Growatt SPF 5000ES firmware update

[JohnGalt1717]

@JohnGalt1717 did you manage to complete the flash? I'm about to flash my 3 Growatt spf 5000es inverters with version 06 but I'm afraid that it may stuck.

It doesn't bork the device, just hangs the app. Can't get it to install no matter what I do.

 

[flashmandv]

It doesn't bork the device, just hangs the app. Can't get it to install no matter what I do.

Try on different PC with Windows 10/7
As we speak I'm flashing my 3 spf 5000es inverters and initially it did not work. I changed the PC and it works.
Flashed 06 version on 2 inverters and the 3th one as we speak.

Tha attached error I saw multiple times during the flash with my other laptop.
I guess it matters what is the hardware of the flashing PC

 

[tabascoz]

Hi Everyone,

@radurus thanks for the files. I couldn't find any mention anywhere if the fimrware is compatible with SPF3500es inverter, so i decided to give it a try. I can confirm the firmware is compatible. I updated the device following the instructions and everything is working as expected.

 

[marsal505]

@radurus
- What is the difference between the two 06 firmware versions 20211129.zip and 20220104.zip that you posted here?

- With the FW updated to 20220104.zip, what is the maximum MPPT PV input current now, is it 22A as per user manual Ver. 4? (was 18A in the previous 05 FW version)

- Can you tell if the PV MPPT tracker has been improved in the latest FW version? In the 05 FW version if there is a big step increase in load power, the MPPT tracker is often slow to respond and can sometimes even throttle the PV power back all the way to 0W before it increases PV power back up again slowly, which can sometimes take 10sec or longer in my observations.

Thanks

 

[Sethtrosity]

Anyone know if there is a way to get around having to use a battery to flash the update? I currently don't have a battery, I'm only using Grid + PV as inputs.

 

[radurus]

Hi Everyone,

@radurus thanks for the files. I couldn't find any mention anywhere if the fimrware is compatible with SPF3500es inverter, so i decided to give it a try. I can confirm the firmware is compatible. I updated the device following the instructions and everything is working as expected.

You were very "courageous". Risked.

 

[radurus]

@radurus
- What is the difference between the two 06 firmware versions 20211129.zip and 20220104.zip that you posted here?

- With the FW updated to 20220104.zip, what is the maximum MPPT PV input current now, is it 22A as per user manual Ver. 4? (was 18A in the previous 05 FW version)

- Can you tell if the PV MPPT tracker has been improved in the latest FW version? In the 05 FW version if there is a big step increase in load power, the MPPT tracker is often slow to respond and can sometimes even throttle the PV power back all the way to 0W before it increases PV power back up again slowly, which can sometimes take 10sec or longer in my observations.

Thanks

Both FW posted have 22A limit on MPPT.
I downgraded to november version to check if there are different behavior and I did not observed any.

What I dislike is, when there is 4.8kw from PV and you connect load 4.9kw, the PV power drops to 3.6-3.7kw which is annoying.
I have to wait until the PV power is over 5kw and connecting additional load up to 100% will nor make the PV power to drop.

The PV throttle is still slow.
Let's say you have 1.5kw PV power instant and 1kw load. Some power goes to battery.
If you turn off the load, the PV power is not transferred directly to battery.
First, the PV throttle goes down and increase afterward as the charger demands the power. Probably is the charger behavior. (I do not remember to observe this on the 05 version but I have not checked especially)

 

[tabascoz]

You were very "courageous". Risked.

LoL... planning to upgrade my solar array to 2P6S and the equipment is still on legal warranty. So it was a calculated risk. so far working fine... it kept all 3500VA limits also, therefore pretty sure the fw recognizes the board is being deployed to

 

[Sethtrosity]

Did the firmware upgrade.

It seems the 18A MPPT limitation is gone.
I had today 5800W from 6kwp compared with version.... 05 7.01 where the MPPT could not produce more tham 5000W from my PV setup.

Here is a good guide
You need the usb-serial drivers (the same from the cd with PVKeeper), the ISPTool v4.20 or 4.30 and the bin files.
If you wish to do MPPT fw-upgrade, load F030 file first (7-10min) and after inverter restart, load the inverter file F2809 (8-11min)

Growatt SPF5000ES Firmware upgrade

Check Firmware on your Growatt inverter 1. Press the down arrow key until you see the firmware version: (if it shows the following, you should upgrade your firmware to the latest version) Get the update tool and latest update files from us 1. ISP TOOL V4.20.exe (72Mb) 2...

www.elleyhillpower.co.za

Is the inverter supposed to restart itself after you flash the F030 file, or you are saying to restart it, then flash the next file?

