EV charging station that works with 3000EHV-48

[niteraven78]

Hi all, I just finished building a solar carport for my 2023 Chevy Bolt EUV. I built it to be very simple with ~4.5k bifacial panels, 3000EHV-48 all-in-one and 3 EG4-LifePower4 48V batteries. Most works well except for my level 1 charging station occasionally glitches out while charging during full sun. Carport is off grid and not connected to utility. Here is the charger I'm using:

EVCARS Level 1 EV Charger 16A NEMA 5-15 25FT Portable EVSE D Electric Vehicle Car Charging Station (SAE J1722, Adjustable Amp, Time Delay) https://a.co/d/aacILqJ

If I charge my batteries during the day and charge the car at night it works flawlessly. Batteries are emptied during night and inverter shuts off.

A few times I have tried to charge the car during the day, if there is enough sun to fully charge the car, 8-12 amps, the EV charger will work for a few minutes and then start to glitch out by turning off and on repeatedly and making clicking noises.

My theory is the inverter believes it has enough power from sun so it's only using solar and not batteries. A cloud may come over and cause voltage fluctuations which trips the EV charger's under voltage protection. Is the EG4 inverter not able to to switch from solar to battery in realtime under full load? I have tried various setting combinations to no avail.

My questions are:
1) Are there inverter settings that can handle this situation? May only using battery as power source?
2) Has anyone found a charging station that can handle voltage or power fluctuations?

The free charger that came with the Bolt does not seem to suffer from these fluctuations but it's my backup and I'm keeping it in the trunk and out of the rain.

Thanks for any advice!

 

[sunshine_eggo]

First, PV is always DC. PV is converted to battery voltage and is then converted to AC. There's a DC bus that the panel output and battery is on feeding the inverter, so there is no "switching from solar to battery" in most situations.

1) Are you in SbU mode?
2) Yours should have no issue with L1 charging.

Are you using battery comms?

Is there an issue with the EV charger, or is the inverter changing its output causing the issue with the charger? Have you monitored the 120V output of the inverter while this happens? Have you tried other high load items?

 

[niteraven78]

Thanks for response! Yes I have tried SbU and SOL. I was first using SOL and then switched to SbU- same result. Here is a picture of my inverter in the scenario as I described. It appears to be going from inverter from to load? I believe I want it to look like the first diagram in screenshot from manual?

I was first using only battery voltage as comms then switched to cable comms, same behavior.

I have tried a lot of setting combos but cannot get it to look like the diagram.

EV charger could have issues but want to rule out inverter first.

Thanks again.

 

[niteraven78]

Diagram 1-load exceeds solar output, diagram 2-solar output exceeds load?

 

[sunshine_eggo]

Diagram 1-load exceeds solar output, diagram 2-solar output exceeds load?

Not sure what you mean by the above.

Your display looks exactly like the second option.

Actually measure VAC and Hz during EV charger glitch. If no discrepancies in measurement, likely not inverter.
Try with another high load device, if no issues, likely not inverter.

Try USE again and disconnect data cables with absorption at 55.2 and float at 55.1 to eliminate the possibility of OVP voltage spike from the MPPT.

 

[niteraven78]

My weird comment was me trying to figure out how you get LCD to show diagram 1 vs 2.

I like your idea of trying another high load device to eliminate inverter. Might pull out a blow dryer...

Maybe the EV charger is finikey because it's too smart for it's own good.

OVP voltage spikes are new to me. I'll look into that. Thank you kind sir covered in syrup ?

 

[sunshine_eggo]

My weird comment was me trying to figure out how you get LCD to show diagram 1 vs 2.

It displays based on what's happening.

When you have a situation where you have loads > PV, then it will draw from both PV and battery, it will look like the top diagram.

I like your idea of trying another high load device to eliminate inverter. Might pull out a blow dryer...

Maybe the EV charger is finikey because it's too smart for it's own good.

OVP voltage spikes are new to me. I'll look into that. Thank you kind sir covered in syrup ?

Basically, if the BMS cuts off charge, the MPPT has no place to put its voltage/amps, and there's a short delay in its response to the load being cut instantly to 0. The voltage spikes and then it clamps down and drops. Likely you would see an error message on the inverter in this case, so I'm just holding it as a remote possibility.

