Solis App - not fit for purpose

[DOS]

Reporting this as an independent entry, didn't know how to do that before...

We had a Solis system installed 2 weeks ago, 14 panels, East/West split. The number being reported in the app were completely bonkers and we could not figure it out. We read about various app problems so we kept reloading etc and saw some of the changes already mentioned on this forum. But the basic problem remained. We did not install a battery, as we want to size the system first. This made the diagnosis of our problem maybe a little easier.
We saw 2 main types of problems:
1. When is was quite sunny, we would get 3-4Kw being reported as generated, but we'd also see 2-3Kw being imported from the grid, and the house consuming the sum of these, maybe 6-7Kw. This is early evening with no appliances at all running.
2. At a cloudy time, we would see maybe .5Kw being generation, and maybe 2Kw being exported to the grid, so exporting more than we were generating.
So, turns out the sensor (collar) that detects the current to the grid was on the wrong way around. And the house consumption figure is calculated by adding the other 2 numbers, it's not measured independently. So the system saw 2-3Kw going to the grid but measured that as 2-3Kw coming from the grid, added that to the amount being generated, and said that 6-7Kw was being consumed by the house.
In the second case, we were importing 2Kw to supplement the 0.5Kw being generated, but the system reported that as an export of 2Kw, and reported that the house was using 0Kw.
Turns out this is a common problem, and the engineer was able to go into advance settings on the Inverter and switch the orientation of the sensor in software, no wiring changes required at all.
Not sure if this could be the problem that others are seeing, it seems obvious in hindsight, but took a few weeks of pondering to arrive at it.

 

[rpdom]

So, turns out the sensor (collar) that detects the current to the grid was on the wrong way around.
Turns out this is a common problem, and the engineer was able to go into advance settings on the Inverter and switch the orientation of the sensor in software, no wiring changes required at all.

Yes, it is very common for the installers to fit the CT sensor the wrong way round. It is easy to either turn the sensor round (it just clips over the main wire), or to reconfigure it on the inverter as you have found.

However, this is not related to the majority of the issues that people are seeing with the app. It simply shows some wrong numbers At the moment it is showing a Today Consumption figure of 0 kWh for many people (it seems to be mainly on iphones, not android), and some of the totals simply don't add up.
The data for the totals is all there, it's just interpreting it wrongly. It should be easy for Solis to fix.

But for the current power values it is harder. The datalogger can't get all the data from the inverter in one fetch, so it has to grab it in bits. The inverter values are constantly changing, so it often picks up two figures that seem opposite. I've heard of the app showing power importing and exporting at the same time with dots crossing over each other on the lines on the app! The only way I can see to get around that is to fiddle the data to make it look right, even if it isn't.

 

[bazza14]

Turns out this is a common problem, and the engineer was able to go into advance settings on the Inverter and switch the orientation of the sensor in software, no wiring changes required at all.
Not sure if this could be the problem that others are seeing, it seems obvious in hindsight, but took a few weeks of pondering to arrive at it.

Fixing hardware errors by tweaking software is not an optimal solution. Consider that at sometime in the future your inverter software is reset due to a fault or upgrade. Hey presto, your import/export readings are all wrong again. You could stick a notice to the inverter advising that it has been tweaked but the reset/upgrade could be performed remotely so the tech won't see it. It is a very easy job to turn the CT around and I'm surprised he didn't do that and thus preserve the standard of the installation.

 

[SeaGal]

Not another one... what is it with these so-called 'professional' installers that they can't get a simple CT clamp put in the correct way, and then presumably they didn't even realise there was a problem until the owner reported it.

As for ...

Fixing hardware errors by tweaking software is not an optimal solution.

... I totally agree, but assume the 'engineer' was a remote Solis one, rather then the original installer. If it were the original installer tweaking the Solis on-site, that is just an inexcusable botch.

Makes me wonder what other 'mistakes' the installers may have made?

 

[stuboy]

To change things with the app you need to have Remote Control enabled by Solis. You also need a recent (S3) datalogger. Once Solis have enabled it you need to log out and log back in to the app. Then go to the Inverter Details screen and tape the three dot menu button. You should have "Control Inverter" there.

What is the charge level of your batteries when it is randomly charging? If the level goes too low (usually set to 15%) the inverter will top the batteries up a bit from the grid to stop them shutting down.

I was wondering why the control didn't work, i have a version 2 data logger. Didn't C any info telling me i need a v3!
Thanks for that info
Cheers
Stu

 

[stuboy]

Not another one... what is it with these so-called 'professional' installers that they can't get a simple CT clamp put in the correct way, and then presumably they didn't even realise there was a problem until the owner reported it.

As for ...

... I totally agree, but assume the 'engineer' was a remote Solis one, rather then the original installer. If it were the original installer tweaking the Solis on-site, that is just an inexcusable botch.

Makes me wonder what other 'mistakes' the installers may have made?

I installed mine and wired it as per solis drawings, it was the wrong way round! So its actually a Solis manual problem, your fitter should have done enough of them to have known that! ;-)

 

[rpdom]

I was wondering why the control didn't work, i have a version 2 data logger. Didn't C any info telling me i need a v3!
Thanks for that info
Cheers
Stu

With the latest upgrade of the app, I believe remote control works with the version 2 loggers as well.

