Is the Growatt 6KW charging?

[Jonathan3900]

First, thanks for reading this. I am new to solar and am having issues.

I have a Growatt 6KW inverter with (2) 5.3KW Big Battery Husky. I have (6) 350watt panels sitting near the bottom of the cabin. Waiting to get nice weather to install them on the roof.

I pull reports from the Growatt app and to me, it looks like the batteries aren’t charging. Since they do work throughout the night, I assume it’s wired correctly. Any ideas? Is this a setting issue?

Again, thank you.

 

[sunshine_eggo]

Growatts have a funky charger.

They will not charge from AC input unless the battery voltage is below setting 12. Once it begins charging from grid, it will stop when the battery voltage hits setting 13.

 

[Jonathan3900]

Growatts have a funky charger.

They will not charge from AC input unless the battery voltage is below setting 12. Once it begins charging from grid, it will stop when the battery voltage hits setting 13.

Thanks for the input. Any suggestions on what those settings should be? Big Battery says to changes setting 1 to SOL. RIght now its set at SBU. I keep getting different answers from Growatt. I wish that they would give me all settings 1-23, and make it so much easier.

 

[timselectric]

SBU , seems to prioritize battery charging and usage.
I don't have enough battery, yet. I changed my setting to SOL.

 

[Jonathan3900]

SBU , seems to prioritize battery charging and usage.
I don't have enough battery, yet. I changed my setting to SOL.

Its very confusing. Growatt sells it as Plug and Play. Which is not the truth. Thanks for the input.

 

[timselectric]

I just got my system (SPF-5000-ES) running 2 days ago. So, I'm still trying to tweak the settings myself.
Good luck and be safe.

 

[sunshine_eggo]

Its very confusing. Growatt sells it as Plug and Play. Which is not the truth. Thanks for the input.

Given that you've purchased a unit that has the capability to operate in multiple modes, it's not realistic to expect it to work exactly as you want without custom configuration. No system on the planet is "plug and play" according to you apparent definition unless it happens to be configured exactly the way you want it. Once all components are connected, they will work according to their default settings, so by that definition, they are plug and play.

What do you want this unit to do for you?

 

[Jonathan3900]

Given that you've purchased a unit that has the capability to operate in multiple modes, it's not realistic to expect it to work exactly as you want without custom configuration. No system on the planet is "plug and play" according to you apparent definition unless it happens to be configured exactly the way you want it. Once all components are connected, they will work according to their default settings, so by that definition, they are plug and play.

What do you want this unit to do for you?

Thank you.

This is an off-grid cabin. So we would like to use the solar system to power a small chicken coup heater (90watts) throughout the day and night. Then, once it gets warmer, we want to use a DC mini split to cool the place. The only real power hog is a cistern pump. Which shouldn't run for more than 20 minutes a couple times daily.

After talking to Growatt, and getting ZERO answers, I am stuck.

So the easy answer is that I want to use this as a weekend cabin, with minimal power expectations.

Jonathan

 

[timselectric]

I'm sure that I will be playing with my settings for quite some time. Trying to squeeze every bit of efficiency out, to match my needs.

 

[sunshine_eggo]

Okay. Simple enough. How is the default not working for you?

Keep in mind the unit itself is a power hog and will consume 80-100W just by being on.

The yellow indicates you are getting solar charging. It doesn't appear to be very much. If there is even a sliver of shade on any part of the panels, especially along the bottom row, your production can be severely compromised.

Big battery float settings are usually off. Your float should be 54.4V.

 

[Jonathan3900]

Okay. Simple enough. How is the default not working for you?

Keep in mind the unit itself is a power hog and will consume 80-100W just by being on.

The yellow indicates you are getting solar charging. It doesn't appear to be very much. If there is even a sliver of shade on any part of the panels, especially along the bottom row, your production can be severely compromised.

Big battery float settings are usually off. Your float should be 54.4V.

