EG4 18kPV Q+A general thread

[G00SE]

Just stating that this has not been a issue in the past. Obviously America is different and feedback is a very important part we are looking for.

Idk how long the internal menu is so this next idea may not be logically feasible.
Is it possible to simply post screenshots of what the installers/tech support sees? It may end up that options visible are in fact not demonstrably different than the dongle/user access. Then everyone sees what “they don’t see”

 

[Markus_EG4]

All they have to do is look at there display options basically

 

[Markus_EG4]

I already posted this settings guide as well it shows all settings

 

[Markus_EG4]

I don't think we are reading carefully. My inverter sits behind a transfer switch. If my inverter were grid-tied there would be no phasing issues. When the inverter turns on/off, it is out of phase with the grid, the transfer switch kicks back to the grid, sometimes this causes a wierd disruption with the HVAC, it will start making odd sounds, that will go away when (if when its 118F) it cycles the compressor off and on. The simplest thing might be to trip the cycle off when this event occurs.

Can you pm me about this I would like to know more

 

[Zapper77]

I already posted this settings guide as well it shows all settings

I was going to mention that you posted a settings pdf a few pages back, didn't want to waste my breath...eww (finger tips).

 

[Shimmy]

I don't think we are reading carefully. My inverter sits behind a transfer switch. If my inverter were grid-tied there would be no phasing issues. When the inverter turns on/off, it is out of phase with the grid, the transfer switch kicks back to the grid, sometimes this causes a wierd disruption with the HVAC, it will start making odd sounds, that will go away when (if when its 118F) it cycles the compressor off and on. The simplest thing might be to trip the cycle off when this event occurs.

The "normal" way to address this is to use pre-transfer contact accessories from the transfer switch to stop larger motors; you can rig one up with a few relays and a timer.

Isn't the inverter starting up in Standby? I would expect it to sync to grid once it is enabled; the normal failure mode is the transfer switch re-transferring to utility after the local source was free-running.

 

[Shimmy]

You're telling us we have access to them all via the touchscreen.

You're also telling us we can't have access to them via a browser because you don't want people to break things.

Careful what you wish for there; hopefully they have great security on their end, but some of the settings changes could potentially create safety issues if used nefariously. While inconvienent, this is actually fairly standard practice.

 

[Watts Happening]

Careful what you wish for there; hopefully they have great security on their end, but some of the settings changes could potentially create safety issues if used nefariously. While inconvienent, this is actually fairly standard practice.

Agreed, this is why we use 2FA

 

[Quattrohead]

There are clearly MANY more settings available via the inverter screen than there are via the web interface.

Are there ? I know of the battery setting only because I have weird batteries and was trying to get them talking. I started whining about it because I was sweating my thingies off and couldn't get it to work.
This inverter is the most advanced project to come from eg4 to date and surely it will be a learning curve on both sides. Some of these very questions and concerns could be asked of Solark and Schneider and probably the other well-known inverters in the USA and around the world. This isn't your average growatt.... hang on try and get any information from them whatsoever.

 

[Zapper77]

Are there ? I know of the battery setting only because I have weird batteries and was trying to get them talking. I started whining about it because I was sweating my thingies off and couldn't get it to work.
This inverter is the most advanced project to come from eg4 to date and surely it will be a learning curve on both sides. Some of these very questions and concerns could be asked of Solark and Schneider and probably the other well-known inverters in the USA and around the world. This isn't your average growatt.... hang on try and get any information from those them whatsoever.

It takes about 20-30 seconds for my 18Kpv to recognize when battery comms are connected. I have eg4 Lifepower4 batteries so may not help in your case but primary battery needs to be 0000

 

[rhino]

I already posted this settings guide as well it shows all settings

Thank you. That helps. I must have missed it in previous message.. Can that simply be added to the https://signaturesolar.com/eg4-18kpv-hybrid-inverter-all-in-one-solar-inverter-eg4-18kpv-12lv/ page so it is easy to find?

