diy solar

diy solar

Monitoring software for Growatt-MPP Solar inverters

Yes, the 6000T. I commissioned it on Saturday.
Hello, I also have the 6000t, how is it working for you? My only concern is the rather noticeable humming from the unit when charge controller is activated. What are your experiences with this unit?
 
Hello, I also have the 6000t, how is it working for you? My only concern is the rather noticeable humming from the unit when charge controller is activated. What are your experiences with this unit?
Hi Damian,
Not good news I'm afraid. I was sent this Growatt as a guaranteed to work replacement for two prior MPPSolar LV5048's that did not work at all out of the box.

The first strike was trying to setup the online monitoring software for the thing which in my own honest estimation their monitoring system is utter trash.
I never got a response from the company even via the app tab where you can report issues.

The phone based app kind of worked but many key metrics measured were returning zero's no matter what I did. Things like amps drawn from the PV array and some voltage measurements were zero. I tried to overlook that.

During the first week even on low power consumption the fans are always running and when my furnace kicks on (+600W) for 1KW total the fans in the Growatt spin up so fast that you can't even hear the furnace running standing next to it and the Growatt 10 feet way. To top it all the Growatt draws 120-150W continuously doing god knows what. I looked at the Gorwatt site and was not surprised that fans are a consumable for this device. Not good.

The final straw was a week later on a sunny day the power went out. I went down to the basement and checked the unit and it was reporting an over voltage fault. I checked the BattleBorn batteries and they were reporting 52V or there about. I restarted everything and 5 minutes later the same alert on the inverter saying there was an over voltage condition. The interesting thing is they do not tell you the magnitude of this over voltage condition ie. 59V, 139V what have you. Seeing as the batteries are LiFePo I had my suspicions that the batteries are not generating an over voltage condition.

I turned everything on again with a multi-meter across the battery terminals. It ran for a couple minutes and the lights went out again with the same alert. I looked at the multimeter and noticed the voltage said 75V which would immediately make the BMS in the battery go into shutdown.

So *in my estimation* the inverter was applying a high voltage to the batteries pushes them into shutdown, the inverter reads back the high voltage that it applied (capacitors) and report that as an over voltage condition. I contacted the vendor who claimed that this is normal even though I have 2 strings of 4 battleborns in parallel. 2p4s.

At this point I'd had enough. 3 inverters from 2 different manufacturers and 3 months of screwing around shipping things back and forth now this after a week of use. I shut everything down and disconnected the Growatt from my plant. I called AltE who shipped me a Solar12K.

The SolarK just works. The monitoring software just works. The fans in the Solark hardly ever run even when it's drawing 3.8Kw from the array charging the batteries. I can hear myself think downstairs in the basement where I have my workshop and don't even notice the SolArk is there.

It has charged my batteries and provided power without a hiccup.

I can also pick up the phone and talk to people at Solark with any questions I have at all. There are no webforms or gatekeepers or shitty online web monitoring software that you get zero support on when you run into problems.

Obviously other peoples experiences may be different to mine but this is my experience. The Solark is way more than I was planning to spend on an inverter but this experience has taught me yet again that you get what you pay for in life. I took a loss on the Growatt because I do not have the strength after all these months of none stop bs to fight anymore. I've moved on.

Hope this help. Pretty sure this wasn't what you were expecting to hear.

Cheers,
Vince
Oh, and the Solark draws about 50W and slightly more when it's providing loads/charging the batteries.
 
Hi Damian,
Not good news I'm afraid. I was sent this Growatt as a guaranteed to work replacement for two prior MPPSolar LV5048's that did not work at all out of the box.

The first strike was trying to setup the online monitoring software for the thing which in my own honest estimation their monitoring system is utter trash.
I never got a response from the company even via the app tab where you can report issues.

The phone based app kind of worked but many key metrics measured were returning zero's no matter what I did. Things like amps drawn from the PV array and some voltage measurements were zero. I tried to overlook that.

