Schneider SW4048 AC Couple Smart Charge

[MisterSandals]

I have been messing with this for a few weeks and am stumped about the "AC Couple Smart Charge" feature. It works as written in that it will take AC micro inverter power and charge batteries first and then pass thru the rest to the grid. I turn this feature on with the "AC Coupling" control enabled.

https://download.schneider-electric.com/files?p_enDocType=User+guide&p_File_Name=9_SW-NA_Owners-Guide_975-0638-01-03_Rev-3_ENG.pdf&p_Doc_Ref=SW-NA_OG_975-0638-01-03

The problem that I am having is figuring out how to USE the battery without inadvertently disabling the "AC Couple Smart Charge" feature.

I see 2 ways to configure to use the battery power:
1) "AC Support Mode Enable" enabled
Uses battery power to "support" my critical loads panel by some unknown amount/metric as long as battery voltage is above the "AC Support Voltage" (set to 52V).

Enabling this disables the AC Couple Smart Charge feature (meaning it stops charging the batteries from my micro inverters/critial loads panel).



2) "Peak Load Shaving Enable" enabled
Uses battery power to "support" my critical loads panel (above set number of AC amps, 1A, the minimum value, in my case) as long as battery voltage is above the "AC Support Voltage" (set to 52V).

Enabling this also disables the AC Couple Smart Charge feature (meaning it stops charging the batteries from my micro inverters/critial loads panel). I can turn off Peak Load Shave with the start and stop settings for the period I expect my micro inverters to be producing an excess over the critical loads panel use. I can set it for 11AM stop when my array is currently in full sun and to start at 4PM when the sun currently goes behind trees. This "currently" works but would need to be adjusted continually to maximize excess power. Controlling this "smart" feature manually in such a way seems wrong and inconvenient.

I spent the last couple weeks trying different features and different combinations without any success in finding a good solution. I know i could use node-red to toggle either of these features as excess power is sensed. Why would a "smart" feature to charge batteries prohibit using the batteries without intervention?

There is a control "Charger Override Enable/Disable" that appears to have no affect on any of these settings.

I am attaching screenshots of my settings as well as a .json file (human friendly in a browser). If i am missing anything, please ask.
Thanks for looking!

 

[MisterSandals]

I was hoping someone would tell me that there is an easy way to do what i want.

I spoke with Schneider support and they seemed to agree that this "smart" feature should be a little smarter and that it would not be difficult. The original response was that it cannot charge batteries and invert at the same time. But i pointed out that since my micro inverters were providing an excess to my critical loads panel, it was not inverting anyway. And it knew that and was "stupidly" passing the excess to the grid instead of "smartly" charging the batteries as intended and documented.

So I am unrealistically optimistic for a few moments here because he actually said he'd escalate it to get it into the next firmware. I am pretty sure Schneider does not pivot like that.

So my easiest solution now is to use Peak Load Shave (to support loads from battery) and use the STOP and START times to turn off the inverter when i "expect" my micros to be producing an excess.
Of course the times need to be adjusted as often as possible to charge when the sun is in the gap between morning and evening trees and a dormer. And, if its cloudy, i'm using grid at the most expensive part of the day (grrrr).

I'd still like to hear other solutions. I am looking at using Node-Red to do the smartness but thats weeks away at the best case and a bunch of work.

 

[400bird]

So I am unrealistically optimistic for a few moments here because he actually said he'd escalate it to get it into the next firmware. I am pretty sure Schneider does not pivot like that.

They have pulled brand new software releases in the past when bugs were found. Maybe you found a bug they want to squash?

I'd still like to hear other solutions. I am looking at using Node-Red to do the smartness but thats weeks away at the best case and a bunch of work.

Node-Red does work great and it's got endless smarts. Well in my set up it's limited y the dummy between the keyboard and chair.

 

[400bird]

If you've got something to run Node-Red on, I'm just using a Raspberry Pi, there's no reason to wait for Schneider.

I programmed mine to make the XW do basically what I think you want it to do: charge the battery from excess AC coupled solar (based on a separate grid power meter input) when loads change, it can go back to inverting if needed. Grid sell is handled automatically in my set up on the Schneider side.

I'm sure you've seen the Node-Red/Schneider thread...

 

[MisterSandals]

I'm sure you've seen the Node-Red/Schneider thread...

Oh yea, I've installed Node-Red on my Mac and have been reading SW4048 data. I'm kind of waiting for the Pi 5 8GB models to start shipping (pre-orders are shipping a few weeks out). I'd say I have a very basic proof of concept figured out.

I am also looking for a stash of nodes and flows already written specifically for the SW4048 so i didn't have to re-invent the tricky bits. Its pretty messy using 2 and 4 byte arrays, swapping endians, just to work with ints and floats. Strings and comparitors not looking any cleaner. Way way way too easy to write some bad data while developing and I would hate to brick my box thats in service 24/7 (3 weeks since commissioning!). I cannot tell how much error checking and idiot proofing there is on the Modbus and Xanbus layers, so I'm a bit hesitant to get started.

 

[BRoll73]

@MisterSandals This is completely off your topic, but do you use the Insight Mobile app for remote monitoring. If so, can you confirm if you can montior your SW4048 system remotely, over the internet, when not at home. I can't find concrete information if you can do true internet (not same network) monitoring of these Conext systems.

 

[MisterSandals]

I do not have a means of connecting my SW4048/InsightHome to the internet permanently, so no.
I currently have them connected to my iPhone hotspot so Schneider can access my system. So that works quite easily. You could connect you SW/InsightHome via WiFi or plug in RJ45 to your router.

Hopefully this helps, if not please ask (ok to send private message too).