 

[Quattrohead]

the inverter turns on/off, it is out of phase with the grid, the transfer switch kicks back to the grid, sometimes this causes a wierd disruption with the HVAC

Have you considered an easy start for your AC unit? The reason I ask is because I have one on mine and when I switched the grid off the other day the easy start actually turned the compressor off and rested it for a couple of minutes before it turned it back on again even though no clocks reset in my house. I know it did this because the fan was still running on the AC unit

 

[Tech707]

Hello All

I apologize in advance if this has already discussed but I have two odd DC voltage issues with my 18Kpv and am curious if they are normal or if something is wrong with my inverter. The first is the data tab on the web interface under "PV side" it showing voltage spikes on Vpv1, Vpv2 and Vpv3 .1 with a peak of 2.1 despite not having anything connected to the PV input. The second is when I throw my utility breaker at the poll and simulate a grid outage I measure 75v to 90v DC on the L1 and L2 of the Grid input on the 18K so it appears to be backfeeding DC voltage to the grid input when the grid is down. L2 is positive and L1 is negative.

I case anyone else runs into this I heard back from tier 2 support about the DC backfeed to AC they reached out to the R&D team and confirmed that having DC on the AC side of the unit is normal due to the AC side not being isolated. They have also tested this with other inverter brands that also show DC voltage an the AC side when grid is not present. I found a similar post on another forum and they also came to the conclusion this was normal but some thought it was part of the process for checking, to avoid islandng and others that the voltage is with a very high impedance, since its a transformerless inverter. Either way I am happy its not defective!

 

[Watts Happening]

It takes about 20-30 seconds for my 18Kpv to recognize when battery comms are connected. I have eg4 Lifepower4 batteries so may not help in your case but primary battery needs to be 0000

Just as a data point, my 18Kpv recognizes the batteries and displays SOC near instantly. I only know this because I swapped out a single EG4 LL for (3) SOK batteries I had.

There was no reason for this change other than having three of one and one of another.

 

[Zapper77]

Just as a data point, my 18Kpv recognizes the batteries and displays SOC near instantly. I only know this because I swapped out a single EG4 LL for (3) SOK batteries I had.

There was no reason for this change other than having three of one and one of another.

I can add or remove secondary batteries and the inverter recognizes the change nearly instantly. But when switching lithium types it take 20-30 seconds for the inverter to identify the swap.

 

[Watts Happening]

I can add or remove secondary batteries and the inverter recognizes the change nearly instantly. But when switching lithium types it take 20-30 seconds for the inverter to identify the swap.

That might be the difference. The EG4 and SOK batteries used the same battery type (lithium_0) per Gilbert.

Both used a standard Ethernet cable

 

[Watts Happening]

Two new questions:

1) How does the inverter handle a loss of battery communications? Does it make sense to input battery charge and discharge parameters assuming it would “failover” to them in the event of a communications issue?

2) Is there a system configuration backup option, or one in the works? I would certainly love to back my system up anytime changes are made. It is standard practice for me in the IT field, you never know when a small change may create a huge problem. Memory corruption, failed inverter that gets replaced, accidental settings change and many more scenarios make a lot of sense for this.

I have not personally dug around enough to see if there is somewhere I can back mine up, but I’d sure like to. Especially if there are settings in the background a Signature Solar employee (or Gilbert from Luxpower) have made that I cannot see, which are somehow contributing to my system working.

 

[Markus_EG4]

Thank you. That helps. I must have missed it in previous message.. Can that simply be added to the https://signaturesolar.com/eg4-18kpv-hybrid-inverter-all-in-one-solar-inverter-eg4-18kpv-12lv/ page so it is easy to find?