 

[radurus]

It restarts itself after flash.

I flashed 6 times and it restartes itself everytime.

But, if the flash start is unsuccessful, it is needed to do a cold start of the inverter by disconnecting the battery for few seconds.

It happened me twice while I tried to flash the FW with the computer having in the same time the wifi-f dongle connected to the USB-A connector. It seems the serial communication interferes with the flashing. So I had to disconnect the wifi-f, shut down the battery for few seconds and try again the flashing procedure.

 

[Sethtrosity]

It restarts itself after flash.

I flashed 6 times and it restartes itself everytime.

But, if the flash start is unsuccessful, it is needed to do a cold start of the inverter by disconnecting the battery for few seconds.

It happened me twice while I tried to flash the FW with the computer having in the same time the wifi-f dongle connected to the USB-A connector. It seems the serial communication interferes with the flashing. So I had to disconnect the wifi-f, shut down the battery for few seconds and try again the flashing procedure.

I see. I finally got my computer to flash it, after have problems all day. Still having problems it seems because I have flashed both files about 8 times already and the inverter never restarts itself. The tool says complete and to restart the device, I hit ok, and nothing happens. Then if I restart it on my own, it is still on the old firmware. I even did the reset from the menu, still nothing.

Is there anything specific I need to do? I removed my AC input and output, and my solar input, and put the inverter in SBU mode.
I have the switch on, and it shows only the battery, inverter, and load (0) on the display.


I guess my main issue is that I can't get windows to detect the cable as the cp210x USB to UART driver.
Then when I force install it on the com port, I just keep getting "This device cannot start. (Code 10)".
I have tried it on 3 different computers now. Starting to think my com board is just bad.

 

[JohnGalt1717]

I still can't get it to go past the "Send Start!" command no matter what I do.

 

[Sethtrosity]

I still can't get it to go past the "Send Start!" command no matter what I do.

If you check the device manager, it should show up as "Silicon Labs CP210x".
If it has a yellow exclamation mark, like mine, then the communication with the inverter isn't working correctly.
If it shows up as "USB Serial Device", then windows isn't correctly detecting it and applying the driver.
This is the exact problem I have. I'm thinking it is a bad communication board.
I have tried it on 4 different computers (3x win10, 1x win7) and two different cables.

 

[abhelou]

i have successfully updated. my datalogger isn't working anymore after upgrading inverter. any help ?

 

[abhelou]

I added the tool and other stuff in the previous post.

Just be sure the usb communication is working properly. Test with the PVKeeper first.
A good idea is also to remove the usb datalogger from the inverter so that it will be no interference on the serial comm.

My i5 lenovo laptop gave me ~2h of headaches since com5 and com6 were taken by the bluetooth and the CP210x serial bridge got com7 assignment.
I could not establish comunication with the inverter on that port using PVKeeper (it froze constantly, not responsive), it made no sense since I used PVKeeper to set the parameters the first time 4-5 months ago.
So I took my 15yr old laptop 2xcore win7 and I had no problem with the single com port from it's list.

thanks for the files, i have successfully updated. any update for the wifi dongle ? because it stopped working after updating

 

[radurus]

You shouldn't have issues with the wifi dongle.

I warned everyone to remove the dongle while the fw upgrade is performed.

Check the status lights of the dongle.
If there are no lights or all (red, green, blue), the dongle nust be replaced.
Check the issue with Growatt support.

 

[abhelou]

You shouldn't have issues with the wifi dongle.

I warned everyone to remove the dongle while the fw upgrade is performed.

Check the status lights of the dongle.
If there are no lights or all (red, green, blue), the dongle nust be replaced.
Check the issue with Growatt support.

i have removed the wifi dongle while updating. now it blink green led, i can see it is connected to the wifi router, but not connecting to server

 

[radurus]

In this case, this is not an inverter issue.

You can try to reset the dongle ( and remove it from the dataloggers list) and repeat the procedure for adding it to shine server.

 

[abhelou]

In this case, this is not an inverter issue.

You can try to reset the dongle ( and remoge it from the dataloggers list) and repeat the procedure for adding it to shine server.

resetting the dongle works fine. thanks guys

 

[elihelou]

Hi everyone,

I recently received the latest firmware (F2809_SK040.06_20220104_A.bin and F030_SK041.06_20220104_A.bin) and ISP tool 4.21 from Growatt support in China and tried to update the firmware but the ISP Tool keeps on sending "Send: Start!" endlessly and my inverter is not starting nor the firmware is being flashed.

I used to have the firmware version 040-05-701 and 041-05-701 but after the tool failed to start the inverter I can now see 008-00-316 and 041-05-701 and the inverter is not working.



Need some help please.