diy solar

diy solar

New Lux Power LXP-LB-US 12k / GSL-H-12KLV-US with 200A AC Passthrough Current (US Market)

I have such a fear about this and I don't need the grid very often, that I had the installer put a breaker in the house (for convenience) between the pole and the inverter for my utility wire. I leave it turned off. In the case I need it (super cold mornings and have to run the central heat system), I shut off the PV, shut off the batteries and run off of utility power. I don't have enough confidence in this system yet that it won't feed back to the grid. There is a problem with mine, either in the monitoring software (likely) or the inverter (less likely) so that when I'm running on the grid, even though I have the CTs set up correctly, it shows me exporting energy to the grid. That can't possibly be the case because in this example, you can see the batteries are turned off and you can also see there is nothing coming from the PV. But, still it shows me exporting instead of importing.
GSL has had me flip the direction of the CTs (pointing them to the power pole, instead of to the inverter), which worked for a while. But, now it is showing that the power is going to the grid again. It IS possible that Lux fixed the website now. But, I'm still leary until I hear exactly what has changed and what is going on now
How come you battery icon is showing red which is bms communications error…mine is yello, im using daly bms and daly interface board but i can only using when the inverter is charging or discharging, once the battery full or standby it gives me an battery fault…
 
How come you battery icon is showing red which is bms communications error…mine is yello, im using daly bms and daly interface board but i can only using when the inverter is charging or discharging, once the battery full or standby it gives me an battery fault…
To turn on the grid, for me in my situation, I turn off the PV and the battery because I do not trust that it will not send energy back to the grid, since no matter what direction the CTs are placed, it shows that it is sending power to the utility grid.
 
To turn on the grid, for me in my situation, I turn off the PV and the battery because I do not trust that it will not send energy back to the grid, since no matter what direction the CTs are placed, it shows that it is sending power to the utility grid.
Can we at least trust that the GSL inverter won't send power to the grid during a power outage? This seem failsafe using a relay. When the grid lose power, the coil de-energize and the relay opens. It should stay open, until power is restore to grid and re-energize the coil to close the relay into bypass mode.
 
Can we at least trust that the GSL inverter won't send power to the grid during a power outage? This seem failsafe using a relay. When the grid lose power, the coil de-energize and the relay opens. It should stay open, until power is restore to grid and re-energize the coil to close the relay into bypass mode.
Even if the relay wouldn't open, your inverter can only handle 12 kW, your street uses way more than that . It simply wouldn't be able to raise the voltage to anything dangerous.
But the relay will open and will isolate the home from the grid. 100% sure
 
Can we at least trust that the GSL inverter won't send power to the grid during a power outage? This seem failsafe using a relay. When the grid lose power, the coil de-energize and the relay opens. It should stay open, until power is restore to grid and re-energize the coil to close the relay into bypass mode.
It won’t send power to the grid when power outages. Once the inverter detect theres no grid it will disconnect the grid input relay
 
It won’t send power to the grid when power outages. Once the inverter detect theres no grid it will disconnect the grid input relay
that's the way it should be designed: grid power energizing the relay, but .... personally, I would bench test to confirm, with a simple double-pole circuit cutting out AC-input
 
that's the way it should be designed: grid power energizing the relay, but .... personally, I would bench test to confirm, with a simple double-pole circuit cutting out AC-input
This was the first thing I tested, with PV and batteries connected and active backfeed to the grid. When the inverter breaker is turned off, the input relay cuts out and grid/input terminals measure 0 voltage. Works as expected.
 
Even if the relay wouldn't open, your inverter can only handle 12 kW, your street uses way more than that . It simply wouldn't be able to raise the voltage to anything dangerous.
But the relay will open and will isolate the home from the grid. 100% sure
I’m sure the line workers would like to have a word with you. In practice, the grid would appear to be a dead short to anything still connected to it during an outage. In theory, there are transformers throughout the distribution network… which work both ways. Let’s say you live in a rural area, and just happen to be the only house connected to your local transformer - this could step up 240V to several thousand volts, potentially killing someone working on the other end expecting the line to be unpowered.
But back to the point, the relay works as designed, and will isolate the inverter when needed.
 
To turn on the grid, for me in my situation, I turn off the PV and the battery because I do not trust that it will not send energy back to the grid, since no matter what direction the CTs are placed, it shows that it is sending power to the utility grid.
If it’s flowing the wrong way, it’s the CT direction, 100%. Are you looking at the web or app interface for confirmation? Or the inverter display itself? I don’t recall if this has been mentioned or observed, but the web interface updated about once every 5 mins, the app seems to need a restart to pull new data. Only the inverter display has frequent updates, about once every 5 seconds.

I do understand the caution though, and you do need working CTs to prevent backfeed.
 
If it’s flowing the wrong way, it’s the CT direction, 100%. Are you looking at the web or app interface for confirmation? Or the inverter display itself? I don’t recall if this has been mentioned or observed, but the web interface updated about once every 5 mins, the app seems to need a restart to pull new data. Only the inverter display has frequent updates, about once every 5 seconds.

I do understand the caution though, and you do need working CTs to prevent backfeed.
how long are the CT wires that come with the inverter? Can you extend the CT wires? I was planning to put inverter15- 20 feet away from panel is that possible?
 
how long are the CT wires that come with the inverter? Can you extend the CT wires? I was planning to put inverter15- 20 feet away from panel is that possible?
Since I am not using the CTs (have a custom modbus solution), I was able to uncoil and do a rough measurement using my height as a ruler. They’re approximately 15ft long, and I’m pretty sure you can extend well beyond that using some Ethernet cable and coupler.
 
Since I am not using the CTs (have a custom modbus solution), I was able to uncoil and do a rough measurement using my height as a ruler. They’re approximately 15ft long, and I’m pretty sure you can extend well beyond that using some Ethernet cable and coupler.
awesome thanks.. what exactly is a custom modbus? what is its purpose?
 
awesome thanks.. what exactly is a custom modbus? what is its purpose?
To put it simply, modbus meters produce a digital signal (meter tells inverter: you're using xxx watts), while CT clamps produce an analog signal (here's 20mV, it's your job to determine how to convert that to watts). The GSL(/LP) inverter supports Eastron Modbus meters as an option in place of CT clamps, so I basically produce my own signal using the Eastron Modbus RTU protocol.

I'm forced to do this because of physical limitations in my breaker box - my main service feed has only about 12mm exposed, which requires very specific clamps, while the inverter is extremely picky about what CT clamps can be attached (non-adjustable ratios).
 
This is the response I received from LuxPowerTek in regards to firmware release notes:

"Adam informed us of the assistance for the firmware udpate .
And the optimization for the firmware udpate : 1. AC coupled solution is added 2. control logic with the generator"
 
I thought I saw a setting for 1:1000 or 1:3000 ct's
Right. Fixed ratio, choose one of the two. Also, the included CTs do not seem to include a burden resistor which further limits replacement options. The one I’m using now is a 333mV CT, originally intended to be used for emporia.
 
If anyone has the updated firmware on a grid-tie setup + clamp meter, could you please confirm idle power usage with PV disconnected and no charge/discharge activity? I measure 1.09A, which is the same as what was reported earlier in the thread. I'm wondering if newer firmware improves this. GSL support says it "is actually not that high", but the external meter doesn't lie...
 
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