 

[niteraven78]

Actually I'm glad you mentioned that because I noticed it glitches out more when the batteries are 100% full. It will sometimes run for a while if they are not full. The reason I know this is because I was trying to charge the car's batteries since the eg4 batteries were full midday.

Does your last paragraph explain this?

 

[niteraven78]

And that's what I'm trying to solve for is if my eg4 batteries are full, well guess what? My car has a 65kWh battery bank that wants it.

 

[sunshine_eggo]

And that's what I'm trying to solve for is if my eg4 batteries are full, well guess what? My car has a 65kWh battery bank that wants it.

If your batteries are engaging protection, then this could account for erratic inverter output behavior, but again, I would expect errors.

It's worth a try to see if the lower voltage prevents the glitching.

 

[niteraven78]

@sunshine_eggo Regarding your advice from below, are these settings that I can leave permanently without concern?

Try USE again and disconnect data cables with absorption at 55.2 and float at 55.1 to eliminate the possibility of OVP voltage spike from the MPPT.

I found the setting for float but cannot find a setting for absorption. Is that the same thing as bulk?

Thanks!

 

[niteraven78]

Battery manual recommends these settings:

1. Bulk/Absorption: 56.2V (+/- .2V)
2. Float: 54V (+/- .2V)

 

[sunshine_eggo]

@sunshine_eggo Regarding your advice from below, are these settings that I can leave permanently without concern?

For as long as is needed to address the imbalance. wouldn't necessarily leave it permanently, but wouldn't worry about 1-2 weeks at a time.

As I understand the EG4 algorithm, when in communication with the inverters, they simply charge to absorption voltage and hold, so the above settings may be less stressful to the battery than when communicating with the inverter.

I found the setting for float but cannot find a setting for absorption. Is that the same thing as bulk?

bulk = absorption = boost when referring to the peak charge voltage.

Battery manual recommends these settings:

1. Bulk/Absorption: 56.2V (+/- .2V)
2. Float: 54V (+/- .2V)

3.51v/cell bulk/absorp
3.375V/cell float

Recommending:
3.45V/cell bulk/absorption
3.44V/cell float

 

[Capt Bill]

Hi all, I just finished building a solar carport for my 2023 Chevy Bolt EUV. I built it to be very simple with ~4.5k bifacial panels, 3000EHV-48 all-in-one and 3 EG4-LifePower4 48V batteries. Most works well except for my level 1 charging station occasionally glitches out while charging during full sun. Carport is off grid and not connected to utility. Here is the charger I'm using:

EVCARS Level 1 EV Charger 16A NEMA 5-15 25FT Portable EVSE D Electric Vehicle Car Charging Station (SAE J1722, Adjustable Amp, Time Delay) https://a.co/d/aacILqJ

If I charge my batteries during the day and charge the car at night it works flawlessly. Batteries are emptied during night and inverter shuts off.

A few times I have tried to charge the car during the day, if there is enough sun to fully charge the car, 8-12 amps, the EV charger will work for a few minutes and then start to glitch out by turning off and on repeatedly and making clicking noises.

My theory is the inverter believes it has enough power from sun so it's only using solar and not batteries. A cloud may come over and cause voltage fluctuations which trips the EV charger's under voltage protection. Is the EG4 inverter not able to to switch from solar to battery in realtime under full load? I have tried various setting combinations to no avail.

My questions are:
1) Are there inverter settings that can handle this situation? May only using battery as power source?
2) Has anyone found a charging station that can handle voltage or power fluctuations?

The free charger that came with the Bolt does not seem to suffer from these fluctuations but it's my backup and I'm keeping it in the trunk and out of the rain.

Thanks for any advice!

I scanned this thread to end (12.2023) ... And Wondering ... Did you get this resolved? via finding the proper combo of settings, OR do you think this issue deserves an EG4 Firmware Update ???

 

[niteraven78]

Hi @Capt Bill it still happens and cannot reliably charge my car during the day to the EV charger glitching out while the batteries are charging. I even tried another EV charger/ different brand and am getting the same results. EV charger works perfectly well at night time.

