diy solar

diy solar

Growatt 12k random voltage drops and fault/warning code 61. Anyone else?

RCinFLA,
Inverter has been running without PV input for about an hour. AC output voltage under various loads is a constant 119v. Plus/minus 0.3 volts.
Assuming an hour is statistically long enough to show up the issue, then focus changes to SSC.

You can check PV input voltage when you see AC voltage fluctuation to see if you also see fluctuation in PV voltage. What are your typical Voc, Vmp, and Imp currents from PV when seeing AC output voltage fluctuation?

If you run PV panels Vmp too high in voltage, there may not be enough headroom to the 250 vdc max input limit to do a proper MPPT search. With Vmp typically between 0.81 to 0.85 x Voc and Voc max limit of 250vdc, Vmp max input limit is 200-212 vdc. The inverter spec of Vmp max of 245v is not possible with silicon PV panels and still keep maximum Voc less than 250vdc.

If you have too small a battery AH size or too small battery cabling gauge, the SSC power can pull the inverter AC output voltage. The unit should automatically back down PV power output to prevent this. Check inverter DC input voltage when you see the AC output voltage fluctuation.
 
Much appreciate the input RC, I’m learning something new everyday! My battery bank is four EG4’s 48v 100ah. Wires from battery to bus bar are 2awg and from bus bar to inverter 4/0. They’ve always room temp.

Solar was added only recently. But even before solar was added, when I was still testing everything I noticed random shut offs while running only on battery power. That happened every few days.
 
This comment probably has nothing to do with you guys' problem with the 12K Growatts controller/inverter. I'm looking into getting one as my MPPT LV2424 just can't handle any load over 2k watts. But at times it would shutoff for about 45 seconds then restart. After a few weeks of hourly monitoring, I finally found three issues that was killing my lv 2424.

First my 2424 cannot handle more that 2kw although it supposed to be able to handle at least 3kw. To solve this program, I had to re-arrange my electric sub-panel which is connected to my 2424 to only have max loads less than 2k. I had to move all appliance to their own side of the sub panel that is only Utility power and isolated from the controller side of the panel.

Second, it would shut off every time when that battery current reached 22 amps in the evening. - I solved that problem by increasing the option at what battery voltage will discharge to before switching the Utility power. It was set at 24.0 volt and when doing the math respect to the house average load, the current was over 25 amps. But changing this option to 24.5 volts, the current now never gets over 18 amps.

The third problem with the controller shutting off was to overheat. It turns out that my controller does not like being hotter that 104 degrees F. I life in California, and during the summer months, we see lots of days with those temps and never under 98 degrees. Note that my controller is outside but covered from the rain. To solve the heating problem, I have to have a large fan blowing on it which does keep the controller just under 100 degrees.

Anyway, I have to rip my solar system down due to an inspection and of course I have to permits to instill one and how I wired the sub-panel is not legal or to code. So, when I do re-install solar, I want to use a hire capacity controller that can handle all my loads including the outside Air conditioner. And not have to miss with the house electrical sub-panel.
 
Hello Danny1987,
I have the SPF 6000T DVM MPV version and have had it in service for just 10 days. Now receiving the same fault/warning code 61 as you are but not seeing any voltage swings. I have sent an email to tech@signaturesolar.com as Alex suggested above, however, I wondered if you had an update on your issue yet?

thanks
Bruce
 
Hey Bruce,

No update yet. Haven't had much time to mess around with the system the last two weeks. But will have everything calibrated and up-and-running sometime tomorrow. The plan is to let the inverter idle for 20-30 days to see if it'll throw a fault or any voltage drops/power shutoffs/ or resets are experienced. If nothing is recorded then only thing left is as timselectric suggested, most likely a short somewhere in the appliances or wiring. And I'll definitely keep you posted with the data logger results in few weeks.

Did the calibration tool fix your growatt error?
 
Danny
I just got the warning code 61 on 5/28, three-day weekend-right? so I'll see what tech @SignatureSolar has to say soon I hope. I'm running well pump and 2 pressure pump off the 6000T and it has no problem with one at a time so is somewhat of a balancing act to get them timed right, has been fine over the last week and we had some high clouds on Saturday, edge of cloud push PV higher than I have seen it so far (15 250 watt panel set 5S3P) got 3200 watts and the log showed around 172 volts on PV so IDK if thats what caused code 61? a long way from 250 V max input rating. I will post if I make any headway.

