Megarevo RxLNA Discussion

[cmack]

Bit of a breakthrough. Changing GRID-STD to CUSTOM started discharging the batteries. I have a grid over freq. alert so I guess I need to manually update the grid settings.

Update:

Looks like cutom grid freq. was set to 58hz, after I updated this to 60.1, I could hear my furnace getting more power and the batteries started charging again. I switched back to US-CA for now.

 

[fromport]

Just ran a bunch of tests enabling / disabling features like arc/leak/insulation detection. Every time I reset the solar input, it would climb to ~2KW and then drop to 200 W after a few seconds.

THEN I tried disabling the grid (just by shutting off the breaker pre-inverter) and BOOM she starts working properly.

So its working fine while off grid, but if grid power is available, she's dickered. Battery will not discharge and solar input is severely throttled.

Any suggestions to get it operating properly while on grid? Ideally I don't revert to older firmware but I can try that if necessary.

It looks like it is trying to regulate _something_
double check the CT related settings and how the CT's are connected.
There should be an arrow on it pointing in the right direction , in case of the megarevo away from the unit towards the breakers which is exactly the opposite from eg the enphase envoy ct's

 

[cmack]

It looks like it is trying to regulate _something_
double check the CT related settings and how the CT's are connected.
There should be an arrow on it pointing in the right direction , in case of the megarevo away from the unit towards the breakers which is exactly the opposite from eg the enphase envoy ct's

I assume we're talking about those black donuts in the APSmart box ? i looked closely at them and not seeing any arrows

 

[fromport]

I assume we're talking about those black donuts in the APSmart box ? i looked closely at them and not seeing any arrows

Those are not the CT's that came with the megarevo and are also not hooked up to the megarevo inverter itself.
[some search engine time later]

APsmart Transmitter-PLC for Rapid Shutdown System (RSS) - Dual CTs - Transmitter-PLC 406000

APsmart Transmitter-PLC for Rapid Shutdown System (RSS) - Dual CTs - Transmitter-PLC 406000 Â EcoDirect.com sells APsmart solar products at the lowest cost. Order Online or Call Us! 888-899-3509

www.ecodirect.com

Ahh that is your Rapid Shutdown System [RSS] and has absolutely ZERO to do with your inverter itself.
It is not used in any kind or form by your megarevo!
You probably have optimizers under your panels and these CT's inject a signal on the powerlines that it is okay to open up and start producing.
When for whatever reason the RSS is enabled the signal to the optimizers is disabled and the optimizers shut down (to 1 volt output) and you have no power input to your hybrid inverter

 

[cmack]

Those are not the CT's that came with the megarevo and are also not hooked up to the megarevo inverter itself.
[some search engine time later]

APsmart Transmitter-PLC for Rapid Shutdown System (RSS) - Dual CTs - Transmitter-PLC 406000

APsmart Transmitter-PLC for Rapid Shutdown System (RSS) - Dual CTs - Transmitter-PLC 406000 Â EcoDirect.com sells APsmart solar products at the lowest cost. Order Online or Call Us! 888-899-3509

www.ecodirect.com

Ahh that is your Rapid Shutdown System [RSS] and has absolutely ZERO to do with your inverter itself.
It is not used in any kind or form by your megarevo!
You probably have optimizers under your panels and these CT's inject a signal on the powerlines that it is okay to open up and start producing.
When for whatever reason the RSS is enabled the signal to the optimizers is disabled and the optimizers shut down (to 1 volt output) and you have no power input to your hybrid inverter

Interesting thank you for looking into this!

I compared my PV charts to yours and they are quite a bit different. My solar power input has a lot of spikes and dips, where yours is a nice curve with a peak at mid-day as you would expect.

So maybe something is wrong with my configuration from day 1?

 

[fromport]

Interesting thank you for looking into this!

I compared my PV charts to yours and they are quite a bit different. My solar power input has a lot of spikes and dips, where yours is a nice curve with a peak at mid-day as you would expect.

So maybe something is wrong with my configuration from day 1?

In the box of my megarevo were 2 small white plastic CT's with a label 1:1000 (or 1000:1 I can't remember atm)
That is what need to be installed to prevent electricity ever flowing back to the grid.
Do you know if whoever installed your inverter hooked those things up in the vincinity of your utility meter and pulled some wire (cat5 ethernet cable) likely to your megarevo?

 

[cmack]

In the box of my megarevo were 2 small white plastic CT's with a label 1:1000 (or 1000:1 I can't remember atm)
That is what need to be installed to prevent electricity ever flowing back to the grid.
Do you know if whoever installed your inverter hooked those things up in the vincinity of your utility meter and pulled some wire (cat5 ethernet cable) likely to your megarevo?

I have never seen something like that, and there was no ethernet going to the inverter until I added one for the BMS. I will call the installer to double check.

 

[fromport]

I compared my PV charts to yours and they are quite a bit different. My solar power input has a lot of spikes and dips, where yours is a nice curve with a peak at mid-day as you would expect.

So maybe something is wrong with my configuration from day 1?

You should at least see the peak in the middle of your day. The graph I sent you from yesterday was a perfect sunny day without any clouds.
This is from the 5th were we had a lot of clouds (but still no rain!)


vs perfect solar day:


Can you post a daily power picture from before you started your firmware upgrade?

 

[cmack]

Just found the CTs in the package so clearly not in use! Could that be an issue?

 

[fromport]

Just found the CTs in the package so clearly not in use! Could that be an issue?

No, it just means that you should not enable any of the settings related to that.
Do they look like this?

 

[cmack]

Yep that's what they look like. So not likely the cause of my PV or battery issues?

 

[fromport]

Yep that's what they look like. So not likely the cause of my PV or battery issues?

I don't see why.
But if your solar produces more than is being used, you should be actually feeding back into the grid.
And you do not see that happening, do you?

 

[cmack]

I don't see why.
But if your solar produces more than is being used, you should be actually feeding back into the grid.
And you do not see that happening, do you?

I have anti reverse enabled which I thought took care of that. I don't really know how to check if there is back feed :/

 

[cmack]

on the left is array 1 and 2 before upgrade
on the right is after

peak current went from 8a to 0.8a

 

[cmack]

This one is from today, where I reset the pre-inverter PV breakers a few times. Each time I would get a brief moment of expected power output (<30s) then back to garbage.

 

[cmack]

Currently, if I enable solar input AT ALL, I will draw <10W for about 1 minute then the inverter will RESTART itself. This continues until I shut off the PV breakers.

 

[fromport]

on the left is array 1 and 2 before upgrade
on the right is after

peak current went from 8a to 0.8a

not what I would recognize for a solar setup.
Do you have graphs for your AC load available?

This is a graph I would expect for a solar system with batteries (very general view):

 

[cmack]

here you can see the battery stops getting discharged after update. work mode has always been self-consumption

 

[cmack]

And from today, where I was playing around with settings, disabling grid here and there, etc

 

[fromport]

And from today, where I was playing around with settings, disabling grid here and there, etc

And what kind of solar day was this ? lots of clouds or pretty bright the whole day?
That graphs doesn't look normal to me.