Free Nights Sol-Ark programming

[dsw1000]

Hey all, I have a Sol-Ark 15K with 30K of batteries. I am switching to a free nights plan from 9p-9a and want to charge batteries during that time while the grid handles the load as well. PV can handle the load during the day and sell the excess back. I am confused by the TOU settings to make this happen. In the app it looks like this right now. Any help is appreciated.

 

[1201]

paging @GregTR

 

[SolarFlares]

Yes these TOU settings can be difficult to configure. Just as a disclaimer, these only apply when the grid is online. These do not apply when the grid is down. The way you have to think of them is the time you set is when those settings become active until the next time is listed. As far as I know you have to configure all 6 timeslots even if in your case you really only need 2 of them. But the 6 gives you finer control say for example you don't want to completely deplete your batteries by noon on a cloudy day.

Try changing the following settings.
Enable the button "Time 1" underneath where it says charge (this means grid charge).
Time 1
01:00
7500W
100%

01:00 means starting at 1am. 7500W means the charge/discharge rate of the battery. 100% means do not discharge the battery below 100%. This combined with the charge button being enabled for "Time 1" should mean it will charge the battery from the grid until it reaches 100%.

Based on this you should be able to configure the remaining fields but I would suggest the following.

Any times listed between 0900 and 2059 do not have the charge button enabled. You only want to have charge enabled for times 21:00 through 0859. Gradually decrease the battery percent from 0900 through 2000. I wouldn't want you to be at 20% battery by noon on a cloudy day and then have a grid outage and you have no battery remaining.

 

[SolarFlares]

Suggested settings to try.

Enable the button "Time 1" underneath where it says charge (this means grid charge).
Time 1
01:00
7500W
100%

Disable the button "Time 2" underneath where it says charge (this means DO NOT grid charge).
Time 2
09:00
7500W
80%

Disable the button "Time 3" underneath where it says charge (this means DO NOT grid charge).
Time 3
12:00
7500W
60%

Disable the button "Time 4" underneath where it says charge (this means DO NOT grid charge).
Time 4
15:00
7500W
40%

Disable the button "Time 5" underneath where it says charge (this means DO NOT grid charge).
Time 5
18:00
7500W
20%

Enable the button "Time 6" underneath where it says charge (this means grid charge).
Time 6
21:00
7500W
100%

 

[dsw1000]

Thank you for this. Settings changed, i will watch it over the next 24 hrs to make sure it's right.

 

[dsw1000]

OK, set up as above, everything looked good except the batteries did not charge during time 1 and time 6. Is there a toggle switch or other setting that may be preventing that?

 

[dsw1000]

 

[SolarFlares]

Can you check in the battery setting for the "grid charge" setting? I didn't think this is required but its something you could try. I would set the % very low like 15 so it doesn't accidentally kick on during a normal day. The solark guide doesn't mention this setting is required but I've never tried this so on my unit so I don't know for sure.

 

[dsw1000]

Ah grid charge was not enabled. Turned it on and set the params you suggest. Will watch it.

 

[dsw1000]

Ok! She works. Posting final settings for free nights. Thanks for the help on this.

 

[macgeek]

reading, re reading, hoping my thick skull can assimilate and digest this!

 

[SolarFlares]

reading, re reading, hoping my thick skull can assimilate and digest this!

Try it out for a day and once you see the results it will make more sense. You can't really break anything although I guess you could hurt your wallet if you accidentally charge your batteries from the grid during a high cost time

 

[macgeek]

ARGH! i cannot understand it

Can ya help a geek out?

what I am trying to do is - start solar charging my battery at 10:00AM
and use the battery as little as possible during the day, with it making sure its fully charged in the evening (4PM)
at 7PM start using the battery to augment the electric -- as overnight battery is priority, and used grid if battery is low
but does not charge battery by the grid till 10:00AM

seems simple enough right? NOT FOR ME (muhahahah!)

Thanks!

Jonathan

 

[SolarFlares]

ARGH! i cannot understand it

Can ya help a geek out?

what I am trying to do is - start solar charging my battery at 10:00AM
and use the battery as little as possible during the day, with it making sure its fully charged in the evening (4PM)
at 7PM start using the battery to augment the electric -- as overnight battery is priority, and used grid if battery is low
but does not charge battery by the grid till 10:00AM

seems simple enough right? NOT FOR ME (muhahahah!)

Thanks!

Jonathan

What are your electric grid rates by time of day or day of week? Is there a time you want to charge your batteries from the grid? That wasn't clear from your post.

 

[macgeek]

What are your electric grid rates by time of day or day of week? Is there a time you want to charge your batteries from the grid? That wasn't clear from your post.

i pay .12 a KWh - I get paid the same

 

[SolarFlares]

i pay .12 a KWh - I get paid the same

I'm guessing the below would work for you. This would never charge from the grid. It will only charge from solar.
The watt number is how much power you can supply from the batteries. This depends on how big your battery pack is but I used 5000W as a guess.

