Deye constant current pull from the grid at night

[dddem]

I have a Deye 8kW inverter. Since I have no net metering, I set it up to use the battery power at night. However, I noticed that the inverter continuously pulls 1.3-1.6A from the grid (300 to 370W) at night AND this power does not seem to be accounted for in the metrics.

Any clue? See attached screenshots where the inverter shows 0kW from the grid, but at the same time reports a 1.49A current on L1L2. This current is real as I can see the meter from the company slowly spinning forward...

 

[wattmatters]

This current is real as I can see the meter from the company slowly spinning forward...

I've noticed something similar with my EASun. Seems to draw ~ 50W from the grid even though it is operating in SBU mode.

What happens to your grid meter if you turn off the inverter's grid breaker?

Can you take an energy meter reading over many hours to verify the rate of grid consumption?

 

[dddem]

I've noticed something similar with my EASun. Seems to draw ~ 50W from the grid even though it is operating in SBU mode.

What happens to your grid meter if you turn off the inverter's grid breaker?

Can you take an energy meter reading over many hours to verify the rate of grid consumption?

50W would be vaguely acceptable but 300+!? And unaccounted for...

If I turn off the grid breaker near the inverter, the meter stops. It's definitely the inverter doing that, there does not seem to be a "leak" upstream.

I will take a reading over several hours tonight.

 

[dddem]

So now I am stumped. I checked the reading at the meter last night (it's an old-style disk mechanical meter with 3.6Kh) by timing one revolution and calculating that the pull from the grid at the meter is only 17W (12 minutes and 42 seconds for one revolution). However, near the inverter, I have a digital Amp meter on the grid line that reads 1.3-1.6 A and 225V. The inverter itself reports 1.3-1.6 A on L1L2 (both Solarman and the inverter display). And I also verified with my clamp meter and there is indeed 1.3-1.6A current on the grid line.

Caveat: the meter is about 70 meters away from the inverter, so I have a long grid line between the inverter and the meter.

No idea what is going on here.

 

[Le noble]

Nothing is going wrong
Every thing is normal
The 1.3 amp you see on the inverter side of grid line are fed from the inverter not from the grid.
Your setting is probably "selling first ".
In this case battery will supply not only the EPS output but grid line as well according to time of use table setting.
The 17w you see on the meter are the residual of the zero export feature, default setting is 20w.

Your inverter is doing well its job

 

[wattmatters]

The AC current and voltage readings you are making are independent measurements and are likely out of phase. The utility meter is most likely only registering real power (watts), not apparent power (volt·amps).

Real power (watts) = Apparent power (V·A) x Power Factor

Your inverter is probably presenting as a load with a low power factor, especially at low loads like when at idle, and so while you might see 225 V and 1.5 A, the real power consumption is quite low. As long as you are billed on real power, it's no big deal.

Commercial/industrial enterprises can however be billed on apparent power and so they often need to add special devices to reduce the impact of inductive or capacitive loads on their power supply. It would be unusual for residential billing to be based on apparent power.

 

[Alavin]

Hello everyone, congratulations, I follow the forum and you are really good at explanations. I am writing to you because I have a problem relating to a 6kw + 10kW storage system. Hybrid deye inverter. Practically I don't have any switches relating to the system in my home panel but they are all located near the inverter (upper floor). I have two doubts, the first concerns the two cables that go down to the house panel, should they be above the pure differential or below? The second, perhaps linked to the first, is related to the consumption I make, in the case of battery charging, although the PV produces enough, I draw a constant 30-60w from the mains, when I use the battery in the evening I draw less than 10w. The only time I don't withdraw is when I obviously manage to put it into the network. I don't want anything to be connected wrong. as soon as the battery starts to supply the majority of energy to the house, the consumption from the grid disappears even if the panels still produce something, but when the battery is being charged I draw those w indicated.