During the first week even on low power consumption the fans are always running and when my furnace kicks on (+600W) for 1KW total the fans in the Growatt spin up so fast that you can't even hear the furnace running standing next to it and the Growatt 10 feet way. To top it all the Growatt draws 120-150W continuously doing god knows what. I looked at the Gorwatt site and was not surprised that fans are a consumable for this device. Not good.

The final straw was a week later on a sunny day the power went out. I went down to the basement and checked the unit and it was reporting an over voltage fault. I checked the BattleBorn batteries and they were reporting 52V or there about. I restarted everything and 5 minutes later the same alert on the inverter saying there was an over voltage condition. The interesting thing is they do not tell you the magnitude of this over voltage condition ie. 59V, 139V what have you. Seeing as the batteries are LiFePo I had my suspicions that the batteries are not generating an over voltage condition.

I turned everything on again with a multi-meter across the battery terminals. It ran for a couple minutes and the lights went out again with the same alert. I looked at the multimeter and noticed the voltage said 75V which would immediately make the BMS in the battery go into shutdown.

So *in my estimation* the inverter was applying a high voltage to the batteries pushes them into shutdown, the inverter reads back the high voltage that it applied (capacitors) and report that as an over voltage condition. I contacted the vendor who claimed that this is normal even though I have 2 strings of 4 battleborns in parallel. 2p4s.

At this point I'd had enough. 3 inverters from 2 different manufacturers and 3 months of screwing around shipping things back and forth now this after a week of use. I shut everything down and disconnected the Growatt from my plant. I called AltE who shipped me a Solar12K.

The SolarK just works. The monitoring software just works. The fans in the Solark hardly ever run even when it's drawing 3.8Kw from the array charging the batteries. I can hear myself think downstairs in the basement where I have my workshop and don't even notice the SolArk is there.

It has charged my batteries and provided power without a hiccup.

I can also pick up the phone and talk to people at Solark with any questions I have at all. There are no webforms or gatekeepers or shitty online web monitoring software that you get zero support on when you run into problems.

Obviously other peoples experiences may be different to mine but this is my experience. The Solark is way more than I was planning to spend on an inverter but this experience has taught me yet again that you get what you pay for in life. I took a loss on the Growatt because I do not have the strength after all these months of none stop bs to fight anymore. I've moved on.

Hope this help. Pretty sure this wasn't what you were expecting to hear.

Cheers,
Vince
Oh, and the Solark draws about 50W and slightly more when it's providing loads/charging the batteries.

I swapped out my 24V unit for the 6000T and after a few hiccups, mine is working well so far. Funny that you mention Solark because I've been looking at those. Might want to set up a net metering contract with the power company and growatt won't cut it.

Hit me up, maybe I can help you with yours.
 
Hi Damian,
Not good news I'm afraid. I was sent this Growatt as a guaranteed to work replacement for two prior MPPSolar LV5048's that did not work at all out of the box.

The first strike was trying to setup the online monitoring software for the thing which in my own honest estimation their monitoring system is utter trash.
I never got a response from the company even via the app tab where you can report issues.

The phone based app kind of worked but many key metrics measured were returning zero's no matter what I did. Things like amps drawn from the PV array and some voltage measurements were zero. I tried to overlook that.

During the first week even on low power consumption the fans are always running and when my furnace kicks on (+600W) for 1KW total the fans in the Growatt spin up so fast that you can't even hear the furnace running standing next to it and the Growatt 10 feet way. To top it all the Growatt draws 120-150W continuously doing god knows what. I looked at the Gorwatt site and was not surprised that fans are a consumable for this device. Not good.

The final straw was a week later on a sunny day the power went out. I went down to the basement and checked the unit and it was reporting an over voltage fault. I checked the BattleBorn batteries and they were reporting 52V or there about. I restarted everything and 5 minutes later the same alert on the inverter saying there was an over voltage condition. The interesting thing is they do not tell you the magnitude of this over voltage condition ie. 59V, 139V what have you. Seeing as the batteries are LiFePo I had my suspicions that the batteries are not generating an over voltage condition.

