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Growatt 48v 3000 Solar wont charge battery

AE86Mikey

New Member
Joined
Nov 17, 2021
Messages
10
First thank you anyone who gives me some assistance on this, i am definitely out of my normal wheelhouse. I apologize in advance as i may dump too much info, but i feel its easier to go over with too much info than asking questions and waiting on replies.

Setup
Newly setup Growatt 3000 48v inverter. 4x SOK 100ah batteries, 8X 325w solar panels. Completely off grid.
Panels were wired as 2 parallel series for 160v in an ideal scenario.

Base testing
I had put the setup together initial without the solar panels, and was using a generator to charge the batteries and power our off grid RV.
Everything was working as expected at that point. We finished the solar wiring and i cycled the breaker and tested.
It worked as i had thought, the display showed power porting to the battery and output, charging at 141v.

I watched it charge the batteries for a short time, left for the weekend and came back to check it on Monday. I shut down the breaker to output to ensure there was no power drain while we were away. To my disappointment the battery voltage dipped enough that the controller shut down, and the batteries BMS went into protection mode. Im still not certain what managed to drain them as there was no draw present besides the inverter itself.

I split the batteries up, charged them back up and reconnected them to the system and brought it back online to inspect.

Main problem
Now it would not show the solar would charge the batteries. Had a nominal voltage of 51v, and it would only output the battery to draw, would not recharge.
I tried switching some of the settings, which were not changed from the time it was charging, with no change. I was able to fire the generator back up and it began charging the batteries as i would expect.

Frustrated i went to work and saw that the growatt wanted to see 150v of solar to "startup" the system so i rewired it to 6 panels in a series to see 190v with my overcast sunset for testing, and it still would not charge my batteries.

So im stumped and frustrated.

Growatt settings

001 - utility ( i tried sbu as well- no change)
002 60a
003 - generator
004 dl5 default
005 battery us2
006 dl5 default
007 same
008 120v
009 60
10 battery 4
11 30a
12 46v
13 54 v
13 snu ( also tried solar only, no change)
16 on
18 dl5
19 56.2
20 54v
21 42v

Day 1 of testing
257467670_445131553717573_3293681591627648518_n.jpg

Generator running charging batteries

257592006_585200229430666_3492059821755556379_n.jpg

Solar online, skipping battery

257593349_265906298835940_6864511632358324235_n.jpg

Thank you again for any input. I would love for someone to call me dumb and point out the mistake im making
 
First thank you anyone who gives me some assistance on this, i am definitely out of my normal wheelhouse. I apologize in advance as i may dump too much info, but i feel its easier to go over with too much info than asking questions and waiting on replies.

Setup
Newly setup Growatt 3000 48v inverter. 4x SOK 100ah batteries, 8X 325w solar panels. Completely off grid.
Panels were wired as 2 parallel series for 160v in an ideal scenario.

SPF 3000TL LVM-ES?

Array configuration Voc is <200V and Isc is < 18A?

Base testing
I had put the setup together initial without the solar panels, and was using a generator to charge the batteries and power our off grid RV.
Everything was working as expected at that point. We finished the solar wiring and i cycled the breaker and tested.
It worked as i had thought, the display showed power porting to the battery and output, charging at 141v.

I watched it charge the batteries for a short time, left for the weekend and came back to check it on Monday. I shut down the breaker to output to ensure there was no power drain while we were away. To my disappointment the battery voltage dipped enough that the controller shut down, and the batteries BMS went into protection mode. Im still not certain what managed to drain them as there was no draw present besides the inverter itself.

That bugger burns at least 60W just by being on, so that's more than 25% of your battery capacity per day. If your batteries weren't well balanced, and one of the BMS tripped, it's shut down.

I split the batteries up, charged them back up and reconnected them to the system and brought it back online to inspect.

Charged them to full?

Main problem
Now it would not show the solar would charge the batteries. Had a nominal voltage of 51v, and it would only output the battery to draw, would not recharge.
I tried switching some of the settings, which were not changed from the time it was charging, with no change. I was able to fire the generator back up and it began charging the batteries as i would expect.

Frustrated i went to work and saw that the growatt wanted to see 150v of solar to "startup" the system so i rewired it to 6 panels in a series to see 190v with my overcast sunset for testing, and it still would not charge my batteries.

That answers my first question. It's worth noting that if Voc > 150V, it will still start. Vmp does not have to hit 150V

So im stumped and frustrated.

Growatt settings

001 - utility ( i tried sbu as well- no change)

Try SUB

002 60a
003 - generator
004 dl5 default
005 battery us2

Try USE

006 dl5 default
007 same
008 120v
009 60
10 battery 4
11 30a
12 46v
13 54 v
13 snu ( also tried solar only, no change)
16 on
18 dl5
19 56.2
20 54v
21 42v

43: Disable

Day 1 of testing
View attachment 72658

Generator running charging batteries

View attachment 72659

Solar online, skipping battery

View attachment 72660

Thank you again for any input. I would love for someone to call me dumb and point out the mistake im making

Growatts seem to have this issue from time to time. Make the suggested changes, disconnect panels, disconnect battery, wait a few minutes, connect battery, connect panels.

