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

[Hrschk]

What does the BMS limit say on the webpage? I noticed it disappears after a few seconds after loading, at least in Chrome. See attached for reference. This will help rule out any BMS side settings.

It's not a problem with the BMS. My batteries can take 200amp charge/discharge. That is well over 8kw. and, the inverter itself has a 250amp charge/discharge limit. Like I said, GSL has already checked my inverter settings and they are fine. There is a problem with the inverter firmware. Also, in the past, one of the CTLs had the arrows turned around pointing the wrong way (someone stuck them on there wrong). So, I've had these issues before for different reasons and have been working with GSL since getting the inverter installed. I think I'm the only one on this list with the original firmware. They have not upgraded me at all yet. Hopefully whatever firmware update they do will fix this problem.
This morning, right in the middle of charging the batteries, the inverter just quit charging the batteries. When I went back to see what was wrong, it was only feeding power back to the grid..........none to the batteries even though they were only at sixty something SOC. So, I just shut off the grid and it went back to charging my batteries.

 

[Luxpower_Gilbert]

Having problems with my inverter exporting my battery/solar energy back to the grid, even though the settings say not to. It worked fine for two weeks and now the last 3 days, mid morning after the panels are producing well, but while the batteries are still hovering around 65% SOC, it starts exporting energy to the utility grid :-( they are trying to figure out which firmware to upgrade to. Meanwhile I had to turn off the grid power again. Ugh.

out of the blue my ct reading the other way, i had to flip it and make the arrow pointing to the grid… GSL support suck at the moment, they don’t even reply to the group chat they made…

 

[Hrschk]

out of the blue my ct reading the other way, i had to flip it and make the arrow pointing to the grid… GSL support suck at the moment, they don’t even reply to the group chat they made…

Sorry you're having trouble too, but it sort of makes me feel better I'm not the only one. I've switched the directions of the CT's about 4 times at the request, each time, of the GSL support engineers. FINALLY they agree something is wrong.

 

[jjfmetal123]

Having problems with my inverter exporting my battery/solar energy back to the grid, even though the settings say not to. It worked fine for two weeks and now the last 3 days, mid morning after the panels are producing well, but while the batteries are still hovering around 65% SOC, it starts exporting energy to the utility grid :-( they are trying to figure out which firmware to upgrade to. Meanwhile I had to turn off the grid power again. Ugh.

wonder if its something wrong with CT's? How far away are they from inverter?

out of the blue my ct reading the other way, i had to flip it and make the arrow pointing to the grid… GSL support suck at the moment, they don’t even reply to the group chat they made…

Well shit... what the heck happened?

 

[OutlawSolar]

out of the blue my ct reading the other way, i had to flip it and make the arrow pointing to the grid… GSL support suck at the moment, they don’t even reply to the group chat they made…

Could it be that someone was changing the logic on the server, having the server flipped the +/- of the setting (since the server controls most of the setting).
If this in fact is the case, it's a very dangerous precedent since people who made a change (remotely) may not know/observe that the change can cause an over voltage, over current, over charging, etc

 

[elusivesd]

Could it be that someone was changing the logic on the server, having the server flipped the +/- of the setting (since the server controls most of the setting).
If this in fact is the case, it's a very dangerous precedent since people who made a change (remotely) may not know/observe that the change can cause an over voltage, over current, over charging, etc

This is exactly why, as I posted earlier - once everything works as good as expected, I intend to disconnect from the remote servers and perform only local monitoring. We have zero knowledge of GSL/LP procedures, or any other parties with access to modify our inverter settings. Heck, a system breach by a bad actor could intentionally cause havoc with all connected inverters.

 

[elusivesd]

I think I'm the only one on this list with the original firmware. They have not upgraded me at all yet. Hopefully whatever firmware update they do will fix this problem.

For what it's worth, I'm also still on the original firmware. However, I'm probably the only one not using their CT's. Being the impatient engineer that I am, I just built my own solution after support basically implied there was no current support for any split-phase compatible modbus meters, and I would be out of luck until some undefined future update.