I know the issue is related to voltage fluctuations of the PV array and the inverter does not seem to handle this well under load. I have watched the voltage drop because I have a lot of trees and the EV charger clicking will happen immediately. The thought also occurred to me there may be voltage spikes now that it is getting colder. I have seen voltages up to 440V on my app's graph which makes me think it may spike higher than that. There should be room up to 500V, I don't believe open voltage should ever get that high.

It is a very annoying issue and I'm afraid it may cause damage to the inverter or my car eventually.

I have tried to find a change log for the firmware and cannot. I don't want to update the firmware unless I know for sure there's something related to this.

Any pointers are appreciated.

 

[time2roll]

I would be investigating the voltage drop. Monitor directly on the inverter battery input terminals while your create an issue with the panels.

It would seem the connection to the battery is poor or the battery is too small.

Although if the all-in-one inverter is glitching.... the solution might be a separate charge controller and use only the inverter function of the 3000EHV.

MS TriStar MPPT 600V

 

[Capt Bill]

... cannot reliably charge my car during the day to the EV charger glitching out while the batteries are charging. I even tried another EV charger/ different brand and am getting the same results. EV charger works perfectly well at night time.

I know the issue is related to voltage fluctuations of the PV array and the inverter does not seem to handle this well under load. I have watched the voltage drop because I have a lot of trees and the EV charger clicking will happen immediately.

I would think; ... when properly configured; your battery would take up any slack of solar panel watts shifting w shade issues; and Wondering if some setting(s) adjustment might be a fix. Setting #1 Sbu is proper/ as SUb leaves the battery topped up while loads are backup by grid or an inverter generator (that is how I read the manual/ and testing while writing notes on printed out page of settings to test ... is IMhO ...The Way to know learn about all those setting options). I wonder if you got # 9 ac frequency set to 60Hz (vs the the default 50Hz)? ... If still on 50 Hz, (like mine was stuck there/ until I learned) applying a 120vac 60Hz Input to the EG4, ... gets #9 to switch over to 60Hz; ... and how to get the #28 setting to click over to SIG for proper 120vac "single phase application" (vs being stuck in the PAL setting ... as mine was).

Scanning a printout for the EG4; I would wonder if you are using "User Defined" for a LiFePO battery type? (& learned Fld and maybe AGM can be chosen for LiFePO4s ... to get access to the #12 and #13 settings. Likely not a factor for your challenge/ but One would have to make sure #33 Equalization remains disable default if you test that out. (I have not yet personally tested that). ... I also wonder if your BMS might be fault tripping when this is happening? ... or if you have any dialog with you tech support from supplier (Signature Solar?).

... Best Wishes, ... & Looking forward to your resolution story ... I remembered this saying from my high school days:
"When there is a Will, There is a Way ... "

 

[ksmithaz1]

I would think; ... when properly configured; your battery would take up any slack of solar panel watts shifting w shade issues; and Wondering if some setting(s) adjustment might be a fix.

I agree. However, early firmware on my big EG4 would seriously dip output over all the various power transition points. Recent firmware has really had a dramatic improvement. This is likely goofing with the EVSE, if your solar output is transitioning above and below the threshold needed to provide power directly. I would start by making sure a unit has the latest firmware.

One thing you have to keep in mind is an EV 'charger' is not a 'charger'. It's an EVSE. It passes the AC thru to the car from a contactor/relay. The variable amperage is accomplished with a simple pulse pushed down the pilot wire. It is up to the vehicle to honor that, mine both tend to pull something less than the evse setting.

A work-around could be to just get a separate cheapo MPPT(s) for the panels and take them direct to the batteries, and just use the unit as an inverter. I actually thought about this before I went all-in on solar for the house. By the time I built it out to the point I felt it was useful I'd spent too much money, my TOU rates are really low. You might want to look at https://www.openevse.com. I little pricey but you get a lot more info and an API.



My car is connected (green). I have a 'Pi' monitoring and waiting for my solar SOC to get high enough to turn on, but I can also just hop into the web interface and reset it. Further it has a log you can check, monitoring, blah, blah. You can see it turned on at 0240 and off at 0420 as my daemon program bled power from my batteries since it was not that cold and I didn't use that much overnight.