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EG4 18kPV Q+A general thread

rmacgurn said:
if you mean output power its based on the loads connected so if you draw 10amp in L1 and 15 on L2 that is what it supplies. if you mean output power to feed back to grid I assume it sends a balance output to each leg. those are separate functions.
Click to expand...
Which wiring method did you use? Grid Assist, critical load panel or Meter-inverter-main panel?
 
you see any numbers on your CT's besides the arrows. no other inverter mentions this issue. it doesn't make sense from my understanding of electricity, I do understand that is what the SS tech said but he also reversed them and it flipped my grid current in and out showing only export today while I was on the grid, when that is turned off I then worked fine look above at my charts and screen shots and you will see. its working fine as below.IMG_4647.jpeg
 
rmacgurn said:
Hey zapper I have checked Schneider, Solarc and Solis none mention an order for L1 or L2 as all they do is measure current thru each leg, not following the arrow correctly will flip the sign on what's going into and out of the inverter (meaning it will show import as export and vise versa) flipping them on each leg but with the arrows going correctly made no difference so I think that is all hooey.
Click to expand...
There wouldn't be any reason for Markus to try leading you astray, we all want your system to work flawlessly at the end of the day. The CTs are labeled as CT1 and CT2 as they input to different pins on the inverter, so it could cause problems if L1 is receiving the data from L2 and vice versa. Other inverters I have tinkered with that use CTs follow this same pattern. You can verify which CT is CT1 if it doesn't have a label by looking at the terminal's pins and the corresponding CT via the diagram. I can check to see if there's additional steps we can take for clarity in the manual on this topic.
 
rmacgurn said:
you see any numbers on your CT's besides the arrows. no other inverter mentions this issue. it doesn't make sense from my understanding of electricity, I do understand that is what the SS tech said but he also reversed them and it flipped my grid current in and out showing only export today while I was on the grid, when that is turned off I then worked fine look above at my charts and screen shots and you will see. its working fine as below.View attachment 156329
Click to expand...
20230707_173232.jpg

20230707_173225.jpg
 
I only have arrows on the CT's that were in a small white box. as for messing with the pin out to determine which is which I have no interest as mine is working fine without the reverse feature enabled. my issue earlier when I first changed it back and then saw it back to enabled as reverse was my bad, I restarted before hitting the set button or before it said ok saved. so it reverted to the prior setting was not the fault of any SS tech.
I am leaving early to go to the northern beaches of Costa Rica with my son so if I have time before we roll out I will post the graph of how it shows the energy coming from the grid and zero export. today as I showed it showed 1.8kw exported with the box for CT reverse checked. as I also said early on in CR the 3/0 and 4/0 runs from street are always black often the neutral is too but has some white tape on it, there is not tape on the other two lines. I simply pulled left and right feed from my main 200amp panel and used those as inputs to the left and right side of the invert AC input, then inverter used same two new 3/0 runs to go back following the left and right protocol so it did preserve the L! & L2 locations. anyway I think we can conclude that using that reverse option doesn't swap L1 and L2 but the CT direction. below is how it is running now.IMG_4647.jpeg
 
rmacgurn said:
I only have arrows on the CT's that were in a small white box. as for messing with the pin out to determine which is which I have no interest as mine is working fine without the reverse feature enabled. my issue earlier when I first changed it back and then saw it back to enabled as reverse was my bad, I restarted before hitting the set button or before it said ok saved. so it reverted to the prior setting was not the fault of any SS tech.
I am leaving early to go to the northern beaches of Costa Rica with my son so if I have time before we roll out I will post the graph of how it shows the energy coming from the grid and zero export. today as I showed it showed 1.8kw exported with the box for CT reverse checked. as I also said early on in CR the 3/0 and 4/0 runs from street are always black often the neutral is too but has some white tape on it, there is not tape on the other two lines. I simply pulled left and right feed from my main 200amp panel and used those as inputs to the left and right side of the invert AC input, then inverter used same two new 3/0 runs to go back following the left and right protocol so it did preserve the L! & L2 locations. anyway I think we can conclude that using that reverse option doesn't swap L1 and L2 but the CT direction. below is how it is running now.View attachment 156352
Click to expand...
Glad it's working. Just to confirm...which direction do the arrows face on your setup?
 
Good Afternoon!

I recently got my 18kPV up and running (last Saturday). Off Grid mode at the moment.
I have two questions -

1. Are those who are tied to the grid and not wanting to back feed it confident that the back feeding issue has been resolved?

2. According to the manual, if a generator is used all loads will be fed from the generator and it charges the battery. What happens if you have PV coming in at the same time? Is it wasted?

My thoughts were trying to find a way for the generator to supplement a low PV production day to run loads and charge the battery.

Thoughts?
 
Wes975 said:
Good Afternoon!

I recently got my 18kPV up and running (last Saturday). Off Grid mode at the moment.
I have two questions -

1. Are those who are tied to the grid and not wanting to back feed it confident that the back feeding issue has been resolved?

2. According to the manual, if a generator is used all loads will be fed from the generator and it charges the battery. What happens if you have PV coming in at the same time? Is it wasted?

My thoughts were trying to find a way for the generator to supplement a low PV production day to run loads and charge the battery.

Thoughts?
Click to expand...
1. Not quite yet, it is being worked on and tested ATM.
2. No the PV is not wasted, it adds to the charge.

The inverter does have generator start output, so if your generator has a 2 wire start capability you could use that, I think it might be time programmable too.
 
