Hi. Newbie here. Need some advice on Sol Ark 15k TOU setup.

[Sol Goodman]

I've got a self-installed Sol Ark 15K, twenty-four 380-watt panels, four Jakiper 100 Ah batteries, want to power my whole house through the Sol Ark, and am tied to the grid. I don't want to sell back to the grid. I just want to use as little grid power as I need to keep things running during non PV times. I have contacted Sol Ark twice and feel as though I got conflicting information. I've been experimenting with the TOU settings and nothing I've done is satisfying to me. Can anybody here give me some help on the settings I should use to accomplish what I'm trying to do? Thanks in advance.

 

[DIYrich]

Don't need TOU settings if you don't want to sell back to the Grid. Leave that box unchecked.
On the same page as TOU, check the box for "Limit to Load", or "Limit to Home".
Uncheck the box for "Grid Sell".

 

[Sol Goodman]

Ok thanks. If I do that how low do the batteries get before the Sol Ark calls for grid power? And how high will it charge the batteries once it starts charging from grid, 100%?

 

[DIYrich]

In the Battery section, on the charge tab, you select charge from grid. And specify the % when it starts. It will then charge the batteries to 100%

 

[Kdmax]

Is it possible to program the Sol-Ark 15K to start powering the loads at a certain battery percentage (30%), but not used to charge the batteries. I would like to wait until PV power is available to recharge the batteries.

 

[2TrevorJ]

If you want to enable your battery 24/7 to meet loads whenever PV is short it's really easy. Check TOU. The Time blocks don't really matter if we're talking 24 hrs a day. Enter the max wattage you want to pull from the batteries in all rows (identical value - whatever your setup can handle continuously). Enter the % or Voltage floor you want to cease discharge and switch to grid (again - identical value in all rows). Leave sell and charge unchecked in all rows. Under the "Other" tab select "Load First" for the energy pattern ("Batt First" can/will pull from the grid). BAM...it will use the batteries instead of the grid when PV is low - at least until the batteries are depleted (when it will switch to grid). When PV production is active it will use that run loads then will charge the batteries with any excess (up to your max charging current - then it will curtail solar output since grid sell is off). Once the batteries are full it should curtail output to match loads until the sun goes down and it starts leaning on the batteries again.

You can get way crazier with customization but this is the easiest way to get started.

 

[Kdmax]

Thanks for the help!

 

[mwk1000]

I use an open setup with my 15K and 560ah LiFePO4 battery bank. I have TOU set so 11am-7pm is battery carrying whole home load. I was a bit disappointed that the charge check box from 00:00 to 11am window charges no matter what the voltage is at. I was hoping to let the batteries go down to 51.25 V ~ 80% discharged but they recharge every night ( using between 40% - 55% most days ) That is what is set in the battery config section. Not certain why it is not respecting the low start charge limit setting... and if I uncheck how do i prevent it from charging on occasion during the 11am-7pm peak rate window. This is all pre solar switching to a grid rate plan that offers $0.25 ish peak 11am-7pm and $0.138. Testing for almost a month and outside of this is seems to be working great.

 

[OlderDIYer]

If you want to enable your battery 24/7 to meet loads whenever PV is short it's really easy. Check TOU. The Time blocks don't really matter if we're talking 24 hrs a day. Enter the max wattage you want to pull from the batteries in all rows (identical value - whatever your setup can handle continuously). Enter the % or Voltage floor you want to cease discharge and switch to grid (again - identical value in all rows). Leave sell and charge unchecked in all rows. Under the "Other" tab select "Load First" for the energy pattern ("Batt First" can/will pull from the grid). BAM...it will use the batteries instead of the grid when PV is low - at least until the batteries are depleted (when it will switch to grid). When PV production is active it will use that run loads then will charge the batteries with any excess (up to your max charging current - then it will curtail solar output since grid sell is off). Once the batteries are full it should curtail output to match loads until the sun goes down and it starts leaning on the batteries again.