I turned everything on again with a multi-meter across the battery terminals. It ran for a couple minutes and the lights went out again with the same alert. I looked at the multimeter and noticed the voltage said 75V which would immediately make the BMS in the battery go into shutdown.

So *in my estimation* the inverter was applying a high voltage to the batteries pushes them into shutdown, the inverter reads back the high voltage that it applied (capacitors) and report that as an over voltage condition. I contacted the vendor who claimed that this is normal even though I have 2 strings of 4 battleborns in parallel. 2p4s.

At this point I'd had enough. 3 inverters from 2 different manufacturers and 3 months of screwing around shipping things back and forth now this after a week of use. I shut everything down and disconnected the Growatt from my plant. I called AltE who shipped me a Solar12K.

The SolarK just works. The monitoring software just works. The fans in the Solark hardly ever run even when it's drawing 3.8Kw from the array charging the batteries. I can hear myself think downstairs in the basement where I have my workshop and don't even notice the SolArk is there.

It has charged my batteries and provided power without a hiccup.

I can also pick up the phone and talk to people at Solark with any questions I have at all. There are no webforms or gatekeepers or shitty online web monitoring software that you get zero support on when you run into problems.

Obviously other peoples experiences may be different to mine but this is my experience. The Solark is way more than I was planning to spend on an inverter but this experience has taught me yet again that you get what you pay for in life. I took a loss on the Growatt because I do not have the strength after all these months of none stop bs to fight anymore. I've moved on.

Hope this help. Pretty sure this wasn't what you were expecting to hear.

Cheers,
Vince
Oh, and the Solark draws about 50W and slightly more when it's providing loads/charging the batteries.
Thanks for sharing your experience Vince, It seems looks like these units have their own unique quirks which is a bit disappointing. You are definitely right about getting what you payed for ( even though these units aren’t exactly cheap ☹️) Good luck with the Solark!
 
I swapped out my 24V unit for the 6000T and after a few hiccups, mine is working well so far. Funny that you mention Solark because I've been looking at those. Might want to set up a net metering contract with the power company and growatt won't cut it.

Hit me up, maybe I can help you with yours.
My main concern right now is the annoying high pitched humming coming from the unit when the charge controller kicks in. Im pretty sure that it’s one of the inductor coils that are “singing” and was told by the seller that this is considered as normal or acceptable operation. However, I have the unit indoors and it is literally giving me a headache ? . I want to know if others with the 6000t are having the same issue.
 
My main concern right now is the annoying high pitched humming coming from the unit when the charge controller kicks in. Im pretty sure that it’s one of the inductor coils that are “singing” and was told by the seller that this is considered as normal or acceptable operation. However, I have the unit indoors and it is literally giving me a headache ? . I want to know if others with the 6000t are having the same issue.

Yeah it will get loud when it gets a going. What do you have the Max Charging set at (setting 2 & 11)? I believe default is 80A, try to lower it and see if that works for ya. Mine is in the garage but I definitely hear it kick on in the house. Lol
 
for anyone who's PVkeeper keeps crashing: Right click on the program and select "run as administrator",

I am however getting errors when I try to export the logs to excel...
 
My main concern right now is the annoying high pitched humming coming from the unit when the charge controller kicks in. Im pretty sure that it’s one of the inductor coils that are “singing” and was told by the seller that this is considered as normal or acceptable operation. However, I have the unit indoors and it is literally giving me a headache ? . I want to know if others with the 6000t are having the same issue.
I have the 3kw 48v version. No high pitched hum from it. However the fans are realitivly loud when you start pushing some decent current. However being in the basement its not an issue. If you were going to have this in a tinny house/cabin/van/RV it would be noticable if it wasnt enclosed in some sort of closet/box.