Quattrohead said:
1. Not quite yet, it is being worked on and tested ATM.
2. No the PV is not wasted, it adds to the charge.

The inverter does have generator start output, so if your generator has a 2 wire start capability you could use that, I think it might be time programmable too.
Click to expand...
My generator is kinda dumb. No two wire start. Just has the knuckle busting pull rope.
Knowing that the PV is adding to the battery charge is beneficial. Two sources charging is the supplemental I was looking for.
Once the grid feed back issue is confidently resolved, I'll be wiring it in.

Thanks for the response!
 
2. You can set the max generator kW. I tested this on the initial firmware release...it worked but I had to set my generator max kW to around half of my generators rated capacity. So maybe the initial firmware the max kW rating is per leg and not a combined total.

Note I haven't tested on the July firmware.
 
Wes975 said:
Good Afternoon!

I recently got my 18kPV up and running (last Saturday). Off Grid mode at the moment.
I have two questions -

1. Are those who are tied to the grid and not wanting to back feed it confident that the back feeding issue has been resolved?

2. According to the manual, if a generator is used all loads will be fed from the generator and it charges the battery. What happens if you have PV coming in at the same time? Is it wasted?

My thoughts were trying to find a way for the generator to supplement a low PV production day to run loads and charge the battery.

Thoughts?
Click to expand...
If you figure this out clue us in. The problem I have is when using the generator input it better be able to handle the load, because when it's 'running' / providing input it will not use batteries to supplement or anything and trip breakers if your load exceeds the generator input.
 
Brownouts when at the edge of solar output. . .

Here is the problem. My panels are kicking 11100 watts at my 11000 watt load (Dryer && A/C). No problem. Panel output drops to 10900 watts, now I need 100W from the batteries. . . Brown-out, batteries kick in then everything is fine. It is unfortunate that I just happen to have a series of loads that lie squarely in this range. I'm wondering if there is a software fix for this, it's annoying. It wouldn't really do it if I had 4 more panels. Any thoughts or settings that might work around this? It would be more optimal if the batteries were to kick in at (say) 200W before they are actually needed, even better make it a setting.
 
1688849438033.png
I'm literally right on the edge. Keeping in mind I have TWO(2) inverters both pretty much have identical input/output numbers. Also, this screen is "pretty" but kind of non-functional. It would be nice to have a 3 line display, with columns. one line for each inverter, and a total line. Clicking between is annoying.
 
ksmithaz1 said:
Brownouts when at the edge of solar output. . .

Here is the problem. My panels are kicking 11100 watts at my 11000 watt load (Dryer && A/C). No problem. Panel output drops to 10900 watts, now I need 100W from the batteries. . . Brown-out, batteries kick in then everything is fine. It is unfortunate that I just happen to have a series of loads that lie squarely in this range. I'm wondering if there is a software fix for this, it's annoying. It wouldn't really do it if I had 4 more panels. Any thoughts or settings that might work around this? It would be more optimal if the batteries were to kick in at (say) 200W before they are actually needed, even better make it a setting.
Click to expand...
battery will kicking based on the load of the inverter
 
ksmithaz1 said:
Brownouts when at the edge of solar output. . .

Here is the problem. My panels are kicking 11100 watts at my 11000 watt load (Dryer && A/C). No problem. Panel output drops to 10900 watts, now I need 100W from the batteries. . . Brown-out, batteries kick in then everything is fine. It is unfortunate that I just happen to have a series of loads that lie squarely in this range. I'm wondering if there is a software fix for this, it's annoying. It wouldn't really do it if I had 4 more panels. Any thoughts or settings that might work around this? It would be more optimal if the batteries were to kick in at (say) 200W before they are actually needed, even better make it a setting.
Click to expand...
I don't have that issue. Can you describe your brown out?
 
ksmithaz1 said:
View attachment 156463
I'm literally right on the edge. Keeping in mind I have TWO(2) inverters both pretty much have identical input/output numbers. Also, this screen is "pretty" but kind of non-functional. It would be nice to have a 3 line display, with columns. one line for each inverter, and a total line. Clicking between is annoying.
Click to expand...
is it configure as parallel?
 
ksmithaz1 said:
View attachment 156463
I'm literally right on the edge. Keeping in mind I have TWO(2) inverters both pretty much have identical input/output numbers. Also, this screen is "pretty" but kind of non-functional. It would be nice to have a 3 line display, with columns. one line for each inverter, and a total line. Clicking between is annoying.
Click to expand...

It would be nice to have a 3 line display, with columns. one line for each inverter, and a total line.
Click to expand...
Agree that the web interface and app are lacking.

For the "Home" page I'd like to see all inverters within reason (PV1,2,3 status on each), battery bank(s) status, etc.... High level stuff.
Then give me a page or two to "nerd out" on - each battery status down to the cell level (volts, amps, temps....) - off in the weeds data. Truly know what's going on.
Charts with configurable time frame monitoring every 30 seconds would work, prefer every 10 seconds-

It is pretty.
 
Wes975 said:
Agree that the web interface and app are lacking.

For the "Home" page I'd like to see all inverters within reason (PV1,2,3 status on each), battery bank(s) status, etc.... High level stuff.
Then give me a page or two to "nerd out" on - each battery status down to the cell level (volts, amps, temps....) - off in the weeds data. Truly know what's going on.
Charts with configurable time frame monitoring every 30 seconds would work, prefer every 10 seconds-

It is pretty.
Click to expand...
More charts and options are coming soon. It is all being worked on at the moment.
 
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