You can get way crazier with customization but this is the easiest way to get started.

This is great info and should be in the manual. I have spent a lot of time figuring this out and it's still confusing because of all the time of use slots (And the name - Time of Use). They should have an option to just have ONE line so that changing the figures for 24/7 don't require all those duplicate entries then it would be much easier to change the figures as conditions change like on a cloudy day I want to keep the SOC number higher in case of a grid outage. I don't know why anyone wants to have the grid charge their batteries when the PV can do it but if I uncheck TOU that's what happens.

 

[2TrevorJ]

I don't know why anyone wants to have the grid charge their batteries when the PV can do it but if I uncheck TOU that's what happens.

Make sure "grid charge" is unchecked under battery setup in the charging tab.

 

[OlderDIYer]

Make sure "grid charge" is unchecked under battery setup in the charging tab.

Thanks Trevor. That should have been obvious to me but I missed it. So now, with that unchecked (I assume I can just leave it unchecked?), I should be able to toggle to what I'll call "conserve battery mode" by unchecking the "time of use" checkbox so the battery remains at its current SOC level (while the grid maintains loads) if I know the PV is going to be limited by clouds, is that correct? However, if I decide I want to increase the SOC to some number I would still have to change (at least the current time slot) in the "time of use" page to the desired SOC level I think.

I understand the TOU interface was designed to handle changing utility rates by time of day and that's why I originally thought I had no use for it. But then I discovered it could make the Sol Ark operate smartly to keep my utility use to a minimum by using the battery to power the house while the sun was not out (but with a settable lower limit) so I started playing with that lower limit for various times of day but soon realized I just wanted to set the SOC limit to my preference based on the weather and my confidence in the grid (not based on time of day). So an interface more like a thermostat but for SOC limit is what I think I would prefer.

As I've built this new system up by increasing capacities over the past number of weeks I've been trying to tweak the system to balance between two somewhat opposing goals. 1) providing for maximum backup power for grid outages should they occur (though they are rare) and 2) Lowering my utility bill to zero ultimately, or lowering as far as practical. I'm connected to the grid but not selling back. If I was only concerned about goal number 2 I would keep the SOC number in the time of use page at a low number, say 20% so I have the maximum battery range to support the house load during no PV input. I have found the lower that number is at sunrise the better because once the battery is full I start wasting solar production! But I worry about goal number 1 so I find I want to manage the SOC number depending on factors that can't seem to be automated. It seems to me that my use scenario should be a fairly common one and provided for in the interface or at least in the instructions on how best to set it up. Does that make sense? I know there are a lot of different use cases they are providing for so perhaps mine isn't that common?

 

[2TrevorJ]

Thanks Trevor. That should have been obvious to me but I missed it. So now, with that unchecked (I assume I can just leave it unchecked?), I should be able to toggle to what I'll call "conserve battery mode" by unchecking the "time of use" checkbox so the battery remains at its current SOC level (while the grid maintains loads) if I know the PV is going to be limited by clouds, is that correct? However, if I decide I want to increase the SOC to some number I would still have to change (at least the current time slot) in the "time of use" page to the desired SOC level I think.

You got it. Just leave it unchecked unless you're charging for some crazy inbound storm.

I hear you regarding competing priorities. I'm mostly going for self-consumption which means potentially low SOC first thing in the morning and if we have an outage then accompanied by a poor production day I might run out of juice after a few hours. The good news is my battery is large enough that only becomes a real concern with my system/home after the hottest nights of summer like last night. My point is it can be mitigated with better system design and (unfortunately) $$$.

 

[OlderDIYer]

You got it. Just leave it unchecked unless you're charging for some crazy inbound storm.

I hear you regarding competing priorities. I'm mostly going for self-consumption which means potentially low SOC first thing in the morning and if we have an outage then accompanied by a poor production day I might run out of juice after a few hours. The good news is my battery is large enough that only becomes a real concern with my system/home after the hottest nights of summer like last night. My point is it can be mitigated with better system design and (unfortunately) $$$.

