From office UPS to whole house... my journey

[Brucey]

If you want real redundancy I would just have three separate pairs of inverters, each with a 5 pack of SOKs and a 450/100

When you link Victrons either as split phase or parallel or both, if one of the inverters turns off for whatever fault condition, the others will also shutdown. you'd then have to take manual action via ve config to reconfigure them to work with a set removed from the configuration.

 

[rhino]

The voltage difference if there is any equalizes by itself that's why you can even have different sized batteries in parallel and it still works fine.

 

[KevinC_63559]

If you want real redundancy I would just have three separate pairs of inverters, each with a 5 pack of SOKs and a 450/100

When you link Victrons either as split phase or parallel or both, if one of the inverters turns off for whatever fault condition, the others will also shutdown. you'd then have to take manual action via ve config to reconfigure them to work with a set removed from the configuration.

Makes sense, and is what I was thinking - just didn't internally verbalize it that way.

 

[KevinC_63559]

Today's update: All loads have been moved over to what was the "critical" panel. Now its the "all but the least necessary" panel. Made the switch after starting to look at solar panels and plan that phase. My guess is I'm going to have an excess of solar power, since I'm replicating what I'm planning on doing on the larger house project for the first 2 strings, and adding a 3rd string to do some comparison testing. (Two string mounted vertically, facing east/west, vs. on string optimized for winter power (45 degree angle) that will be south facing.)

Since I should have excess power, might as well feed as much as possible through the inverters.



One item of note... after 55 years of using twist connectors to extend wiring, I switched to these little guys:



Never going back! The clear tops let you see when the wires are properly inserted. Since its a push connection, they also spin fairly easily, making inserting the 2nd wire a snap.

 

[KevinC_63559]

Just a little thing I noticed this morning when upgrading my Cerbo 3.33 to 3.40 - my Raspberry Pi (2B I think) version upgrades in about half the time of the real Cerbo.

 

[KevinC_63559]

Oh, a pair of Victron 450/100s are on order from CurrentConnected, along with cables, mounts, etc. Sales tax is messing with my budget, so panels themselves will likely be ordered next week from Signature Solar. Currently planning on Hyperion 400W (which are just a few dollars more than the 395W in pallet quantity).

 

[Crowz]

Just a little thing I noticed this morning when upgrading my Cerbo 3.33 to 3.40 - my Raspberry Pi (2B I think) version upgrades in about half the time of the real Cerbo.

I did the update this morning too and it took forever. Its the first time I had updated my cerbo gx's via the webpage in place of using a cell phone and bluetooth and was worried something went wrong since it took a long time before the web page would load again.

 

[KevinC_63559]

Was thinking of adding a Victron Energy Meter to my system. Gave CurrentConnected a call and apparently the unit can only handle single phase or 3 phase, not split phase (what us US and Canadian folks use). At least that explains why I couldn't figure out how to wire it (it has a ground, neutral, and L1,L2,L3 connections. Figured I could put L1 into my L1 unit, L2 into my L2 unit, but would need 2 neutrals and only had 1).

 

[Brucey]

Oh, a pair of Victron 450/100s are on order from CurrentConnected, along with cables, mounts, etc. Sales tax is messing with my budget, so panels themselves will likely be ordered next week from Signature Solar. Currently planning on Hyperion 400W (which are just a few dollars more than the 395W in pallet quantity).

The Hyperion are perfect Voc for 10 on a string with the 450/100. thinking I may have to get another 10 or 20 before end of the month.

 

[KevinC_63559]

The Hyperion are perfect Voc for 10 on a string with the 450/100. thinking I may have to get another 10 or 20 before end of the month.

We get COLD here, like -5C once in a great while. Thus I need about a 25% temperature correction and can only run 9.

Well... 9.7 using fractional math, but I noted in the PV Controller manual that incoming power shouldn't exceed 8X battery - it suggested the real limit was 422 volts vs. the spec of 450 volts. That appears to be based on a 52.75V battery level, which is a bit under what I'm currently seeing on my SOKs. Anyhow, at 422, the math says 9.1 panels - so still 9.

I just HATE the idea of putting on a parka, heading to the office, and discovering a dead 39 yo parrot and smoke pouring out just because we had a nice sunny, but cold, morning...

 

[SolarFlares]

We get COLD here, like -5C once in a great while.

You aren't going to get much sympathy from many of us on here for that statement

 

[KevinC_63559]

You aren't going to get much sympathy from many of us on here for that statement

It would help if I had a brain. Damm doctors drugs... We got to -5F last year, that -20C. Still not as bad as the -40C my inlaws see frequently.

