activePower": 3198.046,
"apparentPower": 3210.207,
"reactivePower": 245.096,
JSON: 
"activePower": 3202.249,
"apparentPower": 3213.301,
"reactivePower": 245.702,

It's been running for 11ish hours so far today, so 245/11=22 watts, so that's about right.
 
Updated the first post with April's data, here's a chart of production:

1683115008723.png​
 
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Updated the OP with May's production, looks like a typical May.

A storm cell blew through, gusts up around 35 mph. The lightning was amazing. The power went out, but didn't know it until my sister-in-law called to ask if it went out here. I checked and saw we were off-grid, but despite how cloudy/dark it was there was still enough solar to power the house (AirConditioning was off though).
1687459884417.png

Must have been from the upper atmosphere because the temperature sure dropped... but it's climbing back up....so humid!

1687460135407.png​
So she didn't have power, her Enphase batteries didn't kick in. Went over an looked at, the zigbee dongle was flashing at 1s. Unplugged and replugged it, after a bit it went to a solid blue and all was well. She doesn't have a whole house surge protector, so possibly that was the root cause.

svetz said:
Just checked and seems like I'm still at the same versions as last November. Wonder if they're hung up again?

IQ Gateway (Envoy): D7.3.121
IQ System Controller (Enpower): 1.5.4813_rel/22.95
IQ Battery (Encharge): 2.0.5441_rel/22.10
Microinverters:
  • 540-00142-r01-v04.28.03
  • 520-00095-r01-v04.28.07
    Profile Set (IEEE 1547:2015-WHB)
Click to expand...
Still no change. That doesn't bode well.
 
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svetz said:
She doesn't have a whole house surge protector, so possibly that was the root cause.
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I had a friend lose half his micros to a surge and ever since then I routinely install surge protection on my main panel. According to my friend, damage from surge was not covered by warranty.
 
Ampster said:
I had a friend lose half his micros to a surge and ever since then I routinely install surge protection on my main panel. According to my friend, damage from surge was not covered by warranty.
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Would you put a surge protector like this on the AC and DC side.

MidNite Solar Surge Protection Device MNSPD-300-AC

MidNite Solar MNSPD-300-DC Surge Protection Device 300VDC



.
 
Practically speaking with micros the DC side is on the roof at at each micro so DC surge protection is impractical and/or expensive. I put surge protection at main panel to protect all electronics in addition to micros. I don't have much lightning but I have grounded the panels per code. The purpose of surge protection at the service panel is to protect from surges coming in on the AC feeders either from lightning or grid surges.
 
Ampster said:
Practically speaking with micros the DC side is on the roof at at each micro so DC surge protection is impractical and/or expensive. I put surge protection at main panel to protect all electronics in addition to micros. I don't have much lightning but I have grounded the panels per code. The purpose of surge protection at the service panel is to protect from surges coming in on the AC feeders either from lightning or grid surges.
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Good points. I have batteries so I was just wondering if there was a way or even needed to protect them and on the AC side protect the enphase equip and the home. Yes all my stuff is grounded per code also.

I turned off Storm Guard because it keeps activating because of the heat advisory. I would be more concerned with a storm. Heat is not going to take our grid down.

So now I have my Self - Consumption back on down to 40%.

I have never seen the batteries charged by noon and the near the end of the day it looks to have green charging on top of the solar graph?

jjsWaoT.jpg



.
Here is how my home made energy monitor showed it playing out. It's hot outside so AC running alot that is the 4k watts spikes every so often.
I don't have a third set of CT's on the batteries so when on batteries at night it shows the home using hardly nothing.

fd7t0oj.jpg




:)
 
Ampster said:
Practically speaking with micros the DC side is on the roof at at each micro so DC surge protection is impractical and/or expensive. I put surge protection at main panel to protect all electronics in addition to micros. I don't have much lightning but I have grounded the panels per code. The purpose of surge protection at the service panel is to protect from surges coming in on the AC feeders either from lightning or grid surges.
Click to expand...

The PV panel series connected cells form a loop with some area to capture EMI field.
If microinverter is an add-on, the cables are probably long enough to unwind the loop, or at least make a cancelling loop.
I would study cell layout from the front, consider centerline of connections and determine area inside the loop. (Likely path of circuit through cells is too long to trace backwards with standard length wires.)