The new manual will have this in it

 

[Markus_EG4]

I can add or remove secondary batteries and the inverter recognizes the change nearly instantly. But when switching lithium types it take 20-30 seconds for the inverter to identify the swap.

this is because of it being rs485 i have only seen this when using Rs485 comms

 

[Markus_EG4]

Two new questions:

1) How does the inverter handle a loss of battery communications? Does it make sense to input battery charge and discharge parameters assuming it would “failover” to them in the event of a communications issue?

2) Is there a system configuration backup option, or one in the works? I would certainly love to back my system up anytime changes are made. It is standard practice for me in the IT field, you never know when a small change may create a huge problem. Memory corruption, failed inverter that gets replaced, accidental settings change and many more scenarios make a lot of sense for this.

I have not personally dug around enough to see if there is somewhere I can back mine up, but I’d sure like to. Especially if there are settings in the background a Signature Solar employee (or Gilbert from Luxpower) have made that I cannot see, which are somehow contributing to my system working.

There are no settings in the background for this, but there is a change log for the settings. Those are saved and can be pulled up by us for sure i would have to verify if the customer can as well. The inverter has voltage sensing features in case you did lose communication with the bms it would just transition from SOC to voltage.

 

[Watts Happening]

There are no settings in the background for this, but there is a change log for the settings. Those are saved and can be pulled up by us for sure i would have to verify if the customer can as well. The inverter has voltage sensing features in case you did lose communication with the bms it would just transition from SOC to voltage.

So that said it would make sense to have proper voltage settings in place as well?

 

[Zapper77]

Two new questions:

1) How does the inverter handle a loss of battery communications? Does it make sense to input battery charge and discharge parameters assuming it would “failover” to them in the event of a communications issue?

2) Is there a system configuration backup option, or one in the works? I would certainly love to back my system up anytime changes are made. It is standard practice for me in the IT field, you never know when a small change may create a huge problem. Memory corruption, failed inverter that gets replaced, accidental settings change and many more scenarios make a lot of sense for this.

I have not personally dug around enough to see if there is somewhere I can back mine up, but I’d sure like to. Especially if there are settings in the background a Signature Solar employee (or Gilbert from Luxpower) have made that I cannot see, which are somehow contributing to my system working.

1. If connected to grid (on firmware version 1111 not released) it goes to grid bypass after about 10 seconds when battery comm cable is removed.

I will have to try, disconnected from grid tomorrow. (I recall on the original firmware that the inverter would go into standby when battery comm was lost and no grid) and on maybe 0E0E (no grid) it would just stay on when it lost battery comms.

 

[Markus_EG4]

1. If connected to grid (on firmware version 1111 not released) it goes to grid bypass after about 10 seconds when battery comm cable is removed.

I will have to try, disconnected from grid tomorrow. (I recall on the original firmware that the inverter would go into standby when battery comm was lost and no grid) and on maybe 0E0E (no grid) it would just stay on when it lost battery comms.

Man you have been doing a lot of testing. I love this. This is my favorite part is testing all these things out. I like knowing I’m not the only one. ?

 

[DVD]

I’m reading this and have to think that someone who is knowledgeable enough to work with the 18KPV will have had some prior experience with residential PV systems including inverters, and have run across RSD, PVDisconnect, etc. and not expect the manual to cover basic topics that are commonly understood.
Covering the likes of Ohms Law would blow the document up to a book.
This manual is not perfect but in my experience it is a world apart from both its competitors as well as that of the 8KEXP.
Instead of a rant, perhaps a simply worded question would generate a positive result, unless of course you simply want to rant.

 

[Zapper77]

Man you have been doing a lot of testing. I love this. This is my favorite part is testing all these things out. I like knowing I’m not the only one. ?

A little bit of testing and some building. Installed my 2nd rack yesterday.



First comment from the wife. "O But they don't match!"

Me, "I like this new one (one on the right)"
Wife, "How much would it cost to get another to match?"
Me, "$600"
Wife, "Ouch"

BTW no issue with the bus bar. (Shipped around 18 July)