 

[Brucey]

It would help if I had a brain. Damm doctors drugs... We got to -5F last year, that -20C. Still not as bad as the -40C my inlaws see frequently.

The calculator works for me for 10 Hyperion 400Ws down to -18F with float at 54V.

The eight times float voltage limit is a soft one, versus the hard limit of 450V.

 

[KevinC_63559]

Found this graph for a nearby town. We don't have the city effect, so get a few degrees lower:


So we actually hit -18F in town. Historical low is -31F in town.

 

[KevinC_63559]

The calculator works for me for 10 Hyperion 400Ws down to -18F with float at 54V.

The eight times float voltage limit is a soft one, versus the hard limit of 450V.

btw - could you provide that link to the official Victron calculator? I think I have an old version as an excel file, but it didn't like using 3rd party panels.

 

[Brucey]

btw - could you provide that link to the official Victron calculator? I think I have an old version as an excel file, but it didn't like using 3rd party panels.

MPPT Calculator - Victron Energy

MPPT Calculator - Victron Energy

www.victronenergy.com

 

[KevinC_63559]

Ah. much nicer! Thanks!

MPPT Calculator - Victron Energy

MPPT Calculator - Victron Energy

www.victronenergy.com

Ah, much nicer! Thanks!

 

[KevinC_63559]

Interesting... Calculator doesn't go below -30C (-21F):



Subtracting another -5C to reach our historical low (and with climate change, who knows!): 5*.304*9 = 13.68V so still safe with ~1.5C to spare.

 

[Brucey]

Interesting... Calculator doesn't go below -30C (-21F):

View attachment 229600

Subtracting another -5C to reach our historical low (and with climate change, who knows!): 5*.304*9 = 13.68V so still safe with ~1.5C to spare.

The issue is sig solar has a minimum of ten panels, but I guess if you are going with two strings of 9, 18 total that's not a problem.

 

[KevinC_63559]

The issue is sig solar has a minimum of ten panels, but I guess if you are going with two strings of 9, 18 total that's not a problem.

Actually 3 strings... going to set up one vertical east facing, one vertical west facing, and one 45 degree south facing just to compare. Obviously optimizing for winter with the 45 degree south unit, being we are at 40.12 degrees north. Trying out the Integra IR 45 mount system for that.

Looks like my office is going to be about 1/3rd the size of the house system, due to me trying to build as close to the house system as possible. That is likely going to overpower the office, so maybe, just maybe, I can take the office off-grid just for the fun of it. On the other hand, I might move a string of panels and a charge controller to the house instead and save a few $$s.

The office really is my "test" system - thus the three strings so I can compare/contrast/modify if desired. So far, been very happy I'm doing it this way as we work through a few issues:

* LED 10000 lumen ceiling lamps blink when there is a power interruption (like me flipping the breaker), even though a VOM shows continuous power and everything else doesn't notice.

* Cerbo is generating High Battery Voltage alarms, even though they are fine: 54.98, 53.63, 54.92, 54.91, 53.50

* Split phase configuration is not currently working well when trying to limit grid power. The L2 inverter starts supplying extra power and the L1 steps in to recharge the batteries <smile>. Not exactly ideal. Thought the Victron Energy Meter might help that, but it doesn't support split phase systems.

Working all three with Jason at CurrentConnected.

 

[KevinC_63559]

Rehit the SOK manual, and apparently OVP is "normal" for the first 10-15 charge cycles on new batteries as the individual cells balance... Thus the alarm.

 

[KevinC_63559]

Todays progress: Received the Victron 450/100 MPPT chargers at 7:30pm (thanks FedEx...) last night. Spent some time today and got them mounted.

A couple of notes:

1) Like the inverters, these thing apparently have some decent size caps in them. Use the resistor trick used for initial connection of the inverters to prevent a surprise spark.

2) I used 1/0 (150 amp) DC cables connected between my Lynx Distribution box and the MPPTs. The Lynx Distribution is fused with 125Amp fuses, so hopefully they are the weak point. I had to really wrestle with them to get the lugs over the bolts. Suspect 2 AWG with smaller fuses would have made life easier.

3) These MPPT controllers need 300mm (about 12 inches) of open space above and below them, thus the spacing. The top one is 12 inches from the ceiling. The bottom one is 18 inches from the top one - so hopefully won't feed too much heat into the top one. I really didn't want to go much lower on the bottom one given all the MPPT feed cables that will be hanging from there.

Sorry for the yellow ethernet cable being used as a CANBUS back to the Cerbo. Only thing I had on hand of the right length. Have ordered a nice new blue one from Amazon for $2.95...

And yeah, there is a loop in the lower power cables. Had a pair of 5' ones and had to do something with the slack...