On a related note, I have been unable to get my 2 units to load share via parallel arrangement. They seem to understand that they are connected to each other, one indicating "master" one indicating "slave" however the slave unit refuses to output anything. It is charging the batteries from the 8 panels I have connected to it so for the moment its just an $750 SCC. It would also connect to the grid and charge the batteries from the grid if I had it configured to do so. (as it defaulted to this and I changed it to solar only)

Overloads are interesting. It was reporting 110% load and beeping (code 07) while we were trying to run the micro, dryer (gas heat, but motor and blower) and furnace. However I had set it to dump to grid-pass-through on overload. Upon inspection it was reporting grid pass through while also 07 overload.
 
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Hey guys, just wanted to post up some screen shots of what the remote interface looks like for the Growatt wireless shine wifi-f attachment and some call outs for those of you who are ordering it and planning on using it.

This is my first post here, but I wanted to share my experience since it took me 1/2 the day to get this thing up and running. I still don't have all the bugs worked out like, I can't save any settings on the app because Chines --> English translation seems unclear and there is some unknown password that I need to save settings, but at least I have some data online that I can access.

First thing I'll say was that it was a pain to get setup because the unit came with incorrect settings on the wifi module itself. On top of that, the device seems very very slow. Once you get it connected, the web interface looks really nice on the surface, but it was all in Chinese by default for me. I had to fumble around to find English, even though the domain I was on (server-us.growatt.com) would imply English as a native language. After I got the web interface to display English, it was very clear that the translation was done with some online translator vs an actual localization company.

Here are the highlights to get this things up and running and keep in mind this is for the growatt wireless shine wifi-f model.

1. The led light is extremely hard to see unless you're in a dark room and you're going to need to see what color the led light is flashing for the setup.
2. If you go through the wifi setup and it gives you a message of, "Growatt wireless server may not respond instantaneously, please verify the connection status via blue led" and the blue LED is flashing blue, indicating it successfully connected to your wifi... then you may have the incorrect settings for the growatt server
2. a. You'll need to "configure" your device again and set it up for 2.4Ghz + 5Ghz configuration. This allows you to connect via wifi directly to the unit, log into the settings page, and alter some advanced settings. Specifically the Growatt server address. By default mine was set to "server.growatt.com" and after getting multiple errors of "growatt wireless server may not respond..." messages, I tried pinging that address and noticed there was a redirect for my region in place, redirecting me to "server-us.growatt.com" - I updated the server in the advanced settings with this and... presto! Connected at last.
3. Log-in to server-us.growatt.com via desktop/laptop and change your language. It's in the top right corner of the page. Look for a small double down arrow and it's a menu within there.

Here are some example screen shots of the web interface as well as a screen shot of some of the settings you can change remotely, but which I get an incorrect password or, "Key Wrong", for. Ignore my weird consumption and production numbers. I'm still figuring all of this out and don't have everything hooked up properly yet.

1602995260785.png1602995272839.png1602995279258.png1602995285495.png


I hope this helps someone else!
 
Hey guys, just wanted to post up some screen shots of what the remote interface looks like for the Growatt wireless shine wifi-f attachment and some call outs for those of you who are ordering it and planning on using it.

This is my first post here, but I wanted to share my experience since it took me 1/2 the day to get this thing up and running. I still don't have all the bugs worked out like, I can't save any settings on the app because Chines --> English translation seems unclear and there is some unknown password that I need to save settings, but at least I have some data online that I can access.

First thing I'll say was that it was a pain to get setup because the unit came with incorrect settings on the wifi module itself. On top of that, the device seems very very slow. Once you get it connected, the web interface looks really nice on the surface, but it was all in Chinese by default for me. I had to fumble around to find English, even though the domain I was on (server-us.growatt.com) would imply English as a native language. After I got the web interface to display English, it was very clear that the translation was done with some online translator vs an actual localization company.

Here are the highlights to get this things up and running and keep in mind this is for the growatt wireless shine wifi-f model.