I do hope they correct most of what appears to be a long list of known software defects. I discovered recently that the 'forced discharge' setting has no effect when times are overlapped with peak shaving. These settings work fine independently, though.

 

[Hrschk]

Could it be that someone was changing the logic on the server, having the server flipped the +/- of the setting (since the server controls most of the setting).
If this in fact is the case, it's a very dangerous precedent since people who made a change (remotely) may not know/observe that the change can cause an over voltage, over current, over charging, etc

If it's just the logic on the server, then it would only affect how the software reports and not what the inverter is actually doing, so I don't think that is the case. The server doesn't control the actual inverter settings, it just controls how the data is reported. the firmware, on the inverter, controls what the inverter actually does and whether it sends energy to the house or to the grid. They do have to login to your actual inverter in order to upgrade the firmware. They have a software that works remotely that allows them to access the wifi logger to make firmware updates.
I'm tempted to go straight to LUX to talk about this one. It is a big deal for me because I can be fined by the utility company.

 

[summit]

I'm tempted to go straight to LUX to talk about this one. It is a big deal for me because I can be fined by the utility company.

does the SolArk system also rely on a CT to prevent grid-feed ?

 

[Hrschk]

does the SolArk system also rely on a CT to prevent grid-feed ?

Yes. I believe this is a common way to do it. Although, it's not JUST the CT. It is a combination of the CT and software settings.
In my case, I believe, previously, that my inverter was actually not sending data back to the power grid. Instead I think the software was reporting incorrectly. But, after we got that all ironed out, this latest instance, I do believe it was sending power back. The reason I say that is because the inverter stopped charging the batteries (audibly stopped working), switched gears and that is when I looked at the screen to see it was exporting. so, it was a different behavior than previously when it just SAID it was exporting, because the CT's were pointed the wrong direction.

 

[summit]

Yes. I believe this is a common way to do it. Although, it's not JUST the CT. It is a combination of the CT and software settings.
In my case, I believe, previously, that my inverter was actually not sending data back to the power grid. Instead I think the software was reporting incorrectly. But, after we got that all ironed out, this latest instance, I do believe it was sending power back. The reason I say that is because the inverter stopped charging the batteries (audibly stopped working), switched gears and that is when I looked at the screen to see it was exporting. so, it was a different behavior than previously when it just SAID it was exporting, because the CT's were pointed the wrong direction.

the CT provides the hard data to the software ultimately. I would put on a clamp meter or something to verify power flow, though your meter may have a direction indication. You are beta testing for all of us

 

[Hrschk]

the CT provides the hard data to the software ultimately. I would put on a clamp meter or something to verify power flow, though your meter may have a direction indication. You are beta testing for all of us

I'll go get my clamp meter out of the barn today and test it.

 

[Dcuste]

Has anyone tried it with EG4 LifePower battery?

I informed Jim, the CEO of GSL, that the EG4 supports LUX. He replied.....

we double confirmed that we have this brand battery to match our inverter.

if they said yes, we cannot guarantee.

we will write this special request in invoice then.

Jim
CEO
gsl energy


I think he is saying that the GSL definitely has the LUX protocol, but no guarantee that it will work. Any other thoughts what he means?

I also got this message from GSL......

The unit price of our 12kw inverter is 3200usd/pc for samples.

For future orders, bulk quantity discount is available.

Do you need 1pc only? Shipping will be quoted on Monday when our forwarder get in office.

I would suggest you try our batteries which would be better for future warranty.


I think they are talking it a sample, assuming I only order one unit. Not sure what to make of the future warranty comment. Does that mean I don't get a warranty if I don't use b their batteries? Is $3200 what others are seeing?

 

[Hrschk]

I informed Jim, the CEO of GSL, that the EG4 supports LUX. He replied.....

we double confirmed that we have this brand battery to match our inverter.

if they said yes, we cannot guarantee.

we will write this special request in invoice then.

Jim
CEO
gsl energy


I think he is saying that the GSL definitely has the LUX protocol, but no guarantee that it will work. Any other thoughts what he means?

