Growatt SPF 3000TL LVM Dashboard Data & Questions

[Jim in NH]

I am pretty confused trying to interpret the Web "Dashboard" you have access to when you have your Growatt configured with the wireless card and sending data to server-us.growatt.com

I have my unit configured in SOL mode:

With setting number 12 set to 24.0 volts so that I do not run my battery down very low and will run on Grid power. I want to reserve the bulk of my battery for a power outage.


When in this mode the Dashboard does not seem to reflect any of the power being generated by my panels:





The data in the "History Data" file that can be downloaded seems to show that at 06:07:42 the panels start generating 33.5 volts, if I am interpreting the column "VPV" correctly.



I am trying to get my head wrapped around these charts and graphs so that I understand what the heck this thing is doing. I have watched the Youtube Video

and it helped, but did not answer all of my questions. The entire history file is included. This site does not allow the XLS file extension, so I changed it to CSV

Any help understanding this stuff is greatly appreciated.

IMHO documentation on this stuff is really lacking for the DIY person. This just may be representative of the price point of this unit.... (read cheap).

 

[Watts247 - Ian Roux]

Its really hard to find out what settings you have made to the unit to restrict it from solar charging.
The first question what settings have you made , and what do you want the unit to do?
From the data, I can see that the unit is stuck in bypass mode, and this is usually a restriction placed on it from one of the settings.

I suggest doing a factory reset to your unit.

https://watts247.com/manuals/gw/Firmware/24%20and%2048P%20firmware/RESET.mp4

and then obviously setting your battery type probably to USER2 for LiFePO4 - then your bulk and float charge numbers, low DC cutoff.

Set setting 01 to SBU, and settings 12 and 13 to 48V and 50V respectively for a 48V system and half that for a 24V system.

PV voltage for a 48V unit MUST be more than 60Vmmp and less than 115Vmmp, a 24V unit needs at least 30Vmmp and less than 115Vmmp.
If your PV open circuit voltage is bobbing around 37V to 40V, you may not have enough voltage for a 24V system to fully engage the panels to charge.

My preferred settings : (Dont change the power saving mode, it will cause your LED lights to flicker when there is no serious load - leave it off)
Setting 01 to SBU (Solar , Battery then Utility Priority)
Setting 12 to 24V/48V
Setting 13 to 25V/50V
Setting 14, SNU
Setting 21, to .5 to 2 V more than BMS cutoff (inverter must turn off before battery BMS pulls the plug, then youre screwed)
I like my Utility charging current to be the lowest it will go, as I only want a trickle charge on my batteries, until the sun comes up
Setting 11, 10A

Lets start there

 

[Jim in NH]

Ian,

Thanks for your reply. I will check my settings and respond.

I have a 24V System with two 12V AGM Batteries in series.

AFA "what do you want the unit to do?"

I want Solar to run my load with Battery making up any shortfall until my battery depletes to 75% (I always want to reserve battery for power grid outage) and then switch to Grid. To that end I set #12 to 24V.

Stay tuned for updates on current & revised settings...

 

[Jim in NH]

Update:

I reset my Growatt to factory defaults and made Ian's suggested changes. My settings pre & post reset were identical. While doing this it dawned on me based on Ian's previous comments that my panels might not be creating enough voltage to satisfy the MPPT's requirements. I had originally wired my panels in a parallel configuration: Two 350 watt panels per specs below. I did this so that I could make the 90' run using #10 THHN wire. I also added an additional two panels and at the same time I swapped them to two strings of two panels in a series connection. At this point things lit up nicely. I am able to run in SBU mode with my panels producing enough juice to power my small load (350-800 watts) and charge the battery back up. I set my #12 to 24V so I only draw my AGM batteries down to around 50%. The MPPT is able to charge them back up to 100% and run my loads until late in the evening when it switches to Bypass and runs the loads from Grid.

This weekend I am going to reduce my battery charge current from 30 amps down to 10 amps to slow the recharge down. I am going to continue to tweak this configuration so that I use more PV power for loads and charging and less charging from grid.

Any suggestion, corrections, clarifications welcome...

 

[curt95658]

I suggest doing a factory reset to your unit.

https://watts247.com/manuals/gw/Firmware/24%20and%2048P%20firmware/RESET.mp4

What is the factory reset procedure? I looked in the manual and didn't see anything and I also watched the short video above. Is it described anywhere? Thanks, Curt

 

[curt95658]

Update:

I reset my Growatt to factory defaults

What is the factory reset procedure? I looked in the manual and didn't see anything and I also watched the short video above. Is it described anywhere? Thanks, Curt

 

[Jim in NH]

Several months ago I watched that video (worst ever) and was able figure out what the key sequences were, of which I do not remember without going through the exercise again. Study the key strokes in the video and it will reset.

 

[ausloki]

I have been reading through these to try and fathom why my unit and its reporting is so , well useless.
I I have this model with a 400AH 24V Lifepo4 Battery module with an Overkill solar bms. six 250W panels wired in three strings of two
giving me about 65-69VDC at the combiner and max supply of 34A. This when plugged into my victron performs well and above giving me
measurements of 1280W of input at highest peak so far.

I have rest settings and tried all types of suggestions here and have reached out to growatt on a few occasions with no answers what so ever.
I also have a 5000ES series which behaves as i would expect.

I have tried numerous settings in the growatt but it still doesnt do what I want.
I expect when the sun comes up for it to supply power to load and excess charge the battery bank accordingly. When solar drops off supply from the battery. and When battery cutoff occurs switch to mains.

It was working (other than tripping the mcb on the grid supply) but now solar wont switch over from battery. I have reset and entered basic values no difference. only other interesting thing i have noticed is with Solar only connected (no grid or batt) the unit will not power on.

Looking for suggestions on settings etc. Growatt service seems to be as useless as tits on a bull

 

[Watts247 - Ian Roux]

The unit won't power up without a battery, period.

I have spoken to GW about this and have made a video on it. Bms troubleshooting part 1 and 2 where I showed what happens when the LI battery on on a GW is charged too quickly (when it's near to fully charged) now that the battery is cooler in winter this exaggerates the issue.

Battery voltage rises, GW gives a fault 03 (within millisec) then solar disconnects and won't reconnect again until a hard reboot (battery removed)

The solutions.

1) lower charging amps, setting 02 (20A per 100Ah battery, or if your battery has got cell balancing issues, set it lower than this till problem ceases

2) lower bulk and float charging voltage by maybe 1V or until problem disappears

3) this issue happens when battery is unable to absorb the charging amps

99% of the time, it only happens on lithium batteries (bms going open circuit, just for a split second)

Gw said they are unable to change firmware to fix this

 

[Watts247 - Ian Roux]

The unit won't power up without a battery, period.

I have spoken to GW about this and have made a video on it. Bms troubleshooting part 1 and 2 where I showed what happens when the LI battery on on a GW is charged too quickly (when it's near to fully charged) now that the battery is cooler in winter this exaggerates the issue.

Battery voltage rises, GW gives a fault 03 (within millisec) then solar disconnects and won't reconnect again until a hard reboot (battery removed)

The solutions.

1) lower charging amps, setting 02 (20A per 100Ah battery, or if your battery has got cell balancing issues, set it lower than this till problem ceases

2) lower bulk and float charging voltage by maybe 1V or until problem disappears

3) this issue happens when battery is unable to absorb the charging amps

99% of the time, it only happens on lithium batteries (bms going open circuit, just for a split second)

Gw said they are unable to change firmware to fix this

Or get a bms that communicatates to GW