EG4-6500 switch from battery to utility

[EPicTony]

My split phase EG4-6500 has been running for 36 hrs now. Yesterday it was partly sunny and the EG4 battery SOC got up to100%.
It ran all night and today was very dark so the PV didn't do much at all, basically running on battery all day. The SOC got down to 15% and now the utility is charging the battery and running the inverters. What determines when the inverter switches back to battery (parameter 13)? Charger priority is set to solar first (parameter 16).
What is the recommendation for parameter 12 & 13 when using the EG4 batteries ? Thanks for any advise.

 

[timselectric]

What is the recommendation for parameter 12 & 13 when using the EG4 batteries ? Thanks for any advise.

It's really personal preference.
How much battery you want to save for emergencies.
I have mine set to stay above 25%.
It's recommended to stay above 20% for a healthy and long lasting battery.

 

[PreppenWolf]

I run mine 48V to 52V for pass through charging. I like to keep some in the bank for backup. I have a very large bank (105kWh) so charging to 52V is fine.

If I know a big storm is coming, I will bump it up to 56V to charge the bank the day before.

 

[Adam De Lay]

While I don't have the EG4 batteries, I run mine similar to @PreppenWolf. It's really up to what you're desiring to get out of the system.

 

[bones1]

While I don't have the EG4 batteries, I run mine similar to @PreppenWolf. It's really up to what you're desiring to get out of the system.

What values do you guys run in options 12,13 and 29 when in USE? With solar assistant and eg4 batteries, you can't use the SOC option true? Can I get some of your settings please?

 

[Adam De Lay]

What values do you guys run in options 12,13 and 29 when in USE? With solar assistant and eg4 batteries, you can't use the SOC option true? Can I get some of your settings please?

At the moment, I have mine set to 12-48, 13-55, 29-46. I am constantly playing around with different values though to try and find the optimal ones for my setup.

As far as I know, unless you have your batteries hooked up to the inverters with one of the acceptable protocols (ex. EG4), your inverters can only make changes based on voltage, not SOC. That's why I use Solar Assistant because on the "Power" tab, Solar Assistant can change modes based on the SOC. It just pushes the change to the inverters when the thresholds are hit.

 

[timselectric]

This is my current settings.
Charging might be too aggressive for most people.

 

[Adam De Lay]

This is my current settings.
Charging might be too aggressive for most people.

View attachment 132777

Nah. Everyone's gonna tell you something different and everyone's gonna tell you why they're reasoning is right. There's probably a little truth to everyones positions, but ultimately it's your decision as to how you want to charge your cells.

I keep changing mine. Used to charge them up to 56.8 and might do that again...never know.

 

[timselectric]

Yup
Everyone has to decide what works best for them.

 

[JCSchwarb]

Yup
Everyone has to decide what works best for them.

We will only know in “x” number of years, hopefully 10-15…

 

[timselectric]

We will only know in “x” number of years, hopefully 10-15…

Calendar aging is the only thing that will degrade my cells. And the Calendar is degrading me faster. lol

 

[JCSchwarb]

My split phase EG4-6500 has been running for 36 hrs now. Yesterday it was partly sunny and the EG4 battery SOC got up to100%.
It ran all night and today was very dark so the PV didn't do much at all, basically running on battery all day. The SOC got down to 15% and now the utility is charging the battery and running the inverters. What determines when the inverter switches back to battery (parameter 13)? Charger priority is set to solar first (parameter 16).
What is the recommendation for parameter 12 & 13 when using the EG4 batteries ? Thanks for any advise.

Option 12 (back to util) 48V
Opt 13 (back to Batt) 49V
16 OSO (solar only charging)
26 (bulk V) 58
27 (float V) 54.5
29 45V

These settings were chosen to optimize solar system production, while limiting some reduced life of the batteries. If we need more UPS reserve, I would bump option 13 to 53V so as to have a battery reserve.

 

[EPicTony]

This is my current settings.
Charging might be too aggressive for most people.

View attachment 132777

I don't understand why JCSchwarb's settings:
Option 12 (back to util) 48V
Opt 13 (back to Batt) 49V
16 OSO (solar only charging)
26 (bulk V) 58
27 (float V) 54.5
29 45V
are so much different than yours, it's like night & day different. Are both of these for EG-4 batterys ? Especially param 12 ( 48v vs 51.2v) . Thanks

 

[JCSchwarb]

I don't understand why JCSchwarb's settings:
Option 12 (back to util) 48V
Opt 13 (back to Batt) 49V
16 OSO (solar only charging)
26 (bulk V) 58
27 (float V) 54.5
29 45V
are so much different than yours, it's like night & day different. Are both of these for EG-4 batterys ? Especially param 12 ( 48v vs 51.2v) . Thanks

The big differences I see are one is set to optimize solar production to lower electric bill while the other settings are for a UPS where one wants to ensure they have backup.

 

[timselectric]

I don't understand why JCSchwarb's settings:
Option 12 (back to util) 48V
Opt 13 (back to Batt) 49V
16 OSO (solar only charging)
26 (bulk V) 58
27 (float V) 54.5
29 45V
are so much different than yours, it's like night & day different. Are both of these for EG-4 batterys ? Especially param 12 ( 48v vs 51.2v) . Thanks

It's mostly personal preference.
And what you want out of your system.
Both are 48v LFP batteries. Brand doesn't matter.

 

[EPicTony]

I'm confused. I have JCSchwarb's settings and at 52.6v it switched to grid. I don't get why it switched. Isn't it supposed to switch at 48v (option 12) ??? I also just checked and its set for SUB (changed by solar assistant), is that why ???

 

[Adam De Lay]

I'm confused. I have JCSchwarb's settings and at 52.6v it switched to grid. I don't get why it switched. Isn't it supposed to switch at 48v (option 12) ??? I also just checked and its set for SUB (changed by solar assistant), is that why ???

Do you have that feature enabled in SA?

 

[EPicTony]

Do you have that feature enabled in SA?

I didn't realize it but after checking i found it to be enabled. I think everything is working correctly now.
Tonight when the voltage drops I will see if it switches to grid at 48v.

 

[JCSchwarb]

I didn't realize it but after checking i found it to be enabled. I think everything is working correctly now.
Tonight when the voltage drops I will see if it switches to grid at 48v.

I have SBU priority, not SUB.

 

[Adam De Lay]

I have SBU priority, not SUB.

I think the SA power management feature made the change for him.

I’m actually running a test right now to see what happens if you have the SA power management feature enabled and you have options 12/13 set to values that could trigger the inverter to change modes before SA “wants the change done”.