I also got this message from GSL......

The unit price of our 12kw inverter is 3200usd/pc for samples.

For future orders, bulk quantity discount is available.

Do you need 1pc only? Shipping will be quoted on Monday when our forwarder get in office.

I would suggest you try our batteries which would be better for future warranty.


I think they are talking it a sample, assuming I only order one unit. Not sure what to make of the future warranty comment. Does that mean I don't get a warranty if I don't use b their batteries? Is $3200 what others are seeing?

He's talking about their batteries have a 20yr warranty. If you have troubles with the battery to inverter communication, if you have GSL batteries, then they would be able to work on the issues end to end. If you have the EG4 batteries, they cannot guarantee the communication between battery and inverter and you would have to go to EG4 company to get assistance if GSL cannot figure out the communication issue.

 

[elusivesd]

I think they are talking it a sample, assuming I only order one unit. Not sure what to make of the future warranty comment. Does that mean I don't get a warranty if I don't use b their batteries? Is $3200 what others are seeing?

Correct, “samples” in manufacturer terminology are single (or low quantity) units, for the purpose of evaluating prior to a possible future bulk order. Businesses will often request samples from multiple manufacturers for comparison of which product works best. What surprises me is GSL selling samples to individuals at a relatively low cost, without requirement to be a business in the industry without potential for future orders.

Regarding warranty, using other batteries won’t void it unless proven it caused the damage. You just won’t get any support.

 

[elusivesd]

If it's just the logic on the server, then it would only affect how the software reports and not what the inverter is actually doing, so I don't think that is the case. The server doesn't control the actual inverter settings, it just controls how the data is reported. the firmware, on the inverter, controls what the inverter actually does and whether it sends energy to the house or to the grid. They do have to login to your actual inverter in order to upgrade the firmware. They have a software that works remotely that allows them to access the wifi logger to make firmware updates.
I'm tempted to go straight to LUX to talk about this one. It is a big deal for me because I can be fined by the utility company.

Scroll through this LP provided video, starting from around the 32m mark. Just because “we” cannot change the settings doesn’t mean that LP (or someone remotely) can’t.

 

[Hrschk]

Scroll through this LP provided video, starting from around the 32m mark. Just because “we” cannot change the settings doesn’t mean that LP (or someone remotely) can’t.

They absolutely CAN login to your machine and change the settings. That isn't what I was saying. At least GSL does not keep track of the S/N for the wifi dongle. Every time they login to my machine, they have to ask me for the dongle S/N. I don't think GSL would ever do anything nefarious to a client machine. I have requested them to never change my settings, but instead to walk me through it so that I can ask questions and learn. They have always obliged. I'm also not saying not to be suspicious. I plan to get the Solar Assistant in the next few months after they work out some of the bugs and hopefully the Raspberry Pi market loosens up a bit. At my own home, I put the wifi dongle on it's own network segment, isolated from the rest of my network and I have a dedicated tablet that I keep on that network to monitor the system remotely. But, being a privacy/security professional, I am fully aware of the vulnerabilities this system poses and I plan to remedy it soon by disconnecting it from the internet.

 

[donb108]

On Will's Sol-Ark review (Sol Ark 15K: Ultimate Grid-tie or Off-grid Inverter), he commented that if you wanted to be grid-tied and be assured of passing inspection anywhere in the US, then Sol Ark was the only choice. I assumed he based that on its features and certifications. Does the GSL qualify in the same way?

 

[jjfmetal123]

I'll go get my clamp meter out of the barn today and test it.

Did you get a chance to do anymore testing? Is it still trying to export to grid?

 

[Hrschk]

Did you get a chance to do anymore testing? Is it still trying to export to grid?

Well, unfortunately, we have had solid rain since 11am yesterday. So, I have pretty much zero solar right now. It will have to wait till things clear up and I can do a good test. right now I have my batteries turned off so that the utility grid is supplying all of my energy right now. Very untypical weather for the NM desert, but very welcomed. I've got over 2" of nice slow rain in 24 hours. Supposed to clear up by 9pm.