If you can't resolve this, contact your vendor. If you got it from Watts247, Ian should be able to help you get it sorted.
 
SPF 3000TL LVM-ES?
Yes
Array configuration Voc is <200V and Isc is < 18A?

Initially yes and details at the bottom
That bugger burns at least 60W just by being on, so that's more than 25% of your battery capacity per day. If your batteries weren't well balanced, and one of the BMS tripped, it's shut down.



Charged them to full?



That answers my first question. It's worth noting that if Voc > 150V, it will still start. Vmp does not have to hit 150V



Try SUB



Try USE



43: Disable
Tried those settings. No change.
Growatts seem to have this issue from time to time. Make the suggested changes, disconnect panels, disconnect battery, wait a few minutes, connect battery, connect panels.

If you can't resolve this, contact your vendor. If you got it from Watts247, Ian should be able to help you get it sorted.

So after all of this, i was still frustrated and i sat with it watching it and i caught a quick glimpse of what was happening. The PV would start to charge batteries and dip below 111v and disconnect. So i put the generator on it to help charge the batteries up a bit. Let it run for 20 mins and disconnected it and it began to charge.

Im testing now with the 6 panels in series to see if i can get it to consistently run

Is that much of a voltage dip normal or is it because the batteries went to such a low state of charge?

Before generator boost


after



Thank you for your input!
 
What's the MPPT range of that unit? For some reason, 120V rings a bell.

Does your array Vmp fall inside that range?

Whatever the case, even if you're below it, I would not expect it to completely stop charging - just not be as efficient.

Can't access the drive without requesting access.
 
What's the MPPT range of that unit? For some reason, 120V rings a bell.
120-250v
Does your array Vmp fall inside that range?

Whatever the case, even if you're below it, I would not expect it to completely stop charging - just not be as efficient.

Can't access the drive without requesting access.
I didn't expect someone to reply so fast. Didn't have the drive settings open yet. Should be able to see it now.

Thanks.
 
i have 5000ES 2p8s 400w panels you need to get the voltage input from panels as high as possible. my max is 450 and i stay around 350 to 400 V and i charge at 90amps
 

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Can you series any more panels to increase voltage? i will be glad to talk to you on phone my email is spikebetrayer at hotmail.com
While I would be happy to do that, I also greatly appreciate being able to save our conversation in public so others can potentially solve an issue with what I was experiencing.

I did 7 panels and under load it was fine but open it was 256v and disconnected
 
The other thing you can try is change setting 1 to SBU so it forces to only charge solar no utility and watch the display. Also turn the AC power off to eliminate any glitch From Growatt Do you have any external monitors like a shunt or HALL monitor?
 
The other thing you can try is change setting 1 to SBU so it forces to only charge solar no utility and watch the display. Also turn the AC power off to eliminate any glitch From Growatt Do you have any external monitors like a shunt or HALL monitor?
I did try sbu, that's how it set in the video link. I can try turning off AC power and Andrew what happens
 
Did you try 6S yet? You don't want to blow the 450V limit with Voc. In fact you want to be at least 12% below that if it gets down to freezing in our area.
Yes I did. 6 in a series, as I stated above it functions after I get it started with the generator
 
This shouldn't be necessary, but can you back the charge current to a little less than your array can produce?

I wonder if the MPPT isn't functioning properly. It works with the generator because less PV is allowed when the generator is contributing in accordance with the programmed limits.

WAit... I just watched the video... were you only putting in 40W?
 
This shouldn't be necessary, but can you back the charge current to a little less than your array can produce?

I wonder if the MPPT isn't functioning properly. It works with the generator because less PV is allowed when the generator is contributing in accordance with the programmed limits.

WAit... I just watched the video... were you only putting in 40W?
Yes that was at 7:30 am with fog so the panels weren't in optimal conditions.


I checked it again today and at 11am with 6 panels in series it was charging at 140w
 
What unit do you exactly have? The Growatt 48V SPF 3000TL LVM is only rated to max 145VDC for PV, operating range is 60VDC to 115VDC.

At the bottom of Ian's page https://watts247.com/product/spf-3000tl-lvm-48p/ you will find this:

Utility/Generator Charger tips:
The generator charger is a different beast to the solar charger. (Does not utilize the Bulk and Float Charge settings)
It works on a float valve type principle. (triggers when battery voltage drops below that on setting 12 – set the voltage higher than current battery voltage to start charging right away)
Stops charging from Generator when setting 13′ s voltage is reached
Will not start charging the battery again until it drops below battery voltage – in setting 12.
Setting 01 set to SBU to activate setting 12 and 13.
Setting 02, is the Max charging current from Solar + Utility/Generator
Setting 11, is the Maximum Generator/Utility charging current @ your battery voltage (not at 120V)
Setting 14, make sure this setting includes the option to charge from utility/generator (see manual)
Note, setting Setting 11 too high for your generator may cause your generator to falter at startup, and cause the Inverter Charger to lose synchronization with the Generator (58 to 63Hz), if in doubt start small, and work your way up.
 
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