Solark 15k setting no battery won’t power loads on grid

[jarred125]

Edit: The title is misleading, I am sorry (it has been a LONG day). I currently have power but it seems to be in bypass mode only. This happened after changing the mentioned setting to "no battery" which then killed the output to the loads entirely. Power cycling it does nothing, it just sits at "OFF" on the display after that. Unchecking the "no battery" setting brings us back online but without any data on the LCD screen and no data recorded in the app (no voltage, amps, etc).

I posted this to the general area because my brain was not braining, it belongs here.

I finally have my system up, sort of.

Following the Solark 30 minute video they indicate to check the “no battery” option if you, indeed, have no battery. We are grid tied, and when checking that setting the system won’t power any loads from the grid or PV. Disabling that setting brings power back but it is apparently in bypass mode (normal LED is off).

Attached is my current view of the LCD. Any help is appreciated, Solark is currently closed so no support at the moment.

I am seeing PV at the terminals (no info on the LCD or in the app), 280ish on MPPT1 and 2, 240ish on MPPT3. This is expected as the third has 6 panels rather than the first two having 7.

For more information about my setup:

Grid goes to a 200A fused disconnect, from there to the SolArk Grid input, load L1/L2 out to the main panel. PV input comes from three strings of panels, 7, 7 and 6 (Canadian solar 445W). They run into two IMO 4 pole DC disconnects, then to the inverter. The run back to the house is 10 AWG THWN-2, 6 conductors total.

 

[jarred125]

Adding this data, when the "no battery" option was checked and we lost data, you can see that below. The app just flatlines for any grid data, etc.

 

[robby]

Call sol-ark and have one of their techs log in and check your settings.

i

 

[jarred125]

Call sol-ark and have one of their techs log in and check your settings.

i

I did, sorry just had not updated this. Been cruising along for awhile now

Issue now is I think the EG4 communications hub is causing me issues with my batteries. Outside of closed loop it seems to work fine.

 

[LithiumCowboy]

I did, sorry just had not updated this. Been cruising along for awhile now

Issue now is I think the EG4 communications hub is causing me issues with my batteries. Outside of closed loop it seems to work fine.

I've had a EG4 communication hub on a lifepower4 3-rack to a sol-ark 15k for a very long time and have had no issues. Are you just loosing communication to the inverter?

 

[jarred125]

I've had a EG4 communication hub on a lifepower4 3-rack to a sol-ark 15k for a very long time and have had no issues. Are you just loosing communication to the inverter?

No, communications seems to have no issue. My problem is ... interesting.

I have two batteries (two more on the way as 10kWh is just not enough), I would come out and find the bank not discharging, my first battery at 100% SoC and the second at 0% SoC with an over voltage alarm. Sol-Ark support checked and everything they saw is correct with my setup to the inverter. Signature Solar is currently working on the issue and had me drop battery # 1 out of the setup so that the second would charge fully. I did that, discharged down to around 50% and then charged back up, and once again went into alarm state with an over voltage alarm but full battery. I called them back, checked the BMS and saw no damage of any kind and then removed it from the bank all together and just ran with the first battery that had not given me trouble.

Until this morning. Where I find the battery in alarm state again, over voltage and the short circuit alarm also set. I barely have any load on our home this morning, no AC running, about 1kW in total pulling (we have a pump for a septic system that uses around 400-450W continuously).

Just at a loss for what is going on at the moment.

Edit: So out of closed loop I forgot the discharge amperage is manually set. Just set it back to 100A for the battery and we're fine now without the comms hub.

 

[jarred125]

I've been talking with a very helpful person on an EG4 group on Facebook. Basically, two batteries isn't enough but four will be for now. I've taken the batteries out of closed loop comms with the inverter and I am running off batt V, with a charge rate of 20A max. It seems these batteries when new do not have a good balance between the cells and need to be charged around .2C at max for a few times to allow them to balance. I am also limiting the charge to about 55V (around 98% from what I was told) to not ram into that upper limit. Absorption and equil. are at 56.2 per the manual.

