Solar Assistant - Battery Settings

[Redbak]

Hi All,

Installed Solar Assistant on a RPi and configured on the 13th, could someone explain what these setting's are?

My Setup is a MPP Solar 3024
4 x 12 volt 100a VRLA batteries 2 sets in series and then paralleled.

Initial Setup 13/8
Configuration > Battery > Battery: use inverter values

This worked ok, so I decided to be a bit adventurous and tinkered around yesterday a bit further.

Setup Change 14/8

Configuration > Battery > Battery: Emulated BMS



Capacity kWh: 4.8
Voltage at 30% SoC: 24.3
Voltage at 80% SoC: 24.8

Power > Maintain battery state of charge



Switch to Utility first below: 30% at 08:00
Switch to Utility first below 70% at 15:00
Back to Solar/Battery/Utility 10% higher

I noticed this morning that around 4:30 am when the battery SoC was around 30% and voltage was around 24.3 it switched over to Utility. Then at around 5:50 am with the battery SoC was around 48% and the voltage was around 27 volts it switched back to Solar/Battery/Utility setting.

I am trying to get my head around reading the graph and figuring out what relevance the time next to the (Switch to Utility first below: 30% at 08:00) & (Switch to Utility first below 70% at 15:00) has got to do and also this (Back to Solar/Battery/Utility 10% higher)

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

 

[wattmatters]

I am trying to get my head around reading the graph and figuring out what relevance the time next to the (Switch to Utility first below: 30% at 08:00) & (Switch to Utility first below 70% at 15:00) has got to do and also this (Back to Solar/Battery/Utility 10% higher)

It's explained here:

Automatic power management for Axpert inverters

SolarAssistant allows you to change inverter modes based on Pylontech, Narada, Revov, etc. battery state of charge. It can also protect your battery from shutting down by shutting down the inverter before the battery shuts down.

solar-assistant.io

The idea is that you expect a battery to discharge at night and to charge during the day and so the triggers for cutting to/from grid power adjust to account for that.

it will use the state of charge values for these triggers.

Automatic power management works by maintaining a minimum state of charge in the battery. Typically at the beginning of the day, just before solar PV production it's acceptable to discharge the battery to a low charge level such as 30% for lithium batteries because solar production is most likely just around the corner. At the end of the day, you typically want a higher level of charge to allow you to go through the night without being impacted by possible grid power outages.

As you can see in the image below, you can let your inverter switch to grid whenever the battery state of charge drops below the red line. Since the red line has an uphill incline during the day when solar PV is available, it will automatically switch to grid if solar PV is not enough to charge the battery to the desired level. In the evening, the red line has a downhill decline. If the battery discharges quicker than the configured decline, it will switch to grid.

 

[Redbak]

Thanks for the information and the explanation, so I gather what it did was correct..

On another note I have noticed that try as I may, the below settings cannot be changed

Max charge current 40 A
Max AC charge current 40 A Rejected

Would you know why?

 

[wattmatters]

Max charge current 40 A
Max AC charge current 40 A Rejected

Would you know why?

Check the maximum charge current limits for your model of inverter.

There's an overall charge limit and the Utility charge limit. Utility charge limit can't be greater than the overall charge limit setting (well if it is it'll be ignored).

Also some lower power models have limits on Utility charging.
e.g. with my brand of inverter (not MPP) the Utility charge limit for the 3kVA model is 30A.

 

[Redbak]

Check the maximum charge current limits for your model of inverter.

There's an overall charge limit and the Utility charge limit. Utility charge limit can't be greater than the overall charge limit setting (well if it is it'll be ignored).

Also some lower power models have limits on Utility charging.
e.g. with my brand of inverter (not MPP) the Utility charge limit for the 3kVA model is 30A.

Thanks for the advice. I have checked the charge limits they are

Max. Charging Current : 80.0 A
Max AC Charging Current : 60.0 A

The thing is I cannot go down or up to change the Current. The only way I can change it is using watchpower. Also the other thing I noticed is that through Solar Assistant the (Max. Charging Current : 60 A) & (Max AC Charging Current : 30A). Every other parameter I can adjust through Solar Assistant.

 

[wattmatters]

The only way I can change it is using watchpower.

You can presumably also change it via the display panel controls on the inverter as well.

What happens to the settings displayed in Solar Assistant if you make the change via the panel or via Watchpower?

In any case, if SA is not enabling access to the available settings, suggest contacting SA help to resolve.

 

[Redbak]

You can presumably also change it via the display panel controls on the inverter as well.

What happens to the settings displayed in Solar Assistant if you make the change via the panel or via Watchpower?

In any case, if SA is not enabling access to the available settings, suggest contacting SA help to resolve.

Yes I can make changes also with the display panel.

The settings i make in watchpower is displayed in Solar Assistant ok.

As you say I will send a email to SA support.

Thanks for all your help.

 

[Redbak]

For the completion of this post, I did communicated with SA and they fixed the issue all working well now.

 

[Kenny_]

Thanks for the advice. I have checked the charge limits they are

Max. Charging Current : 80.0 A
Max AC Charging Current : 60.0 A

The thing is I cannot go down or up to change the Current. The only way I can change it is using watchpower. Also the other thing I noticed is that through Solar Assistant the (Max. Charging Current : 60 A) & (Max AC Charging Current : 30A). Every other parameter I can adjust through Solar Assistant.

Yes, I just discovered similar behavior....not only that but I can't SET param 07 (Sungold 10k48v inverter) it seems to change depending on some conditions ... is readable but not settable. Anyone know for sure or why?
Thanks!