This is a sort of follow up to an earlier thread I posted about real world performance of the Sol-Ark 15K when the grid goes out and the settings I was able to use. If this is similar to your situation or needs, wants and desires, well here goes.
On January 21, 2025 power was shut off from the utility due to high winds and high fire risk. This outage lasted about 7.5 hours and began at 9 AM. The battery bank SOC at the time of the outage was 59%. The system seamlessly switched to supply loads from the batteries. Not knowing how long the grid down situation would last (we were told up to 72 hours), I turned on the generator.
My generator setup is a Westinghouse portable dual fuel 9500Dfc model. It is fueled by a 500 gallon propane tank. The onboard NEMA 14-50 is connected via an externally mounted generator plug and then inside the garage across a 50 amp UL listed double pole breaker and into the generator inputs of the Sol-Ark.
The AC branch breaker was turned off and the generator was started and allowed to warm up for 2 minutes. The generator on-board breaker was turned on and the generator 50 amp branch breaker inside the garage was also turned on. At this point in time, the Sol-Ark was programmed to use PV to charge batteries first and supply loads second.
The BASIC SETUP ADVANCED tab has the power limits of my generator set.
The BATTERY SETUP CHARGE tab has the GEN CHARGE tab checked. The A (amperage) value for generator and grid is the amps to the batteries with a voltage in the 50's.
On the LIMITER menu under GRID PARAM Limiter tab, I check the Charge box and set SOC to 100% for all of the times I want the batteries to charge. With the grid out, that is pretty much 24 hours and 100% in case of generator failure.
In the Sol-Ark settings, I set the Sol-Ark to Force Charge the batteries using the generator. I have 8 Pytes Ebox batteries capable of charging at a total of 400 amps.
When the settings are completed, the PV will charge the batteries and the generator will run the load and additional generator capacity will be used to augment battery charging.
If I go to the battery setup and increase the amps under the generator tab, the the charging current to the batteries is increased and the generator output is increased. Basically 55 volts x the no of amps I add = increase in gen output.
USING AN EV CHARGER TOO
Since the generator motor is running and I was no where near the maximum wattage output, I decided to connect my EV charger to my EV car. I normally charge on AC at 24 amps level 2. But to experiment, I started with 10 amps and wound up moving it to 18 amps. I use an Emporia charger.
The attached image shows that when I increase the loads such as using the EV charger, the generator output is immediately increased. Same goes for if I increase the amps for battery charging.
My loads are pretty steady so I do not worry much about large swings there.
And in So Cal, there are almost no clouds so the sun is pretty constant.
So, I was able to observe in real time the effect of changing battery charging amperage and also charging an EV and altering that charging amperage to manage the generator loads.
The system is basically flawless in its performance and with a high degree of flexibility for persons with heat pumps, well pumps, EV's, etc.
On January 21, 2025 power was shut off from the utility due to high winds and high fire risk. This outage lasted about 7.5 hours and began at 9 AM. The battery bank SOC at the time of the outage was 59%. The system seamlessly switched to supply loads from the batteries. Not knowing how long the grid down situation would last (we were told up to 72 hours), I turned on the generator.
My generator setup is a Westinghouse portable dual fuel 9500Dfc model. It is fueled by a 500 gallon propane tank. The onboard NEMA 14-50 is connected via an externally mounted generator plug and then inside the garage across a 50 amp UL listed double pole breaker and into the generator inputs of the Sol-Ark.
The AC branch breaker was turned off and the generator was started and allowed to warm up for 2 minutes. The generator on-board breaker was turned on and the generator 50 amp branch breaker inside the garage was also turned on. At this point in time, the Sol-Ark was programmed to use PV to charge batteries first and supply loads second.
The BASIC SETUP ADVANCED tab has the power limits of my generator set.
The BATTERY SETUP CHARGE tab has the GEN CHARGE tab checked. The A (amperage) value for generator and grid is the amps to the batteries with a voltage in the 50's.
On the LIMITER menu under GRID PARAM Limiter tab, I check the Charge box and set SOC to 100% for all of the times I want the batteries to charge. With the grid out, that is pretty much 24 hours and 100% in case of generator failure.
In the Sol-Ark settings, I set the Sol-Ark to Force Charge the batteries using the generator. I have 8 Pytes Ebox batteries capable of charging at a total of 400 amps.
When the settings are completed, the PV will charge the batteries and the generator will run the load and additional generator capacity will be used to augment battery charging.
If I go to the battery setup and increase the amps under the generator tab, the the charging current to the batteries is increased and the generator output is increased. Basically 55 volts x the no of amps I add = increase in gen output.
USING AN EV CHARGER TOO
Since the generator motor is running and I was no where near the maximum wattage output, I decided to connect my EV charger to my EV car. I normally charge on AC at 24 amps level 2. But to experiment, I started with 10 amps and wound up moving it to 18 amps. I use an Emporia charger.
The attached image shows that when I increase the loads such as using the EV charger, the generator output is immediately increased. Same goes for if I increase the amps for battery charging.
My loads are pretty steady so I do not worry much about large swings there.
And in So Cal, there are almost no clouds so the sun is pretty constant.
So, I was able to observe in real time the effect of changing battery charging amperage and also charging an EV and altering that charging amperage to manage the generator loads.
The system is basically flawless in its performance and with a high degree of flexibility for persons with heat pumps, well pumps, EV's, etc.