My only issue is that the batteries dont seem to charge. I am running a 90Watt heater, and that is it. So when there is sun, it doesnt drain the batteries. At night, it uses the batteries for power. I dont ever see any charge from the solar.

90Watts shouldn't ever drain these batteries that much if at some point they get some charge.

Make sense?

 

[sunshine_eggo]

My only issue is that the batteries dont seem to charge. I am running a 90Watt heater, and that is it. So when there is sun, it doesnt drain the batteries. At night, it uses the batteries for power. I dont ever see any charge from the solar.

90Watts shouldn't ever drain these batteries that much if at some point they get some charge.

Make sense?

100W/24h = 2.4kWh / day just having the inverter on.
Not sure how much the 90W heater runs, but if 24h, that's another 2.16kWh

At 4.56kWh, in 24 hours, you're consuming nearly the capacity of one of the Husky batteries. In two days of no solar charging, you'll completely deplete your batteries.

Your solar MUST generate > 4.56kWh/day in order to fully charge your batteries every day.

You have not clarified if your current panel positioning results in even a single sliver of shade on them. They must remain 100% unshaded from sunrise to sunset, or your production may be severely compromised.

If your panels are sitting on the ground leaning up against a wall and there are blades of grass or other items casting shadows along the bottom of your panels, your solar may be crippled.

Please see how partial shading affects panel output:



Shading of all cells below the 50% output line will reduce ALL panel output by 50%. Shading of all cells below the 0% output line will completely shut the panel down.

Your images indicate 1.2-1.9kWh/day of solar charging. You are NOT gathering enough solar to meet your demands. This may be due to poor solar availability or suboptimal panel "mounting."

 

[Jonathan3900]

100W/24h = 2.4kWh / day just having the inverter on.
Not sure how much the 90W heater runs, but if 24h, that's another 2.16kWh

At 4.56kWh, in 24 hours, you're consuming nearly the capacity of one of the Husky batteries. In two days of no solar charging, you'll completely deplete your batteries.

Your solar MUST generate > 4.56kWh/day in order to fully charge your batteries every day.

You have not clarified if your current panel positioning results in even a single sliver of shade on them. They must remain 100% unshaded from sunrise to sunset, or your production may be severely compromised.

If your panels are sitting on the ground leaning up against a wall and there are blades of grass or other items casting shadows along the bottom of your panels, your solar may be crippled.

Please see how partial shading affects panel output:

View attachment 84290

Shading of all cells below the 50% output line will reduce ALL panel output by 50%. Shading of all cells below the 0% output line will completely shut the panel down.

Your images indicate 1.2-1.9kWh/day of solar charging. You are NOT gathering enough solar to meet your demands. This may be due to poor solar availability or suboptimal panel "mounting."

Ok. Thats what I needed to know. Here is my take on what you said.

~ I am not producing enough from solar, so I need to move the panels to a better spot. (I had this planned)
~ It looks like its charging the batteries, but not enough.

Am I correct?

Thank you again.

 

[sunshine_eggo]

Ok. Thats what I needed to know. Here is my take on what you said.

~ I am not producing enough from solar, so I need to move the panels to a better spot. (I had this planned)

Probably

~ It looks like its charging the batteries, but not enough.

The 2022-02-16 chart showing "1.9kWh charging" would seem to indicate that.

 

[Jonathan3900]

Probably



The 2022-02-16 chart showing "1.9kWh charging" would seem to indicate that.

Thank you for your help. I switched the panels to a new spot (roof) and am not creating almost 5k of energy. So it looks like the issue is fixed. I think I need to change a couple of things on the inverter, but so far so good. I appreciate your help.

 

[sunshine_eggo]

Good to hear. Is that 5kWh of energy daily?

 

[Jonathan3900]

Good to hear. Is that 5kWh of energy daily?

Yes.

Today, not so much. Raining and cloudy. I shut off a couple of things (heater, light) and am now drawing less than 25watts. So it should work well.

 

[sunshine_eggo]

5kWh should run the inverter and the 90W heater 24/7 with about 700Wh left over.