29 Hyperion 400 solar panels were ordered yesterday. Suspect they will arrive before my Integra racks, which were out of stock when I ordered. Tis ok, hoping to do that outdoor work when its a bit cooler outside.

Oh, you will also see on top of the battery rack my $211 (after tax) refurbished Dell Latitude. It was cheap, keyboard missing strokes on a regular basis. Having the MK3 plugged in when booting results in random mouse movements on the screen, and random clicks - bit of a pain. But I'll just be remoting into it, so it should suffice for running VEConfig and the SOK utilities. That SOK RS232->USB cable set is suppose to arrive tomorrow (also Fed-Ex, so presumably in the evening). Looking forward to that since my batteries are still equalizing.

 

[Brucey]

Todays progress: Received the Victron 450/100 MPPT chargers at 7:30pm (thanks FedEx...) last night. Spent some time today and got them mounted.

A couple of notes:

1) Like the inverters, these thing apparently have some decent size caps in them. Use the resistor trick used for initial connection of the inverters to prevent a surprise spark.

2) I used 1/0 (150 amp) DC cables connected between my Lynx Distribution box and the MPPTs. The Lynx Distribution is fused with 125Amp fuses, so hopefully they are the weak point. I had to really wrestle with them to get the lugs over the bolts. Suspect 2 AWG with smaller fuses would have made life easier.

3) These MPPT controllers need 300mm (about 12 inches) of open space above and below them, thus the spacing. The top one is 12 inches from the ceiling. The bottom one is 18 inches from the top one - so hopefully won't feed too much heat into the top one. I really didn't want to go much lower on the bottom one given all the MPPT feed cables that will be hanging from there.

Sorry for the yellow ethernet cable being used as a CANBUS back to the Cerbo. Only thing I had on hand of the right length. Have ordered a nice new blue one from Amazon for $2.95...

And yeah, there is a loop in the lower power cables. Had a pair of 5' ones and had to do something with the slack...

29 Hyperion 400 solar panels were ordered yesterday. Suspect they will arrive before my Integra racks, which were out of stock when I ordered. Tis ok, hoping to do that outdoor work when its a bit cooler outside.

Oh, you will also see on top of the battery rack my $211 (after tax) refurbished Dell Latitude. It was cheap, keyboard missing strokes on a regular basis. Having the MK3 plugged in when booting results in random mouse movements on the screen, and random clicks - bit of a pain. But I'll just be remoting into it, so it should suffice for running VEConfig and the SOK utilities. That SOK RS232->USB cable set is suppose to arrive tomorrow (also Fed-Ex, so presumably in the evening). Looking forward to that since my batteries are still equalizing.

View attachment 230930

Looking good!

When hooking up new things to my distributor I turn off any power sources (batteries, SCC etc). Leave things for 10 minutes to let any capacitors discharge. Add the new battery cables. Then I turn on the 450/100, that will charge up the caps on SCC and inverter without any sparking. Then turn the batteries on.

 

[KevinC_63559]

Its rare to be able to say this, but I'm disappointed in Victron regarding their Lynx Distribution unit. Apparently you either need to buy the Lynx Shunt or the Lynx BMS (both rather redundant with LiFePO4 based solutions) in order to power the fuse indicator and power indicator LEDs on the Lynx Distribution unit. I've requested CC add that note to their website.

There appears to be hack I'll be wiring up in a few days. All the circuit card needs is 5V power. I'll be marrying an RJ9 cable to a USB cable (yellow line and black line (ground) on the RJ9, and then powering the Distribution board via its Network In connector and a spare USB port on my Cerbo GX.

That said, finished restore my panel wall (at least until the next project), now with the utility feed on the right and the inverter feed on the left.

Red socket is inverter attached (for my Fridge), grey is unprotected (for my water cooler):

 

[Crowz]

Its rare to be able to say this, but I'm disappointed in Victron regarding their Lynx Distribution unit. Apparently you either need to buy the Lynx Shunt or the Lynx BMS (both rather redundant with LiFePO4 based solutions) in order to power the fuse indicator and power indicator LEDs on the Lynx Distribution unit. I've requested CC add that note to their website.

There appears to be hack I'll be wiring up in a few days. All the circuit card needs is 5V power. I'll be marrying an RJ9 cable to a USB cable (yellow line and black line (ground) on the RJ9, and then powering the Distribution board via its Network In connector and a spare USB port on my Cerbo GX.

That said, finished restore my panel wall (at least until the next project), now with the utility feed on the right and the inverter feed on the left.

Red socket is inverter attached (for my Fridge), grey is unprotected (for my water cooler):


View attachment 231189

There are youtube vids that show how to make the lights work without the shunt. It requires making a cable. Looked pretty simple.