Bruce
 
Possible cause:
Not enough battery capacity to handle the surge.
Check the inverter manual for recommended battery ah. If you don't have enough battery, the voltage will dip too low, when an appliance starts up. (Air compressor, pool/well pump, refrigerator/freezer)
I have an all in one copier, printer, scanner, that causes a problem, whenever the battery SOC is very low.
 
Hello Tim,
is your comment referring to my 6000T well pumping? I havent had any battery issues: 3 EG4 lifepower seem to be adequate for my demand, never was intended to run more than 1 pump at a time
 
Mines still doing the quick restarts, sometimes so fast the voltage drops almost merge, 4 in total. Inverter 1 which has higher loads has not restarted once.
 

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Not speaking to anyone in particular.
Just offering a possible cause.
If you have enough battery capacity, then it doesn't apply to you.
 
Mines still doing the quick restarts, sometimes so fast the voltage drops almost merge, 4 in total. Inverter 1 which has higher loads has not restarted once.
Take what you see in Solar Assistant with a grain of salt. It display's random events on my system that never actually happen and I suspect that's what you're seeing here. There is a communication issue between it and my Growatt inverter, where the connection status will display "connected" and then cyclically display "invalid data received". I've reported the behavior and a few other issues and am waiting for a response.

Just the other day Solar Assistant was showing a 31 amp draw from the batteries along with a load of 1619 watts. In reality, there wasn't anything pulling that kind of load, which was confirmed at the inverter. Solar assistant was stuck at those values but was allowing me to change views and was refreshing data when commanded, with the same stalled data. A reboot fixed it.
 
Take what you see in Solar Assistant with a grain of salt. It display's random events on my system that never actually happen and I suspect that's what you're seeing here. There is a communication issue between it and my Growatt inverter, where the connection status will display "connected" and then cyclically display "invalid data received". I've reported the behavior and a few other issues and am waiting for a response.

Just the other day Solar Assistant was showing a 31 amp draw from the batteries along with a load of 1619 watts. In reality, there wasn't anything pulling that kind of load, which was confirmed at the inverter. Solar assistant was stuck at those values but was allowing me to change views and was refreshing data when commanded, with the same stalled data. A reboot fixed it.


I work from home so each one of those dips is the power going off for just a few seconds as it restarts. We have to take a lot of notes/data entry and I had to put a small backup on the pc so we do not lose our work. Sort of laughable to have to add a ups to my system.
 

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Here's a prime example of erroneous data. Grid spike to 500 volts? I don't even have the grid connected to the inverter. Do those voltage drops on the output look just like your restarts? This "supposedly" happened here last night but none of this actually occurred. Solar Assistant is a valuable work in progress and I do hope he gets the kinks out at some point.

The other error you're experiencing seems to me, based on the error message, to be the inverter thinking its communicating with an external charge controller. First thing I'd do is to disconnect the USB cable that's feeding Solar Assistant and see if the error goes away. Remove the cable from the inverter to rule out any issue with the cable itself. Just an idea.
 

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Here's a prime example of erroneous data. Grid spike to 500 volts? I don't even have the grid connected to the inverter. Do those voltage drops on the output look just like your restarts? This "supposedly" happened here last night but none of this actually occurred. Solar Assistant is a valuable work in progress and I do hope he gets the kinks out at some point.

The other error you're experiencing seems to me, based on the error message, to be the inverter thinking its communicating with an external charge controller. First thing I'd do is to disconnect the USB cable that's feeding Solar Assistant and see if the error goes away. Remove the cable from the inverter to rule out any issue with the cable itself. Just an idea.
I have two 12kw running both using the same pi model and inverter 1 it runs perfect. It never does any quick restarts and the data is totally stable no odd fluctuations. I have no pv or grid on either one as well.
 
I have two 12kw running both using the same pi model and inverter 1 it runs perfect. It never does any quick restarts and the data is totally stable no odd fluctuations. I have no pv or grid on either one as well.
I'll run an experiment. I like experiments. I'll put my calibrated and traceable Fluke meter on the output of the inverter and graph its output until one of the anomalies occurs and see if there's actually anything there.
 
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