Sol-Ark 5k battery usage questions

[jmzorko]

Hello, all ...

I've a Sol-Ark 5k connected to a 48v 5.3kwh LFP battery (the Lama from BigBattery.com). So far it seems to be working, but I've questions:

1. According to the Powerview app, the Sol-Ark only drew .2kwh from the battery between the time the sun went down and now. That seems _quite_ low, given that I've a computer that consumes ~60w when idle, a few NAS devices, a refrigerator, etc. I had a Tesla Powerwall at my previous house, and the house consumed ~3-4kwh overnight. Why is the Sol-Ark drawing so little?

2. Also according to Powerview, the Sol-Ark continues to draw some power from the grid even though the battery is connected. Why is this, and can I configure the Sol-Ark to run completely off the battery at night?

3. The CTs are not installed in the Sol-Ark, which I think makes any consumption figures highly suspect. Is this true? Can the Sol-Ark report accurate grid and battery consumption without the CTs installed, or must they be installed correctly to do this?

Regards,

John

 

[XO4001]

I think Sol ark are the right people to ask.
My understanding is when the CT's are not installed then the inverter do not knows what is coming from the grid and has no idea of what to supply from the batteries.

 

[robby]

1) Because you do not have "Time Of Use" set up in the installer menu. Without that the batteries will only come on if you have a power outage. You need to setup the TOU menu so it knows what is the maximum KW of battery power it can deliver during certain hours of the day and Night.

2) Sol-Ark's draw 60W from the battery at night, in the day it will draw some or all of that from the PV. This is the idle current to keep the Inverter systems and in a ready state in case the Grid fails.

3) Without CT's it cannot report Grid consumption. It can still report battery consumption and PV consumption.
You need to hookup the CT's if you are grid tied and plan on having accurate data.

 

[MisterSandals]

3) Without CT's it cannot report Grid consumption. It can still report battery consumption and PV consumption.
You need to hookup the CT's if you are grid tied and plan on having accurate data.

Is this just a reporting issue or does it not function properly without CT's?
I would think it would misreport the grid use without CT's but if its showing .2kWh (and knowing the load is much higher), its curious why battery use would be reported incorrectly.

Was this ever figured out and resolved?

 

[jmzorko]

Is this just a reporting issue or does it not function properly without CT's?
I would think it would misreport the grid use without CT's but if its showing .2kWh (and knowing the load is much higher), its curious why battery use would be reported incorrectly.

Was this ever figured out and resolved?

Yes, I managed to install the CTs correctly - with _great_ help from people on this forum - when the 5k was installed and everything made a lot more sense - plus, TOU suddenly started working as it was intended. The issue basically was that I didn't have the CTs around the correct wires for my setup.

 

[houseofancients]

 

[houseofancients]

sunsynk = deye = sol-ark.

you'll find the complete installer courses on the yt channel too