Thanks! Good info. I would use it to quickly charge up for storms or expected grid troubles for any reason.
I should not worry as much about outages as they are so rare and unless it happens during a fully cloudy day I should be fine.

I see from your tagline we have similar setups but mine is a bit smaller as I'm sure I have a smaller load (about 45 kWh a day)
I have 2x Sol-Ark 12k's - Grid Tied - 12.8 kw Rich Solar panels (32@400w) - 50 kWh SOK server rack batteries
With your 20.4 kw of solar do you find it hard to use it all each day?

 

[2TrevorJ]

With your 20.4 kw of solar do you find it hard to use it all each day?

July and so far in August has been tight - otherwise yes...I'm exporting quite a bit. The house is heated by natural gas so winter requirements aren't difficult to meet.

 

[OlderDIYer]

July and so far in August has been tight - otherwise yes...I'm exporting quite a bit. The house is heated by natural gas so winter requirements aren't difficult to meet.

I have yet to experience a winter yet with my setup so I'm curious to see how it does. I'm thinking of adding a sunroom with enough roof space for another 16 panels to really put my PV generation over the top! This stuff is addicting!

 

[OlderDIYer]

Hey Trevor! Today is the first rainy day since you set me straight on the Sol-Ark configuration and it's working great! All I had to do is uncheck the Time of Use checkbox and now the grid is feeding my loads while the small amount of PV generated is going into the battery. This is exactly what I wanted as the battery SOC is at 61% which is enough buffer for me right now. Thanks!

 

[OAK]

If you want to enable your battery 24/7 to meet loads whenever PV is short it's really easy. Check TOU. The Time blocks don't really matter if we're talking 24 hrs a day. Enter the max wattage you want to pull from the batteries in all rows (identical value - whatever your setup can handle continuously). Enter the % or Voltage floor you want to cease discharge and switch to grid (again - identical value in all rows). Leave sell and charge unchecked in all rows. Under the "Other" tab select "Load First" for the energy pattern ("Batt First" can/will pull from the grid). BAM...it will use the batteries instead of the grid when PV is low - at least until the batteries are depleted (when it will switch to grid). When PV production is active it will use that run loads then will charge the batteries with any excess (up to your max charging current - then it will curtail solar output since grid sell is off). Once the batteries are full it should curtail output to match loads until the sun goes down and it starts leaning on the batteries again.

You can get way crazier with customization but this is the easiest way to get started.

This is incredibly useful. I've been trying to achieve this for several days. Once I knew how to do it, it worked exactly as you've described above. Thank you.

 

[a619]

would it work the same way for AC coupled PV? That’s most of my capacity with only 20% panels being DC coupled.

 

[cj5orion]

I use an open setup with my 15K and 560ah LiFePO4 battery bank. I have TOU set so 11am-7pm is battery carrying whole home load. I was a bit disappointed that the charge check box from 00:00 to 11am window charges no matter what the voltage is at. I was hoping to let the batteries go down to 51.25 V ~ 80% discharged but they recharge every night ( using between 40% - 55% most days ) That is what is set in the battery config section. Not certain why it is not respecting the low start charge limit setting... and if I uncheck how do i prevent it from charging on occasion during the 11am-7pm peak rate window. This is all pre solar switching to a grid rate plan that offers $0.25 ish peak 11am-7pm and $0.138. Testing for almost a month and outside of this is seems to be working great.

It's all in the settings,took me at least 2 weeks + to get mine set,still "testing" it.

 

[cj5orion]

I had an issue that my batt was not recharging when I was "testing' my off grid settings n performance...I was gonna start pulling my hair out !
Turned out the solution was in the settings,I had "grid charge" checked!
Jus had to uncheck,n then check "gen charge" !