 

[stuboy]

tried it again on my v2 dongle no luck in retrieving any info :-(

 

[quickbrown]

Using the Solis API, I made a little app & widget that displays notifications when the battery is high/low:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.quickbrownbox.solisquickview

It won't help get your numbers more accurate, but it makes it less painful (for me at least) to see what's going on with the key numbers. As far as I can tell the api numbers match what the physical inverter is telling me. Hopeful of use to someone else

 

[gazzafm]

Gday all
Recent install of a Solis 5g Inverter. Noticed all the sudden that apparently im consuming Megawatts of power according to the app. Any ideas why it might be showing consumption in MWH rather than KWH, and trust me, im not running some industrial aluminum smelter that consumes millions of watts.....

 

[joe9000]

since my update last week to app,infact it updated twice in a week,readings have been all over the place,i know people dont think much of the app but i didnt havenproblems until recently with it!!??

 

[Stratto]

The app updated in the last couple of days for me and now the app sits with the wrong data until I force a screen change this never happened previously

 

[Caellan]

Hi all, new here but didn't want to clutter the forum with another SolisCloud thread.

Got a question about battery storage display in the app: The app happily tells me the % charge my batteries have remaining, but I don't see an option for viewing that as a kW figure rather than a percentage. I can't even see an option for what my max kW battery capacity is. Now, I know it should be around 10kW (just had 16 solar panels installed on my roof, 6.6kW generation capacity, and two PureStorage II 5kW batteries) but when all I can see is a % for my battery charge it's tricky to know if both have been connected up properly, or only one has been connected up. And with our winter underway in the UK now and solar generation being a bit pants, it's hard to gauge that by eye too. A couple of days now I've seen the battery charge to 40% when the sun shows up, but drop to 20% in the evening over the course of an hour or two which just seems... pretty fast. Our average daily usage is between 8-10kW, but I do know evenings are peak use time, so it might be fine.

Any help with finding out a way to see my max battery capacity would be really appreciated, just so I can put this fear aside. I'm sure it's probably fine, I'm just hoping to see some proof that my batteries are definitely operating and installed correctly so I can move forwards with setting up import/export usage on an Octopus tariff. Kinda reliant on that stated 10kW battery capacity charged cheaply overnight (plus daily sunshine top-ups) to keep my household going through the entire day. If we only have 5kW storage, that's going to bite in the evening if we draw from the grid.

 

[SeaGal]

@Caellan - welcome!

Please do start a new thread - you will get more response that way - especially with Solis / PureStorage / Battery / kWh left (or similar) in the subject. Not so many will click on a nearly year old thread unless they've contributed to this one.

I don't have Solis cloud or App with my Solis, but IMHO, as batteries (mine are DIY) only tell the inverter i.e. your Solis the SOC, then the Solis won't know the battery capacity, so can't report kWh left.

With the app, can you zoom in on a time period and see kWh used by load / grid (I can with my emonPi monitoring system)? From that you could work out how many kWh were actually used over the time period when your SOC dropped from 40 to 20?

Bear in mind that 10kWh storage will only give you 8kWh usable, if min SOC is set to 20%.

Your usage sounds about right to me. Our quiescent usage is 3 to 4% of our 14.3kWh battery per hour; running the dishwasher will drop it 14% in 1.5 hours (for dishwasher, house quiescent from a 14kWh battery).

 

[Caellan]

@Caellan - welcome!

Please do start a new thread - you will get more response that way - especially with Solis / PureStorage / Battery / kWh left (or similar) in the subject. Not so many will click on a nearly year old thread unless they've contributed to this one.

I don't have Solis cloud or App with my Solis, but IMHO, as batteries (mine are DIY) only tell the inverter i.e. your Solis the SOC, then the Solis won't know the battery capacity, so can't report kWh left.

With the app, can you zoom in on a time period and see kWh used by load / grid (I can with my emonPi monitoring system)? From that you could work out how many kWh were actually used over the time period when your SOC dropped from 40 to 20?

Bear in mind that 10kWh storage will only give you 8kWh usable, if min SOC is set to 20%.

Your usage sounds about right to me. Our quiescent usage is 3 to 4% of our 14.3kWh battery per hour; running the dishwasher will drop it 14% in 1.5 hours (for dishwasher, house quiescent from a 14kWh battery).

Thanks! Yes, found the graph view and you're right. Looks like between roughly half 4 and half 5 pm we used around 20% battery and averaged around 2kWh in that time. So yep, looks about right for a 10kW battery installation. I can stop worrying about that now =D

And thanks for the reminder about min SOC. I assume it's a good idea to leave that at 20%? We had a day of nothing but cloud today and still seem to have generated 2kW, so even on bad days in December we should be okay to support a 10kW household. Rainy day tomorrow, so will see how that goes =P

 

[SeaGal]

Thanks! Yes, found the graph view and you're right. Looks like between roughly half 4 and half 5 pm we used around 20% battery and averaged around 2kWh in that time. So yep, looks about right for a 10kW battery installation. I can stop worrying about that now =D

And thanks for the reminder about min SOC. I assume it's a good idea to leave that at 20%?

I charge mine to 100%, discharge to 15%.

We had a day of nothing but cloud today and still seem to have generated 2kW, so even on bad days in December we should be okay to support a 10kW household. Rainy day tomorrow, so will see how that goes =P

We got 2.8 today, also from 6.6kWp panels. Worst day last Dec was 0.4! Managed most Winter days using economy 7 charge up at night + what we get in the day.