1. The led light is extremely hard to see unless you're in a dark room and you're going to need to see what color the led light is flashing for the setup.
2. If you go through the wifi setup and it gives you a message of, "Growatt wireless server may not respond instantaneously, please verify the connection status via blue led" and the blue LED is flashing blue, indicating it successfully connected to your wifi... then you may have the incorrect settings for the growatt server
2. a. You'll need to "configure" your device again and set it up for 2.4Ghz + 5Ghz configuration. This allows you to connect via wifi directly to the unit, log into the settings page, and alter some advanced settings. Specifically the Growatt server address. By default mine was set to "server.growatt.com" and after getting multiple errors of "growatt wireless server may not respond..." messages, I tried pinging that address and noticed there was a redirect for my region in place, redirecting me to "server-us.growatt.com" - I updated the server in the advanced settings with this and... presto! Connected at last.
3. Log-in to server-us.growatt.com via desktop/laptop and change your language. It's in the top right corner of the page. Look for a small double down arrow and it's a menu within there.

Here are some example screen shots of the web interface as well as a screen shot of some of the settings you can change remotely, but which I get an incorrect password or, "Key Wrong", for. Ignore my weird consumption and production numbers. I'm still figuring all of this out and don't have everything hooked up properly yet.

View attachment 25288View attachment 25289View attachment 25290View attachment 25291


I hope this helps someone else!

You need to be a installer to make changes thru the internet.

You can make changes thru the App, the password is growatt+Current date.
(Example (growatt20201018)
 
Hi professionals, I was wondering if we can connect the LiFePO4 battery bank with 24V to Growatt 48V all-in-one inverter via a voltage converter(24V/48V)?
 
If You want PV Keeper to work with win10 - do the following, Joe
1. must have success loading the Silicon Labs Usb driver - on disk - verify in device manger under ports (not seeing ports - click view -
show hidden devices)
2.from Device mngr - ports - right click on silicone labs driver - properties - port settings - advanced - turn OFF fifo
3. right click desktop PV Keeper icon - properties - compatibility - check run in compatibility Windows7, click Change
settings for all user and select Run as Administrator. This works on my Growatt SPF 6000t dvm with a 25' usb extension cable
like this one - has repeater - USB Extension Cable 25FT High Speed 480Mbps USB 2.0 Active Repeater M/F
Hope this helps - https://www.ebay.com/itm/USB-Extens...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649
 
Hey guys, just wanted to post up some screen shots of what the remote interface looks like for the Growatt wireless shine wifi-f attachment and some call outs for those of you who are ordering it and planning on using it.

This is my first post here, but I wanted to share my experience since it took me 1/2 the day to get this thing up and running. I still don't have all the bugs worked out like, I can't save any settings on the app because Chines --> English translation seems unclear and there is some unknown password that I need to save settings, but at least I have some data online that I can access.

First thing I'll say was that it was a pain to get setup because the unit came with incorrect settings on the wifi module itself. On top of that, the device seems very very slow. Once you get it connected, the web interface looks really nice on the surface, but it was all in Chinese by default for me. I had to fumble around to find English, even though the domain I was on (server-us.growatt.com) would imply English as a native language. After I got the web interface to display English, it was very clear that the translation was done with some online translator vs an actual localization company.

Here are the highlights to get this things up and running and keep in mind this is for the growatt wireless shine wifi-f model.

1. The led light is extremely hard to see unless you're in a dark room and you're going to need to see what color the led light is flashing for the setup.
2. If you go through the wifi setup and it gives you a message of, "Growatt wireless server may not respond instantaneously, please verify the connection status via blue led" and the blue LED is flashing blue, indicating it successfully connected to your wifi... then you may have the incorrect settings for the growatt server
2. a. You'll need to "configure" your device again and set it up for 2.4Ghz + 5Ghz configuration. This allows you to connect via wifi directly to the unit, log into the settings page, and alter some advanced settings. Specifically the Growatt server address. By default mine was set to "server.growatt.com" and after getting multiple errors of "growatt wireless server may not respond..." messages, I tried pinging that address and noticed there was a redirect for my region in place, redirecting me to "server-us.growatt.com" - I updated the server in the advanced settings with this and... presto! Connected at last.
3. Log-in to server-us.growatt.com via desktop/laptop and change your language. It's in the top right corner of the page. Look for a small double down arrow and it's a menu within there.