 

[LithiumCowboy]

I've been talking with a very helpful person on an EG4 group on Facebook. Basically, two batteries isn't enough but four will be for now. I've taken the batteries out of closed loop comms with the inverter and I am running off batt V, with a charge rate of 20A max. It seems these batteries when new do not have a good balance between the cells and need to be charged around .2C at max for a few times to allow them to balance. I am also limiting the charge to about 55V (around 98% from what I was told) to not ram into that upper limit. Absorption and equil. are at 56.2 per the manual.

Batteries in parallel are never guaranteed to have equalized loads that's why your 2 batteries were having a SOC% difference so great. The higher the amperage charge/discharge the greater the unbalanced load can be. I have seen it from many manufactures of batteries not just EG4 batteries, at this point I have built an estimated 50 server racks of batteries from mainly EG4 but also a few other manufactures. These cells being 100ah and having an unequal load while discharging or charging can create a SOC% "drift" between the batteries quickly. A 10amp charge/discharge difference is 10% SOC for example. In your current system I would use a clamp meter and see what the difference between batteries are while discharging is and this will give you a real time view on seeing why you had a SOC% "imbalance". It always best to top balance the battery rack back to 100%.

Going back to open loop your imbalance will be greater and you will have more cell/pack overvoltages when you reach 100% SOC. Having a cell/pack overvoltage alarm or protection is not a bad thing. That cell just reached its "maximum capacity".

Have you changed charging amperage on the com-hub or have you left it at it's default? In open loop you will not taper down voltage like the protocol is set for in closed loop. You will be hammering in amperage 100% of the time in open loop until the voltage threshold is reached. If you want to rely on voltage to determine SOC% that's not an accurate way to determine if the battery is fully charged for lifepo4.

 

[jarred125]

Batteries in parallel are never guaranteed to have equalized loads that's why your 2 batteries were having a SOC% difference so great. The higher the amperage charge/discharge the greater the unbalanced load can be. I have seen it from many manufactures of batteries not just EG4 batteries, at this point I have built an estimated 50 server racks of batteries from mainly EG4 but also a few other manufactures. These cells being 100ah and having an unequal load while discharging or charging can create a SOC% "drift" between the batteries quickly. A 10amp charge/discharge difference is 10% SOC for example. In your current system I would use a clamp meter and see what the difference between batteries are while discharging is and this will give you a real time view on seeing why you had a SOC% "imbalance". It always best to top balance the battery rack back to 100%.

Going back to open loop your imbalance will be greater and you will have more cell/pack overvoltages when you reach 100% SOC. Having a cell/pack overvoltage alarm or protection is not a bad thing. That cell just reached its "maximum capacity".

Have you changed charging amperage on the com-hub or have you left it at it's default? In open loop you will not taper down voltage like the protocol is set for in closed loop. You will be hammering in amperage 100% of the time in open loop until the voltage threshold is reached. If you want to rely on voltage to determine SOC% that's not an accurate way to determine if the battery is fully charged for lifepo4.

Hmm. I left the amperage on the comms hub the default 50a. What is the best bet in terms of charging/discharging amperage with these if I have four batteries?

I basically left everything the default except for charge voltage which I lowered to 56.2.

 

[jarred125]

I have put it back in closed loop with a single battery, set to charge to 100%. I will when it reaches 100% after a time shut that battery down, turn on the first and let it reach 100%.

I would still take a suggestion on charge and discharge rates for these so I get things right. I’m learning. I really appreciate your help. Invaluable!

 

[jarred125]

I did some research over the weekend and found a few major issues.

I was discharging at an insane rate, 1C. I was charging, at least initially, at a crazy rate of .5C. I have pulled this back significantly. .2C charging and .2C discharge for now. I have two more batteries arriving Wednesday which will round out things a little more, but I really need another set of two so that I can end up with 30kWh total.

 

[jarred125]

Updating this to say I have added the two batteries for a total of 4 (20kWh) and that makes a hugeeee impact on things. I cannot wait for another 2 to round this out .. or another 8 to give me 60kWh.