I don't know how significant coupling is to a PV array or PV panel, but this approach could reasonably reduce it at least 90%.
One could test by connecting a suitable meter or spectrum analyzer in place of microinverter (use a blocking capacitor of sufficient voltage) and stimulating it with a field. Some spectrum analyzer have tracking generator, can make a Bode plot (similar to using a 2 port network analyzer.)
 
kendive said:
Heat is not going to take our grid down.
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In California it can.

In their infinite wisdom, they decommissioned a bunch of peaker plants because all of the solar we have. Now on a really hot day, we do not have enough power even with the solar, so they do rolling blackouts to protect the grid. :(
 
kendive said:
Heat is not going to take our grid down.
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I agree the heat per se won't take the grid down but when temperatures rise everyone turns their A/C on and the grid gets stressed. That happened last September in California and is happening now in Texas.@FilterGuy essentially said the same thing.
 
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FilterGuy said:
Now on a really hot day, we do not have enough power even with the solar, so they do rolling blackouts to protect the grid. :(
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No, they don't. We heard all about how they were going to happen last year due to all those shutdowns of fossil fuel power plants. They didn't happen.

www.latimes.com

Op-Ed: California's giant new batteries kept the lights on during the heat wave

This technology has just proved its value in a crisis, and the more capacity we add, the more it will save us from high bills and blackouts.
www.latimes.com www.latimes.com
 
FilterGuy said:
In their infinite wisdom, they decommissioned a bunch of peaker plants because all of the solar we have.
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I thought peakers were uneconomical due to lower cost battery storage? Solar doesn't replace peakers because solar never produces at times when peakers would run.
 
FilterGuy said:
In California it can.

In their infinite wisdom, they decommissioned a bunch of peaker plants because all of the solar we have. Now on a really hot day, we do not have enough power even with the solar, so they do rolling blackouts to protect the grid. :(
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Just another reason I would never step foot in that state... :)
 
I might email Enphase and ask but here is a better screen shot of June 29th. This is the first time ever I have seen the batteries start helping with the home usage before the sun when down. You can clearly see it charged the batteries back to 100% by noon and then around 3pm even though we still have solar production the system is using the batteries and it shows that on the top of the graph and below. No biggie just wondering why?

866TSsN.jpg





:)
 
Ampster said:
I thought peakers were uneconomical due to lower cost battery storage? Solar doesn't replace peakers because solar never produces at times when peakers would run.
Click to expand...

FEATURE: Battery storage capacity rapidly rising across California, thermal remains strong

Battery storage is taking off in California with nearly 1.2 GW of capacity added in the last year and expected to double before the end of the year, despite COVID 19 related supply chain delays that h
www.spglobal.com www.spglobal.com

"California leads the nation in battery energy storage at 1.391 GW by the end of second quarter 2021, an increase of 50% from Q1"


"California currently has 7.1gigawatts (GW) of gasturbine orinternal combustion peaker plants along with 5.9GW of once-through cooling plants and 4.3GW of combined cycle plants currently used as peakers (having capacity factors under 15 percent)."

1.4 GW battery vs. 17.3 GW peaker

(But that doesn't mean California wouldn't decommission them anyway.)

"solar never produces at times when peakers would"

It was suggested this would breath new life into solar-thermal plants with steam-electric generators, which were uneconomical compared to recent PV prices but do have storage.

I don't think they've put nearly the effort into shifting time when loads are applied. What fraction of A/C is left off during the afternoon, turned on only when people come home in the evening? But no money in fixing that. If there was an add-on thermal reservoir for A/C, could chill it during peak PV or nighttime base load. That would have to be retrofit at each customer.
 
kendive said:
This is the first time ever I have seen the batteries start helping with the home usage before the sun when down.
Click to expand...

I see this happen with my system. It all depends on the system settings. In my case, If it is after 4 pm and the load in the house exceeds the solar production, it will use battery power to cover the load so the grid current is zero.
 
Hedges said:
1.4 GW battery vs. 17.3 GW peaker
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5GW now, expected to hit 6GW by the late summer heat waves.

Hedges said:
I don't think they've put nearly the effort into shifting time when loads are applied. What fraction of A/C is left off during the afternoon, turned on only when people come home in the evening? But no money in fixing that. If there was an add-on thermal reservoir for A/C, could chill it during peak PV or nighttime base load. That would have to be retrofit at each customer.
Click to expand...
We are part of a program called Ohm Connect. When there's an "ohm hour" (high demand time) then I shed load and get paid about $3/kwhr for the amount of power I use compared to my baseline. We actually use an inverter combined with old LFP wheelchair batteries to feed back about 3kW during an event like that. Over the past 3 years or so we've made $1700.
 
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