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Sol Ark 15K - Report on 16 hour grid outage in Southern California Fire Risk Zone

glandpuck

Solar Addict
Joined
Aug 26, 2023
Messages
802
Location
San Diego
Some persons may be aware that Southern California is experiencing a strong Santa Ana wind event that is spread over San Bernadino, Los Angeles, Riverside and San Diego Counties, maybe even Santa Barbara. In order to reduce the risk of fire from downed power lines, the utilities cut off power to wide areas.

On December 10 at 12:30 AM our utility cut power to our home. AT that time, our Sok-Ark was drawing from the grid to charge our batteries and supply loads that were 2.1kW.
Seamlessly, the Sol-Ark switched to batteries to supply the load and stopped charging the batteries. The battery SOC was 60%.

We have a propane powered portable generator capable of 8550 watts continuous power. To connect the generator to the Sol-Ark, a branch breaker connecting the grid to the Sol-Ark was turned off. A second breaker between the generator and the Sol-Ark was turned on.

The generator was started up and is connected using a NEMA 14-50 plug at the generator, a quick connect twist lock plug on the exterior wall and then passes across the generator breaker to be hardwired into the Sol-Ark generator terminals. After starting up the generator, the main breaker of the generator was turned on. At the Sol-Ark display screen, the settings showed the voltage from the generator. The settings were adjusted in the limiter and battery charger to have the generator charge up the batteries at a rate of 2kW per hour while also supplying the load. Battery charging was scheduled to stop at SOC 100% or 9AM. Output from the generator was 4.2kW, pretty evenly split between load and battery charging.

By 9:30 AM the PV generated was in excess of the house load. The battery SOC was 98%.

The generator was shut off and the Sol-Ark seamlessly powered all loads from PV and battery without a hiccup.

At 4:15 PM, utility power was restored. The battery SOC was 98% due to the clear sunny day. The generator breaker was shut off and the grid breaker was turned on. The Sol-Ark recognized the AC power from the grid and began supply the grid and battery with remaining daylight PV to the loads.

So why did I write this? Because many persons will find themselves if not now, in the near future with wind events, storms, floods, power outages, etc. So I wrote about how the Sol-Ark handled this situation without any errors, shutdowns, problems, re-boots, etc. The only drawback is when the internet goes down, unless your Sol-Ark dongle is connected to a wifi Hotspot on your phone if you have cellular, you will have to monitor at times from the main screen.
The Sol-Ark benefits from the most mature, flexible and stable software to meet almost any condition I can think of. It just works, especially when you have other things to attend to on your property.

No, I am not paid by Sol-Ark or anyone else to write this. I just believe that anyone working on a DIY project should know what they want to achieve and how to meet that expectation. and if hiring a contractor, know exactly what iron is being installed and how it will work.
 
I just believe that anyone working on a DIY project should know what they want to achieve and how to meet that expectation. and if hiring a contractor, know exactly what iron is being installed and how it will work.
I paid a solar company to install my system. The electrician wasn't familiar with Sol-Ark. He made a near fatal mistake that I pointed out, putting 12 solar panels in series. The error was probably made in the plans at their office.
 
I paid a solar company to install my system. The electrician wasn't familiar with Sol-Ark. He made a near fatal mistake that I pointed out, putting 12 solar panels in series. The error was probably made in the plans at their office.
The problem I am having is that I have 2 systems. The first system was installed by a company that failed and is out of business. Its rather straightforward, but almost every company just wants to toss up a Tesla Powerwall or a Solar Edge or Enphase system and get out of Dodge.

My second system was designed by me and installed by a hired electrician. But again, since it is "custom", I do the maintenance and upgrades.

This can be a problem with the solar industry. some companies and their custom batteries and inverters will fail.
 

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