Here are some example screen shots of the web interface as well as a screen shot of some of the settings you can change remotely, but which I get an incorrect password or, "Key Wrong", for. Ignore my weird consumption and production numbers. I'm still figuring all of this out and don't have everything hooked up properly yet.

View attachment 25288View attachment 25289View attachment 25290View attachment 25291


I hope this helps someone else!
What batteries you using? Mine shows 100% Soc all the time - period, also never registers grid consumption, unless I charge batteries with utility??? thanks Joe.
1603277443079.png
 
What batteries you using? Mine shows 100% Soc all the time - period, also never registers grid consumption, unless I charge batteries with utility??? thanks Joe.
View attachment 25543
Mine also basically shows 100% all the time as well. The reason my previous screen shot shows 50% or 75% is because I was messing with the bulk and float voltage settings in the Growatt. I've stopped looking at their Battery % numbers because they aren't accurate at all and just go off of battery voltage now. The battery I'm using is a LiFePO4 24v 100Ah battery that I got from watts247.com, which shows a manufacturer of e-sunstone? I can't find any info only about them and the recommended bulk and float points are crazy low (25.6v for both). I'm getting the run around from watts247.com as well, so I'm on the edge of returning the battery because it won't even stay powered on at those voltage settings.

Probably more info then you wanted. In short: I have the same issue as you.

Edit: Grid consumption reporting is working well for me though.

1603310042430.png
 
Mine also basically shows 100% all the time as well. The reason my previous screen shot shows 50% or 75% is because I was messing with the bulk and float voltage settings in the Growatt. I've stopped looking at their Battery % numbers because they aren't accurate at all and just go off of battery voltage now. The battery I'm using is a LiFePO4 24v 100Ah battery that I got from watts247.com, which shows a manufacturer of e-sunstone? I can't find any info only about them and the recommended bulk and float points are crazy low (25.6v for both). I'm getting the run around from watts247.com as well, so I'm on the edge of returning the battery because it won't even stay powered on at those voltage settings.

Probably more info then you wanted. In short: I have the same issue as you.

Edit: Grid consumption reporting is working well for me though.

View attachment 25575
Grid consumption is shown because you are charging via the grid as well, but if you charge via solar only it won’t show any grid consumption, not even the standby usage which is around 70 watts per hour.

Battery SOC isn’t accurate either. I never use my batteries below 50% but shows 25% when it barely dips below 50% due to loads.

All that said, these are still good inverters. I was tempted to return mine a few times, but after shopping around for something similar, you can’t beat the price.
If you could get by the lacking software and if your unit is working properly, you will be a happy camper.
 
@CompMan2020 you're talking about using "Utility first" with setting #1? Otherwise I think utility would either share the load with your battery or it might be charging the battery while providing power to the load because the battery is too low.
 
@CompMan2020 you're talking about using "Utility first" with setting #1? Otherwise I think utility would either share the load with your battery or it might be charging the battery while providing power to the load because the battery is too low.

I was referring to grid consumption when the battery charging is set to Solar Only.

It goes into a utility bypass mode to power all connected loads, but won't show you a graph of what it's using from the grid during that time. Shows grid consumption at zero.

Here's a pic of what I'm talking about...

1603554687276.png

At around 2:30 am the gird kicks in to power my loads since my battery voltage dropped below 48V(my set value), but the grid consumption and load consumption shows zero. I assume that's what @Joe BoyKey was referring to.

Also, once the loads are being powered via the grid my voltage level settles back to around 49V which is above 50% SOC, but the app shows 25%... see below.

1603554960042.png

It would be nice to see the load and grid consumption when it's in bypass mode. Hopefully a software update can fix some of these issues.
 
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