Sol-Ark 15 K now has batteries with Comms resolved
- Thread starter Oldphile
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David in nh
dreaming of 48 volts
- Joined
- Oct 18, 2019
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- 129
all charged up for the storm ?
Yup.
Nobodybusiness
Solar Sponge.
How many kWh did you go with?
Ampster
Renewable Energy Hobbyist
Looks good. I just got word that the WIFI Stick which I ordered in March has shipped and I am looking forward to seeing the details. Pytes just released a video of the WIFI stick and the software. I am also a few days from getting my final inspection done.
20 KWH (4X5.12KWH)
Nobodybusiness
Solar Sponge.
Very nice…!
Hmmm. 
Comms not working. I can't get any BMS data in PowerView. There's a triangle with ! below the battery icon. I found a post suggesting rebooting the screen by pressing and holding escape would reset Comms. Didn't work. Comms must have been working initially because beeping due to no battery stopped before we put the battery breaker in the ON position.
Comms not working. I can't get any BMS data in PowerView. There's a triangle with ! below the battery icon. I found a post suggesting rebooting the screen by pressing and holding escape would reset Comms. Didn't work. Comms must have been working initially because beeping due to no battery stopped before we put the battery breaker in the ON position.
Ampster
Renewable Energy Hobbyist
I don't think Power View gives any indication that Lithium battery data is being used. The screen on your SolArk should display that and the displayed values should agree with Power view and those on the Lithium screen on the SolArk. Did you follow the instructions and follow the steps on the SolArk screen? I bought a special splitter so I could use Solar Assistant to read the data from the SolArk which includes the data from the battery when communicating.
Reportedly SolArk is supposed to be migrating us to My SolArk soon and maybe that will improve things. They have been saying that for a year so don't get your hopes up. Let me know if I can help? the cabling from the CAN Port on the Pytes to the Port on the SolArk can use one of the cables provided or a simple Ethernet cable if you need a longer one. You have to go from the CAN port on the battery designated as Master (#1).
I will be installing the WIFI stick on Saturday and will post how that turns out. The Stick does not communicate with the SolArk but it will give me detail of all four batteries remotely from the comfort of my couch.
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I lost grid power 45 minutes ago. The Sol-Ark switched to battery, but the only load it is seeing is the clock on my cook range. I'm still wired for standby generator via ATS. I could manually reverse the ATS, but the generator will be running anyway (for my neighbor).
This could be a long outage.
Here is the end goal. just need 2 more sets of batteries. All 3 Sol-Arks are in place.
This could be a long outage.
Here is the end goal. just need 2 more sets of batteries. All 3 Sol-Arks are in place.
David in nh
dreaming of 48 volts
- Joined
- Oct 18, 2019
- Messages
- 129
lost my power this morning , running off battery now , minor thing i can not monitor it because the wifi is plugged into the battery but the camara is not oops
Ampster
Renewable Energy Hobbyist
Just curious, what does the camera have to do with the ability to monitor with WIFI?
David in nh
dreaming of 48 volts
- Joined
- Oct 18, 2019
- Messages
- 129
camera points at the meter , this is a 12v system with a aims automatic transfer so i have cheap meters for batter and solar
my furnace back up
this is my oil furnace battery back up , plus one outlet , it is a aimes hard wired 12v 1200 watt inverter with built in transfer switch , a home built battery 200ah lifepo4 with a overkill bms , not having to add other meters to see what was going made install much cleaner , the blue...
diysolarforum.com
My power was restored 9:23 this morning. I waited for an estimated restoration date before engaging my battery. It only discharged to 50% SOC. I'm waiting for the Sol-Ark to update PowerView, so I can see how my battery performed.
I found and corrected the comms problem. It was a defectice Cat5e cable that came with the batteries.
I found and corrected the comms problem. It was a defectice Cat5e cable that came with the batteries.
Nobodybusiness
Solar Sponge.
It performed well. I didn't run any heavy loads. 85 watts of idol current hurts. That's 10% of my typical load. Yeah, need more batteries. I could add another 20KWH, but my wallet says no.
Discharged 8.3KWH. SOC at the end of battery discharge was 54%.
Nobodybusiness
Solar Sponge.
Yea the idle draw high if you are only using 850watts of power.
Routinely averaged 2500watts per hour with peaks of 20,000.
Idle draw doesn’t bother me much as I have plenty of battery.
I guess you not interested in making your own since you have those premades.
No, I need UL9540 for AHJ.
My power demands will be higher in the summer with A/C. For a winter power outage I turn off the heat pump and run my propane fired hydronic system. I have a combi-boiler.
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