Disable the button "Time 1" underneath where it says charge (this means DO NOT grid charge).
Time 1
01:00
5000W
25%

Disable the button "Time 2" underneath where it says charge (this means DO NOT grid charge).
Time 2
10:00
5000W
95%

Disable the button "Time 3" underneath where it says charge (this means DO NOT grid charge).
Time 3
12:00
5000W
100%

Disable the button "Time 4" underneath where it says charge (this means DO NOT grid charge).
Time 4
15:00
5000W
100%

Disable the button "Time 5" underneath where it says charge (this means DO NOT grid charge).
Time 5
19:00
5000W
75%

Disable the button "Time 6" underneath where it says charge (this means DO NOT grid charge).
Time 6
21:00
5000W
50%

 

[macgeek]

I have the

HomeGrid 5 Stack'd Series 48V 24kWh LFP Battery Bank​

i'm using you 5000W as a starter,

Jon

 

[macgeek]

WHOA - that was fun, I faulted the inverter!
Lets TRY THIS AGAIN, with YOUR settings!!!!

 

[SolarFlares]

WHOA - that was fun, I faulted the inverter!
Lets TRY THIS AGAIN, with YOUR settings!!!!

You want all the charge and sell buttons to be grey - meaning disabled. Those control whether you want to charge or discharge your batteries to/from the grid.

Your batteries will still charge from solar and your batteries will still power your loads with those buttons disabled. The original question in this thread was for someone who gets free power overnight from the grid.

 

[macgeek]

You want all the charge and sell buttons to be grey - meaning disabled. Those control whether you want to charge or discharge your batteries to/from the grid.

Your batteries will still charge from solar and your batteries will still power your loads with those buttons disabled. The original question in this thread was for someone who gets free power overnight from the grid.

Yea, when I am at peak, I want to sell back to the grid, I am making hella more then I need, -- store that excess for winter use
(i'm grandfathered in at the .12 rate buy/sell) Last thing I am trying to work out is the Settings for my system, 5000 is a great starting point, but i'm 12.4kw solar and 24kw batteries, so I think I can bump that # up

***THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR HELP***
I really appreciate it, I didn't get 'it' till I entered your #'s into the system, then a light bulb (ha a power joke) went off!!

Jonathan

 

[macgeek]

My current settings. ... . .
Staring to tweak them, more and now I understand the charge settings better...

 

[SolarFlares]

My current settings. ... . .
Staring to tweak them, more and now I understand the charge settings better...

Yes, it starts to make more sense once you see how it works for a few days. But you still want to disable the Sell buttons. With the sell buttons enabled, your batteries will discharge to sell to the grid which I don't think you want.

With the sell buttons disabled, you will still send excess solar power to the grid once your batteries are fully charged.

 

[macgeek]

Yes, it starts to make more sense once you see how it works for a few days. But you still want to disable the Sell buttons. With the sell buttons enabled, your batteries will discharge to sell to the grid which I don't think you want.

With the sell buttons disabled, you will still send excess solar power to the grid once your batteries are fully charged.

YUP - learned THAT ONE!

ok, last 'hitch'

its 3:30AM here is las vegas, and I'm pulling power from the GRID not the battery!
WHAT AM I DOING WRONG??

 

[SolarFlares]

You have your battery setting using voltage instead of percent. Do you have your battery page configured with the specs from manufacturer's installation guide? Page 9 - https://s3.amazonaws.com/ecodirect_docs/HomeGrid/HOMEGRID-Stackd-Series-Installation-Manual.pdf

It lists
Nominal - 48V
Recommended Charging - 52.5V
Max Charging - 53.5V
Discharge Cutoff - 44V

This post seems to indicate that 48V is approximately 20% SOC. https://diysolarforum.com/threads/a...battery-system-in-operation.73038/post-996432

It looks like based on your setting "Time 6" it will only discharge the battery to 49V which is about 60%. Your "Time 1" setting is probably also coming into play but you didn't post those settings.

So I would verify the battery settings page first. And then change "Time 6" to be 48.5V and then possibly change "Time 1" to 48V depending on what hour you have that set to.

 

[macgeek]

You have your battery setting using voltage instead of percent. Do you have your battery page configured with the specs from manufacturer's installation guide? Page 9 - https://s3.amazonaws.com/ecodirect_docs/HomeGrid/HOMEGRID-Stackd-Series-Installation-Manual.pdf

It lists
Nominal - 48V
Recommended Charging - 52.5V
Max Charging - 53.5V
Discharge Cutoff - 44V

This post seems to indicate that 48V is approximately 20% SOC. https://diysolarforum.com/threads/a...battery-system-in-operation.73038/post-996432

It looks like based on your setting "Time 6" it will only discharge the battery to 49V which is about 60%. Your "Time 1" setting is probably also coming into play but you didn't post those settings.

So I would verify the battery settings page first. And then change "Time 6" to be 48.5V and then possibly change "Time 1" to 48V depending on what hour you have that set to.

DONE, Thanks!!!
Will read up on the links, see if I follow what you are saying..

I have it set at % -- instead of volts, personal preference!