Growatt SPF 5000 ES & Felicity 15KW not charging properly from PV

[Solar_J]

Hi

I have Growatt SPF 5000 ES & Felicity 15KW Lithium battery with 6 x 450W Panels.
My system has been working like a charm for a couple of years.
My utility power is only available at night, so I rely on Solar power during the day.

A few days back I noticed that the panels are not providing enough energy to charge the battery enough, but when there's a load the panels provide more power. (attached the chart)

Today morning I noticed that the inverter is alternating every few minutes on charging then not-charging the battery (attached the related Inverter displays).
I checked the Shine App and found an warning message:
"(error: 5013) bat open (warning) --- shangke_bat_open"

I called my local support guy he advised to have the Felicity team upgrade my Li Battery firmware version. But they said that there's a risk of having the Growatt Inverter not being able to read the Li battery anymore.

I have a big doubt over this response, so I want to make sure if anyone had this issue before and what could be the reason

appreciate some help.

 

[AshleyL]

"(error: 5013) bat open (warning) --- shangke_bat_open"
means the BMS disconnected the battery with inverter. Cell overvoltage disconnect?
Check the cell and pack voltage on the logged time.
Something is not right with your battery.

 

[Solar_J]

Hei AshleyL

Thanks for the quick response.
I'm sorry, I'm not expert with this thing. can you help on how I can check the "cell and pack voltage"
I could collect the attached only
I believe the logged time is when I restarted the system

 

[AshleyL]

Hei AshleyL

Thanks for the quick response.
I'm sorry, I'm not expert with this thing. can you help on how I can check the "cell and pack voltage"
I could collect the attached only
I believe the logged time is when I restarted the system

This is strange, the total pack voltage seems to be fine all the way from 8am to 10.55am. Doesn't seem to be cell overvoltage.
So, what would trigger a BMS hard disconnection? Temperature? Loose cell voltage sensor cabling?

The only way to find out is to check the battery data:
The software and guide can be found here. Do not screw up.

Thread 'Felicity BMS EDMS program'

Dec 8, 2022

Kindly, if anyone has the EDMS program i need it, i have more tha 6 batteries in parallel tha i need to check, and felicity is refusing to give the program even though i bought from them in total more than 100 batteris

• solarizelb
• Replies: 96
• Forum: BMS (Battery Managment Systems)

edit:
Maybe direct link would be better

Battery Upgrade | Enhance Your Energy Storage

Innovative solar energy systems for cost savings & sustainability. Tailored solutions for businesses & individuals. Explore cleaner energy options today.

www.felicitysolarsa.co.za

Remember, you only need to EDMS battery monitor to check the battery data.
DO NOT ATTEMPT to upgrade the firmware.

 

[Solar_J]

I guess I have to refer to the tech team from the local supplier, as I'm not equipped with the cabling & sockets.
Will update here again once I have some results.

Would it make a difference if I say that the Utility is charging the battery properly ???

 

[AshleyL]

I guess I have to refer to the tech team from the local supplier, as I'm not equipped with the cabling & sockets.
Will update here again once I have some results.

Would it make a difference if I say that the Utility is charging the battery properly ???

Uh oh, that doesn't bode well.....if that the case....you might have faulty charger component (eg, faulty relay) at the inverter..........

 

[Solar_J]

So better to check the local supplier then

Thanks Ashley

 

[Taher Sylla]

Seems like the BMS needs an update you can try that, in Syria we install alot of felicty with Growatt, you can try reaching out for felicity techincal support and ask them to update the battery, as I remember the latest version for their BMS update is 519 which turned out fine for now, older ones had problems with slow charging and sometimes they lose communication with the inverter

 

[Solar_J]

Turned out that my Felicity battery is LPBF which could go only to version V. 418, (FLA can go now to V. 520).

So the local supplier upgraded it, in addition he performed some maintenance over screws & wires of the battery.
Now it seems to be charging from the panels.

but I noticed a few times today that a small UPS in my house is beeping sometime (when the battery is charging from the panels) as if the power is not stable.
I'll wait for some time if this keeps happening, I will call the local supplier again.

​

 

[AshleyL]

Turned out that my Felicity battery is LPBF which could go only to version V. 418, (FLA can go now to V. 520).

So the local supplier upgraded it, in addition he performed some maintenance over screws & wires of the battery.
Now it seems to be charging from the panels.

but I noticed a few times today that a small UPS in my house is beeping sometime (when the battery is charging from the panels) as if the power is not stable.
I'll wait for some time if this keeps happening, I will call the local supplier again.

​

Go to the growatt graph site again and check the logged "Output Voltage"

 

[Solar_J]

HYG, some charts from around the time that the instability happenened (11AM )

 

[AshleyL]

HYG, some charts from around the time that the instability happenened (11AM )

Hmmm........doesn't seem to have any weird issue with the output voltage.

But when the UPS is beeping or clicking, it can only means two things ; unstable voltage or non-pure-sine-wave being generated by the inverter.

Output voltage is easy to check, but we can only use oscilloscope to view/check the waveform.

Let hope the problem is solved with the firmware upgrade your installer had done for the battery?

 

[Solar_J]

Update:
the guy from the Felicity Battery Company had done some changes on the setup of the Inverter, among which was to increase the output voltage from 220V to 230V , I contacted my Installer he advised to bring it back to 220V.

I changed it back an hour ago, so far so good.
Let's wait and see.