Sol-Ark 15k limit power to home pulling from Grid all the time

[solarHandyman]

I've had my Sol-Ark 15k since last September. I'm very happy with the build quality and heat management. I am however feeling some buyers remorse regarding the Limit Power to Home feature. I have my 15k connected to my main panel through a 70 amp breaker. I have no net metering agreement as my system is completely DIY and do not export to the grid. I have the current sensors installed on L1 and L2 as directed by the manual for the Limit Power to Home feature. I have my time of use battery threshold set wide open for 49.5 volts 24/7. However, I find the 15k still pulling from the grid in Limit Power to home mode even for 1500 watt loads that barely pull down the battery voltage. The only times I see my 15k not pull from the grid is when I have more than 6000 watts of solar power. Even more insult to injury, when switching from Limit Power to Load, it will take loads that it powered on the AC output fully from battery and solar and start pulling 500 to 1000 watts from the grid. It will also lower the load size for example, my EV charger goes that is wired direct to the AC output goes from 3.8 kw to 3.45 kw between Limit power to Load and Limit Power to Home.

Has anyone else experienced this sort of thing using an AC input breaker and not a line side tape for the grid power on the 15k or any other Sol-Ark?

I've started manually switching to Limit Power to Load when home and before bed depending on what I'm running, which is of course annoying and time consuming, just to utilize my daily yields in this period of abundant sunshine and not draw from the grid more than otherwise.

 

[SunDave]

Hi,
Have you tried it without using time of use settings just to see what it does? It sounds like a settings issue. There are also battery settings that can limit the amount the Sol-Ark will provide. Check all those battery settings to see what the charge and discharge amps are limited to (settings outlined in green).

My 15k is fed directly from the meter, but when I was first setting it up, almost all unexpected performance was a matter of time of use or other amperage limitation settings.

If you take a screenshot of your TOU page, and batteries page it would probably help. If you are trying not to export and don't have an agreement with the power co, you might want to set your zero export power pretty high otherwise when large loads shut off you will still export some. (see setting outlined in red).

Don't necessarily match my settings since you may have more or fewer batteries, but I wanted you to see where the settings are at.

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Is there a sub-panel on the load side of your setup, or just set up to perform limited to home offset?

 

[Oldphile]

regarding the Limit Power to Home feature

The purpose of limit power to home setting is to allow PV production to feed your main service panel without back feeding the grid. It's not to engage your batteries. Either use Grid Peak Shaving or TOU settings to use batteries instead of grid. TOU settings is probably what you want.

 

[SunDave]

The purpose of limit power to home setting is to allow PV production to feed your main service panel without back feeding the grid. It's not to engage your batteries. Either use Grid Peak Shaving or TOU settings to use batteries instead of grid. TOU settings is probably what you want.

Glad there is an expert in the house!